March 15, 2008 at 8:47 am · Filed under Book Reviews, Children's Literature, Favourite Books, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
32. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale (Children’s Fantasy) 317 p.
Takes up a year or two after the events of The Goose Girl. It’s main character is Enna, a major character from the previous book. We learn that Enna left the capital and returned to the forest to take care of her brother and dying mother, although by the time the book starts, her mother is already gone.
Enna and her brother Leifer live a fairly contented life together, until Leifer finds a vellum scroll that teaches him to control fire. He attempts to control his power, but instead, it seems to control him, making him paranoid and quick to anger. When he sets Enna’s skirt on fire, she begins to realize just how dangerous Leifer’s abilities are.
Meanwhile, Bayern is invaded by Tira, one of its neighbours. Leifer is determined to use his abilities to fight for his country, and while he has some success, his efforts ultimately end in tragedy. Through a series of events, Enna reads the vellum and becomes a fire-witch herself, and slowly begins to lose control of herself and her power.
This is a more mature and complex book than The Goose Girl. In some ways, Enna’s inner life is more important than the plot, although the story is never dull or slow. There were times when I wanted to slap Enna for how stupid she was being, but it turned out there was a good reason for it.
Enna Burning is a worthy sequel to The Goose Girl, with even more adventure and political plotting, as well as the return of one of the more unsavoury magical powers ever conceived (and with an even more gorgeous cover!) I’m really looking forward to the release of the third Bayern book, River Secrets, in paperback later this year.
Pages read: 9,458
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, 888 Challenge, Bayern, Cardathon Challenge, Eponymous Challenge, Shannon Hale
March 14, 2008 at 11:01 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Children's Literature, Favourite Books, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
29. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (Children’s Fantasy) 383 p.
Strangely enough, it was the name of the heroine’s horse—Falada—that reminded me that I knew the fairy tale this book is based on. I don’t know where I found my old, battered copy of Fifty Famous Fairy Tales, published in 1956, but it was a childhood favourite—although among the stories therein, The Goose Girl was one of the ones I hated most.
Not so Shannon Hale’s version of the story. It begins with the birth of the Crown Princess of Kildenree, called Ani. Largely ignored by her parents, she spends her first seven years in the company of her aunt, who teaches her to speak to birds, particularly the swans in the palace lake.
After her aunt’s death, Ani does her best to be what her mother wants her to be, a proper heir to the throne. Awkward and self-conscious, she hates her duties but wishes desperately to please her mother. Nothing she does is enough, as after her father’s death her younger brother becomes the heir.
No longer important in palace politics, Ani is abandoned by all save Selia, her lady-in-waiting. When Ani is sent to neighbouring Bayern, to be married to the Crown Prince, she is once again betrayed by someone she trusts. Although she escapes death, she has no means to get back to Kildenree or to prove her identity, and ends up working as a goose girl, herding the King’s geese.
Since I know the fairy tale very well, there was nothing in the overall plot that really surprised me, but that didn’t matter. Shannon Hale set out to breathe life and reality into an old story, and she succeeded. She made me love her characters, and she created a form of magic that intrigued me.
Before reading The Goose Girl, I’d read lots of glowing reviews, but this book more than met my high expectations.
Pages read: 8,497
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, 888 Challenge, Bayern, Cardathon Challenge, Eponymous Challenge, Shannon Hale
March 11, 2008 at 7:28 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Children's Literature, Favourite Books, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
25. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (Children’s Fantasy) 314 p.
Miri lives on Mount Eskel, in a tiny village of stone quarriers. Forbidden by her father to work in the quarry with every other able-bodied person in the village, she feels her slight stature makes her a burden in the eyes of the community.
When the Crown Prince is instructed to choose his bride from among the girls in Miri’s village, the old tradition of the Princess Academy is revived, and every girl between twelve and eighteen is obliged to attend. Girls used to sleeping on cottage floors are taught reading, writing, and various courtly accomplishments. Miri is one smart cookie, and she learns quickly. When trouble strikes the academy, it’s up to her to save the day.
Miri’s village and the world in which it exists may be fantastic, but the reactions of Miri and the other girls to their situation are entirely believable. Some of them want to be princesses more than others, and all for their own individual reasons. Miri is clever in a way not very many book characters seem to be, using logical, deductive reasoning to solve her problems.
The ending, while not surprising or challenging in any way, was perfect for the story, with everything coming to a happy resolution without hurting the integrity of the characters or diluting their best qualities.
I will certainly be buying Shannon Hale’s other children’s books.
Pages read: 7,528
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, Cardathon Challenge, Shannon Hale
