A To Z Challenge: Quantum Physics And Quandaries Of The Universe (+ A Book Release: The Other Marlowe Girl)

Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics, is a field of study involving physics which cannot be explained through classical methods, such as Newtonian physics. Some extremely weird phenomena occurs in quantum mechanics, including--but not limited to--things appearing and disappearing at random moments and photons being both waves and particles.

This month, some interesting findings regarding a thing called quantum entanglement have been published. Quantum entanglement's premise is as follows: When two particles (let's say photons) are entangled, it means that when one or both of the photons is observed (i.e. measured) they assume opposite positions, such as one photon being up and the other down.

The interesting thing about the interaction is that before either of the photons is observed, they are considered to be in all possible states at the same time--therefore, when one photon falls into one state (such as the down state) upon observation, the other photon will fall into the complementary state (the up state). This means information travels between the two particles faster than the speed of light, which caused Einstein to call it "spooky action at a distance". The recent report closes three loopholes in this theory that could have poked holes in quantum entanglement, which serves to shore up the theory and affirm that, indeed, particles really are communicating between themselves about their different states.

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Sources:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/quantum+mechanics
http://www.pbs.org/transistor/science/info/quantum.html
http://www.livescience.com/28808-spooky-quantum-entanglement-loophole-closed.html
http://www.livescience.com/28550-how-quantum-entanglement-works-infographic.html
http://www.itechpost.com/articles/8022/20130418/quantum-mechanics-physics-loophole-photons-experiment-lasers-einstein-theory-of-relativity.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130415094839.htm

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And now, for a belated book release. In the madness of the A to Z Challenge, I thought this book release post was supposed to go up next Monday, when it was really supposed to be up last Monday. I apologize for the mistake--hope you can forgive me, Beth! And I hope this post can still do some good going up now.

Meet Beth Fred! That's me! I'm a full time ELF keeper and part time writer/blogger/writing instructor. I'm represented by Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyons Literary Agency. I like my tea hot, my romance sweet, and my guys chivalrous. Real men hold open doors, refer to you as ma'am, make promises they keep, and aren't afraid to profess their undying love. It's not breakfast if there aren't carbs(at least, not in the South). Fajitas, carnitas, and churros are just few of my favorite things. Bet you can't guess where I'm from ;) Wanna know more about me? You can find that here:

Email me: bethfred08(at)gmail.com
Blogger:  bethfred.com
Tweet me: bethfred08
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/bethfred08

Available at: Amazon & Smashwords

When twenty-four-year-old Tiffany escapes her sister Kammy's too wild Cancun bachelorette party, she finds herself in a bar with the unwanted attention of a gorgeous local named Luke.

Luke may be charming but Tiffany is leaving in two days and doesn't need any complications. But complications are exactly what she gets when the cops show up to raid Kammy's party. When Kammy is arrested, Tiffany agrees to have dinner with Luke, so he'll help her get Kammy out of jail. Kammy's arrest forces her to spend an extra day in Cancun, meaning she'll miss a crucial meeting, and as an accountant in tax season, she is already drowning in work. Not to mention, every second she spends with Luke makes it harder to leave. With Luke, Tiffany can forget about work.

But will the airport be their final goodbye?

ebook, 42 pages
Published September 12th 2012 by Amazon
ASINB0096PWTUO
edition language: English
original title: Kismet
 

Available at: Amazon

When twenty-four-year-old dance school drop out Kammy Marlowe is evicted by her mother, she goes to her favorite bar. She finds an unlikely friend in the blunt eye candy, Enrique. But Kammy knows there is no way she and Enrique have a shot because he's her brother-in-law’s brother and has been privy to her wild past.

Enrique swears he’s only interested in the person she is today, but their relationship is tested when her ex-husband's drug dealer attacks her, looking for money. With no options and a money hungry drug dealer on her back, Kammy accepts a position as a dancer at a strip club. But when Enrique shows up at the club, their relationship is over. With no reason to stay in Texas anymore, Kammy auditions for the Bolshevik Ballet and gets the opportunity to go to Russia. Only Enrique is determined to stop her.

Will she give up the chance of a lifetime to stay with the man she still loves?


