Author: Orson Scott Card.
This is a fairy tale retelling of Sleeping Beauty and what happens after the spell is broken. A young boy stumbles upon an enchanted clearing where he finds a beautiful sleeping princess. However, he was chased away by a creature that guards her. The boy grows up to be a scholar of Old Russian languages and returns to the enchanted place. He kisses the princess awake and defeats the bear. What follows is an adventure of magic, true names, time travel, love, and sophisms of patriotism, love, history, and Russian literature.
This is a tale for grown-ups, not because of adult content, but because it has Russian and Jewish historical and political references. It merges the tale of Sleeping Beauty with the Russian fairy tale figure Baba Yaga in a way that you won't expect. A very enjoyable read, nonetheless.
Being well-versed in fairy tales from all over the world, I was delighted to see how the typical French or English story of Sleeping Beauty was given a Russian makeover. It was hilarious how the princess adjusted to modern America when she sought sanctuary there, and how a modern fit and athletic male miserably fails when compared to the prowess of the warriors of old. The story is imbued with magic and wisdom that you will want to go on reading until the last page.
Lesson Learned: Heroes rise out of the strife of adversity.
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