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Tales of Goldstone Wood #1
Heartless
The Dragon King seeks his princess—who dares to stop him?
Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and will soon marry. She dreams of a charming prince, but when her first suitor arrives, he's not what she'd hoped. Prince Aethelbald of mysterious Farthestshore has travelled a great distance to prove his love--and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be on the hunt and blazing a path of terror.
Una, smitten instead with a more dashing prince, refuses Aethelbald's offer--and ignores his cautions with dire consequences. Soon the Dragon King himself is in Parumvir and Una, in giving her heart away unwisely, finds herself in his sights. Only those courageous enough to risk everything have a hope of fighting off this advancing evil.
Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and will soon marry. She dreams of a charming prince, but when her first suitor arrives, he's not what she'd hoped. Prince Aethelbald of mysterious Farthestshore has travelled a great distance to prove his love--and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be on the hunt and blazing a path of terror.
Una, smitten instead with a more dashing prince, refuses Aethelbald's offer--and ignores his cautions with dire consequences. Soon the Dragon King himself is in Parumvir and Una, in giving her heart away unwisely, finds herself in his sights. Only those courageous enough to risk everything have a hope of fighting off this advancing evil.
368 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2010
197 people are currently reading
7066 people want to read
About the author
Anne Elisabeth Stengl
20 books804 followersAnne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. When she's not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and studies piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. She is the author of the TALES OF GOLDSTONE WOOD, which currently includes seven novels and two novellas, with plenty more works due to release over the next few years. Her novels HEARTLESS, VEILED ROSE, and DRAGONWITCH have each been honored with a Christy Award, and STARFLOWER was voted winner of the 2013 Clive Staples Award.
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April 19, 2020
Re-Read #4:
"You are my chosen love, the only one for me."
#BRB CRYING
RE-READ 2018:
Sometimes I just need to be reminded of how much I need my Savior.
Sometimes I need a reminder of how useless my efforts to save myself are, and the fact that I could not do it even if I tried.
That I'd reject him if he hadn't loved me first.
I need to remind myself that Jesus' love for me is not because I'm perfect or anything like that...but because HE is, and because HE chose me.
I don't know how much of an /allegory/ this book is. I think of it now, after this reread, as more of a parable. A story with symbols, telling a bigger story, rather than a story where EVERYTHING is symbolic of something else. It does it beautifully, though. I read this one less of a "look, references!" kind of way (see my review from my first reread) and more in a "this is a beautiful story of true love" kind of way. It's dark. It's got looming, overwhelming evil that made me want to cry. But it's necessary. Because then you reach the ending and you see, for truth, how great it is.
This book made me lean back and whisper "Thank You" to my Jesus. I can't rate it five stars because it's not perfect--there are definitely marks of the whole "debut" feel to it in places, and the storytelling itself is not quite as strong--but it's so, so good. I don't know if I can truly recommend it to everyone, but it's incredible.
Absolutely incredible.
RE-READ 2017:
I'm just struck this time through by the number of references in later books. Like Torkom the vendor? The one who gave Una the vision in the first place, and then later steals Leo's hair? Or Sir Oeric? (heart eyes to him) And references to Arpiar! And Daylily! It's so beautiful.
The beginning of this book is a little slow, but I love the buildup in Una's dreams, and Monster is my FAVORITE fictional cat of all time. He's so real, as cats go -aloof and haughty and arrogant- but still willing to snuggle and loving of his favorite owner. And loyal to a fault. That's cats for you.
Sorry - I'm raving. XD
This is such a beautimous book. The story and the characters and the allegory and AAAAHHHHH. I AM INCOHERENT AND I AM BABBLING AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND ME.
"You are my chosen love, the only one for me."
#BRB CRYING
RE-READ 2018:
Sometimes I just need to be reminded of how much I need my Savior.
Sometimes I need a reminder of how useless my efforts to save myself are, and the fact that I could not do it even if I tried.
That I'd reject him if he hadn't loved me first.
I need to remind myself that Jesus' love for me is not because I'm perfect or anything like that...but because HE is, and because HE chose me.
I don't know how much of an /allegory/ this book is. I think of it now, after this reread, as more of a parable. A story with symbols, telling a bigger story, rather than a story where EVERYTHING is symbolic of something else. It does it beautifully, though. I read this one less of a "look, references!" kind of way (see my review from my first reread) and more in a "this is a beautiful story of true love" kind of way. It's dark. It's got looming, overwhelming evil that made me want to cry. But it's necessary. Because then you reach the ending and you see, for truth, how great it is.
This book made me lean back and whisper "Thank You" to my Jesus. I can't rate it five stars because it's not perfect--there are definitely marks of the whole "debut" feel to it in places, and the storytelling itself is not quite as strong--but it's so, so good. I don't know if I can truly recommend it to everyone, but it's incredible.
Absolutely incredible.
RE-READ 2017:
I'm just struck this time through by the number of references in later books. Like Torkom the vendor? The one who gave Una the vision in the first place, and then later steals Leo's hair? Or Sir Oeric? (heart eyes to him) And references to Arpiar! And Daylily! It's so beautiful.
The beginning of this book is a little slow, but I love the buildup in Una's dreams, and Monster is my FAVORITE fictional cat of all time. He's so real, as cats go -aloof and haughty and arrogant- but still willing to snuggle and loving of his favorite owner. And loyal to a fault. That's cats for you.
Sorry - I'm raving. XD
This is such a beautimous book. The story and the characters and the allegory and AAAAHHHHH. I AM INCOHERENT AND I AM BABBLING AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND ME.
June 29, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
The front cover was what caught my interest, not the summary. When I finally read it, I was afraid it would be a mushy love story playing up on temporary passion.
Not at all.
It is this fake idea of "love" that Una feels at first, and as the story progresses and her heart is broken, she learns how shallow crush-like love is. Now she's given up on any kind of love, and it is the sacrificial love of the Prince that finally redeems her.
Most people, whether they know it or not, have a lot in common with Una. She's a young girl with big dreams, she's self-absorbed, and she wants to do things by her own power.
The first half of the book is merely a fairytale about a princess who longs to be the bride of a dashing prince.
Enter the Dragon--story totally changes. We go from a bright, happy, little story to a gripping tale of the destructive power of the devil (the Dragon), and then ultimately to the restoring love of Christ, (aka. the Prince) who never gives up on Una (us). And for any worries, the Dragon wants to make Una his child, not his wife, as the summary suggests. While Una is the obvious representation of mankind, or moreover, the church, there are several other characters who need the redemption of the Prince from Farthestshore.
Most likely, young men will not be interested in reading this book, as it was obviously marketed to females. However, another main character is Una's wanna-be-awesome but hopelessly mischievous brother Felix. There is also some rousing action and a harrowing outlook on dragons. (Fact: There's more then one dragon in this story.) The writing is clever and funny. Oh, and keep an eye on that blind cat, Monster...he might have a few surprises up his paws.
This soul-searching story was beautifully done, and I have no doubt that it is building up treasure in heaven for the author.
SERIES REVIEW:
While hopefully searching through various books in need of quality clean fantasy, I stumbled upon a Wood. Though I first perceived it as a book, it soon revealed itself to be an entire other world.
Anne Elisabeth Stengl introduced Goldstone Wood to me in her debut fantasy novel, Heartless, a delightful fairytale that paralleled Christ’s love for us. I was surprised by her excellent writing and powerful story-telling, and eagerly continued on to Book 2, Veiled Rose, which gave me a new perspective on characters and events of the first book. And when I continued on to Moonblood, I realized I’d discovered a fantasy series unlike any other I’d read before. With the creativity and insight of C.S. Lewis, the epic scale of Tolkien, and a vivid voice all her own, the author drew me into deep adoration of The Tales of Goldstone Wood series.
Certainly, her world-building is fantastic, connecting the Far Faerie demesnes with the mortal Near Kingdoms through a mysterious and dangerous Wood, along with the spiritual realms of the Netherworld and the Farthestshore, I haven’t encountered other worlds so vast, complex, bizarre, and intertwined. Throughout her stories, delicious hints are dropped and legends are whispered, only to be later fully revealed in future novels. And the books keep coming! Though Book 6, Shadow Hand, just released, and book 7, Golden Daughter is due for release in November, many more novels, plus novellas, are promised. It’s enough to make my fan-girl heart squeal!
Each book, though a satisfying story of its own, is intricately connected to the others, so it is certainly best to read them in the order published. This certainly isn’t chronological order, for Anne Elisabeth Stengl has created a world where Time is a fickle thing, and her books sometimes range a thousand years apart … and sometimes side by side. It’s complicated, but completely worthwhile.
But above all the beautiful writing, endearing characters, and surprising twists on familiar fairy-tale themes, I was most deeply struck by the heart and truth woven in each story. For though only the first book might be considered an allegory, the characters come to life with startling reality.
This is what causes these books to be so greatly praised and so heavily criticized. For the characters are written with truth. From spoiled, slightly silly Una, blinded by her misconceptions, to Lionheart aching to be a hero, but fallen under intimidation, to haughty and selfish Eanrin, these characters reflect our own fallen nature with painful clarity. Many readers don’t like that. They prefer their heroes and heroines to, sure, have struggles, but ultimately to kick the bad guys down and conquer their own problems with surety and triumph. These characters don’t. They fail. Horribly. To the point, that readers despise them. And that’s where the truth comes in.
Grace.
The undeserved grace, love, and power of Christ. There is a Prince always calling to us, no matter how we might ignore him like Una and Rosie, ready to defeat the Dragons and Dreams that are anxious to destroy our lives. Though we are weak and looked down upon like the Chronicler and Foxbrush, He sees us as something magnificent. He sees our true names, even if we’ve become like wolves. He longs to take us, His fallen, weak creation, call us His own, and transform us into the heroes we so long to be.
And that’s what makes these tales truly golden.
The front cover was what caught my interest, not the summary. When I finally read it, I was afraid it would be a mushy love story playing up on temporary passion.
Not at all.
It is this fake idea of "love" that Una feels at first, and as the story progresses and her heart is broken, she learns how shallow crush-like love is. Now she's given up on any kind of love, and it is the sacrificial love of the Prince that finally redeems her.
Most people, whether they know it or not, have a lot in common with Una. She's a young girl with big dreams, she's self-absorbed, and she wants to do things by her own power.
The first half of the book is merely a fairytale about a princess who longs to be the bride of a dashing prince.
Enter the Dragon--story totally changes. We go from a bright, happy, little story to a gripping tale of the destructive power of the devil (the Dragon), and then ultimately to the restoring love of Christ, (aka. the Prince) who never gives up on Una (us). And for any worries, the Dragon wants to make Una his child, not his wife, as the summary suggests. While Una is the obvious representation of mankind, or moreover, the church, there are several other characters who need the redemption of the Prince from Farthestshore.