Ebook: 107 pages
Published: April 5th 2013
edition language: English

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Do you agree with Einstein's description of quantum entanglement as "spooky action at a distance"? Some scientists have accomplished minor teleportation using entanglement; would you agree to being teleported using quantum mechanics, if they succeeded at transporting things larger than individual particles?

Have you read any of Beth Fred's books?


-----The Golden Eagle

The Make Believe Anthology

The Make Believe anthology is out today! The blogger heading the launch day celebration is Lynda R. Young, whose story, Birthright, is included in the collection.

About Birthright:

Christa can mask the pain and hide the scars, but running from a birthright is impossible.
   She’s tried to escape her grief by fleeing to a small town in Florida. Much to her frustration, the locals think they recognize her even though she's never been there before. To make things worse, a man named Jack spouts outrageous theories about her.
   Both spur Christa to bolt, to start fresh yet again, but there’s something about Jack that intrigues her enough to stay. The only problem? Someone else wants her to leave, and they won’t stop until she’s dead.

About the other stories:

The Amulet of Ormisez by J. Keller Ford

There is only one way to save Elton Fletcher’s brother from an insanity-ridden death. After years away from home, fighting for his people, Elton returns to discover his only sibling, Cayden, possessed by greed and malice, and responsible for malicious, unthinkable deeds. Cayden, though, isn’t the only one afflicted by the Amulet of Ormisez, and Elton finds himself in yet another battle, where the price of failure could be his own life.

Petrified by Kelly Said

A mysterious storm has replaced summer with winter, devastating crops and smothering Castle lands in snow. Prince Sterling August stands alone as a leader, lost in personal grief as well as a desire to help his people but with an inability to do either.
   The answers he needs await him, but without Lochlyn, a woman who’s just as isolated as Sterling, he’ll never see what stands before him, cloaked in illusion.

Last Winter Red by Jennifer M. Eaton

Emily is a Red, a woman whose sole purpose in life is to produce offspring. When her husband dies and leaves her childless, she risks her life and forsakes the safety of Terra—a disease-free city born after the nuclear holocaust. Beyond its boundaries, she knows, survives a man with whom she can be properly paired.
   The Outside, though, holds secrets the government struggles to keep, and what Emily discovers on her quest for a mate will change her life forever.

Escort to Insanity by J.A. Belfield

From a charity auction, to a stroll in the park, to the craziest night of her life. Nicole Harrington can’t help but wonder how a simple event went so drastically wrong.
   Of course, the male escort she booked is wholly to blame. Not only charming but shrewdly intelligent, Benjamin Gold drags Nicole into a platoon of unimaginable problems—ones from which she’ll have to find the courage just to survive.

Sacrificial Oath by Terri Rochenski

An impetuous act unwittingly makes Alesuela the fulfillment of the Sovereign’s Blood Oath to their Goddess. In five days, she’ll be forced to make the greatest choice of her life: become the virginal sacrifice already promised, or force the man she loves most to die in her place.
   With an impossible choice in front of her, she searches for ways to undo the oath, and in her quest, finds not everything in her life is as she expects.

Purchase links:
www.amazon.com
www.amazon.co.uk
Barnes & Noble
All Romance
Diesel
Books On Board


About Lynda R. Young:
Lynda R. Young lives in Sydney, Australia, with her sweetheart of a husband who is her rock, and a cat who believes world domination starts in the home. She writes speculative short stories and is currently writing novels for young adults. In her spare time she also dabbles in photography and all things creative. You can find her here: Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads


Other people spreading the word about Make Believe:






Do you know Lynda R. Young? Have you read Make Believe yet? Do you check out many anthologies?


-----The Golden Eagle

The Big Smoke Blog Tour: Does Romance Equal Happiness In Fiction?

Today I have the honor of hosting Cally Jackson for her blog tour to spread the word about her new book, The Big Smoke. Take it away, Cally!

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Does romance equal happiness?

I’m a sucker for a good romance. Twilight is one of my favourite books and movies like Ten Things I Hate About You never fail to make me smile. But as much as I love stories like these, they make me slightly uncomfortable. Why? Because they seem to equate romance with happiness, and I’m not sure that’s a great message, particularly for young (and new) adults.

