Enchantment

As we outgrow our childhood, we say goodbye to many fun traditions. No longer do we believe in the Easter Bunny or hope that the Tooth Fairy will bring us gifts in the night (although some financial assistance for crowns and wisdom teeth extractions would be nice). With adulthood, we stop reading books that begin with “Once upon a time… ”. But, some days, when work is, well work, and newspapers are filled with stories about the bad economy, a fairy tale seems like the perfect escape from the real world. And better than anything that Calgon has to offer, listening to the audio version of Orson Scott Card’s Enchantment, can really take your mind away.

Running through the forest in Russia, 10-year old Ivan finds a beautiful sleeping woman who is magically frozen in time. Not fully believing what he sees, but still sensing danger, Ivan flees the clearing. Soon after, his family moves to the United States. Over a decade later, Ivan, now fully Westernized, returns to Russia to complete his research of Russian folklore for his graduate thesis. Although he has never mentioned it to anyone, the scene in the forest has haunted him and he returns to banish this hopefully imaginary event from his mind. Instead, he discovers the beautiful Princess Katerina, who has been asleep under a spell for hundreds of years. Ivan breaks the spell and awakens the princess with a kiss. Now all of us recognize this as the end of that classic, Sleeping Beauty, but where Disney’s story ends, Enchantment is just beginning to take off. This magical fairy tale transports Ivan to 9th century Russia where Ivan must save Katerina and her kingdom from the evil Russian witch, Baba Yaga.

In Enchantment, Orson Scott Card has created an unusual meld of fairy tale and Russian mythology with modern day action and suspense. Part of the humor and fun in the story is the combination of medieval culture with present day society. Ivan’s advanced education, intelligence and lean physique might be a magnet for women in the 20th century, but do not impress Princess Katerina, who expects men to be brawny and able to wield a broad sword, not a quill and parchment. Unlike the traditional fairy tale, the princess does not wake from her thousand year slumber in love with the man who has broken the spell. Her disdain for Ivan and the tension and sparring between the two heroes of this story add romance and humor to this charming fairy tale. Throw in some exciting and clever plot twists and you have a performance that appeals to both romance lovers and adventure addicts – the perfect audio book for a long car trip with someone special.

.Although the book originally published in print in 1999, the audio version was recently released in 2010 by Blackstone. The combination of magical fantasy and fast paced suspense make this a superb story to enjoy in audio. Orson Scott Card shifts the point of view several times during the book, giving the reader the opportunity to hear the story from eight different people including Ivan, the princess, and even the wicked Baba Yaga. This Blackstone production features two award winning narrators, Stefan Rudnicki and Gabrielle de Cuir, who make the transition between the various points of view seamless. Both narrators give stellar performances, switching often between American, Russian and Yiddish accents. The audio book is lengthy – over 17 hours – but Rudnicki’s soothing bass voice and de Cuir’s incredible performance as both the young heroine Katerina and the old crone Baba Yaga will have you savoring every moment.

So, if life gets too hectic and you need to escape in a fairy tale, or if you are just in the mood for a well told story filled with magic, romance, and adventure, pamper yourself with this beautiful story – you’ll be enchanted!

Probably closer to 3.5 stars but it didn’t quite have enough for me to round up. I liked this book, but I wanted to like it much more. It was basically a mix of Outlander (with actual time travel) and Sleeping Beauty, and felt like a fairy tale for adults. I liked the characters but didn’t love them. Ivan was too bull-headed for his own good at times and it seemed like Katerina she didn’t want to speak her feelings because plot. The story was interesting, and the payoff at the end was satisfying, but it felt like there was so much filler in between. I liked it, didn’t love it, but I’d read it again at some point in the future.

Very charming book that gives a feel of historic Russia.

Mysleli ste si, že rozprávka o spiacej princeznej, ktorú prebudí bozkom mládenec čistého srdca je odniekiaľ zo západnej Európy? Tu je to príbeh o Ivanovi, ktorý behá rýchlejšie ako medveď a krásnej Kataríne, ktorú uspala Baba Jaga, pretože chcela získať jej kráľovstvo.
Je to príbeh, ktorý hovorí, čo bolo potom, keď sa kliatba zlomila. On ju pobozkal, ona otvorila oči a...
Perfektne prepojené deviate storočie a súčasnosť, Ukrajina a Amerika, mýty a viera, pôvodné i zabudnuté božstvá, stará mágia a kresťanstvo, prvé písmo, tradície a ľudová slovesnosť. Úplne som nadšená, Orson Scott Card vie písať a očaril ma príbehom, kde sa princezná nebojí tvrdej práce, pozná svojich poddaných po mene, a kde atlét hovorí nielen staroslovančinou a síce nevie bojovať mečom, ale je šikovný a múdry a verím, že princeznú si zaslúži.

A wonderful romance book.

3.5 stars.

Ivan grew up in Russia, but moves with his parents to the U.S. when he is 10 years old. When he returns to the Ukraine as an adult, after he’s become engaged, he is drawn to a forest where he saw something as a child – something that always haunted him. In that forest lay “Sleeping Beauty”, a.k.a. Katerina. Once Katerina is awakened, she and Ivan go back to the time she fell asleep – the year, 890. Basically, Enchantment tells the story of what happened after Sleeping Beauty was awakened.

It was good, but I felt it took a long time to really get going. During the first bit, I kept waiting for the “real” story to start, but even after it did, it took a while yet for me to really get into it. The story was told from different points of view, and I enjoyed Ivan’s and Katerina’s points of view much more than the others, but I didn’t find myself all that interested in the point of view of Baba Yaga, the witch who put the spell on Katerina to begin with.

This was a good change of pace for me. It was a bit fairy tale retelling (a fav), a bit of sci-fi (time travelling), a bit of magic and fantasy (always up for that), with an interesting mix of Medieval Christianity/Judaism mixed in for good measure. Plus, the writing style that is so enjoyable in anything from Orson Scott Card - seamless switching from scene setting or conversation to deep, philosophical musings that explore just enough to make you think long after you've moved on in the story. I enjoyed it, and definitely recommend it - though it is a departure from anyone who is used to OSC's sci-fi/space works.

Such a mix of theology! Most of it bad.

Interesting take on an old fairy tale. (Wow… Russian fairy tales were/are stark and graphic)

Interesting discussions on clothing and what constitutes male vs female clothing in culture with very strong taboos about either sex wearing the other’s. Some of that bad theology came in here where there was no grace for covering the naked person with whatever was at hand even if it was a female’s garment meant to cover a naked man in the *cold*. Bible says “I was naked and you clothed me”. It doesn’t say I was a naked man and you only gave me women’s clothing to wear (even when that was all there was to offer).

This story sort of becomes a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court but not as good.

Not really a fan of Orson Scott Card I guess.