Most likely, young men will not be interested in reading this book, as it was obviously marketed to females. However, another main character is Una's wanna-be-awesome but hopelessly mischievous brother Felix. There is also some rousing action and a harrowing outlook on dragons. (Fact: There's more then one dragon in this story.) The writing is clever and funny. Oh, and keep an eye on that blind cat, Monster...he might have a few surprises up his paws.
This soul-searching story was beautifully done, and I have no doubt that it is building up treasure in heaven for the author.
SERIES REVIEW:
While hopefully searching through various books in need of quality clean fantasy, I stumbled upon a Wood. Though I first perceived it as a book, it soon revealed itself to be an entire other world.
Anne Elisabeth Stengl introduced Goldstone Wood to me in her debut fantasy novel, Heartless, a delightful fairytale that paralleled Christ’s love for us. I was surprised by her excellent writing and powerful story-telling, and eagerly continued on to Book 2, Veiled Rose, which gave me a new perspective on characters and events of the first book. And when I continued on to Moonblood, I realized I’d discovered a fantasy series unlike any other I’d read before. With the creativity and insight of C.S. Lewis, the epic scale of Tolkien, and a vivid voice all her own, the author drew me into deep adoration of The Tales of Goldstone Wood series.
Certainly, her world-building is fantastic, connecting the Far Faerie demesnes with the mortal Near Kingdoms through a mysterious and dangerous Wood, along with the spiritual realms of the Netherworld and the Farthestshore, I haven’t encountered other worlds so vast, complex, bizarre, and intertwined. Throughout her stories, delicious hints are dropped and legends are whispered, only to be later fully revealed in future novels. And the books keep coming! Though Book 6, Shadow Hand, just released, and book 7, Golden Daughter is due for release in November, many more novels, plus novellas, are promised. It’s enough to make my fan-girl heart squeal!
Each book, though a satisfying story of its own, is intricately connected to the others, so it is certainly best to read them in the order published. This certainly isn’t chronological order, for Anne Elisabeth Stengl has created a world where Time is a fickle thing, and her books sometimes range a thousand years apart … and sometimes side by side. It’s complicated, but completely worthwhile.
But above all the beautiful writing, endearing characters, and surprising twists on familiar fairy-tale themes, I was most deeply struck by the heart and truth woven in each story. For though only the first book might be considered an allegory, the characters come to life with startling reality.
This is what causes these books to be so greatly praised and so heavily criticized. For the characters are written with truth. From spoiled, slightly silly Una, blinded by her misconceptions, to Lionheart aching to be a hero, but fallen under intimidation, to haughty and selfish Eanrin, these characters reflect our own fallen nature with painful clarity. Many readers don’t like that. They prefer their heroes and heroines to, sure, have struggles, but ultimately to kick the bad guys down and conquer their own problems with surety and triumph. These characters don’t. They fail. Horribly. To the point, that readers despise them. And that’s where the truth comes in.
Grace.
The undeserved grace, love, and power of Christ. There is a Prince always calling to us, no matter how we might ignore him like Una and Rosie, ready to defeat the Dragons and Dreams that are anxious to destroy our lives. Though we are weak and looked down upon like the Chronicler and Foxbrush, He sees us as something magnificent. He sees our true names, even if we’ve become like wolves. He longs to take us, His fallen, weak creation, call us His own, and transform us into the heroes we so long to be.
And that’s what makes these tales truly golden.
May 3, 2011
I love fairy tales. I love their deceptive simplicity, the darkness at the heart of them, the violence that coils below the surface, the painted prettiness of the words. So when I see a book that has a fairy tale-style narrative, I get very excited. Sometimes, my hopes are justified, as with The Near Witch. Sometimes, they are horribly disappointed, as with Heartless.
This book took me three days to finish, and it wasn’t even all that long! I couldn’t justify DNF-ing it, because it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good enough to actually make me sit down and finish it in one go. It was, overall, meh. Which is a pity, because it had the sort of premise that makes me sit up and go begging like a puppy dog!
Princess Una and her brother Felix have spent their childhood playing make-believe games by Golding Wood, and living a life of tedious sameness. But all that changes when Una comes of age, and the Twelve Year Market pays a visit to Parumvir— after two hundred years. At their head is their Prince, Aethelbald, a quiet, non-descript man whose advantage of royalty is offset by his plainness and his lack of perceivable romance. Una takes an immediate dislike to her first suitor when he rescues her from an awkward situation, and makes no bones about her antipathy.
Soon Una begins to receive more ‘callers’ but there is something wrong with all of them; until she ends up giving her heart away to a prince disguised as a jester. In the meantime, Una is also plagued relentlessly by fire-dreams that fade away in the morning, leaving only the faintest traces of scars. The significance of her dreams do not dawn on Una until the day the Dragon comes... and then all lies in ruin around her — her family, her kingdom, her heart.
The book started off on a slow, but not-unpleasant note. It then slowed down further as the ponderous movements of the courting dance performed by Una’s suitors were described in detail. For some reason, the author was never able to fully infuse any element of excitement into the book. There are books that start off slowly and then pick up speed during the climax scenes. But Heartless continued to plod, without any heart, for the entire 300-odd pages.
Una was an annoyingly passive heroine. Actually, she reminded me of Katniss in Mockingjay, blown about by the whims of other people, and never standing up for herself. I was willing to cut Katniss some slack on account of the, you know, TWO HUNGER GAMES she’d just participated in, but Una was just plain wimpy. Sorry kid, gotta tell it like it is.
I understand what the author was trying to do with Una’s romance. She was trying to describe the fickleness of first love, the emphasis young girls put on physical appearance, and the heartbreak of trusting the wrong person. These are all important messages, and for sheer uniqueness in plotline, I give Stengl two stars. Unfortunately, the ideas did not translate effectively into words, and the story ended up becoming a mish-mash of uncoordinated incidents.
For example, Una’s Dragon dreams were meant to be prophetic and induce a sense of impending doom. Unfortunately, the foreshadowing was severely lacking in atmosphere, leaving the reader annoyed by these long dream passages that were completely unnecessary to the plotline.
Also, the characterization of Aethelbald lacked the magic and mystery of the Fae. The author lets us know that Aethelbald already knew of the fate that awaited his beloved, and yet, he made no move to protect her or her family from the impending danger.
Most of the characters were too flat and two-dimensional to appeal. Una, who should have been the driving force of the story, lacked the passion to carry it off. All of the other characters were equally dull and forgettable, which leaves me with the question – what actually did happen in that 300-page book?! It’s like eating when you have a cold— you know the food has gone down your throat, and is filling your stomach, but without a sense of taste and smell, you don’t really feel as if you’ve eaten.
All in all, this is a book that wasn't very bad, but wasn't very good either. It falls squarely in the forgettable category, and that is sad, because it had a lot of potential, which it failed to live up to.
This book took me three days to finish, and it wasn’t even all that long! I couldn’t justify DNF-ing it, because it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good enough to actually make me sit down and finish it in one go. It was, overall, meh. Which is a pity, because it had the sort of premise that makes me sit up and go begging like a puppy dog!
Princess Una and her brother Felix have spent their childhood playing make-believe games by Golding Wood, and living a life of tedious sameness. But all that changes when Una comes of age, and the Twelve Year Market pays a visit to Parumvir— after two hundred years. At their head is their Prince, Aethelbald, a quiet, non-descript man whose advantage of royalty is offset by his plainness and his lack of perceivable romance. Una takes an immediate dislike to her first suitor when he rescues her from an awkward situation, and makes no bones about her antipathy.
Soon Una begins to receive more ‘callers’ but there is something wrong with all of them; until she ends up giving her heart away to a prince disguised as a jester. In the meantime, Una is also plagued relentlessly by fire-dreams that fade away in the morning, leaving only the faintest traces of scars. The significance of her dreams do not dawn on Una until the day the Dragon comes... and then all lies in ruin around her — her family, her kingdom, her heart.
The book started off on a slow, but not-unpleasant note. It then slowed down further as the ponderous movements of the courting dance performed by Una’s suitors were described in detail. For some reason, the author was never able to fully infuse any element of excitement into the book. There are books that start off slowly and then pick up speed during the climax scenes. But Heartless continued to plod, without any heart, for the entire 300-odd pages.
Una was an annoyingly passive heroine. Actually, she reminded me of Katniss in Mockingjay, blown about by the whims of other people, and never standing up for herself. I was willing to cut Katniss some slack on account of the, you know, TWO HUNGER GAMES she’d just participated in, but Una was just plain wimpy. Sorry kid, gotta tell it like it is.
I understand what the author was trying to do with Una’s romance. She was trying to describe the fickleness of first love, the emphasis young girls put on physical appearance, and the heartbreak of trusting the wrong person. These are all important messages, and for sheer uniqueness in plotline, I give Stengl two stars. Unfortunately, the ideas did not translate effectively into words, and the story ended up becoming a mish-mash of uncoordinated incidents.
For example, Una’s Dragon dreams were meant to be prophetic and induce a sense of impending doom. Unfortunately, the foreshadowing was severely lacking in atmosphere, leaving the reader annoyed by these long dream passages that were completely unnecessary to the plotline.
Also, the characterization of Aethelbald lacked the magic and mystery of the Fae. The author lets us know that Aethelbald already knew of the fate that awaited his beloved, and yet, he made no move to protect her or her family from the impending danger.
Most of the characters were too flat and two-dimensional to appeal. Una, who should have been the driving force of the story, lacked the passion to carry it off. All of the other characters were equally dull and forgettable, which leaves me with the question – what actually did happen in that 300-page book?! It’s like eating when you have a cold— you know the food has gone down your throat, and is filling your stomach, but without a sense of taste and smell, you don’t really feel as if you’ve eaten.
All in all, this is a book that wasn't very bad, but wasn't very good either. It falls squarely in the forgettable category, and that is sad, because it had a lot of potential, which it failed to live up to.
April 19, 2011
Alright, I loved it :) It’s not a brilliant, epic fantasy novel. But it is beautiful, with a more quiet enchantment, that won’t latch onto everyone who reads it, but it did me, just not in an earth shattering way. I read this a year ago as an arc, and I really liked it then, but I could tell it needed another revision, sharpen up the writing a little, connect the scenes better perhaps. I don’t know how much changed from that early draft I read, I don’t think a whole lot, but for some reason I liked it better this second time around, even if it still has some flaws, that I’m sure more nitpicky people could find and explain better than I could.
