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keilexandraYep, another book review! :D
Title: Once Upon A Summer Day
Author: Dennis L. McKiernan
Genre: Fantasy (fairytale)
# of Pages: 360 (hardcover)
Rating: B+
Summary: (from the book jacket)
Once upon a summer day, Prince Borel of the Winterwood falls asleep, and a beautiful goden-haired maiden with a shadowy band across her eyes comes to him in his dreams and pleads for aid. She returns time after time, and the prince is certain that she is real and in deadly peril. Yet he knows not who she is... nor where she is imprisoned.
Opposed by witches and trolls and goblins and beings even more dreadful, and aided by a field sprite, Borel begins a desperate quest through the wonders and hazards of Faery, seeking a mysterious masked demoiselle guarded by perilous blades. And though time touches not this land of legends, time is running out...
Review:
I stuck this book at the bottom of my library bag, thinking that it would be "light reading" at best--nothing unconventional and not particularly deep or insightful. I still classify Once Upon A Summer Day as light reading, but it certainly exceeded my expectations.
(Hopefully, I'll hit all the points I wanted to hit, since this time I actually scribbled some notes as I read.)
The publisher advertises this book as an adult fairytale, and that is absolutely true. The writing style, with its constant sentences beginning with "And", can be annoying at times but fits with the overall idea of an omniscent storyteller narrator. The story is a "restored" version of Sleeping Beauty, though that wasn't completely clear to me until a hundred pages in.
I found myself skimming over the copious descriptions (especially rampant at chapter beginnings), but on going back and rereading, the drescriptive writing is actually quite good. So maybe that's just my anti-description reflex. I did love the use of French throughout the book, as the Old Tongue. It was fun seeing French words I could read--tres bien (very good), fille (girl), oui (yes), non (no), etc. Flic the field sprite and his guardian bumblebee Buzzer are a source of much amusement, and I enjoyed the chess game between Borel and the King Under the Hill (unimaginative names, but it is a fairytale). Somehow, the novel seemed a lot longer than it is. Weird.
There were also a few bad points: the nonsensical Springwood/Summerwood/Autumnwood/Winterwood thing, for instance. Each is ruled by a prince or princess, all of whom are siblings and on perfect terms with one another. No wars, no envy, no resentment. *rolls eyes* Several riddles are posed by the Fates (Skuld the Maiden, Verdandi the Mother, Urd the Crone) but they were quite obvious, not clever at all. That was a big disappointment, as I love riddles. The use of truelove (yes, one word) was a bit too cliche for my cynical critic mindset, and I never really got the point of Chelle having a shadowy band across her eyes during the dreams.
Oh, and the cover is really pretty. Borel is asleep in the Summerwood on the front, with his Wolves, and on the back is a gorgeous picture of Chelle trapped in a tower and surrounded by daggers.
All in all, Once Upon A Summer Day was a great read, much more entertaining than I expected. I'll read Once Upon A Winter's Night eventually--that is, I'll stick it on my (extremely long) To Read list. :D
Author: Dennis L. McKiernan
Genre: Fantasy (fairytale)
# of Pages: 360 (hardcover)
Rating: B+
Summary: (from the book jacket)
Once upon a summer day, Prince Borel of the Winterwood falls asleep, and a beautiful goden-haired maiden with a shadowy band across her eyes comes to him in his dreams and pleads for aid. She returns time after time, and the prince is certain that she is real and in deadly peril. Yet he knows not who she is... nor where she is imprisoned.
Opposed by witches and trolls and goblins and beings even more dreadful, and aided by a field sprite, Borel begins a desperate quest through the wonders and hazards of Faery, seeking a mysterious masked demoiselle guarded by perilous blades. And though time touches not this land of legends, time is running out...
Review:
I stuck this book at the bottom of my library bag, thinking that it would be "light reading" at best--nothing unconventional and not particularly deep or insightful. I still classify Once Upon A Summer Day as light reading, but it certainly exceeded my expectations.
(Hopefully, I'll hit all the points I wanted to hit, since this time I actually scribbled some notes as I read.)
The publisher advertises this book as an adult fairytale, and that is absolutely true. The writing style, with its constant sentences beginning with "And", can be annoying at times but fits with the overall idea of an omniscent storyteller narrator. The story is a "restored" version of Sleeping Beauty, though that wasn't completely clear to me until a hundred pages in.
I found myself skimming over the copious descriptions (especially rampant at chapter beginnings), but on going back and rereading, the drescriptive writing is actually quite good. So maybe that's just my anti-description reflex. I did love the use of French throughout the book, as the Old Tongue. It was fun seeing French words I could read--tres bien (very good), fille (girl), oui (yes), non (no), etc. Flic the field sprite and his guardian bumblebee Buzzer are a source of much amusement, and I enjoyed the chess game between Borel and the King Under the Hill (unimaginative names, but it is a fairytale). Somehow, the novel seemed a lot longer than it is. Weird.
There were also a few bad points: the nonsensical Springwood/Summerwood/Autumnwood/Winterwood thing, for instance. Each is ruled by a prince or princess, all of whom are siblings and on perfect terms with one another. No wars, no envy, no resentment. *rolls eyes* Several riddles are posed by the Fates (Skuld the Maiden, Verdandi the Mother, Urd the Crone) but they were quite obvious, not clever at all. That was a big disappointment, as I love riddles. The use of truelove (yes, one word) was a bit too cliche for my cynical critic mindset, and I never really got the point of Chelle having a shadowy band across her eyes during the dreams.
Oh, and the cover is really pretty. Borel is asleep in the Summerwood on the front, with his Wolves, and on the back is a gorgeous picture of Chelle trapped in a tower and surrounded by daggers.
All in all, Once Upon A Summer Day was a great read, much more entertaining than I expected. I'll read Once Upon A Winter's Night eventually--that is, I'll stick it on my (extremely long) To Read list. :D
Fun, as always.
