Volume 2 of Orson Scott Card's Enchantment Series

Chiquita: For 3/4 of the book, Ivan's and Katarina's interactions with each other are arguments/being difficult/snarky. It got old- fast. Also, the story's climax was resolved so easily, I was like, "really...?"
There is one sex scene, between a married couple, but it's handled in a classy, non-detailed way.

United States on Nov 16, 2023

Bart M. Lajeunesse: Olson Scott Card writes about characters better than nearly anyone I’ve read, I’ll buy anything he writes

Canada on Oct 03, 2021

Alex: Bestimmt schon 7 oder 8 mal gelesen. einfach jedes Mal gut, ein richtiger Wohlfühl-Roman!

Germany on Sep 28, 2021

Susan: I thought the book was a load of rubbish but my daughter (adult) thought it was the best book she had ever read - go figure - different tastes!

United Kingdom on Oct 08, 2019

Chip Hunter: ENCHANTMENT is a unique take on the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty plus various other fairy tale tropes by Orson Scott Card. What happens after an unwitting Prince Charming kisses the spellbound Princess awake? What does Happily Ever After really look like, and how do we get there when the evil witch (Baba Yaga in this case) is still around? And just to make things a little more interesting, make this a time-traveling story with the usual philosophical meanderings which that entails. It may be a bit much to pull that off in a single novel, but OSC is up to the challenge.

The tale centers around a modern-day boy (Ivan) who accidentally discovers a secret glen containing a mysterious, sleeping woman (Katerina). This fated meeting begins a cascade of events that will determine the course of history, and involves powerful magic, modern innovations, and the involvement of new gods and old. Katerina and Ivan live up to your expectations for fairy tale heroes. Ivan is the pampered son of the modern age, never having had to perform actual manual labor, never having had to bother with the mundane aspects of survival (farming, etc), and certainly never having had to fight for his...

United States on May 04, 2016

Partick Potter: An interesting idea (re-imagining Sleeping Beauty) and generally well told. But the story is fairly predictable and drags heavily through the middle section. It's not the sort of thing I'd usually read, but being a book club selection I gave it a shot, and I'm pleased I did as it was an enjoyable read, albeit not a great one.

United Kingdom on Jan 05, 2016

Arnaud: Si vous avez aimé la série Ender Games vous savez de quoi est capable OSC, mais le thème n'a ici rien à voir, c'est juste magnifique, on se retrouve dans la tête d'un jeune homme propulsé dans un univers de conte de fées teinté de folklore russe, absolument génial, magnifiquement écrit et d'une grande profondeur dans les questionnements existentiels. Bref c'est beau, agréable à lire et ça donne à réfléchir... seul petit bémol, l'édition est vraiment moche (couverture à vomir et très gna gan, police horriblement petite et papier de qualité médiocre), heureusement que c'est une belle oeuvre

France on Apr 13, 2015

amazon user: An incredible book. Enchantment is one of my overall-favorite books and is my favorite book by Orson Scott Card. For comparison, here is a short list of my overall-favorite books (up to the present time, out of several thousand books, in no particular order):

- The Mouse That Roared, by Leonard Wibberley
- Catch 22, by Joseph Heller
- Le Comte de Monte Cristo (AKA, The Count of Monte Cristo), by Alexandre Dumas
- Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo
- Enchantment, by Orson Scott Card
- Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
- The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

If you enjoy the other books on the above list, I'm fairly certain you'll enjoy Enchantment as well. Enchantment has romping adventure, doesn't shy from unmentionables, adhere's to reality as much as possible in a lighthearted manner, and puts a wide grin on my face. Refer respectively to; The Mouse that Roared and The Count of Monte Cristo (romping adventure); Les Misérables, Lord of the Flies, Catch 22, and The Mists of Avalon (doesn't shy from unmentionables and/or adheres to reality); The Mouse that Roared and Catch 22 (lighthearted, grin-inducing read).

As I see it, the novel...

United States on Jun 17, 2013

Wulfstan: OK, this book could be summed up in one line "Sleeping Beauty in Ukraine, a Modern Day Prince, Wicked fairy is played by Baba Yaga." But that doesn't do justice to this book. In fact, it's not a "modern re-telling" at all (which are often Very Bad) although certainly Sleeping Beauty forms a (admitted) basis for the book.

First- it is narrated by several of the characters- mainly "the Prince", the Princess and Baba Yaga. OSC does so seamlessly and very well. Next- it's almost all about what comes after that famous kiss, how does a modern man fit into a Dark Ages Russian Kingdom? Without slipping too easily into Connecticut Yankee mode, of course!

Baba Yaga is truly horribly evil. Our Prince and Princess, OTOH, are done fairly realistically not as one dimensional goody-two-shoes heroes.

It's a fairly fat book, at 400+ pages, but it's a fast page turner of a book, which is always nice. If you're not a fast reader like I am, maybe it might be a little long.

My "Baba" told me stories of the dreaded Baba Yaga and her Hut, and since she wasn't one to coddle us kids, I had nightmares for years. Card's Baba Yaga was thus recognizable by me.

I have to say...

United States on Aug 12, 2010