Una, princess of Parumvir, is of age, and suitors come to seek after her hand. One she fancies herself in love with, though not handsome, a prince of high standing and well known and sought after, who ends up not being all that he seems. One who she does fall in love with, a prince in disguise, who she promises herself to, but does not end how she was expecting. And then one, who loves Una with his whole heart, that will never fade, but Una, in her stubborn, petulant way, refuses him, can’t even believe the gall he has of loving her, and caring about her. Later, the Parumvir kingdom is set upon and destroyed by a dragon who wishes to claim Una, and make her become like him. During this ordeal, Una loses herself, believing that no one loves her. Yet Prince Aethelbald never gives up. He goes out to save her, and he does. He saves her life, and her heart, and Una finds herself through his love.
Aethelbald was an endearing character. He reminded me a little of Anluan in Heart's Blood, with his quiet disposition, and his quiet, yet resounding love for Una. Una, well she isn’t what you'd call strong. She’s dependent, and perhaps a bit too brash and ignorant. She doesn’t want anything to do with Aethelbald, and clearly makes it known, despite how it may hurt him. But she changed in the end, she became more understanding and realized who she truly loves. The ending was perfect, melted my heart a bit.
I loved Leonard , the jester. His antics amused me as they did Una. But then he changed, urghh, and lost my respect, but it helped Una realize where her heart truly lies, pun intended.
In the end, I really enjoyed reading heartless. The writing was beautiful, the story was intriguing, and while not everyone will like it, I still found it an enchanting fantasy story with a sweet romance.
Una, princess of Parumvir, is of age, and suitors come to seek after her hand. One she fancies herself in love with, though not handsome, a prince of high standing and well known and sought after, who ends up not being all that he seems. One who she does fall in love with, a prince in disguise, who she promises herself to, but does not end how she was expecting. And then one, who loves Una with his whole heart, that will never fade, but Una, in her stubborn, petulant way, refuses him, can’t even believe the gall he has of loving her, and caring about her. Later, the Parumvir kingdom is set upon and destroyed by a dragon who wishes to claim Una, and make her become like him. During this ordeal, Una loses herself, believing that no one loves her. Yet Prince Aethelbald never gives up. He goes out to save her, and he does. He saves her life, and her heart, and Una finds herself through his love.
Aethelbald was an endearing character. He reminded me a little of Anluan in Heart's Blood, with his quiet disposition, and his quiet, yet resounding love for Una. Una, well she isn’t what you'd call strong. She’s dependent, and perhaps a bit too brash and ignorant. She doesn’t want anything to do with Aethelbald, and clearly makes it known, despite how it may hurt him. But she changed in the end, she became more understanding and realized who she truly loves. The ending was perfect, melted my heart a bit.
I loved Leonard , the jester. His antics amused me as they did Una. But then he changed, urghh, and lost my respect, but it helped Una realize where her heart truly lies, pun intended.
In the end, I really enjoyed reading heartless. The writing was beautiful, the story was intriguing, and while not everyone will like it, I still found it an enchanting fantasy story with a sweet romance.
July 23, 2012
Well tear my brains out and strike me blind! Aren't I the dumbest reader in the world? I finished Heartless and read a few reviews and ... ... this was supposed to be a Christian allegory?? Now that I know better, --wait, no. It's still not obvious to me. The twelve men sent out by Prince Lionheart to help Aethelbald? Were they supposed to symbolize the 12 disciples? Because ... apart from the fact there being twelve of them, nothing else really struck me as similar. Well, they left Aethelbald the moment things seemed to get pretty heavy, but that's not exactly what happened with the disciples.
Was Aethelbald supposed to be a Christ figure? It would explain his love for Princess Una (the Church? the people?) Although I did not see him sacrifice anything, the way Christ sacrificed himself to redeem the sins of the world. That sacrifice came from Princess Una, when major friggin spoiler, peoples! End of major friggin spoiler. Or was that supposed to show how we, the people, can be absolved of our sins if we trust in Christ?
I'm just not good at these allegory things.
Anyway, being a Christian allegory does not excuse Heartless of all its deficiencies. I was so upset - it started off so promising; little Princess Una with her adventurous stride, writing poetry out in the wilds, playing games with her younger brother. And then she grew up.
It saddens me to say this, but she became such an annoying little twat.
The actual story begins when Princess Una comes of age, and all these suitors start visiting their kingdom of Parumvil. From the outset, she was keen on falling in love. No, not keen. She was obsessed! She was proclaiming to herself that she was in love after meeting and conversing with her suitor for not even one full day. And this happened twice to two different men!
Princess Una was also determined to hate Prince Aethelbald (the peoples' initial rejection of Christ?) and here is where the first shortcoming of the novel is evident. There was no actual reason for her to dismiss him so much - other than her belief that he was dull and unromantic, when it was clear that he was anything but. He came to Parumvil out of the blue. Out from a world people only heard of in fairy tales. His people were obviously otherworldy; something different and fascinating. What could be more mysterious than that? What could be more exciting?
He rescued her from the man selling visions (demons? fake prophets?), healed her burning hands. He professed his love for her, in front of every peer in the kingdom; went down on his knee and proposed to her, ready to face humiliation - knowing, after all, what her answer would be. What isn't romantic about that?
Many other things were so wrong about Princess Una. She fell in love like a man falls into a hole - at first with Prince Gervais, because he was charming. She heard him speak once during a banquet, and once again at the gardens. And then she was in love.
And when she discovered that he was a professional gambler who owed a lot of debt - and was exiled from his own kingdom until he could pay up - instead of being relieved she hadn't made the mistake of her lifetime by marrying him and effectively becoming a bank check, she became angry at Prince Aethelbald because it was somehow his fault her father heard of Prince Gervais' debt and threw him out.
The idea that girls fall into "shallow" love is a great one, and it's somewhat refreshing to see this occur in a novel. It reflects the reality that girls do fancy themselves in love when in fact it is nothing of the sort, and eventually wake up from it, realizing they were just being foolish - as Princess Una finally admitted to herself. However, instead of learning from her mistake, she does it all over again.
She meets a Fool. You know, a court jester. He jumps from the garden walls - trespassing into the palace grounds - lands on her, doesn't even properly apologize, and she helps him score a gig for the King.
And then - you guessed it - she fell in love. This time, because he could make her laugh.
Unfortunately, never in Heartless was their relationship expanded upon. The narrative would tell us he's saying something, and then she would laugh. Instead of showing us how the days progressed and they grew closer and closer, we just read that the days progressed and all of a sudden, she was regretting the fact he was a jester instead of, you know, a Prince.
By the end of the chapter, we have her making promises to the Fool, who - surprise, surprise - turns out to be Prince Lionheart himself. This is not a spoiler. It was very evident from the first time he came around, and from the first time Prince Lionheart was mentioned, that these two were one and the same. We have her explicitly giving him his trust, giving him a freaking ring belonging to her dead mother, giving him her heart. Spew, spew, gag.
The portrayal of a woman in love was so cliché. Princess Una was sighing and smiling one second, and bursting into tears literally the next second, and then back to sighing in the next heartbeat, spewing out nonsense like: "Isn't this a beautiful world, Nurse? I mean in general, you know?" and "Good afternoon, Father, isn't it a beautiful world?" It was so juvenile in its entirety, it was hard for me to take it seriously.
But then again, that was the whole thing that really made me loathe Princess Una. She was so juvenile. She blushes every three seconds (it was a pet peeve of mine reading about how red blotches burst forth in wild cavorting across her nose every few pages. Girl you should get that checked); and then when she gets really upset (like when Prince Gervais was discovered to be in debt, and she was really angry at Prince Aethelbald), she becomes nonsensical.
This. is. not. adorable.
It's annoying.
You are a princess! You are supposed to be educated and eloquent - don't give me that "She was emotional, of course she didn't make sense" bullshit, because I get emotional, too. I still make sense. And I don't even get any education on articulation.
Her incoherent mumbo-jumbo is not a one-time event. It happens. Frequently. I shudder at the thought of such character becoming queen of anything.
To borrow from Ron Weasley, Princess Una also needs to sort out her priorities . While she was imprisoned in her own palace by the Dragon King, instead of worrying about what's happened to her kingdom, or her people, or her nanny, or her own father and brother, what does she worry about? Prince Lionheart and why he hasn't returned back to her.
Is this also an allegory? An allegory of the selfishness of mankind? I have no idea, and I don't care. I didn't like it - I didn't like this particular trait of Princess Una's.
and I will judge you for it
Another thing that disappointed me was Prince Aethelbald. He had all the promises of being such an interesting character - and yes, I know there's not much room to work with when you're basing him on Jesus H. Christ, but at least give him some semblance of a personality.
For instance the scene where he taught Prince Felix how to swordfight; I liked that. I liked the instances he was shown as a mentor, a teacher. There could be more things similar to this, but it was very lacking. Instead, we were focusing more on the "romances" with Princess Una's courtiers.
As for the way the plot unfolded ... I'm not sure how I liked it. It was a little bizarre. The story was bizarre. The Duke of Shippening, who grew up with Princess Una's father, attacked Parumvil because he was ... ... slighted? ... ... because it turns out Princess Una had given her heart to someone else. Waging wars over a girl. How tripe.
Anyway, in the meantime, Princess Una gave her heart away to someone undeserving, and for some reason that lead to the Dragon King (the antichrist?) being able to transform her into a dragon (mankind falling into sin? Falling for false saviours?) Might I add, Princess Una was never even an evil dragon.
Presently, the King is forced to retreat, effectively doing nothing to protect his kingdom and people, Prince Felix is badly injured and sent to some sort of fae Haven to be treated, making them the two most ineffective and useless characters ever.
And then Prince Aethelbald rescues Princess Una by slaying the Dragon King and the dragon inside her. The former he could have done years and years ago, by the way, but apparently he had to wait for the right time , which, Christian Allegory or not, made no sense.
I need more sense in my novels. I need proper motives, proper reasoning. WHY did he have to wait? And WHY was that particular moment the "right time"? In the case of Christ, it was because he needed the people to see in order for them to believe. It was because he needed to first spread the Word of God. To fulfil all the prophecies made concerning himself.
But in the case of Prince Aethelbald? What was he waiting for? What was keeping him from slaying the Dragon King from Day One?
So that's it. I was not satisfied. I was taken on a bizarre trip, a meandering tale, and given no proper reasoning for it all. And for that, two stars.
Was Aethelbald supposed to be a Christ figure? It would explain his love for Princess Una (the Church? the people?) Although I did not see him sacrifice anything, the way Christ sacrificed himself to redeem the sins of the world. That sacrifice came from Princess Una, when major friggin spoiler, peoples! End of major friggin spoiler. Or was that supposed to show how we, the people, can be absolved of our sins if we trust in Christ?
I'm just not good at these allegory things.
