ENCHANTMENT by Orson Scott Card October 23, 2006

I really loved this book, and I found that suprising. Years ago, I read one of Card's science fiction and hated it, but this book was great. It's a fairy tale, but let me share some lines from the book that give you an idea what kind of fairy tale:
"After all the fairy tales he had read and studied, the one possibility he had never entertained was this: That they might be true, or have some basis in truth. That the world might actually admit such possibilities as giant magical bears that could throw stones, as enchanted women who could lie forever in a coma waiting for . . . ."
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"Western stories ended with getting married and living happily ever after. And Russian fairy tales went far beyond that--to betrayal, adultery, murder, all within that romantic marriage that the wanderer stumbled into. The old tale of Sleeping Beauty might end happily in French or English, but he was in Russia, and only a fool would want to live through the Russian version of any fairy tale."
This fantasy "fairy tale" has all the key elements: a sleeping beauty, magical spells, a wicked witch, knights, kings and princesses. It also has time travel, a hijacked jet liner, plots to preserve written stories to be found 11 centuries later, the decathalon, a broken engagement, an ancient language, a scholar of that ancient language, the early conversion of pagans to Christianity, Judaism, etc. Hopefully you will want to read this book just to see how all this potpourri blends. This was such a fun read that I finished the book more quickly than I would have imagined. I'm not going to try to describe the story, it would take forever, but here are a couple of quotes I enjoyed:
"Since the truth can never be know, a wise woman learns to become a connoisseur of lies, choosing only the best and most satisfying to suround herself with. I sink into my lies like feather beds, and they keep me safe and warm.
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"If only, if only. No matter how much power she had, there was always something else to wish for."
One thing I found disconcerting at the beginning of the book was that Card was quite critical of men. There were a few really disparaging remarks that just hit me as odd. I didn't notice these remarks as I read further, so I'm probably just splitting hairs.
Rating: 4.75

3 Comments:
booklogged said...
So glad you enjoyed it. Reading your review and these engaging quotes makes me want to read it again. My memory's so poor that I'll probably only recognize little glimpses.
Cassie said...
this book sounds really interesting. I'll have to add it to my list...when I get around to making one.
Bookfool said...
I'll have to write this one down. I enjoyed Ender's Game but disliked the second in the Ender series and stopped at that point.