The latest entry into Lackey's magical Elemental Masters series is set in an alternative Germany in the late 1880s. Instead of a reimagined fairy tale, this fantasy involves the sharpshooter Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

When Oakley and the Wild West Show reach Germany, Oakley is recognized as a Master of Air, introduced to other Elemental Masters and given training in using her connection with air spirits to fight evil.

A flashback of Oakley's life as a child in Ohio is more sparse with details and descriptions than the details of life in Germany in late Victorian age. The fascination of Germans with the American Indians caused by the popular fiction of Karl Mays is more fully explored in the tenth book in the series "In a High Tower", the fantastical retelling of the Rapunzel myth as is the details of a traveling circus.

This amalgamation of real historic American characters in a fantastical foreign setting is less successful than the earlier book.

This was really not a book for me, which was disappointing as I have previously enjoyed Lackey's books. First of all, it just took way too long to get started. The pace during the first 30% was glacial. The writing actually also bothered me, It was too long, it felt winded. And the sections were too big, it was just massive clumps of text. Coupled with the fact that nothing of import was written in those clumps, I found myself skipping a lot without ever getting lost.

I’ve enjoyed this series. I like that the series is teen/preteen appropriate. Bad things happen but they aren’t described in gory horrible detail. The message that with power comes responsibility is a good one. It’s also a good message that if you’re minding your own concerns and are attacked defending yourself is okay but you shouldn’t glory in it. The series is well worth reading if you like gentle fantasy and like the sound of the settings. You could read this one as a stand alone though.

Author Mercedes Lackey provides another Elemental Masters magical adventure in her latest book, The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley. It appears that Annie Oakley is an Elemental Master. I enjoyed reading along as Annie discovers her magical talents and learns how to use them. Her husband Frank Butler his talents too. Since Annie has a gun loaded with silver bullets potential reading can imagine how Annie might use them.

This 16th entry in the Elemental Masters series is okay but nothing special. A lot of it is very similar to the superior From a High Tower, except with an actual historical figure as a protagonist. And the climactic confrontation that the reader is led to expect falls fairly flat.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm sorry, but I can't say anything nice about this book. It's completely flat, like week-old soda. The characters have no personalities, there is no plot. We don't see any characters from previous books in the series despite being in the same time period and location as a previous book. There are no interesting Elementals, no new magic. It feels like a bad remake of From a High Tower. Normally I love Mercedes Lackey's books but this one is definitely a pass.