Anyway, being a Christian allegory does not excuse Heartless of all its deficiencies. I was so upset - it started off so promising; little Princess Una with her adventurous stride, writing poetry out in the wilds, playing games with her younger brother. And then she grew up.
It saddens me to say this, but she became such an annoying little twat.
The actual story begins when Princess Una comes of age, and all these suitors start visiting their kingdom of Parumvil. From the outset, she was keen on falling in love. No, not keen. She was obsessed! She was proclaiming to herself that she was in love after meeting and conversing with her suitor for not even one full day. And this happened twice to two different men!
Princess Una was also determined to hate Prince Aethelbald (the peoples' initial rejection of Christ?) and here is where the first shortcoming of the novel is evident. There was no actual reason for her to dismiss him so much - other than her belief that he was dull and unromantic, when it was clear that he was anything but. He came to Parumvil out of the blue. Out from a world people only heard of in fairy tales. His people were obviously otherworldy; something different and fascinating. What could be more mysterious than that? What could be more exciting?
He rescued her from the man selling visions (demons? fake prophets?), healed her burning hands. He professed his love for her, in front of every peer in the kingdom; went down on his knee and proposed to her, ready to face humiliation - knowing, after all, what her answer would be. What isn't romantic about that?
Many other things were so wrong about Princess Una. She fell in love like a man falls into a hole - at first with Prince Gervais, because he was charming. She heard him speak once during a banquet, and once again at the gardens. And then she was in love.
And when she discovered that he was a professional gambler who owed a lot of debt - and was exiled from his own kingdom until he could pay up - instead of being relieved she hadn't made the mistake of her lifetime by marrying him and effectively becoming a bank check, she became angry at Prince Aethelbald because it was somehow his fault her father heard of Prince Gervais' debt and threw him out.
The idea that girls fall into "shallow" love is a great one, and it's somewhat refreshing to see this occur in a novel. It reflects the reality that girls do fancy themselves in love when in fact it is nothing of the sort, and eventually wake up from it, realizing they were just being foolish - as Princess Una finally admitted to herself. However, instead of learning from her mistake, she does it all over again.
She meets a Fool. You know, a court jester. He jumps from the garden walls - trespassing into the palace grounds - lands on her, doesn't even properly apologize, and she helps him score a gig for the King.
And then - you guessed it - she fell in love. This time, because he could make her laugh.
Unfortunately, never in Heartless was their relationship expanded upon. The narrative would tell us he's saying something, and then she would laugh. Instead of showing us how the days progressed and they grew closer and closer, we just read that the days progressed and all of a sudden, she was regretting the fact he was a jester instead of, you know, a Prince.
By the end of the chapter, we have her making promises to the Fool, who - surprise, surprise - turns out to be Prince Lionheart himself. This is not a spoiler. It was very evident from the first time he came around, and from the first time Prince Lionheart was mentioned, that these two were one and the same. We have her explicitly giving him his trust, giving him a freaking ring belonging to her dead mother, giving him her heart. Spew, spew, gag.
The portrayal of a woman in love was so cliché. Princess Una was sighing and smiling one second, and bursting into tears literally the next second, and then back to sighing in the next heartbeat, spewing out nonsense like: "Isn't this a beautiful world, Nurse? I mean in general, you know?" and "Good afternoon, Father, isn't it a beautiful world?" It was so juvenile in its entirety, it was hard for me to take it seriously.
But then again, that was the whole thing that really made me loathe Princess Una. She was so juvenile. She blushes every three seconds (it was a pet peeve of mine reading about how red blotches burst forth in wild cavorting across her nose every few pages. Girl you should get that checked); and then when she gets really upset (like when Prince Gervais was discovered to be in debt, and she was really angry at Prince Aethelbald), she becomes nonsensical.
"What did you could your business dare you!" Her eyes burned. "Never want to speak why did you can't stand you!"
"Princess?" He took a step back, his face full of hurt and confusion. "Are you
"Don't pretend you knon't dow - don't know - what I'm talking about!"
( ... )
"How dare you blacken his name how dare you to my father!" Una wanted desperately to spit out elegant barbs, but all that came out was an emphatic, "Don't want you mister noble go away not your business!"
This. is. not. adorable.
It's annoying.
You are a princess! You are supposed to be educated and eloquent - don't give me that "She was emotional, of course she didn't make sense" bullshit, because I get emotional, too. I still make sense. And I don't even get any education on articulation.
Her incoherent mumbo-jumbo is not a one-time event. It happens. Frequently. I shudder at the thought of such character becoming queen of anything.
To borrow from Ron Weasley, Princess Una also needs to sort out her priorities . While she was imprisoned in her own palace by the Dragon King, instead of worrying about what's happened to her kingdom, or her people, or her nanny, or her own father and brother, what does she worry about? Prince Lionheart and why he hasn't returned back to her.
Is this also an allegory? An allegory of the selfishness of mankind? I have no idea, and I don't care. I didn't like it - I didn't like this particular trait of Princess Una's.
and I will judge you for it
Another thing that disappointed me was Prince Aethelbald. He had all the promises of being such an interesting character - and yes, I know there's not much room to work with when you're basing him on Jesus H. Christ, but at least give him some semblance of a personality.
For instance the scene where he taught Prince Felix how to swordfight; I liked that. I liked the instances he was shown as a mentor, a teacher. There could be more things similar to this, but it was very lacking. Instead, we were focusing more on the "romances" with Princess Una's courtiers.
As for the way the plot unfolded ... I'm not sure how I liked it. It was a little bizarre. The story was bizarre. The Duke of Shippening, who grew up with Princess Una's father, attacked Parumvil because he was ... ... slighted? ... ... because it turns out Princess Una had given her heart to someone else. Waging wars over a girl. How tripe.
Anyway, in the meantime, Princess Una gave her heart away to someone undeserving, and for some reason that lead to the Dragon King (the antichrist?) being able to transform her into a dragon (mankind falling into sin? Falling for false saviours?) Might I add, Princess Una was never even an evil dragon.
Presently, the King is forced to retreat, effectively doing nothing to protect his kingdom and people, Prince Felix is badly injured and sent to some sort of fae Haven to be treated, making them the two most ineffective and useless characters ever.
And then Prince Aethelbald rescues Princess Una by slaying the Dragon King and the dragon inside her. The former he could have done years and years ago, by the way, but apparently he had to wait for the right time , which, Christian Allegory or not, made no sense.
I need more sense in my novels. I need proper motives, proper reasoning. WHY did he have to wait? And WHY was that particular moment the "right time"? In the case of Christ, it was because he needed the people to see in order for them to believe. It was because he needed to first spread the Word of God. To fulfil all the prophecies made concerning himself.
But in the case of Prince Aethelbald? What was he waiting for? What was keeping him from slaying the Dragon King from Day One?
So that's it. I was not satisfied. I was taken on a bizarre trip, a meandering tale, and given no proper reasoning for it all. And for that, two stars.
March 21, 2017
I first discovered Heartless when I was doing an online search for Christian fantasy books one day. Admittedly, the beautiful cover was the first thing that drew me to it, but once I started investigating the series, I became seriously curious about the story. Now that I've read Heartless, I have to say that I loved it, and I don't think the story synopsis on the back cover does it justice. The synopsis makes it sound like it's going to be a light, fluffy read, and for about the first half of the book, it is. There's even a fair amount of humor that I really enjoyed. But after a certain major event occurs, the tone of the story really changes, and appropriately so. It becomes more dramatic, brutally honest, and you really feel the pain that the main character and side characters are going through.
Speaking of the main character (Princess Una), I had seen some mixed reviews about people's reactions to her before I read Heartless. At best, people found her relatable and realistic; at worst they found her annoying and unrelatable. While reading, I found myself leaning more towards feeling that Una was relatable. Sure, she wasn't perfect, but I understood why she did the things that she did, and I know that I've behaved that way on various occasions myself. I think we all have, really, and that's part of the point of the story.
As a Christian, I also found the allegory in Heartless, which I think was subtly yet effectively done, very relatable. The love that Prince Aethelbald had for Una was very much like the love that Jesus has for us human sinners. He chooses to love us despite our flaws, and even when we act like jerks, and make mistakes, and push Him away, He keeps loving us and He'll always come back for us, no matter what. This message, I think, was one of the most beautiful things about Heartless, and I'll fully admit to crying my eyes out during the last few chapters.
All that being said, I think Heartless is a great book. I would and have recommended it to others and I look forward to reading the rest of the Tales of Goldstone Wood series.
2017 edit: I have now read this book twice and found it just as beautiful, touching, and enchanting this time as I did the first time. I'll also note that there were many little details that I noticed this time that I didn't notice during my reading. Anne Elisabeth is, in my opinion, a master of foreshadowing, so if you've read the entire series already, don't let that discourage you from reading it again, because you may just notice some new and very interesting things! I'm sure I'll reread it and the rest of the Goldstone Wood series many more times in the years to come. I just love it so much! <3
Speaking of the main character (Princess Una), I had seen some mixed reviews about people's reactions to her before I read Heartless. At best, people found her relatable and realistic; at worst they found her annoying and unrelatable. While reading, I found myself leaning more towards feeling that Una was relatable. Sure, she wasn't perfect, but I understood why she did the things that she did, and I know that I've behaved that way on various occasions myself. I think we all have, really, and that's part of the point of the story.
As a Christian, I also found the allegory in Heartless, which I think was subtly yet effectively done, very relatable. The love that Prince Aethelbald had for Una was very much like the love that Jesus has for us human sinners. He chooses to love us despite our flaws, and even when we act like jerks, and make mistakes, and push Him away, He keeps loving us and He'll always come back for us, no matter what. This message, I think, was one of the most beautiful things about Heartless, and I'll fully admit to crying my eyes out during the last few chapters.
All that being said, I think Heartless is a great book. I would and have recommended it to others and I look forward to reading the rest of the Tales of Goldstone Wood series.
2017 edit: I have now read this book twice and found it just as beautiful, touching, and enchanting this time as I did the first time. I'll also note that there were many little details that I noticed this time that I didn't notice during my reading. Anne Elisabeth is, in my opinion, a master of foreshadowing, so if you've read the entire series already, don't let that discourage you from reading it again, because you may just notice some new and very interesting things! I'm sure I'll reread it and the rest of the Goldstone Wood series many more times in the years to come. I just love it so much! <3
April 28, 2020
4.5 stars ~
Eeeeep.
Why did it take me so long to finally pick this book up???
(Okay, so that was a rhetorical question, because I know why. 😂)
I really enjoyed this book. It was relaxing and whimsical with lots of action and humor packed in between. It took me a long time to connect with the characters though. :p
I didn't realize this was Christian Fantasy or I would have picked it up sooner. ^.^ I loved the allegorical vibes and the fantasy realm.
