The World Above by Cameron Dokey

The World Above is one of the more recent offerings in publisher, Simon Pulse's Once Upon A Time series. In this fractured fairytale, author Cameron Dokey combines the fairy tale, Jack and The Beanstalk, with the myth of Robin Hood to create a very unusual story.

Gentian and Jack are fraternal twins who live with their mother in the World Below. Their situation was becoming dire so one day their mother sent Jack to town to sell their only cow, Agapanthus (seriously, that is the cow's name!! and it is also the name of a plant known as the African lily). Fearing that he would do something stupid both Gen and Jack's mother urged him to be practical and to drive a hard bargain. Jack returned home after encountering an old woman who gave him seven beans with magical powers in exchange for their cow. Instead of being angry however, their mother shed tears of joy for she recognized the beans as a way back to her home in the World Above.

Jack and Gen have been told a bedtime story by their mother as they were growing up. Now they learn that that story was not a tale, but the story of their mother's life before she came to the World Below. Their mother, Celine Marchand, married the much older widower, Duke Roland des Jardins who ruled over a small, prosperous kingdom. Duke Roland was very good friends with another nobleman, Horace de Trabant whose kingdom was adjacent to Roland's. De Trabant's son, Guy, came to live with Roland upon his father's death. It was the hope that the two dukedoms would be united by the marriage of their children some day. However, that was not to happen. Duke Roland met the beautiful Celine Marchand at Guy de Trabant's wedding and they were married soon after. However, Guy de Trabant was not happy at his guardian's marriage because should Duke Roland have a heir, Guy would not inherit Roland's land. Guy rose up against Duke Roland, murdering him and seizing his land.

Meanwhile, Celine des Jardins, suspecting she was pregnant, went to visit her nurse, Rowan. When she learned of her husband's murder, Celine realized she must flee. With the help of her nurse, and one magical red bean, Celine climbed  down a beanstalk from the World Above to the World Below. Rowan told her "When the time is right, a messenger will come to the World Below. You and your children will be given the means to return to the World Above. It may be many years before this day comes, but never doubt that it will. Prepare your children well."

The fact that Jack has returned with seven magical beans indicates to Celine that it is time to return to the World Above to reclaim Duke Roland's kingdom. But Jack must have some way of proving who he is. Celine shows Gen and Jack the Roland family coat of arms which has a sack overflowing with coins, a goose in flight along with a lyre that speaks the truth and a beanstalk. They are symbols of the des Jardins family power and of the covenant between the family and the people they govern. These also represent gifts given to the des Jardins family to help them rule wisely. The wizard prophesied that these gifts would someday help to restore the des Jardin's family power.

If Jack is to restore the Roland seat he must retrieve all of the wizard's gifts from the usurper, Guy de Trabant. They decide to send Jack to the World Above on a reconnaissance mission, to see the state of affairs. Jack returns with a bedraggled goose and a sack filled with a few coins. But he must return to retrieve the lyre which is being held at the de Trabant castle. When Jack does not return after four weeks, Gen knows she must try to find her brother and remove Guy de Trabant from their land. Little does she know, she will receive help from a most unlikely person.

Discussion

In The World Above,  the imaginative merging of two popular tales, Jack and the Beanstalk and Robin Hood was the most surprising aspect of this story. Dokey manages to make everything tie together quite nicely, while adding a hint of romance. 

Because this novel is part of a series of paperback novels based on the imaginative retelling of fairytales, some aspects are left underdeveloped. In The World Above, while the characters are interesting, they are largely not fleshed out. For example the villian, Guy de Trabant, is featured only briefly at the very end. The reader is told of his betrayal of Duke Roland, demonstrating his ingratitude. The hint of romance is only barely present, but again is left to the reader's imagination at the end of the book. Dokey incorporates a bit of Robin Hood into the storyline that makes for an excellent twist. Overall, The World Above is a good story, that leaves readers wanting so much more!

Nevertheless, this is short novel will be great for those who want something a little different to read.

Book Details:
The World Above by Cameron Dokey
New York: Simon Pulse    2010
175 pp.

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is blithe and bonny and good and gay.

Enchanted is a fractured fairytale telling the story of the frog prince while incorporating parts of many other fairy tales.

Sunday Woodcutter is the seventh daughter of Jack and Seven Woodcutter; Jack, a seventh son and Seven, a seventh daughter. Sunday's family includes her older brothers Jack Jr., and Peter, and Trix who was adopted as well as Sunday's six sisters all of whom are named after days of the week. Monday and Tuesday are twins, Wednesday is quiet but poetic and lives in the tower of their boot-shaped home, Thursday ran off and married a Pirate King and plunders ships, Friday spends all her time helping those less fortunate, and Saturday, a large, strong young woman brandishing an axe, who loves to work hard with her axe.

