The Door in the Hedge

Name: The Door in the Hedge
Author: Robin Mckinley
Pages: 216
Start Date: February 10
Finish Date: February 17
Type: Fairy Tale (Retellings)
Status: Mom's Bookshelf
Rating:

Summary:Master storyteller Robin McKinley here spins two new fairy tales and retells two cherished classics. All feature princesses touched with or by magic. There is Linadel, who lives in a kingdom next to Faerieland, where princesses are stolen away on their seventeenth birthdays-and Linadel's seventeenth birthday is tomorrow. And Korah, whose brother is bewitched by the magical Golden Hind; now it is up to her to break the spell. Rana must turn to a talking frog to help save her kingdom from the evil Aliyander. And then there are the twelve princesses, enspelled to dance through the soles of their shoes every night. . . . These are tales to read with delight!

My Review: I'll admit i didn't want to read this. The only story in this I wanted to read was "The Golden Hind" because I didn't know what that was! But, when I had read them all, the princess and the frog was my favorite. It was also the shortest. The last story, about the 12 princesses dragged for me. But in my book [haha] it was just a book. Nothing spectacular but not bad.

Exert: The world turned, and new stories rose up, and the legends of the old days faltered a little, or turned themselves in their course to keep up with the lives of their people, and the lives of their great-grandchildren of those they had first known. Perhaps even the immortal ones beyond the borders of this last land felt the change in some fashion: for that they ventured at all, and for what ever reason into mortal realms risked them to some sense of mortal lives and cares. Perhaps. - pg. 9

~ The Clumsy Reader aka Christine

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A Wind in Cairo

Name: A Wind in Cairo
Author: Judith Tarr
Pages: 258
Start Date: January 1
Finish Date: January 3
Type: Science Fiction & Fantasy; 1st ed. Paperback
Status: My Mom's Bookshelf

Rating:

Summary: Award-winning author Judith Tarr creates a feast for the imagination and the heart. With rich, evocative prose she fashions the magical world of medieval Egypt- a world in which a most remarkable tale unfolds. Hasen, a spoiled, pleasure-seeking emir's son, gravely offends the most powerful magus in the land. The sorcerer retaliates by transforming Hasen into a spirited stallion with Hasen's human intelligence. Thus begins an enthralling, dramatic journey that will take Hasen and his beautiful new owner from the silent deserts into the teeth of war, from the depths of desperation to the edge of impossible love. Tragic, inspiring, witty, and ultimately triumphant, A Wind in Cairo is a wonder of a book.

My Review: A very adventurous read, recommended by my mother. And I thank her so much!!! At times I had to re-read a part but all in all a good book. It would be nice to turn all the perverted teen-age boys into stallions so we AWESOME girls could tame them into respective men. ;) I loved the ending; there was no better way to end it! It is an advanced read, I mean even I had problems understanding it, so I would recommend, 15 year and older.

Exert: " 'Within that biding, O prince of stallions, take my blessing.'
Khamsin took it as he had been trained to take all great gifts, with grace and gratitude. But his eye rolled back to Zamaniyah, and that eye was pure Khasmin.
Bright, wicked, and altogether unrepentant.
Training, she thought. Indeed.
It was going to be a very pleasant war." - pg. 258

Cover/Title: The cover is freaking awesome! And the title fits with the theme more than the story, but it works.

~ The Clumsy Reader aka Christine

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