One thing that really weirded me out though was the Prince of Farthestshore. He was just .... so perfect? Like was he portraying Jesus? Idk I couldn't ship Una and him because he was just too perfect and their love felt forced??? Like WHERE'S THE pAsSiOn behind it?? I loved the sacrifice and loyal devotion behind the love. BUT I NEED AN EXPLANATION FOLKS.
I loved the plot and the setting, but I feel like the characters had very jerky arcs. Like they went nowhere and suddenly at the end they were a new person? It was weird. I just didn't connect with them as much as I wanted to.
BUT THE CAT. OH FISH SNOUTS THE CAT. 😍😍😍😂😂😂😂
Content - Fantasy violence. Fantasy magic? Suggestive scenes and conversations. VERY. CLEAN. PG - 13
Anyways .... it was an enjoyable read. The author's voice is super lighthearted and yet serious. 💗 I shared many laughs with this book. 😂
Eeeeep.
Why did it take me so long to finally pick this book up???
(Okay, so that was a rhetorical question, because I know why. 😂)
I really enjoyed this book. It was relaxing and whimsical with lots of action and humor packed in between. It took me a long time to connect with the characters though. :p
I didn't realize this was Christian Fantasy or I would have picked it up sooner. ^.^ I loved the allegorical vibes and the fantasy realm.
One thing that really weirded me out though was the Prince of Farthestshore. He was just .... so perfect? Like was he portraying Jesus? Idk I couldn't ship Una and him because he was just too perfect and their love felt forced??? Like WHERE'S THE pAsSiOn behind it?? I loved the sacrifice and loyal devotion behind the love. BUT I NEED AN EXPLANATION FOLKS.
I loved the plot and the setting, but I feel like the characters had very jerky arcs. Like they went nowhere and suddenly at the end they were a new person? It was weird. I just didn't connect with them as much as I wanted to.
BUT THE CAT. OH FISH SNOUTS THE CAT. 😍😍😍😂😂😂😂
Content - Fantasy violence. Fantasy magic? Suggestive scenes and conversations. VERY. CLEAN. PG - 13
Anyways .... it was an enjoyable read. The author's voice is super lighthearted and yet serious. 💗 I shared many laughs with this book. 😂
January 7, 2018
This is the darkest book I have ever read. The fantasy element was chilling and nightmarish, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Because it’s an allegory of sin, misplaced love, and redemption, there is no other way to portray how helpless our state is.
At first glance, it’s an unnecessarily magical story with an irritating, shallow protagonist. Una was all about appearances, looking for a dashing prince. She was irritable toward her brother and downright rude to any suitors who didn’t fit her ideal. I also found her unwillingness to seek help with her dreams maddening. And yet--ENTER THE ALLEGORY--she was the perfect picture of us. She was seeking love in all the wrong places and fighting something within herself she could not control (a.k.a. sin nature). She was helpless and incapable of loving.
Which made the beautiful part of the allegory even more amazing. It is soooo strong! *cries just thinking about it* I forgot about the romance almost entirely (), and I even forgot what certain lead characters looked like because it didn’t matter anymore. Instead, I was moved to tears and greater love my Savior. (Even the end!!! <3)
I realize this review is hardly any proper review at all, but I couldn’t say more without spoiling something. I encourage older teenagers to read it and be reminded that Christ’s love never fails. No matter what.
Best quote: “Una.” She saw his mouth form the word. Her name.
Altogether, this is a book I will never forget.
At first glance, it’s an unnecessarily magical story with an irritating, shallow protagonist. Una was all about appearances, looking for a dashing prince. She was irritable toward her brother and downright rude to any suitors who didn’t fit her ideal. I also found her unwillingness to seek help with her dreams maddening. And yet--ENTER THE ALLEGORY--she was the perfect picture of us. She was seeking love in all the wrong places and fighting something within herself she could not control (a.k.a. sin nature). She was helpless and incapable of loving.
Which made the beautiful part of the allegory even more amazing. It is soooo strong! *cries just thinking about it* I forgot about the romance almost entirely (), and I even forgot what certain lead characters looked like because it didn’t matter anymore. Instead, I was moved to tears and greater love my Savior. (Even the end!!! <3)
I realize this review is hardly any proper review at all, but I couldn’t say more without spoiling something. I encourage older teenagers to read it and be reminded that Christ’s love never fails. No matter what.
Best quote: “Una.” She saw his mouth form the word. Her name.
Altogether, this is a book I will never forget.
December 21, 2018
4.5 Stars! This book is gold, and I loved it so much!
Here's the thing guys, I just got this book from the library and told my Dad that it has a dragon and a princess and has wonderful humor. (That's what I got from the reviews I've read). That's what I told him; that was all the synopsis needed; he started reading the book before I could even get my hands on it.
SO WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS!!!! GO GET THE BOOK!!!! YOU NEED THIS IN YOUR LIFE!!!! I LOVED IT, HE LOVED IT, I'M PRETTY SURE YOU'LL LOVE IT TOO!!!!
Ahem, let me compose myself for a moment. *Deep breath*
So here's my real composed review:
This book felt very much like a fairytale and I loved it even more because of it! This book should definitely become a classic where we pass it on to our kids and our grandkids and their grandkids. Like, could we just start doing that now? Just start passing it to everybody we see. Gah, this book is among the best!
I love the allegory in this book. How Jesus loves us and would do anything for us, even die for our sins, and rise again, so we may have hope. How we can sometimes be stubborn and want things that might not please us in the end.
The Characters:
Una --- sometimes stubborn, very romantic, sweet, and not your everyday princess.
Felix --- an annoying brother with a lot of heart, loves to practice with swords.
Prince Aethelbald --- always is showing his love, will always come for Una no matter what. I love him and his quiet ways.
Monster!!! CAN I HAVE HIM!?! PLEASE!?!?!
The Dragon ---- scary *shivers* not what I was expecting, but he made a wonderful villain.
And can we just talk about the humor for a minute? It was funny! Well, at least some of it. Most of the funniness seems to be towards the beginning of the book. But it was funny nonetheless! I loved it!
And can I just go to the Twelve Year Market? Like please? That would be the coolest market ever!
Why I Didn't Give It FIVE STARS:
Almost made it for me. It was sooo close.
First of all, the writing style threw me off a couple times. It was like a fairytaleish-like style where it was told in a Third Person Omniscient-like point of view. You know, kind of like "Lord of the Rings" (The Fellowship of the Ring). But there are also times where it would be in deep POV with either Una, Felix, or Prince Aethelbald. And it also seems like it sometimes head-hopped to the King. I actually wasn't too annoyed like I normally am with head-hopping and changing of the writing style. It fits very nice with this book, and was actually very pleasant to read. It didn't do it all the time. It was like head-hopping done right; if that's a thing.
I also love the allegory in this book, but sometimes it was a little difficult to understand what everything was supposed to represent. This is almost a kind of book which I would have like discussion questions or something in the back.
Will I read the other book in the series???
YES!!! GIVE ME MORE!!! I MUST READ THE NEXT BOOK!!!!
Content in Book:
1. A gambler.
2. Someone who wanted to get married only to get the throne.
3. A dragon.
4. Shapeshifting
5. Worshiping the Dragon. (Including sacrifices and giving him treasures; there is a mention of blood being on the Dragon's throne).
6. Violence. (Fire, dragon smoke, killing, destroying entire cities, sword fighting, a war, throwing people around, etc.).
Who Do I Recommend It To:
Those who like fantasy. Those who like allegories. Those who like fairytale-like stories (this is not a fairytale but it should become one. =)
Here's the thing guys, I just got this book from the library and told my Dad that it has a dragon and a princess and has wonderful humor. (That's what I got from the reviews I've read). That's what I told him; that was all the synopsis needed; he started reading the book before I could even get my hands on it.
SO WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS!!!! GO GET THE BOOK!!!! YOU NEED THIS IN YOUR LIFE!!!! I LOVED IT, HE LOVED IT, I'M PRETTY SURE YOU'LL LOVE IT TOO!!!!
Ahem, let me compose myself for a moment. *Deep breath*
So here's my real composed review:
This book felt very much like a fairytale and I loved it even more because of it! This book should definitely become a classic where we pass it on to our kids and our grandkids and their grandkids. Like, could we just start doing that now? Just start passing it to everybody we see. Gah, this book is among the best!
I love the allegory in this book. How Jesus loves us and would do anything for us, even die for our sins, and rise again, so we may have hope. How we can sometimes be stubborn and want things that might not please us in the end.
The Characters:
Una --- sometimes stubborn, very romantic, sweet, and not your everyday princess.
Felix --- an annoying brother with a lot of heart, loves to practice with swords.
Prince Aethelbald --- always is showing his love, will always come for Una no matter what. I love him and his quiet ways.
Monster!!! CAN I HAVE HIM!?! PLEASE!?!?!
The Dragon ---- scary *shivers* not what I was expecting, but he made a wonderful villain.
And can we just talk about the humor for a minute? It was funny! Well, at least some of it. Most of the funniness seems to be towards the beginning of the book. But it was funny nonetheless! I loved it!
And can I just go to the Twelve Year Market? Like please? That would be the coolest market ever!
Why I Didn't Give It FIVE STARS:
Almost made it for me. It was sooo close.
First of all, the writing style threw me off a couple times. It was like a fairytaleish-like style where it was told in a Third Person Omniscient-like point of view. You know, kind of like "Lord of the Rings" (The Fellowship of the Ring). But there are also times where it would be in deep POV with either Una, Felix, or Prince Aethelbald. And it also seems like it sometimes head-hopped to the King. I actually wasn't too annoyed like I normally am with head-hopping and changing of the writing style. It fits very nice with this book, and was actually very pleasant to read. It didn't do it all the time. It was like head-hopping done right; if that's a thing.
I also love the allegory in this book, but sometimes it was a little difficult to understand what everything was supposed to represent. This is almost a kind of book which I would have like discussion questions or something in the back.
Will I read the other book in the series???
YES!!! GIVE ME MORE!!! I MUST READ THE NEXT BOOK!!!!
Content in Book:
1. A gambler.
2. Someone who wanted to get married only to get the throne.
3. A dragon.
4. Shapeshifting
5. Worshiping the Dragon. (Including sacrifices and giving him treasures; there is a mention of blood being on the Dragon's throne).
6. Violence. (Fire, dragon smoke, killing, destroying entire cities, sword fighting, a war, throwing people around, etc.).