Sunday's family has suffered much tragedy in their life. Tuesday who was graceful and loved to dance, died after putting on a new pair of shoes charmed by her mother and which caused her to dance herself to death. Jack Jr. was changed into a puppy while serving in the King's Royal Guard, after causing the death of the Prince's puppy. Jack Jr.'s death has meant that the Woodcutter family can never forgive the Royal Family. And Jack has forbidden his family from ever speaking about it again.

One day while sitting in the woods, writing stories in her journal, Sunday meets a frog - a talking frog named Grumble. Grumble is smart, eloquent, well-mannered, and moves and behaves as though he were a man trapped in a frog's body. Sunday, whose family has fey blood in them, is not surprised much by the appearance of Grumble. Sunday reads Grumble her entry about her family but tells him she never writes something unless it's already happened, because things have a "tendency to come true".

Sunday continues to meet Grumble, whom she feels at ease with and who makes her laugh. Sunday doesn't know who Grumble is, only that he is a man with a spell on him. Every day before she leaves, she grants Grumble his wish that she kiss him in the hopes that the spell will be broken. And every day nothing happens to change poor Grumble back into the prince he once was. The longer Grumble stays a frog, the less he will remember until he forgets he was ever a man. He will no longer understand Sunday when she talks and their friendship will be lost.

Gradually their friendship blossoms into love. One day when Sunday does kiss Grumble, unknown to her, he turns back into Prince Rumbold. Her true love for Grumble has broken the spell. That night there is a raging storm, a sign that a powerful spell has been broken. Prince Rumbold returns home to the palace, determined to win Sunday's love. To this end, he requests that three balls be held in three days and that every eligible young woman in the land is to be invited.

Meanwhile, it is revealed that Sunday is in fact, no ordinary girl. Besides being able to turn frog princes back into men, Sunday has fey magic in her blood and so do her sisters and brother Peter. This is because Sunday's grandfather spent time in the Fairy Queen's court and was changed as a result. Because of this, Sunday is instructed by her Aunt Joy who is her godmother,in the various abilities of fey magic. This storyline is never fully developed in the novel.

Since Rumbold's early return from his spell, (it was supposed to last a year but he spent only nine months as a frog) he struggles to adjust to palace life. He can remember how to walk and talk, but he can't remember his life before becoming a frog. He also is haunted by dreams and voices that ask him to help. Prince Rumbold has no idea what this is. When Rumbold goes to see his father, the King, whose name no one knows, he discovers that his father is actually extremely ancient and is being kept alive by the blood of a fairy. Prince Rumbold's mother, the Queen, has been long dead.

Not yet understanding the significance of this, Rumbold attends the first ball and easily picks out Sunday as the young woman he fell in love with as a frog. He begins to court her, not telling her that he is her frog prince. Meanwhile, his father chooses Sunday's sister, Wednesday, as his new queen. But Rumbold learns even more about his father and his evil plan, and knows now that he must not only tell Sunday the truth about who he is, but also try to save Wednesday from the terrible fate his father has planned for her.

Discussion

Told in the alternating voices of Sunday Woodcutter, and Prince Rumbold, Enchanted is a truly bizarre story whose main fairy tale is that of the frog prince, but which also incorporates many other fairy tales, all of them fractured as well. The novel incorporates parts of Jack in the Beanstalk, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, The Old Woman Who Lived in A Shoe and Cinderella. Kontis' attempt to weave in elements of other fairy tales was in itself interesting and might have worked but for the convoluted main story which was further broken up by having two narrators. In addition to the main Frog Prince storyline, there are two fairy godmothers who are at war with one another, casting spells and counter spells which affect the lives of the families they are attached to. All of this made the novel difficult to follow and tedious to read.

Since the novel is plot driven and there are so many twists and turns, so many different story lines, characterization is all but forgotten and eventually so is the romantic drama between Rumbold and Sunday until almost the very end. Alethea Kontis simply tried to do too much. A simple retelling perhaps focusing on just the Frog Prince fairytale while including romantic intrigue might have sufficed.

The original Frog Prince fairy tale, the first in the Brothers Grimm, has a spoiled princess meeting a frog. She undoes the spell by throwing the frog against a wall.

Book Details:
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2012
308 pp.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder is a unique mash-up of fairytale and science fiction.  The fairytale is an underlying theme until the end of the book where it rears up in full force.