I know that those messages really affected me when I was a teenager, and consequently, I was slightly totally obsessed with finding 'true love' for myself. To prove my point, here are some real, live diary excerpts from when I was seventeen:

'Life just isn’t what dreams are made of. At least, not my dreams. The one thing that really scares me is, what if Billy [ex-boyfriend] is the best thing I’m going to get in life? What if it's all down hill from here?'

I've actually been dreaming about him [an ex-crush] recently, but it’s not really him. I mean, it’s him physically, but personality wise, it’s someone else. I guess it’s my made-up Mr Perfect's personality – someone I unfortunately haven’t had the pleasure of meeting…

The first kernel of an idea for a novel came to me in the same year I wrote those diary entries, and the idea was in the form of a lesson I wanted to teach myself. What was the lesson? That your happiness and life journey are your own responsibility, nobody else's.

Somewhere along the line, I realised that I'd totally bought into the message that romance equals happiness and it’s impossible to be truly happy without it. I decided then that I wanted to write a book that showed this wasn't the case. That book became what we now know as The Big Smoke.

Don't get me wrong, The Big Smoke is not anti-romance, but it attempts to demonstrate that if you have issues, they'll still be there whether you’re in a relationship or not. And in fact, if you get too hung up on being in a relationship, it can actually be an obstacle to happiness.

This was the case for me as a teenager, and it's also the case for The Big Smoke's main female character, Ceara. I have a feeling it may be the case for many other girls (and maybe guys) out there who love teen fiction too.

While The Big Smoke is about a lot more than just this one idea, the issue of romance and happiness is definitely at the heart of the story. I hope that my novel might make some teenagers question whether romance does indeed equal happiness and help them to realise that their happiness is in their own hands, nobody else's.

What about you? Do you think that fiction (particularly fiction aimed at teens) equates romance with happiness? Do you enjoy a good romantic read or would you prefer something more realistic? Or perhaps something that combines the two?

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More about The Big Smoke

Ceara’s desperate for love; Seb's desperate to get laid. Ceara adores reading novels; Seb hasn't finished a book in years. Two strangers, both moving from small country towns to Brisbane – the big smoke. As they prepare to attend the same university, their paths seem set to collide, but they keep missing each other. Maybe fate is keeping them apart, or maybe it's just chance.

When the semester starts, things get complicated. Ceara's best friend withdraws from her, Seb's closest mate turns into a sleazebag, and the relentless demands of university make their stress levels soar. Before their first semester is over, both Seb and Ceara will be forced to question who they are and what they want from their lives. Will they have the courage to find the answers, or will they crumble under the pressure? And when they finally meet, will it be love at first sight or a collision of headstrong personalities?

You can purchase a copy of The Big Smoke: 
• in paperback format from Cally's buy page (Australia and New Zealand) or Amazon (rest of the world)
• in e-book format from Smashwords (preferred digital supplier), Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Diesel and other e-stores.




-----The Golden Eagle

Kismet Blog Tour: Guest Post: Why I Decided To Self Publish

Last Thursday I posted the cover for Beth Fred's Kismet. Today, I have a guest post by the author about why she decided to self publish.

Take it away, Beth!

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Eagle, thanks for having me today.

For me, deciding to self publish was a bit of a process. It’s something I always wanted to do, but never had the confidence for. Then I wrote a really cute "sweet romance." It got full requests and revision requests from multiple small presses. I vented about the revision requests as they came in, took a week to think, made the revisions and responded. But then I started getting round 2 requests for revisions, and at this point was un-changing things. True, it’s because each editor is looking for something different, so something one editor had me changed another liked, but still, it was maddening. And in addition to un-changing things, there were new changes that I didn’t agree with. Royalties have always been higher self publishing. Big publishers don’t buy short stories, and marketing budgets are about the same for a self published author and an author with a small press. And it allowed me greater controlled. I did un-change things, because I wanted to. I changed something no one told me to. And I didn’t change anything else. I wrote a beautiful story that could have perpetually changed or stayed dormant on my hard drive. Instead, I’m sharing it with the world, still intact. I hope people enjoy Kismet.


