Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 114

Bargain Ebook: The Last Princess by Galaxy Craze

Amazon has a Splash Into Summer Book Sale sale going on for a few days and several of the titles are fairy tale related. I'm going to give each title it's own post today.

The Last Princess by Galaxy Craze is well-reviewed overall so don't let the nom de plume scare you off. It, too, is $2.99 today and really isn't as much fairy tale as post-apocalyptic princess. But we all need a dose of that on  occasion, right? In an English setting. That's Parliament on the cover... The reviews do warn that it is violent and dark, so beware unless that is your exact taste for summer escapism.

Book description:

Happily ever after is a thing of the past.

A series of natural disasters has decimated the earth. Cut off from the rest of the world, England is a dark place. The sun rarely shines, food is scarce, and groups of criminals roam the woods, searching for prey. The people are growing restless.

When a ruthless revolutionary sets out to overthrow the crown, he makes the royal family his first target. Blood is shed in Buckingham Palace, and only sixteen-year old Princess Eliza manages to escape. Determined to kill the man who destroyed her family, Eliza joins the enemy forces in disguise. She has nothing left to live for but revenge, until she meets someone who helps her remember how to hope-and love-once more.

Now she must risk everything to ensure that she does not become . . .

The Last Princess.

Bargain Ebook: Stung by Bethany Wiggins

Amazon has a Splash Into Summer Book Sale sale going on for a few days and several of the titles are fairy tale related. I'm going to give each title it's own post today.

Stung by Bethany Wiggins is one of today's bargain books that I am most excited about because it was high on my wish list of this year's new releases. A sci fi novel with fairy tale underpinings (but aren't they all?) with some Sleeping Beauty and perhaps even Beauty and the Beast thrown in to the recipe. I didn't think twice about buying this one! This one is also $2.99 for ebook. Hardcover is over $14 and the $8.99 paperback won't be released until February 2014. This is a deal!

Book description:

Fiona doesn't remember going to sleep. But when she opens her eyes, she discovers her entire world has been altered-her house is abandoned and broken, and the entire neighborhood is barren and dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right wrist-a black oval with five marks on either side-that she doesn't remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. And she's right. When the honeybee population collapsed, a worldwide pandemic occurred and the government tried to bio-engineer a cure. Only the solution was deadlier than the original problem-the vaccination turned people into ferocious, deadly beasts who were branded as a warning to un-vaccinated survivors. Key people needed to rebuild society are protected from disease and beasts inside a fortress-like wall. But Fiona has awakened branded, alone-and on the wrong side of the wall . . .

Bargain Ebook: Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle

Amazon has a Splash Into Summer Book Sale sale going on for a few days and several of the titles are fairy tale related. I'm going to give each title it's own post today.

Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle is $2.99 in ebook format. This one skews younger than most of the titles I am sharing today, but it is also a Newbery Honor book which means it merits consideration if you are skeptical about children's book. And there are elves!

Book description:

Will Hillary uncover the secret of the elf village in Sara-Kate’s backyard?

No fourth grader trusts Sara-Kate Connolly. Her boots are dirty, her clothes are weird, and she’s so maladjusted that the school had to hold her back a grade. But Hillary is her next-door neighbor, and can’t say no when the unusual loner invites her over to play. In Sara-Kate’s overgrown backyard, Hillary will find proof of a world of magic—the kind that can only blossom between true friends.

Among the rusted car parts and wild plants, a miniature village has sprung up. It has tiny houses made from string, sticks, and maple leaves; a well with a bottlecap for a bucket; and even a little playground with a Popsicle-stick Ferris wheel. But there’s absolutely no sign of who built this miniature world. To Sara-Kate, the answer is clear—only elves could be responsible for something so enchanted. As she and Hillary watch for their elusive new friends, they learn that friendship, like magic, springs up where you least expect it.

This ebook features a personal history by Janet Taylor Lisle including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s own collection.