The story is set in post World War IV Earth, during which whole cities were been annihilated, including Beijing. Cinder is set specifically in New Beijing which is part of the Eastern Commonwealth, ruled by Emperor Rikan. Many generations ago, Earth colonized the moon. The descendants of the colonists became known as Lunars. Lunars are not considered human but a different race that is greedy and violent. This is partly due to the fact that they have developed the unique ability to manipulate what humans see and feel through the use of bioelectrical energy. For this reason, they can easily control humans and are considered very dangerous to "Earthens". However, not all Lunars have this ability and these are known as "shells".

Earth is experiencing a deadly plague called metumosis for which there is no cure. Anyone who becomes ill with the plague is automatically taken away and quarantined to die. Emperor Rikan is on his deathbed from metumosis and his son, Kai is poised to be named the new emperor. This occurs at the time that Emperor Rikan was attempting to negotiate a new alliance with the Lunars, possibly through the marriage of Prince Kai and the Lunar monarch, Queen Levana.  Queen Levana is cruel and manipulative and it is widely held that she murdered her sister to ascend the throne. Queen Levana is also believed to have murdered her niece, Princess Selene who was her only threat to rule. Because of her ability to control others, the Lunars have been unable to rise up against Queen Levana. Some Lunars have escaped to Earth and live as Earthens. This is the dsytopian world that Cinder lives in.

Linh Cinder is a cyborg and an extraordinary mechanic who runs her own repair booth at the nearby marketplace. Cinder's body was altered when she was eleven-years-old. She has a mechanical hand and foot, a heart that is partly silicon and her brain has computer software integrated into it. Cinder is ashamed that she is a cyborg.

Cinder lives with her guardian, Adri Linh, and her two stepsisters, Pearl and Peony, in New Beijing. Her stepmother is cruel to her and Cinder's only friend is Peony, whom she loves dearly. Similar to the Cinderella fairytale, Adri orders Cinder around, pushing her to do all the repairs. When they learn that there is to be a ball held by Prince Kai on the occasion of his coronation as Emperor, Pearl, Peony and Adri discuss dresses and shoes. But Adri makes it quite clear that Cinder will not be attending. She has too much to do and besides, why would an ugly cyborg want to attend anyway?

Because Cinder is well known for her mechanical abilities, Prince Kai shows up one day at her booth with a malfunctioning droid. They meet and are instantly attracted to one another. But Prince Kai is unaware that Cinder is a cyborg and Cinder knows she can never be with him.

When Peony sickens from the plague and is quarantined, Adri has Cinder sent to the research facility to be used as a test subject for a plague cure. It is during these tests at the research facility attached to the palace that Cinder is discovered by Dr. Erland, head of plague research, to have some remarkable qualities. When he questions her about her past life, all Cinder can remember is that she was injured in a hover accident and made into a cyborg. Dr. Erland promises Cinder that he will run tests to try to understand her situation better. The reader though, by this time should have a pretty good idea just who Cinder is, so that when Dr. Erland reveals to Cinder what he has learned about her, it really comes as no surprise.

Cinder also meets Kai again and he invites her to the coronation ball. Despite her repeated  refusals to attend, Kai continues to insist that she do so. Meanwhile Prince Kai must deal with the evil Queen Levana who has arrived on Earth for his coronation. Queen Levana continues to pressure Prince Kai into marriage by blackmail. Kai knows that if he marries her, his life will be over but that if he refuses, war with Lunar will ensue.

Pearl and Adri leave for the ball,  and Cinder is left at home to finish her mechanical chores. But instead of a fairy godmother showing up to provide a way to get there, Cinder learns some important information that makes it imperative that she attend and warn Prince Kai of a trap. The resulting confrontation places Cinder in great peril and brings the book to its climax.

Discussion

Cinder was an imaginative start to what will be a four book series known as The Lunar Chronicles. While the plot is complicated but interesting, there are many similarities to the first Star Wars movie story line; a prince in distress with an android carrying a secret message that must be accessed and a young girl who has a knack for mechanics, adopted by people she hardly knows, drawn into a crisis of potential planetary war against a cruel dictator with special powers! All of this is superimposed on the Cinderella fairy tale, with its potential to be a love story.

Because there was so much to be developed in this first book, the dystopian world building (Earth and Moon), the complicated story, and introduction of many important characters, Cinder is somewhat weak on depth of characterization but long on action and description.

However, it sets the stage well for the next book, which hopefully develop the complicated and conflicted characters both Kai and Cinder seem to be. This series promises either to be very very good, or a hot mess of characters and plot lines. Fans of twisted fairy tales will love Cinder!

Book Details
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
New York: Macmillan (Feiwel and Friends Book)   2012
390 pp.