About Kismet:

When twenty-four-year-old Tiffany escapes her sister Kammy's too wild Cancun bachelorette party, she finds herself in a bar with the unwanted attention of a gorgeous local named Luke.
   Luke may be charming but Tiffany is leaving in two days and doesn't need any complications. But complications are exactly what she gets when the cops show up to raid Kammy's party. After Kammy is arrested, Tiffany agrees to have dinner with Luke, so he'll help her get Kammy out of jail. Kammy's arrest forces her to spend an extra day in Cancun, meaning she'll miss a crucial meeting, and as an accountant in tax season, she is already drowning in work. Not to mention, every second she spends with Luke makes it harder to leave. With Luke, Tiffany can forget about work.
   But will the airport be their final goodbye?

And for a limited time it includes an excerpt from best selling author Lizzy Ford! Available at amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.   

About Beth Fred:

Beth Fred lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their little ELF (Emily Lace Fred). She spends her time bringing her day dreams to life on paper, and blogging about bringing day dreams to life. You can find more about that at www.bethfred.com.

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Any of you considering self-publishing? Have you already self-published your work? If you're a writer who's gone the traditional route, would you ever try self-publishing?


-----The Golden Eagle

Ultimate Sacrifice by Madeleine Sara: A Chapter Review

No Teaser Tuesday this week, everyone: Instead, as part of a launch for Ultimate Sacrifice by Madeleine Sara (Madeleine Maddocks from Scribble and Edit), I have a review of the first chapter of her novella.

The Review:

Chapter One opens with an ominous note: Two soldiers show up at Lyndsay's door, which can only mean that her boyfriend is dead or injured. It quickly establishes an emotional connection to the character along with tension as the bad news impends over the scene. The chapter is a strong hook for the novella, and based on it alone, I would recommend reading Ultimate Sacrifice if you enjoy Romance/Realistic Fiction.

Purchase links:
www.amazon.com
www.amazon.co.uk
www.amazon.de
www.amazon.fr

About the Author:

I am a writer by nature. With a creative imagination and a make believe friend I spent much of my childhood writing stories and creating books. These days I enjoy blogging on the topic of creative writing and I also explore my creativity through textile crafts, magazine editing and website design. I live in Devon, England with my husband and two cats and am a qualified Speech & Language Therapist with a Psychology degree.
   I've had flash fiction, haiku and the opening 250 words of a story accepted for competitions by magazines/ online groups for publication. Ultimate Sacrifice is my first eBook short story/ novella (just under 7,000 words). I am toying with 2 further eBook novella ideas: One entitled Forsaking All Others (chick lit/realistic fiction/romance); the other Embroidering the Truth would be set in 1800s in a lunatic asylum, as a suspense thriller. I also have a realistic fiction/ suspense story in the pipeline as a WIP that I intend to send out to agents.

My blog: http://scribbleandedit.blogspot.co.uk

Do you know Madeleine? Have you read Ultimate Sacrifice? If so, what did you think of it? If not, do you think you might?

(And I must say, it's been quite interesting as a reviewer to post reviews of previews and first chapters, as opposed to entire books. I'm not complaining at all; it's just a change of pace I find intriguing.)


-----The Golden Eagle

Blog Tour Book Review: Exiled by RaShelle Workman

Title: Connected Series Book 1: Exiled

Author: RaShelle Workman

Release date 11-11-11 through Polished Pen Press in cooperation with Literary Underground. 

Genre: YA/Science Fiction

Page Count: 307

Rating: 4 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4 out of 5. I really liked this cover the first time I saw it, because it's different and a bit striking. It manages to include the Science Fiction-feel of the novel, along with the story's romantic side.