Bargain Ebook: Between the Sea and Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore (Mermaids)

Amazon has a Splash Into Summer Book Sale sale going on for a few days and several of the titles are fairy tale related. I'm going to give each title it's own post today.

Between the Sea and Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore is about mermaids and sirens. For those of you who like both, that's enough, isn't it? :) It is $2.99 today for ebook and $8.99 for paperback.

Book description:

For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her older sister, Dosinia, as a siren--the highest calling a mermaid can have. When Dosinia runs away to the mainland, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily to the capital city. There she comes upon a friend she hasn't seen since childhood--a dashing young man named Alandare, who belongs to a winged race of people. As Esmerine and Alandare band together to search for Dosinia, they rekindle a friendship . . . and ignite the emotions for a love so great, it cannot be bound by sea, land, or air.

Bargain Ebooks: Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble (Baba Yaga)

Amazon has a Splash Into Summer Book Sale sale going on for a few days and several of the titles are fairy tale related. I'm going to give each title it's own post today.

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble has been discounted before and featured on the blog when it was, but it is again $1.99. The first book in a series, the book features the Russian fairy tale witch Baba Yaga. The two sequels are bargain priced at $2.99 each. That's an entire series for $8. See Haunted (Dreaming Anastasia) and Anastasia Forever (Dreaming Anastasia).

Book description:

What really happened to Anastasia Romanov?

Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead.

In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college—until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams…

Burne-Jones Dream Collection by A-England

Anyone who has been reading my words in this blog for a while remembers that I have a nail polish fetish. One of my favorite brands has thrilled me again with a new collection this time inspired by the work of Edward Burne-Jones, specifically his Sleeping Beauty/Briar Rose paintings. The collection by A-England is the Burne-Jones Dream Collection with five colors, one yet to be released although at the moment all five are hard to acquire since the nail polish fandom has bought them out as they trickle into the market. I've shared A-England collections before since they are all connected to fantasy and literature, things close to our hearts on the SurLaLune blog. See A-England's Gothic Beauties Nail Polish and The Mythicals Nail Polish.

There are no bottle images yet--I will have to do a part 2 post later--but here are swatches with color names that capture the Burne-Jones palette. The image came from Llarowe, one of the US distributors along with Ninja Polish and Overall Beauty, all reliable retailers. The official A-England site doesn't have the collection posted yet.


Burne-Jones painted some of the most famous Sleeping Beauty images in the world and he visited the themes  several times, ever fascinated by this story. You can read a little more about my own viewings here. They are stunning in person.

And a great book about Burne-Jones is still in print:

Edward Burne-Jones: The Earthly Paradise
Now I only wish A-England will create an elegant and lovely fairy tale inspired collection. I imagine it would surpass all those done before and be less predictable, too. Imagine a Catskin or Donkeyskin/Peau d'Ane inspired color... She's already given us Jane Eyre and others... I can dream...

Bargain Ebook: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and her daughter Samantha van Leer is bargain priced today only for $1.99. I featured it last year when it was released since it uses fairy tale themes for inspiration, best described by the professional reviews and book description, provided below.

I haven't read the book--it was on my mental watch list and so I pinged on it when it was highlighted for sale today--but I am always amused/frustrated by the reviews for books like this. The reader reviews range greatly and most of the negative ones are essentially "this is a bad book because my adult author wrote a dumb book for younger readers" ilk.

Does the book's writing vary that greatly from the adult ones by the same author? I don't know. (And I am again frustrated when adult audience authors condescend with a book for YA that is obviously "dumbed down," too.) Or were they simply off put by the main character's age, not the writing quality? Always fascinating. Beautiful writing is beautiful writing whatever the intended audience age. Since I'm all ages I've ever lived in my head, I enjoy well-written books for all ages, even the ages I still hope to become. The family joke is that I am finally the age I have always been in my head so turning 40 last year was in no way traumatic for me and yet I enjoy YA and children's literature, too.

But on to the book description for what may be a great or not so great book by Picoult et fille:

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult and her teenage daughter present their first-ever novel for teens, filled with romance, adventure, and humor.

