Yesterday I picked up Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, the new novel from Jessica Day George. My husband was downstairs playing halo, I had finished working at my online store and was ready to retreat from reality for a few hours.Turning to my pile of library books begging to be read, the thought of a fairy tale sounded perfect. I have never heard the Icelandic fairy tale "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon" that this book was based around, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is a very close mirror of the story of Beauty & the Beast, with the improvement of having a solid, strong heroine who does not sit around and let life happen, instead fighting for her own destiny on her terms.
The book begins in the frozen tundra of Iceland and explains the family dynamics of the woodcutters family. This part does feel a bit rushed and the introduction to one of the central themes of the story, the love, devotion, and mystery between the pika and her older brother which becomes a central theme of the story remains mostly undeveloped. As the story goes on, George throws in a few elements such as the mantle carving, lengthening winters, and happenings within the kingdom that would have been better introduced in the beginning and filled out further into the story.
Jessica Day George's ability for description is fantastic, however there are many scenes that feel rushed and deprived of her fantastic style. I would have enjoyed more description of the growing relationship between the isbjorn and the pika, a better description of the evening with the white reindeer, and even a more thorough ending to the story. Jessica, in her interview at Squeakybooks , states that she struggled to write some of these scenes. When asked the most difficult portion of writing the story, she responded "Finding a way of showing how the isbjorn and the lass became friends without going on and on about everything they did all day. "First they got up. They had breakfast together. Then they took walk. . . .SNORE!" I fear that in her haste to avoid boring her reader, she left out quite a bit that would have captured the reader and recruited many devotees to her writing style.
However, despite the haste in writing, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow captures the readers interest with strange descriptions littered throughout: a room full of looms with half-woven material, a tame wolf (who was my favorite character in the entire story), and a closet full of giant dresses that smell of rancid meat keep the reader's interest piqued and the pages turned. The plot moved quickly and easily towards a terribly predictable but nonetheless satisfying finale. I only wish that there had been a bit more happily ever after to the story, but George does tie up all the loose ends in the 4 page epilogue.
The romance between the isbjorn and the pika and the mystery that separates them, while subtly written, sticks with the reader for days. In fact, as written above, the only improvement would be a bit more detail and development of the relationship and personalities of the two main characters. Perhaps details on their breakfasting together would be dull, but I would definitely like more scenes where the two characters interact prior to climax. This story falls squarely in the romantic fairy tale genre. Similar to Beauty & the Beast in more way than one, this story pulls out its own spin and its very own double romance, fulfilling punishments for the evil-doers and, after a bit of trouble, a happy ending for each and every protagonist (even the wolf!).
Overall, I would recommend this book for a quick read or as an addition to your fairytale library. With its solid female character, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow earns its place sitting next to Robin McKinley or Shannon Hale. I would recommend it for girls ages 10 & up (or any precocious first graders you have running around the house!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment