penmage | Book Log: Thornspell

I got more books in the mail yesterday! I cleared off the bookshelves I've been using for game storage to create a special Cybils shelf.

I just finished reading The Order of the Odd-Fish by James Kennedy, which was very good, and I'm still mentally chewing it around. I'll hopefully review it here soon. I just started Lauren Mechlin's Dream Girl this morning, and so far, I really like the voice.

And now, another review.

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Thornspell by Helen Lowe

Growing up in West Castle, on the outer edge of his father’s kingdom, Prince Sigismund has always dreamed of noble knights on valiant quests. He yearns to follow in their footsteps—even as he knows that he is destined to follow in his father’s, and rule the kingdom.

And then Sigismund starts having the dreams. In his dreams, he is traversing the forbidden wood that lies on the edge of West Castle. In his dreams, he is exploring a castle where time seems to have stopped altogether. And he keeps seeing a girl—a girl bound by thorns.

Before long, Sigismund realizes that he has a part to play, a part in a story that is nearly a hundred years old—a legend about a curse and a sleeping princess. Sigismund will have the chance to realize all his dreams—but the forces against him are powerful and insidious, and he will have to use all of his courage to defeat them.

This is, obviously, a fairy tale retelling. It’s well-done—it recreates a compelling quest-style story that turns into the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. It’s an enjoyable read in the old, medieval-esque fantasy way, the kind with made-up kingdoms and heroic princes.

What it isn’t is anything new. It doesn’t bring a new element to the table at all. The thing about fairy tales that I find so compelling is that they always feel like we’re only getting the bare bones of the tale, and there’s still so much missing from a full understanding of the story. Who the characters are, how they got there. How the fairy tale bones create a skeleton for a lush and fully-realized story. That’s what makes a fantastic fairy tale retelling--A Curse Dark as Gold is a classic example of that sort of thing. Something that takes the old story and makes it fresh and new and compelling, and still true to the old tale.

Thornspell is compelling, but it’s not fresh and new. The writing is good, and the story moves, but it lacks teeth. It feels familiar, and that’s sometimes comforting, but it’s rarely memorable. Read it if you like fairy tale retellings, but don’t expect anything surprising.