Who Do I Recommend It To:
Those who like fantasy. Those who like allegories. Those who like fairytale-like stories (this is not a fairytale but it should become one. =)
June 7, 2011
As most of my book reviews and blog posts can attest to, I am huge fan of Christian fantasy so I’ve been looking forward to reading Heartless for a long time. At last I had a chance to get it and read it.
When I first started reading, Heartless didn’t grab me like some books. I had a difficult time liking Una. She’s pretty much a spoiled, whiny princess, which is actually great for the beginning of a book because it sets up for a lot of great character growth, but I need to feel something for the character at the start despite their flaws so I want to see the growth. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t like her as I would have liked. However, I did have compassion for her by the end.
For the first half of the book, the one thing that kept me interested was Prince Aethelbald. I adored him. I hated the name (lol), but I think that was kind of the point, that and his completely ordinary looks. I wasn’t drawn to him for any outward reasons, but because of his character. I couldn’t wait to keep reading about him. He was mysterious, yet kind and compassionate. He was the perfect illustration of true, Christ-like love. That was one of the best parts of this book, the sweet, pure romance. It was very well done.
Heartless didn’t turn out as I was expecting at all. It was a little darker and more intense than I thought it would be, but I like intense stories. I wasn’t sure about the whole fantasy world at first. Despite being a huge fan of fantasy, I’m not big on worlds with fairies and such (being more of a fan of truer to life realms like Middle-earth), but by the end I didn’t think about it so much.
To sum it all up, I read 310 of the 363 pages yesterday afternoon and evening, and I would have finished if I hadn’t needed to get to bed in preparation for work in the morning. I don’t read any book that fast if it doesn’t capture my attention. I even found myself thinking about it often while I was at work. So despite an uncertain beginning, I found I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and it certainly sparked my imagination. I highly recommend it to readers of Christian fantasy and look forward to reading the next in the series.
When I first started reading, Heartless didn’t grab me like some books. I had a difficult time liking Una. She’s pretty much a spoiled, whiny princess, which is actually great for the beginning of a book because it sets up for a lot of great character growth, but I need to feel something for the character at the start despite their flaws so I want to see the growth. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t like her as I would have liked. However, I did have compassion for her by the end.
For the first half of the book, the one thing that kept me interested was Prince Aethelbald. I adored him. I hated the name (lol), but I think that was kind of the point, that and his completely ordinary looks. I wasn’t drawn to him for any outward reasons, but because of his character. I couldn’t wait to keep reading about him. He was mysterious, yet kind and compassionate. He was the perfect illustration of true, Christ-like love. That was one of the best parts of this book, the sweet, pure romance. It was very well done.
Heartless didn’t turn out as I was expecting at all. It was a little darker and more intense than I thought it would be, but I like intense stories. I wasn’t sure about the whole fantasy world at first. Despite being a huge fan of fantasy, I’m not big on worlds with fairies and such (being more of a fan of truer to life realms like Middle-earth), but by the end I didn’t think about it so much.
To sum it all up, I read 310 of the 363 pages yesterday afternoon and evening, and I would have finished if I hadn’t needed to get to bed in preparation for work in the morning. I don’t read any book that fast if it doesn’t capture my attention. I even found myself thinking about it often while I was at work. So despite an uncertain beginning, I found I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and it certainly sparked my imagination. I highly recommend it to readers of Christian fantasy and look forward to reading the next in the series.
February 11, 2016
Age Appropriate For: 13 and up for violence and some fantasy elements
Best for Ages: 13 and up
Every few months, I get the urge to read a fantasy. Well, I got the urge and decided to read Heartless which has been on my to-read list for a long time. I was expecting a cute little story with romance. Instead, I was blown away by a powerful allegory.
At first, I thought I was going to hate Una through the whole book. She starts out very selfish and irritating, yet she was a fascinating character. I think that her desire to find the man of her dreams who loves her passionately is something that most girls can relate to. As the story progressed, and the allegory unfolded, Una became a character that reflected parts of me, and I liked her a lot more.
Aethelbald was by far my favorite character. He is the Christ figure of the story, and he was perfect. He has strong character and loves Una unconditionally, even when she was unlovable.
Sometimes, the story felt a bit weird, especially when it came to the dragons. It was weird and amazing all at the same time, which is why this book gets five stars from me. Younger children who haven’t read a lot of fantasy might find some of the elements of this book disturbing.
It is hard to rave about this book, because if I talked about my favorite parts, I would spoil the ending. I will just say that as it is a redemption story, I loved it. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.
I highly recommend this book to those who like fantasy, allegories, and redemption stories.
Best for Ages: 13 and up
Every few months, I get the urge to read a fantasy. Well, I got the urge and decided to read Heartless which has been on my to-read list for a long time. I was expecting a cute little story with romance. Instead, I was blown away by a powerful allegory.
At first, I thought I was going to hate Una through the whole book. She starts out very selfish and irritating, yet she was a fascinating character. I think that her desire to find the man of her dreams who loves her passionately is something that most girls can relate to. As the story progressed, and the allegory unfolded, Una became a character that reflected parts of me, and I liked her a lot more.
Aethelbald was by far my favorite character. He is the Christ figure of the story, and he was perfect. He has strong character and loves Una unconditionally, even when she was unlovable.
Sometimes, the story felt a bit weird, especially when it came to the dragons. It was weird and amazing all at the same time, which is why this book gets five stars from me. Younger children who haven’t read a lot of fantasy might find some of the elements of this book disturbing.
It is hard to rave about this book, because if I talked about my favorite parts, I would spoil the ending. I will just say that as it is a redemption story, I loved it. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.
I highly recommend this book to those who like fantasy, allegories, and redemption stories.
December 11, 2018
Oh my word.......THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!!!!!! Why have I not read it before now?!?!
If you were to ask me why I love this book so much, I honestly couldn't tell you why. This entire book was so beautiful and very well written. I loved the allegory in it too.
Also can I just say that I got very frustrated with Una at multiple points in this, but then realized how similar we all are to her. We all seek after the "lovers" we think we love when really Aethelbald a.k.a Jesus Christ is there offering us uncontrollable love. Aethelbald in this book was a Christ like character, he wasn't Christ but just an allegory of Him.
I highly recommend this book! I am so happy that I bought this book from the library a few months ago!!!!
If you were to ask me why I love this book so much, I honestly couldn't tell you why. This entire book was so beautiful and very well written. I loved the allegory in it too.
Also can I just say that I got very frustrated with Una at multiple points in this, but then realized how similar we all are to her. We all seek after the "lovers" we think we love when really Aethelbald a.k.a Jesus Christ is there offering us uncontrollable love. Aethelbald in this book was a Christ like character, he wasn't Christ but just an allegory of Him.
I highly recommend this book! I am so happy that I bought this book from the library a few months ago!!!!
September 29, 2017
I need to reread this.
'Tis utterly amazing, and such a beautiful, classic Christian fantasy.
That is all. <3
'Tis utterly amazing, and such a beautiful, classic Christian fantasy.
That is all. <3
February 6, 2016
About this book:
“The Dragon King Seeks His Princess—
Who Dares to Stop Him?
Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and will soon marry. She dreams of a charming prince, but when her first suitor arrives, he's not what she'd hoped. Prince Aethelbald of mysterious Farthestshore has travelled a great distance to prove his love--and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be on the hunt and blazing a path of terror.
Una, smitten instead with a more dashing prince, refuses Aethelbald's offer--and ignores his cautions with dire consequences. Soon the Dragon King himself is in Parumvir and Una, in giving her heart away unwisely, finds herself in his sights. Only those courageous enough to risk everything have a hope of fighting off this advancing evil.”
Series: Book #1 of the “Tales of Goldstone Wood” series.
Spiritual Content- This is an Allegory. More in the Final Thoughts.
*Note: a “ugly as sin”, a “devil’s carnival” and a “Go to the hell prepared for you”; Fortune reading; Mentions of sacrifices.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘biddy’, two ‘stupid’s, two ‘wench’s, three forms of ‘idiot’; Many curses are said but not written; Nightmares (semi-detailed); Dragons & fighting (semi-detailed to detailed); Blood (up to semi-detailed); Dead people (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of hunting dogs & dead dogs; Mentions of drinking & wine; Mentions of gambling.
Sexual Content- a barely-above-not-detailed kiss and a barely-above-not-detailed forehead kiss; Many, many, many mentions of marriage, suits & romance; A mention of a dragon mating and laying an egg (but that’s not where dragons come from); A little bit of Love, falling in love, & the emotions.
-Princess Una, 18
P.O.V. mainly of Una’s (but a few others as well)
363 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- One Star (and a half)
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars (and a half)
Before I read this book I knew three things about it: it’s an Allegory/fantasy, has dragons and the fandom has really interesting drawings! Now, three confessions:
1.) This was my first time reading an allegory. (I’ve never read the Narnia series, I know, I know, I should, but I’m just not one for mythical creatures.) {Read the Allegory theory that I referred to for this book Here!}
2.) I’m not big on dragons, so this was very interesting!Plus that the dragons were evil?! And seeing all the fan drawings from this series made me wonder just what is in this series! (Really interesting fandom this series has! ;) )
3.) I actually enjoyed this novel! I went in curious and wondering about how the Allegory plays in and turned out liking it. Is anyone a teeny bit shocked? :)
“Heartless” was different and a little weird (keep in mind that I’m normally into Historicals) but it was a good different and weird. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series and possibly joining the fan base. We’ll see. ;)
Link to review:
http://booksforchristiangirls.blogspo...
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
“The Dragon King Seeks His Princess—
Who Dares to Stop Him?
Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and will soon marry. She dreams of a charming prince, but when her first suitor arrives, he's not what she'd hoped. Prince Aethelbald of mysterious Farthestshore has travelled a great distance to prove his love--and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be on the hunt and blazing a path of terror.
Una, smitten instead with a more dashing prince, refuses Aethelbald's offer--and ignores his cautions with dire consequences. Soon the Dragon King himself is in Parumvir and Una, in giving her heart away unwisely, finds herself in his sights. Only those courageous enough to risk everything have a hope of fighting off this advancing evil.”
Series: Book #1 of the “Tales of Goldstone Wood” series.
Spiritual Content- This is an Allegory. More in the Final Thoughts.
*Note: a “ugly as sin”, a “devil’s carnival” and a “Go to the hell prepared for you”; Fortune reading; Mentions of sacrifices.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘biddy’, two ‘stupid’s, two ‘wench’s, three forms of ‘idiot’; Many curses are said but not written; Nightmares (semi-detailed); Dragons & fighting (semi-detailed to detailed); Blood (up to semi-detailed); Dead people (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of hunting dogs & dead dogs; Mentions of drinking & wine; Mentions of gambling.
