Saturday, February 24, 2007

I almost threw this at the wall due to the word "magyk."

Luckily, the magyk occurred in a quote from an old textbook, so I'm glad I picked it back up.

I bought Spellbound by Ru Emerson based almost completely on the reviews at amazon, which say: "There are dozens of fairy tale retellings in the fantasy market nowadays, but none better than this one - it is my favorite. (I'm including Robin McKinley!)" Better than Robin McKinley? I had to get it, then.

Do not believe the hype. It's a good book, but it's not in the same class as lots of other, similar books. The comparison to Robin McKinley may have raised my hopes too high, but I'm not sure I'd read it again.

The story is interesting: Cinderella, set in a fictional Germany. The young prince who must marry in order to inherit the crown. This world has both witches and sorcerers ("green" vs. "gold" magic), and one of the major characters has learned to use both. But witches are outlawed, so...

It was nice to have a "fairy godmother" who had a purpose of her own in helping Sophie (the aschenputtel of the story). And it was good that the characters all had their own motivations; no one was completely good or bad. The writing was fine, although I wasn't blown away by it.

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