The Puppet Queen

       


Review of The Puppet Queen by Mira Zamin


Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: After Selene's homeland falls to the Pari curse, she is forced to must contest for the throne by her insidious fiancé. When rivalries threaten to plunge the country into civil war, Selene must fight through magic and malice—her family's fate hangs in the balance.

The Puppet Queen is a young adult fantasy retelling of Sleeping Beauty infused with the folklore of the Middle East.

My Review:

The story this week is a retelling of the classic Sleeping Beauty tale but from the point of view of Sleeping Beauty’s sister, her twin sister. Selene, our main character, is the mischievous twin of the future sleeping beauty. She is constantly venturing outside when she’s not supposed to and getting into trouble.

One day she convinces her sister Auralia to go out with her. That’s when things start to get crazy. Some men from the palace follow them and summarily escort Auralia back to the palace. When she arrives back Selene wonders why her parents, the Emir and Emira of Aquia, never cared when she left the palace on her own but are obviously worried about her sister venturing out.

It is then that she is told the story about the Pari curse that was placed on her family. The night she (and her sister) were born lightning struck their sacred tree and the blame was placed on Selene since it happened at the exact moment that she came out of her mother’s womb. A Pari queen came to her parents but since Selene was somewhere else at the moment, she saw only the one child and assumed that this was the one responsible for the damage to their tree.

Her father tried to reason with the Pari queen but to no avail and Auralia was cursed to hurt her finger on a spindle which would usher in death for everyone in Aquia. The curse was later adjusted by the djinn so that they would only sleep and then only until Auralia’s true love released them with a kiss.

Of course the plot goes on but I will leave the rest for you to read. And it is really a great story worth reading. I loved the character of Selene and how she grows in the novel. Even when her mother is asleep Selene uses her words, and those of other family members to guide her in her quest to remove the curse and rule Aquia.

First, she must fight against an abusive husband and learn to rule in her own right. Later she goes up against his cronies as well as the other Emirs and Emiras in Ghalain with only the help of a few trusted friends as well as the djinn who have helped her family before. She will soon find a way to break the curse, find her sister’s true love and become the woman she was destined to be.

If there is any downside to the story, it would be the lack of editing. Several times I was jarred out of the story by typos and other errors that could have been prevented by the author hiring a good editor. However, it was not enough to make me stop reading. So as long as you’re not too bad of a stickler for these kinds of things and you like Fantasy, you should enjoy the story.

Contains: mild language, violence

The Wanderers

Review of The Wanderers by Cheryl Mahoney

Overview from www.bn.com: The Wanderers is set in a world inspired by fairy tales--but with a bit of a twist! You might recognize the landscape, and you may think you know the rules, but you’ve strayed beyond the tales. Come join a wandering adventurer, a talking cat and a witch’s daughter as they fight monsters, pursue quests, and learn that sometimes, rules are no help at all.

My Review:

Cheryl Mahoney, a writer whose blog I sometimes read, sent me an email a few weeks back asking me if I would like a copy of her book The Wanders, presumably for review. Her blog “Tales of the Marvelous” features many fanciful stories that I often enjoy. And it is a free book! So of course I said, send it on over.

I imagined that I would like it since I liked her blog but I wasn’t prepared for how much I would like it. I like Fantasy fiction, I do. It is not however, my favorite genre. That would be Historical Fiction but Fantasy is a close second or third.

That being said, I really liked this Fantasy book a lot. In fact, I think I loved it. It was not only good but it put a humorous twist on the genre. Sort of like Shrek but without the ogre. Wait, actually, there is an ogre but he is not a main character let alone the good guy.

So just who is our main character? Well, actually I would venture to say that there really are three. But the first one we meet is Jasper who is the wandering hero type (though he prefers the term “wandering adventurer”).

He travels throughout the land saving people who need to be rescued, usually the damsel in distress type. One day, however, as he attempts to defeat a corrupt magician who is abusing his power—and don’t they all—he befriends Tom who is your typical tabby cat. He is typical except for the fact that he is under an enchantment and is thus able to talk.

After they defeat the magician Jasper invites Tom to join him in his wandering life of adventure and Tom accepts. Although Jasper realizes that he is breaking one of his rules, this one is about travelling alone; he decides it doesn’t count since Tom is a cat.

Enter Julie, our third main character. Julie is the next damsel in distress type that Jasper will try to save; this time his goal is to free her from the witch who is holding her captive. But there is something not quite right about her and the whole situation.

Jasper sneaks out the window after discovering that his reward for rescuing her is her hand in marriage. Jasper doesn’t want to get married.

But Julie also doesn’t want to get married and so she finds Jasper and begs him to let her join their party. Reluctantly he agrees to temporarily allow her to travel with him and Tom. Along the way, all three of our main characters will find their true selves and what it is they really want out of life while having some wild adventures.

What I liked about this most of all was that it was funny. I loved the way it takes accepted Fantasy norms and pokes fun at them. This is where it reminded me of Shrek the most.

I also appreciated that the story did not have a lot of crass content or an excess of violence yet all of the regular Fantasy norms were there. The adventures the characters go on are stories in and of themselves yet they really serve to bind our three main characters together. And it was just a lot of fun to read. Unless you hate the Fantasy genre altogether, I think you will like this one.