Sexual Content- a barely-above-not-detailed kiss and a barely-above-not-detailed forehead kiss; Many, many, many mentions of marriage, suits & romance; A mention of a dragon mating and laying an egg (but that’s not where dragons come from); A little bit of Love, falling in love, & the emotions.
-Princess Una, 18
P.O.V. mainly of Una’s (but a few others as well)
363 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- One Star (and a half)
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars (and a half)
Before I read this book I knew three things about it: it’s an Allegory/fantasy, has dragons and the fandom has really interesting drawings! Now, three confessions:
1.) This was my first time reading an allegory. (I’ve never read the Narnia series, I know, I know, I should, but I’m just not one for mythical creatures.) {Read the Allegory theory that I referred to for this book Here!}
2.) I’m not big on dragons, so this was very interesting!
3.) I actually enjoyed this novel! I went in curious and wondering about how the Allegory plays in and turned out liking it. Is anyone a teeny bit shocked? :)
“Heartless” was different and a little weird (keep in mind that I’m normally into Historicals) but it was a good different and weird. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series and possibly joining the fan base. We’ll see. ;)
Link to review:
http://booksforchristiangirls.blogspo...
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
July 13, 2023
This book was so enchanting! I think this is best romance I have ever read, and certainly one of the most exciting adventure stories. It is so well written that you want to pay attention to every sentence and soak up the words. Princess Una is a relatable character because her flaws are something everyone experiences in their spiritual life. It was allegorical but in a way that leaves room for different kinds of speculation. It made me cry, feel joy, feel guilty... all the feelings that the best books give you. The author has a seamless writing style that was really enjoyable, and continues in the following books. This was the start of one of my most favorite series ever, I highly recommend!
May 11, 2012
Loved this book. I thought it was a great picture of how selfish we are and how God still pursues us and loves us.
July 10, 2013
Exceptional allegory. The language is vivid and colorful, drawing the reader into the enchantment the book offers. The plot is simple, yet saturated with meaning. Making a world out of pure imagination is a daunting task. Stengl is very adept at it, leaving no holes that I can see. Goldstone Wood feels real.I try to get each book of hers that comes out as quickly as I can. Each one of her books has been a beautiful masterpiece, leaving the reader aching for more.
August 6, 2020
A unique, heart-rending, Christian allegory. Fantasy & fairy tale. I need to read Heartless again!
March 22, 2021
This is a masterpiece, and that's all there is to it.
Only C.S. Lewis is comparable.
Only C.S. Lewis is comparable.
March 9, 2021
*Warnings*
#1 This is a long review, so pull up a chair and grab a bowl of popcorn. You'll be here awhile. #2 When I read a review, I want substantial information. So I will not skimp on the details. Which will mean some spoilers, so watch out. #3 The review you are reading are part of an upcoming mini review post on my blog—however, my idea of “mini” greatly differs from Webster’s definition.
Well, when I signed up for #kindleunlimited, I had my eyes locked on two things: Tamara Leigh and Anne Elisabeth Stengl. In particular, Tales of Goldstone Wood. Unfortunately, only the first book in this allegorical fantasy series in available in KU, so I can’t say whether or not I’ll be immediately continuing the series.
However, I am very glad I read Heartless.
Judging by my Goodreads bookshelves, I’m not too big on fantasy. It wasn’t always that way, though, so my childhood of C.S. Lewis and Chuck Black has given me a lot of knowledge of the genre. I know my way around fantasy, believe it or not.
Heartless has the classical sound and allegorical qualities of The Chronicles of Narnia, but it’s unique. In a world of YA fantasy with hussies for heroines and vampires for heroes, it’s very unique.
That fits my requirements, right? But I didn’t get into Heartless the way I hoped. I mean, I got into it all right, but not how I’d expected.
Y’all know I’m not usually one to listen to the masses. When they hate a book, I’ll read it. When they love it, I don’t. But I listened this time. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Tales of Goldstone Wood and Anne Elisabeth Stengl, so I gave in.
From a writer’s/editor’s standpoint, there wasn’t much lacking. It was engaging, fast-paced, and the worldbuilding was excellent. The characters developed well, the plot moved along smoothly. My only qualm would be that there was much more telling than there was showing—somehow, that’s permissible when writing in a more classical style, as Stengl does, so it wasn’t too bothersome. But I did pick up on it sometimes, when I felt like I wasn’t very close to the characters or the story.
But from my standpoint? Eh. To be honest (I mean, I wouldn’t lie), I was hoping for a romance. Say what you will about Una and Leonard and Aethelbald and Gervais...but this wasn’t a romance.
It was an allegory.
Now, I can appreciate a good allegory. I do. But I usually entwine my appreciation with a huge heap of fangirling—like with the Unblemished trilogy by Sara Ella. I couldn’t do much fangirling, if any, over Heartless. (Hence the name, Heartless.)
I do like how you-know-who (whom you’ll peg from the start, I assure you) paralleled Christ. I like how that played out. It was pretty obvious, yes, so I caught onto it the moment I met the fellow, but I still admire how true to the Bible and Christ the allegory was.
I still wanted it to be more romantic, though. I sound like Una.
Speaking of...a lot has been said about how bratty she is, but she wasn’t half bad. Seriously. She was...tolerable. But she was also real. Pretty transparent, too. And what was crazy was that the other you-know-who (I feel like naming names will spoil stuff) worked a wonder on her! True, he was a crappy dude who betrayed her trust, but it showed that Una had a care, had loyalty and strength. Naivete and stupidity, yes, but also a childlike faith—in spite of all her shortcomings.
There was one more thing that was disappointing: the villain. We go through all this rigmarole with certain goblins and trolls and princes and dukes and all—only to have the main man, the big daddy, el jefe, Darth Dragon, the evilest of the evil and the vilest of the vile appear out of nowhere. There was no foreshadowing him. No shock. No suspense. It’s like...suddenly he’s there and he’s causing trouble, but there was no feeling on my part. After shadowing everyone else, I’d expected either them to be bad or for an equal amount of attention to be paid to the actual villain.
I just wasn’t feeling it.
I was feeling pretty scared, though. This stuff gets dark—and I don’t mean just magic and mythological creatures dark. I mean spiritually dark. The parallel is there, guys, and it’s disturbing. I’m not into freaky stuff (apart from Frank E. Peretti), so when things started to get dark, I started to panic.
I say that to give you my personal experience and to forewarn those under the age of fifteen seeking to read this. Don’t read this before bedtime, kids. Dragons ain’t no joke.
So...I guess this sounds like a negative review. It’s not. Heartless is a good book, Stengl is a good author, and I’m sure the rest of the series is good too. I got into it, I did. I had a hard time putting it down (or switching to another book on my Kindle). In the end, though, Tamara Leigh won out (I was reading Heartless and Merciless at the same time, ironically). This just wasn’t my style. A few things were missing, for me, but I know a lot of other readers have adored this book/series. Seriously, one of my writer friends is part of the ToGW fandom and co-created a blog all about it. You can check it out here!
Long story short (because, yes, this was longer than I’d intended), I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I love it...and then I hate it. *shrugs* I’m like that with a lot of things, I guess. I would recommend Heartless, though, because I know it fits the style of some—just not me.
#1 This is a long review, so pull up a chair and grab a bowl of popcorn. You'll be here awhile. #2 When I read a review, I want substantial information. So I will not skimp on the details. Which will mean some spoilers, so watch out. #3 The review you are reading are part of an upcoming mini review post on my blog—however, my idea of “mini” greatly differs from Webster’s definition.
Well, when I signed up for #kindleunlimited, I had my eyes locked on two things: Tamara Leigh and Anne Elisabeth Stengl. In particular, Tales of Goldstone Wood. Unfortunately, only the first book in this allegorical fantasy series in available in KU, so I can’t say whether or not I’ll be immediately continuing the series.
However, I am very glad I read Heartless.
Judging by my Goodreads bookshelves, I’m not too big on fantasy. It wasn’t always that way, though, so my childhood of C.S. Lewis and Chuck Black has given me a lot of knowledge of the genre. I know my way around fantasy, believe it or not.
Heartless has the classical sound and allegorical qualities of The Chronicles of Narnia, but it’s unique. In a world of YA fantasy with hussies for heroines and vampires for heroes, it’s very unique.
That fits my requirements, right? But I didn’t get into Heartless the way I hoped. I mean, I got into it all right, but not how I’d expected.
Y’all know I’m not usually one to listen to the masses. When they hate a book, I’ll read it. When they love it, I don’t. But I listened this time. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Tales of Goldstone Wood and Anne Elisabeth Stengl, so I gave in.
From a writer’s/editor’s standpoint, there wasn’t much lacking. It was engaging, fast-paced, and the worldbuilding was excellent. The characters developed well, the plot moved along smoothly. My only qualm would be that there was much more telling than there was showing—somehow, that’s permissible when writing in a more classical style, as Stengl does, so it wasn’t too bothersome. But I did pick up on it sometimes, when I felt like I wasn’t very close to the characters or the story.
But from my standpoint? Eh. To be honest (I mean, I wouldn’t lie), I was hoping for a romance. Say what you will about Una and Leonard and Aethelbald and Gervais...but this wasn’t a romance.
It was an allegory.
Now, I can appreciate a good allegory. I do. But I usually entwine my appreciation with a huge heap of fangirling—like with the Unblemished trilogy by Sara Ella. I couldn’t do much fangirling, if any, over Heartless. (Hence the name, Heartless.)
I do like how you-know-who (whom you’ll peg from the start, I assure you) paralleled Christ. I like how that played out. It was pretty obvious, yes, so I caught onto it the moment I met the fellow, but I still admire how true to the Bible and Christ the allegory was.
I still wanted it to be more romantic, though. I sound like Una.
Speaking of...a lot has been said about how bratty she is, but she wasn’t half bad. Seriously. She was...tolerable. But she was also real. Pretty transparent, too. And what was crazy was that the other you-know-who (I feel like naming names will spoil stuff) worked a wonder on her! True, he was a crappy dude who betrayed her trust, but it showed that Una had a care, had loyalty and strength. Naivete and stupidity, yes, but also a childlike faith—in spite of all her shortcomings.
There was one more thing that was disappointing: the villain. We go through all this rigmarole with certain goblins and trolls and princes and dukes and all—only to have the main man, the big daddy, el jefe, Darth Dragon, the evilest of the evil and the vilest of the vile appear out of nowhere. There was no foreshadowing him. No shock. No suspense. It’s like...suddenly he’s there and he’s causing trouble, but there was no feeling on my part. After shadowing everyone else, I’d expected either them to be bad or for an equal amount of attention to be paid to the actual villain.
I just wasn’t feeling it.
