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Loading... Enchantmentby Orson Scott Card
 FlanneryAC | Mar 31, 2013 |  Giving this two stars is completely unfair of me and I admit it. I was actually liking the book up until about halfway through, when I saw the Card's joke about burying the word of Jesus, which is a reference to Mormonism. Unfortunately, after that line, I couldn't help but see every bit of dialog - especially those about duty or religion in general - in relation to Card's personal religious beliefs. And that was vaguely embarrassing, akin to watching someone walk around in public wearing just underwear... I wish I knew absolutely nothing about Card's personal life and abhorrent beliefs so that I could have enjoyed this book a little bit more. (  ) Melanti | Mar 30, 2013 | Not so much a review as my input and reasons for shelving for any friends who check this. On my blacklist because it's OSC. I refuse to read anything by such a blatant raving homophobe - I don't want to financially support someone who'd willingly donate to causes that oppress my human rights. Whatever the quality of his writing may be. Trialia | Mar 30, 2013 | A really interesting retelling. There were several points throughout the book at which I had no idea where the story might be heading, but I'm glad I stuck with it. It wasn't as fanciful as I'd hoped; it was much more realistic, with bits of humor and folklore, but engaging nonetheless. (  ) LaPhenix | Nov 6, 2012 | I generally enjoy new twists on old fairy tales. However, Enchantment, while nominally that, did not seem as fulfilling as it should have been. ( ) PeregrineV | Sep 6, 2012 |
 The youthful protagonists, the elements of fantasy and romance, and Card's imaginative, humorous storytelling make this a winner for young adults. Combining modern sensibilities with ageless, mythic truths, Card's latest novel is highly recommended. In the hands of a gifted storyteller like Card, this classic tale becomes a compelling adventure that takes Ivan and a princess from our own time to her ancient Slavic village and back again. Is a retelling of
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0345482409, Paperback)Enchantment is the story of a Ukraine-born, American grad student who finds himself transported to the ninth century to play the prince in a Russian version of Sleeping Beauty. Early in the story, he muses that in a French or English retelling of the tale, the prince and princess would live happily ever after. But, "only a fool would want to live through the Russian version of any fairy tale."Although his fears turn out to be warranted, as he and his cursed princess contend with the diabolical witch Baba Yaga--easily Russia's best pre-Khrushchev villain--to save the princess's kingdom, Enchantment is ultimately a sweet story. Mixing magic and modernity, the acclaimed Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game) has woven threads of history, religion, and myth together into a convincing, time-hopping tale that is part love story, part adventure. Enchantment's heroes, "Prince" Ivan and Princess Katerina, must deal with cross-cultural mores, ancient gods, treacherous kinsmen (and fianceés), and ultimately Baba Yaga herself. Card has a knack for coming across like your nerdy dad at times, when he runs on too long or makes some particularly wince-inducing observation or reference ("Daaad, Bruce Cockburn is not cool!"). But, as you might expect of a good dad, as uncool as he might be, Card still manages to tell a good bedtime story. --Paul Hughes (retrieved from Amazon Tue, 19 Apr 2011 03:54:47 -0400) In a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty tale, American graduate student Ivan stumbles upon a mysterious sleeping maiden in the Carpathian forest whom he awakens with a kiss, setting in motion a series of events encompassing the modern world and a world that vanished a thousand years ago.… (more) |
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Also, there are a lot of times I was pissed at Katarina for the shit she put Ivan through. If I were him I would've just kicked her in the shin and freaking booked it back to the future. Nevertheless, I still liked the book and would recommend it to most people. There's a lot of crude jokes in it (which I though was funny considering I assumed(wrongly) that this was an Ender's Game-type young adult book of Card's) but you can overlook most of them.
Audiobook caveats: I dozed off a couple times during the Baba Yaga sections of the book-->The woman reading her sections was good at the narrative voice and the witch but her voice as the bear was ridiculous. It sounded like what my mom would sound like if she tried to talk like a bear...ridiculous. (