Book of Enchantments

Delightful. A set of fairy tales, some new, some imagined, in which cleverness is not limited by age or gender or magical ability or even the border of death, and in which courage and nobility are similarly free. Probably recommended for middle grade readers but a charming interlude for anyone, I should think.

Summary: A collection of what I would call fairy tales or folk stories, although they're mostly original imaginings - only one or two tread the ground of retelling familiar stories. There are stories of not-too-bright gods, singing enchantresses, vain unicorns, curses and werewolves, a bone harp that may or may not speak the truth, a curse that may have been left too long to be broken, an enchanted rose garden, an ancient sword with unusual power, and a short story from the Enchanted Forest, featuring Cimorene, Mendenbar and The Frying Pan of Doom. And, to top it all off, there's a recipe at the end for Barbarian's Quick After-Battle Triple Chocolate Cake (it makes more sense in context, I swear) (edit: Just made the cake, and it's not show more the best cake I've ever had, but it's pretty darn good).

Review: I enjoyed this book a lot more than a lot of the other "fairy tale" books I've read recently. A large part of that is that I really enjoy Patricia C. Wrede's writing: it's clever and elegant without getting too caught up in itself, and I think it's accessible to younger readers without any talking down that might alienate adult readers. I was a little surprised about halfway through the book at how dark some of the stories were. All of Wrede's writing that I've read so far (the Enchanted Forest Chronicles and the Sorcery & Cecelia series) have been for the most part pretty light and very witty, and the first few stories in this volume follow the same vein, so when I got to "Earthwitch", with its darker view of magic and the cost it exacts, it was sort of... not off-putting, certainly, but it definitely threw me a little. Overall, though, every story had either substantial charm and humor, or some real power and emotional pull behind it, and sometimes both.

Recommendation: Definitely worth the read for some original fairy tales that aren't exclusively for kids. show less

After finishing [book: Talking to Dragons] it only seemed right that I turn to the [book: Book of Enchantments]. I remember very clearly my initial excitement at picking up this collection up when I found it in the library. I was knee deep into fantasy as a kid, and this book tickled that sensibility well with "Utensil Strength" and "The Sixty Two Curses of Caliph Arenschadd" and, of course, the first story. Some of the other stories, though, such as "Cruel Sisters," "Roses By Moonlight," and "Stronger Than Time" were lost on me at a young age. It seems only fitting how thoroughly I adored those stories on this read through.

This is more firmly YA than a children's collection, if only because a few of the stories have more mature themes show more than the bulk of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. "Roses By Moonlight," for instance, deals with the repercussions of not considering another person's point of view. "Stronger Than Time" considers what might befall a kingdom if a Prince was too hasty in his attempts to break a curse, and "Cruel Sisters"... well. Some conflicts you need to speak up about.

This is a great collection. It's good as a stepping stone towards more serious fiction, and seems to showcase [author: Patricia C. Wrede]'s writing far better than, say, [book: Talking With Dragons] tended to. The ending Author's Note in which she addresses the myriad of ways she comes across her ideas is also enlightening, especially to a young aspiring author.

Getting ideas is the easy part, it's writing them down that's difficult... show less