Book Summary:

Stubborn, sixteen-year-old Princess Venus of Kelari wants one thing, to become immortal, that is, until someone exiles her to Earth, kills her irrihunter and takes her family.
   Now she wants revenge.
   First she’s got to get home. But before she can return to Kelari, the Gods have commanded her to help an arrogant boy named Michael find his soul mate.
   Only she doesn't know the first thing about love.
   Rather quickly, her inexperience with human emotion is obscured by other matters—alien-controlled psychotic teens that are out to kill her, and a government group that is set on capturing and dissecting her.
   Worst of all, Venus will suffer a painful death-by-poisoning, thanks to Earth’s atmosphere, if she remains on the planet longer than one week.
   Still, Venus is a Princess and she's got a plan. Surely, with her help, Michael will fall in love with a human.
   But time is running out and Michael is falling for the wrong girl—her.

My expectations: High. I was intrigued by the blurb and the trailer, mentions of the story on the author's blog, and the other reviews I'd come across.

I'm happy to be able to say Exiled met those expectations.

About the book: This book is unique. That's one thing I really enjoyed about the story; I've never come across another YA book all that similar to it, particularly because it has SF and Romance as two central themes, not a usual combination. The writing, while occasionally awkward, is strong overall; I liked the way things were described, along with the dialogue.

• Plot:

Surprising. There were plenty of twists and turns in this book, from start to finish.

• Characters:

I liked Venus a lot more than I thought I would. She was strong and determined to complete the mission assigned to her by the gods, and she kept trying, even as she physically weakened due to Earth's atmosphere.

Michael was an interesting character. He didn't appeal at the beginning, but by the end of the novel, I was rooting for him.

Dervinias, also known as "Vinny", was a great antagonist. Excellent at keeping secrets, he was a formidable adversary, and a sinister one at that.

• Setting/Elements:

At the beginning, many of the alien words confused me. It does put the reader straight into the story without preamble, but I felt like I'd missed some kind of explanation that happened earlier on. However, the Science Fiction world in this book is detailed and, as I mentioned before, unique; Kelari is similar to Earth, but very different in other ways, and the contrast between the two is intriguing.

Other: Violence, sexual content.

Do I recommend this book? If you like Romance and Science Fiction, I definitely recommend this book.

Trailer:

About the Author:

RASHELLE WORKMAN lives with her husband, three children and three dogs. When she gets a quiet moment alone, she enjoys reading about faraway places. And, in case you were wondering, yes, she does believe there is other life out in the Universe.

Website/Blog: http://www.rashelleworkman.com/

Facebook: RaShelle Workman author
Twitter: RaShelleWorkman
Goodreads: Exiled

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Exiled is part of the Dark C.A.R.M.A blog tour:

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Authors: Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Publisher: Quirk Books

Genre: Romance/Action/Mashup/Adult/Classic

Page Count: 317 (paperback)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4.8 out of 5. It fits the book quite well, and I just love the fact that it takes time (even if it's just a fraction of a second) to notice that there's something wrong with the picture.

Back cover:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." 

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has falle upon the quiet English village of Meryton--and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers--and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefieled. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.

My expectations: I expected it to be a bit violent, but otherwise funny; I read Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters before this, and enjoyed it.

I have to say I like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies a lot more than I do Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.

About the book: Now, I don't know if you think this is sacrilege or stupidity (or both) but I just look at it as fun. I am not a huge fan of Jane Austen; the fact she was a woman, did not marry, and wrote books is impressive for her times, but I still don't particularly like her novels. So, I just had to pick up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to see what they turned the original book into.

I, for one, thought it was quite amusing. There are humorous changes, (for example, the way they substituted references to weaponry and fighting off zombies instead of finding husbands), the characters are great, (I didn't like Elizabeth Bennet or Mr. Darcy much in Pride and Prejudice, but loved them in this version), and while the zombie violence did get a bit gruesome at points, it's not terrible, and the way they integrated it with high-society was funny.

Writing: The writing follows Austen's original work all except for action scene and context. Also, some things that happen in the original story are changed so that, instead, they are caused by attacks, fights, duels, zombies, etc. That's all Grahame-Smith's work--the whole idea of the book is based on the twists and turns he made within the original story.

• Plot:

Things turn out the way they do in Pride and Prejudice, except the causes can often be traced to zombies, often in a humorous way.

• Characters:

As I mentioned, I like Elizabeth much better in this book. She's stronger, determined, and has much more spunk than the Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice.

Mr. Darcy said many of the same things that he said in the original at the start, with few changes but that turned itself around further along in the book; again, I enjoyed his character a lot in this version.