What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.

Bluebeard Thinking

I have been traveling and returned home with a lovely case of food poisoning, so I am even further behind than anticipated this week. But I had to chime in on the wonderful Bluebeard discussions happening around our fairy tale world thanks to Theodora Goss's thought provoking post this past Saturday, On Bluebeard, with InkGypsy's contribution, Of Keys & Bluebeards.

My mind is simply not clear enough to contribute well at this point, but the subject is so very critical to me and one that I am intimate with, especially after the time I have spent reading and translating and editing Bluebeard tales, Bluebeard Tales From Around the World (Surlalune Fairy Tale Series). This post isn't meant to be self-serving but that is unavoidable since my experiences with the tale are connected to my book.


I shy away from the horror genre in general with few exceptions so it has always been a journey of self-discovery to figure out why Bluebeard resonates so strongly with me. The fascination started in high school, not when I read the original tale, but when I read Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber: And Other Stories.

Over the years, I've come to accept my fascination with the tale as the warning and acknowledgment of the hidden dangers of some men in our lives. Or as Goss stated:

If you’re a woman, and you’ve lived for a while in the world, you’ve learned to be cautious. You’ve learned that you don’t know who people are, or what they’re capable of, until you’ve known them for a long time, and sometimes not even then.

Most of the women I know are wise to live with a moderate level of caution in their daily lives, a philosophy of living that overreacting is usually safer than no action at all. Violence and death are real possibilities and we all know victims personally if we are not ones ourselves. And, really, most of us have been victims on some level, unfortunately. For me, it was a hand in a dark movie theatre of a strange man sitting two seats away, reaching over to touch parts of me that were not acceptable. I was alone but the theatre was far from empty. I had been cautious in where I went and where I sat. And he waited until the movie was two-thirds done. Then he ran away in the dark, not to be caught or identified by me.

For me, there's the relative who needed the legal system to stop a man from stocking her after a few dates. "A day in jail for each flower you send her," the judge told him. Fortunately, that time, it worked and he stopped. After he had hacked her email and caused her enough embarrassment that a new job was necessary. And after a restraining order that required footwork across the country to be served.

And the blame Goss mentions? It's rampant, no matter the level of abuse/attack that was experienced by the women. The women in my life blame themselves. And some of their friends and families hold them responsible, too, on many levels. Why didn't they know better to be in that place with that person? Bluebeard does this, too, by giving us a woman's "curiosity" as an acceptable reason for punishment/death.

When I translated tales for my Bluebeard collection, one French tale, Barbe Rouge, particularly stood out. It was the only tale to give me a nightmare the night after I first read it, too.

It begins like this:

BARBE Rouge was married seven times and successively lost each of his wives after a short time of homemaking. He lived ten years in harmony with his eighth wife with whom he had two daughters and a son. But after that time, Barbe Rouge took his wife into such hatred that he resolved to get rid of her.

One Sunday, at the moment she returned from Mass, he said to her, “Jeanne-Marie, today I will kill you.”

“Allow me,” the woman replied, “to put on my wedding clothes, those in which I was married to you.”

“Then go up to your room and be quick for I am in a hurry.”

This tale disturbed me because it was so matter-of-fact, there was no reason given for the sudden hatred--not even curiosity--and the only hint of a previous problem is the dead wives--but dead spouses were more common before modern medicine. And there's children, too. This is a mentally disturbed man.

And how many women think of their keys as a weapon when walking anywhere, almost anytime? Mine reside on a wrist strap that turn my keys into an effective mace, too. My husband, as weapon-loving as he is, doesn't think like that in his day-to-day living.

Anyway, enough meandering through my unorganized thoughts, my real job is to recommend Bluebeard resources for further reading:


Secrets beyond the Door: The Story of Bluebeard and His Wives by Maria Tatar

Bluebeard: A Reader's Guide to the English Tradition by Casie E. Hermansson should not be missed. She explores the history and variations of the tale in the greatest detail.