Rikiki and the Wizard - An asshole wizard tries to trade his daughter to the gods for fame and fortune. It backfires . . . surprise! The only god that shows up is a blue chipmunk that doesn't want the daughter . . . unless she has chestnuts.
The Princess, the Cat, and the Unicorn - Poor Princess Elyssa's life is pretty decent. She gets along with her older and younger sisters, and her step-mother is really nice. So she decides to run off and seek her fortune (how scandalous, since that is usually the job of Youngest Princesses), with her parents' blessings. She'll be just fine, because she takes her trusty cat with her. OH WAIT, cats aren't trusty . . . .
Roses by Moonlight - unlike most of Wrede's work, this story has a modern setting. show more Adrian has banished herself from her younger sister's party, because she doesn't like her sister's friends, or her sister's music, or her sister. While outside smoking and contemplating her hatred, Adrian meets a woman who gives her the opportunity to choose her own future. This one has a true science fiction ending (the kind which doesn't actually end), which I love.
The Sixty-two Curses of Caliph Arenschadd - The Caliph is an impetuous man, and every time someone angers him, annoys him, or brings him bad news, he curses them and their immediate family. He has a list of 62 curses, and he uses them in order on each person who bothers him. (Curse 1 for the first time a person bothers him, Curse 2 for the second time that person bothers him, etc.) For the Caliph's subjects, this is just the way of life. But when the grand vizier and his family are the first people to reach Curse 48, something goes wrong.
Earthwitch - A warrior king pays a visit to the Earthwitch, to get her to help save his kingdom from invaders. After a grueling trek up the mountain, the king realizes that he and the Earthwitch know each other . . .
The Sword-seller - A mercenary visits a shop to buy a sword and is offered a suspiciously nice one for free. He takes it but insists on paying. However, the sword comes with more baggage than the mercenary had counted on.
The Lorelei - Another modern story. A group of American school students are on a trip to Germany. Their bus breaks down near the Lorelei cliff, and they learn the legend of the Lorelei. She is the German version of a Siren, who sings to distract sailors from the rocky outcropings on the Rhine and thus wreck their ships.
Stronger Than Time - A sleeping beauty retelling, with a twist. The prince missed his chance to release Sleeping Beauty's spell, so now he has to find another way.
Cruel Sisters - A haunting tale of jealousy and malice between two sisters, from the viewpoint of a third sister who watches from the sidelines.
Utensile Strength - Cimorene!!!! This is a companion story to the Dealing with Dragons series, and features some beloved characters from it. Cimorene and Mendanbar obtain a magical Frying Pan of Doom, and must hold a tournament to find the knight that this powerful weapon is meant for. A tournament with a bake-off, obviously.
Quick After-Battle Triple Chocolate Cake - Surprise!! This is the award-winning recipe from the bake-off, which Wrede has kindly translated from its original Barbarian. show less

Ten short stories, some funny, some more serious, but all featuring Wrede's clever and engaging writing. I reread this to see which books would work best for reading to a group of 3rd-5th graders, and found two that did ("The Princess, the Cat, and the Unicorn" and "The Sixty-Two Curses of Caliph Arenschadd"). But, you know, I had to read the whole collection, just to be sure...

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer   Synopsis A collection of 10 short stories by Patricia Wrede. Most were written for other anthologies but she gathered them all together and added 1 or 2 new ones and made them into a book.   My Thoughts I have a real awkward relationship with books of short stories. On one hand, I love the idea. A whole book of boiled down, stripped to the raw, quintessence of ideas. On the other hand, it rarely seems to be done right and most show more authors seem to throw their favorite ideas into it without the work.  And then you get the dreaded "loved 1 or 2 of them, but the rest were trash" syndrome.   Thankfully, I loved this collection and didn't have any problems with it. To be honest too, I've enjoyed just about anything from Wrede [except her Lyra books], so I am not an unbiased reader.   This ran the gamut from silly fantasy of The Frying Pan of Doom to the sad story about an older sister who is going to start living her life, tomorrow.  One thing I really did like was that Wrede wrote an appendice like thing where she explains where each of the stories came from. I find things like that fascinating for some reason.   Highly recommended to anyone who loves Wrede's works already.   Rating: 4 of 5 Stars   Author: Patricia Wrede " show less

While I am not familiar with Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, I enjoyed this anthology of short fantasy stories. Only a couple of stories had ties to the Enchanted Forest. Some were dark in tone, and some were light and written in that carefree bouncy style of many more modern fairytales (think E. Nesbit, but not turn-of-the-century). Some of the stories felt like they were part of a longer novel and should have been turned into one instead of leaving the reader with so many answers. It was often hard to tell the ages of the characters. One story had high school characters, but they seemed to act and be much younger. All of the characters seemed to exhibit the same (often) insouciant agelessness. All in all, I very much show more enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy. show less