Other characters were pretty much the same: humorously altered to fit the theme.

• Setting/Elements:

The culture is different. One important thing I thought stuck out was the fact more power is given to women in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies--for example, Elizabeth has been trained at the Chinese martial arts temple of Shaolin and is in service to the King of England, and her sisters have been trained to fight; I loved the fact they could stand on their own and didn't pay so much attention to social restraints. Instead of sitting by, what they're supposed to be doing is, actually, slaying zombies and defending the English people. Go, Bennets!

Other: Violence, references.

IF they every get the movie off the ground, you can bet I'll probably be checking it out.

Do I recommend this book? Yes--provided you don't mind zombies, or the fact they changed so much of a classic, Jane Austen book.

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: The Cup of the World

Title: The Cup of the World

Author: John Dickinson

Publisher: David Fickling Books

Genre: Fantasy

Page Count: 419

Rating: 3.9 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4 out of 5. I like it--it says Fantasy to me.

Inside flap:

On the eight day of the New Year, wait for me in this place on the eighth hour after noon. If I come in that hour, I shall give you what help I can. If I do not, I cannot help you at all.

Phaedra, daughter of the Warden of Trant, puts her trust in a man she has only met in dreams. He can see far, speak far, and pass where no man should be able to pass. With him she may escape to a new beginning, as the Kingdom collapses into war.

But why should he choose to help her?

And what price has he paid for his power?

My expectations: Average. I started a book by Peter Dickinson--who is Robin McKinley's husband--and couldn't finish it, but I love McKinley's work; I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book besides Fantasy.


My expectations were exceeded.

About the book: I enjoyed this book, despite not liking the characters or the events.


How, then, did I manage to like this book? Because the writing style is excellent, and I have to admire John Dickinson's command of language. I love the setting, and the rest of the Fantasy aspect of this book. The plot is complex, something I appreciate nowadays since so many books have a transparent plot with loose ends and holes. The characters, while I did not like them as people since many of them had questionable aims and motives, were realistic and 3-dimensional.

• Plot:

This book is full of subtlety; little things that if you don't pay attention to, you will lose track of what happens later on. I love that kind of plot--it keeps me thinking and I found myself turning the pages quickly once I had gotten beyond 70 pages or so.

• Characters:

Phaedra, the main character, is a mix of naivete, intelligence, and a rebellious nature. On one side, she wants to have her freedom and independence--she wants to be her own person, with control over what happens and to marry who she wants to marry, not some political/social climber. On the other hand, despite that part of her that I liked, she is also stubborn and naive--she believes, a lot of the time, what she wants to believe and does not listen to those who contradict her. She is also self-centered; I wanted to shout at her occasionally for not realizing that other people exist and have their opinions.

Ulfin is the man who appears to Phaedra by witchcraft--or, as he calls it, "under-craft". He is a complex character with contrasting sides and an interesting personality. He has hidden layers beneath what he appears to be, and the mystery behind it plays a major part of the plot.

Prince Paigan, also known as The Prince Under the Sky, is an excellent villain. He has the proper motives to be a strong antagonist, and he is creepy and dark. He has the perfect mixture to create a character that has depth and intelligence--something that you need if the villain is to be believable.

• Setting/Elements:

I loved the world-building in this book. I could picture the world well, with all the different houses and their lords, the mountains and the lake, the magical counter-world, the people with their culture and society.

Other: Mild language, sex, some violence.


I have read the two sequels to this book (it's a trilogy) and they're even better than this one--if you read The Cup of the World and enjoy it, I do recommend The Widow and the King and The Fatal Child.

Do I recommend this book? Yes.


-----The Golden Eagle

Book Review: Spindle's End

Title: Spindle's End

Author: Robin McKinley

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Genre: Fantasy

Page Count: 422

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Cover Rating: 2 out of 5. It would be good hanging in a museum, and I like it well enough, but it just isn't a cover, you know? It fits the book's plot, but it's not very dynamic.

Inside flap:

"We will keep her safe."

