Fantasy seems almost entirely split between contemporary Urban Fantasy like Hamilton or the author's own Diana Tregarde novels or High Fantasy in a pseudo-medieval setting such as Tolkien or the author's own Valdemar books. So it was refreshing to read a fantasy set in Edwardian times, and a lot of the pleasure of this novel was how well it evoked that historical milieu.
You don't often see heroines that hail from India either, and Maya, half-English and half-Indian, is a very appealing heroine, one who as a female doctor in those times has had to struggle to gain respect in her profession given her ethnicity and gender. I would have enjoyed following her even in a purely historical novel, but I did like Lackey's magical world here very much. Original, interesting, well-thought out and I liked how the author adapted the Snow White legend in such a way as to not make the plot predictable. An enjoyable, fun read.