Bluebeard Tales From Around the World (Surlalune Fairy Tale Series) edited by Heidi Anne Heiner--many of tales, plays, etc. discussed by Hermansson are collected here, plus some other materials.

And don't miss Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber: And Other Stories

Online, there is also Bluebeard and the Bloody Chamber by Terri Windling.

Finally, a fascinating Bluebeard retelling shouldn't be missed in Ariane et Barbe-bleue by Maurice Maeterlinck. The play appears in my book.

And, of course, where I started it all, The Annotated Bluebeard. (Really, that's where SurLaLune started, with an annotated Bluebeard.)

Finally, the views in the post are mine and based upon my own life and experiences. I am closing the comments for this post because I am not going to moderate a discussion about sexism, discrimination, etc. When statistics show that women and children are not the most victimized members of society with the perpetrators primarily men, I will open the discussion. And that's not happening any time soon, alas. I am grateful for the many, many wonderful and trustworthy men in my life but they do not approach their safety in the same way the women in my life do in their day-to-day living.

New Book: Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James

Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James was released last week and has dropped in price since its release date. This is the most recent book in James's fairy tale inspired romance series. There's a good review of it at Heroes and Heartbreakers which provides some content and shows how James tries to break some romance tropes in her books.

Book description:

To win her love. . .

As an extremely wealthy laird, Gowan Stoughton, Duke of Kinross, can have any of the maidens at the ball he attends. The only problem is they are all English and Gowan is not so certain they are suitable. He is accustomed to the hard-working lasses from his Highlands, not these dainty noblewomen who spend their days drinking tea or some other such nonsense. But then he makes the acquaintance of Lady Edith Gilchrist. Utterly bewitched by the emerald-eyed beauty with lush golden locks, he knows he must have her.

He must free her from her tower. . .

"Edie" had the misfortune of being dreadfully ill at her debut ball and barely remembers what Gowan looks like. Even worse, she accepted his proposal the following day. Edie's only true passion is playing music—until Gowan writes a scandalous letter and stirs the most irresistible desire. Yet when they marry, Edie realizes her husband needs a lesson and locks herself in a tower. Somehow Gowan must find a way to enter the tower and convince his new bride that she belongs in his arms.

   

New Book: Clockwork Fairy Tales: A Collection of Steampunk Fables

Clockwork Fairy Tales: A Collection of Steampunk Fables by Stephen L. Antczak (Editor), James C. Bassett (Editor) was released yesterday.

Book description:

Combining the timeless fairy tales that we all read as children with the out-of-time technological wizardry that is steampunk, this collection of stories blends the old and the new in ways sure to engage every fantasy reader.…

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Red Shoes,” New York Times bestselling author K. W. Jeter’s “La Valse” forges a fable about love, the decadence of technology, and a gala dance that becomes the obsession of a young engineer—and the doom of those who partake in it.…

In “You Will Attend Until Beauty Awakens,” national bestselling author and John W. Campbell Award winner Jay Lake tells the story of Sleeping Beauty—and how the princess was conceived in deception, raised in danger, and rescued by a prince who may be less than valiant.

The tale of “The Tinderbox” takes a turn into the surreal when a damaged young soldier comes into possession of an intricate, treacherous treasure and is drawn into a mission of mercy in national bestselling author Kat Richardson’s “The Hollow Hounds.”

In “The Kings of Mount Golden,” Hugo and World Fantasy Award nominee Paul Di Filippo tells the story of a young man’s search for his heritage and a mechanical marvel that lies at the heart of a sinister pact in this fascinating take on “The King of the Golden Mountain.”


ALSO INCLUDES STORIES FROM
Steven Harper
Nancy A. Collins
G. K. Hayes
Gregory Nicoll
Pip Ballantine

Review:

"Take a few of the Western world's best-known fairy tales, toss in a generous helping of gizmos and steam, and you get one of the most inspired mash-ups of the year...There are many thoughtful new spins on old favorites."—Publishers Weekly