All the creatures of the forest and field and riverbank knew that the infant was special. She was the princess, spirited away from the evil fairy Pernicia on her name-day. But the curse was cast: some unknown time in the future Rosie would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a poisoned sleep from which no one could rouse her.

   Katriona had whisked Rosie away from her lethal name-day and disappeared into the countryside with her. Katriona is a young fairy, apprenticed to her aunt, who is known to be the best fairy not only in their small home village of Foggy Bottom but in all the wild backland of the Gig. The two of them raise the princess as if she is their own in order to protect her. No other human, not even Rosie herself, knows her true identity.

   But Pernicia is looking for her, and Pernicia is formidably powerful and tirelessly intent on on revenge for a defeat four hundred years old. Two village fairies and all the animals in the realm may not be able to save Rosie.

My expectations: High. I loved Chalice and Dragonhaven so I was really looking forward to reading this book.

It did not let me down.

About the book: Robin McKinley is like the ultimate in Fantasy literature. Her writing is superb, and she manages to do it with long sentences; I much prefer long sentences as opposed to short ones. This book, Spindle's End, lives up to that reputation. The world that's created in this book, from the magic to the small town life, is very well set up, the characters are great for the book, and while the plot is based on Sleeping Beauty, it's not the usual overused idea--she's elaborated on it until it's much more original than any other retelling.

• Plot:

We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty, right? Princess gets cursed, lives with fairies, finds handsome guy in the woods, (if I were her, I would have kicked him and told him to take a hike) falls in love with said handsome guy, finds out she's a princess and can't marry the man she met, sobs her heart out, goes to castle, she's cursed by the evil fairy, and back comes the handsome guy to--ta-da!--and he wakes her up with a kiss.


Spindle's End is nothing like that. First of all, while there is a good-looking boy who starts working around Rosie, nothing happens between them. Second of all, the way the curse is set and they way Rosie starts living with fairies is different than the Disney version. Third of all, the ending--


Right. Don't give it away! Although once Peony came into the picture I could guess what was going to happen. It's a bit in the open, but the action is a little distracting from it. There is a lot more action than in the typical Sleeping Beauty. The romance is also much better; there are all sorts of complications, mis-beliefs, the usual things, but it's all put together very well and quietly; it's important for the plot and certainly adds, except  it's not like LOVE TRIANGLE and I'LL DIE WITHOUT HIM.

• Characters:

Rosie. One of the best female protagonists I've met up with, I've got to say. She's no Katsa or Fire, but she is tough underneath the curly head of hair, while at the same time she's not nasty or spiteful and enjoy to talk to poeple. And no, she's not the sweet, singing, dancing Beauty either--instead, she'd much rather hang around the smithy and work with the animals. She hates all those domestic duties that she'd been blessed with--sewing, knitting, etc., and a perfect complexion just makes her more irritable. (Girl, do you know how much some teenagers would give to be completely zit-free?)


Peony is the opposite of Rosie in all but appearance. She's sweet, she's tender, she's just the perfect image of what Rosie is not. She likes to sew, embroider, loves beautiful things, and doesn't have the gumption that Rosie has. However, she was an excellent character--the perfect foil against her best friend's temperament.


Katriona was strong when she had to be at the start. I liked Katriona; I missed her narrative when it shifted away from Rosie to her, but that was all right for the plot.


Narl was your typical strong and very, very silent type. He doesn't speak much at all and deals a lot with iron, that metal fairies hate and usually stay away from. He's no father for Rosie, but he takes her on and teaches her about animals. I really, really liked him as a character.


Aunt was strong, powerful, and smart when it came to what to do with Rosie when Katriona came home with her; a good character.


There are a lot of minor characters as well, but suffice it to say they're all about as good as the ones mentioned above.

• Setting/Elements:

I love the world in this book. Magic! Fairies! Animals! Forests! It's all described very well. I have to say that occasionally the animals' names got me confused, since there are dogs and foxes and mice and other creatures all running around they've all got titles. That confused me sometimes, but I got it organized eventually.

Other: D-word and the the term "bloody". It's nothing serious, and while there is some romance it's not in your face and screeching.

Do I recommend this book? YES. Yes, yes, yes.


-----The Golden Eagle