Usually I love the Elemental Masters books. This one? Not so much.The book is loosely based on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, with heroine Marina (a fledgling Water Master) being cursed in her cradle by wicked Aunt Arachne. She is rushed off to the countryside to be reared by her guardians -- until Aunt Arachne manages to bring her back to the family estate to enact the curse before she turns 18.One of the minor things that annoyed me is a character who constantly misuses "thee" and "thou." I would think that an author of Lackey's stature would know the correct uses of these familiarities -- or not use them at all. Using them incorrectly does not make a character look archaic; it makes the author look rather ridiculous.Marina was entirely too perfect, the villains two-dimensional ... just not one of the better works in this otherwise outstanding series.