I was feeling pretty scared, though. This stuff gets dark—and I don’t mean just magic and mythological creatures dark. I mean spiritually dark. The parallel is there, guys, and it’s disturbing. I’m not into freaky stuff (apart from Frank E. Peretti), so when things started to get dark, I started to panic.
I say that to give you my personal experience and to forewarn those under the age of fifteen seeking to read this. Don’t read this before bedtime, kids. Dragons ain’t no joke.
So...I guess this sounds like a negative review. It’s not. Heartless is a good book, Stengl is a good author, and I’m sure the rest of the series is good too. I got into it, I did. I had a hard time putting it down (or switching to another book on my Kindle). In the end, though, Tamara Leigh won out (I was reading Heartless and Merciless at the same time, ironically). This just wasn’t my style. A few things were missing, for me, but I know a lot of other readers have adored this book/series. Seriously, one of my writer friends is part of the ToGW fandom and co-created a blog all about it. You can check it out here!
Long story short (because, yes, this was longer than I’d intended), I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I love it...and then I hate it. *shrugs* I’m like that with a lot of things, I guess. I would recommend Heartless, though, because I know it fits the style of some—just not me.
April 15, 2017
This book is EPIC. I loved it. LOVED it.
I don't think I have ever enjoyed a book so much. I find it hard to truly enjoy many books because they're so tense and frightening and every moment of them I'm worried that my favorite character will fall over dead. But there was something about Heartless that felt safe and friendly, yet full of danger and excitement--my favorite type of story. I enjoyed every minute of it.
I really liked the Christian aspect of the book. I could see it, but it was part of the story, instead of something having nothing to do with the story and just sort of thrown in there to make it "Christian", to have a moral or something. Una being like mankind and Aethelbald being like Jesus was I thought really well done and inspiring.
Una, despite the flaws in her character, was a very likeable heroine. I didn't feel like the author was making me like her against my will like in some books I've read, I just liked her. Even when she wasn't being so good I still liked her. It was like the reader and Aethelbald are in the same shoes, liking her despite her faults.
Aethelbald was a wonderful and flawless character. He is undoubtedly my favorite character in this book. He was so kind and awesome at the same time. He was great and I loved every second with him. :) I liked his relationship with Felix too.
Felix was awesome. My only problem with him was that since I didn't get an age for him at first I just assumed that he was sixteen. Then it said that he was thirteen, nearly fourteen. That messed me up and I settled on him being fifteen since I couldn't see him being fourteen. But he was really cool and adorable. I loved him. He was great.
The cat was also a great character. So mysterious and cat-like . . . only not. ;)
I didn't think the king would be so important but I liked him. And the knights of Farthestshore were great too. I also really really liked General Argus ----
The Dragon was . . . creepy. Enough said. I salute the author for making a very different villain than any I've ever read before.
The world was so well drawn and beautiful. It felt comfortable; and fantastical and real--but not in a gross way--at the same time. I felt at home there. And the Wood seemed like a character too, which was unique and cool.
All in all Heartless was fantastic, epic, awesome, inspiring, and a great read! Not to mention that it has one of the most beautiful covers ever. ;) This book deserves every one of the five stars I gave it and more. And now I need to get my hands on the next book.
I don't think I have ever enjoyed a book so much. I find it hard to truly enjoy many books because they're so tense and frightening and every moment of them I'm worried that my favorite character will fall over dead. But there was something about Heartless that felt safe and friendly, yet full of danger and excitement--my favorite type of story. I enjoyed every minute of it.
I really liked the Christian aspect of the book. I could see it, but it was part of the story, instead of something having nothing to do with the story and just sort of thrown in there to make it "Christian", to have a moral or something. Una being like mankind and Aethelbald being like Jesus was I thought really well done and inspiring.
Una, despite the flaws in her character, was a very likeable heroine. I didn't feel like the author was making me like her against my will like in some books I've read, I just liked her. Even when she wasn't being so good I still liked her. It was like the reader and Aethelbald are in the same shoes, liking her despite her faults.
Aethelbald was a wonderful and flawless character. He is undoubtedly my favorite character in this book. He was so kind and awesome at the same time. He was great and I loved every second with him. :) I liked his relationship with Felix too.
Felix was awesome. My only problem with him was that since I didn't get an age for him at first I just assumed that he was sixteen. Then it said that he was thirteen, nearly fourteen. That messed me up and I settled on him being fifteen since I couldn't see him being fourteen. But he was really cool and adorable. I loved him. He was great.
The cat was also a great character. So mysterious and cat-like . . . only not. ;)
I didn't think the king would be so important but I liked him. And the knights of Farthestshore were great too. I also really really liked General Argus ----
The Dragon was . . . creepy. Enough said. I salute the author for making a very different villain than any I've ever read before.
The world was so well drawn and beautiful. It felt comfortable; and fantastical and real--but not in a gross way--at the same time. I felt at home there. And the Wood seemed like a character too, which was unique and cool.
All in all Heartless was fantastic, epic, awesome, inspiring, and a great read! Not to mention that it has one of the most beautiful covers ever. ;) This book deserves every one of the five stars I gave it and more. And now I need to get my hands on the next book.
December 30, 2021
4 stars/probably wouldn’t re-read/would recommend
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!
*squeals so loud the windows shatter*
That about sums up my opinion of this book!!!
OMGOSH UNA AND PRINCE AETHELBALD...
*squeals even louder, and all the glass shards break into a million pieces*
Well, I'll be constructive now:
Things I Loved:
Well, there were lots of these...
1) The allegory!!! It was so good, and I loved the uniqueness of it. Stengl's allegory of Jesus was just so... organic and real and aauuuuggghhhhh!!!!
2) The world. Everything from Parumvir to Farthestshore and back through the Red Desert touched my heart in places that really hurt but also felt soooo good to read!
3) Felix. Just. Felix!
4) Monster the cat. I mean, I'm not entirely sure what was happening there, but whatever. He had so much personality!
5) THE ROMANCEEEE!!!!!!! Okay, I actually hate romance as a general rule, especially when that's what the entire book is about. But this romance...
6) The beauty of the whole book. Una is such a brat, and Prince Aethelbald's love is sooo pure. Oh, it stuck a dagger in my heart to think of what that represents!!!!
7) Pretty much everything else...
Things I Liked:
1) The whole thing with the dragons, and how one can become a dragon. I didn't put this in things I loved because, well, it's really not my thing to love evil, but whatever!
2) i thought the land of Faerie was realllly cool.
3) The mystery with the bridge: will that ever get answered?
Things I Didn't Like:
1) Not many of those. Mostly the betrayals and stuff because those hurt.
2) I also hated Una for most of the book.
3) And honestly? I feel so bad for saying this, but I kinda hate the name Una...
4) I felt like there was a pronounced lack of respect going around amongst many of the characters, which bothered me...
Things I Hated:
1) Uh... none?
2) I mean, I'm not entirely sure what to make of Prince Aethelbald in the end, but that definitely doesn't go here...
All in all, this has got to be the best romance I've ever read. It was so much deeper than girl meets guy, shuns him, guy saves girl, they get married. No. It was a beautiful story of sacrifice and love even when all odds are against you.
This book will have you glued to the seat, turning pages as fast as you can. You will forget what time is, because all that exists is the book. You will forget who you are, because you'll think you're Una. And you will fall in love with the characters, all of them. You will weep before the end. You have been warned...
Now go read the book.
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!
*squeals so loud the windows shatter*
That about sums up my opinion of this book!!!
OMGOSH UNA AND PRINCE AETHELBALD...
*squeals even louder, and all the glass shards break into a million pieces*
Well, I'll be constructive now:
Things I Loved:
Well, there were lots of these...
1) The allegory!!! It was so good, and I loved the uniqueness of it. Stengl's allegory of Jesus was just so... organic and real and aauuuuggghhhhh!!!!
2) The world. Everything from Parumvir to Farthestshore and back through the Red Desert touched my heart in places that really hurt but also felt soooo good to read!
3) Felix. Just. Felix!
4) Monster the cat. I mean, I'm not entirely sure what was happening there, but whatever. He had so much personality!
5) THE ROMANCEEEE!!!!!!! Okay, I actually hate romance as a general rule, especially when that's what the entire book is about. But this romance...
6) The beauty of the whole book. Una is such a brat, and Prince Aethelbald's love is sooo pure. Oh, it stuck a dagger in my heart to think of what that represents!!!!
7) Pretty much everything else...
Things I Liked:
1) The whole thing with the dragons, and how one can become a dragon. I didn't put this in things I loved because, well, it's really not my thing to love evil, but whatever!
2) i thought the land of Faerie was realllly cool.
3) The mystery with the bridge: will that ever get answered?
Things I Didn't Like:
1) Not many of those. Mostly the betrayals and stuff because those hurt.
2) I also hated Una for most of the book.
3) And honestly? I feel so bad for saying this, but I kinda hate the name Una...
4) I felt like there was a pronounced lack of respect going around amongst many of the characters, which bothered me...
Things I Hated:
1) Uh... none?
2) I mean, I'm not entirely sure what to make of Prince Aethelbald in the end, but that definitely doesn't go here...
All in all, this has got to be the best romance I've ever read. It was so much deeper than girl meets guy, shuns him, guy saves girl, they get married. No. It was a beautiful story of sacrifice and love even when all odds are against you.
This book will have you glued to the seat, turning pages as fast as you can. You will forget what time is, because all that exists is the book. You will forget who you are, because you'll think you're Una. And you will fall in love with the characters, all of them. You will weep before the end. You have been warned...
Now go read the book.
August 15, 2010
--Book Description--
Princess Una of Parumvir has turned 18 years old, and princes and nobles from neighboring kingdoms are coming to court her. The first prince, Aethelbald, arrives with a magical faerie market. Una resents his interference when he removes her from a situation she doesn't realize is dangerous, plus she finds him too practical. What she wants is a prince who will sing love songs about her beauty. The next prince to arrive does just that, but she's disappointed when reality still fails to match her romantic dreams.
Then Prince Aethelbald receives word that the Dragon who has been destroying Southlands is on the move. He warns the king that the Dragon is coming to make Una one of its own. Una's father dismisses the danger, so Prince Aethelbald leaves to deal with the Dragon as does another prince. But the Dragon still arrives, accompanying an invading army. He takes Una captive and chases her father and younger brother away. Can she, her family, or any of the princes save her from the Dragon before he breaks her to his will with lies?
--My Review--
"Heartless" is an enjoyable fantasy novel for young adults and adults (though teen boys probably won't find it quite as interesting since the teen girl gets more point-of-view time than her brother).
The world-building was excellent, skillfully immersing the reader in a unique and fantastical world without bogging the pace down with long descriptions or hard-to-pronounce names. The characters were engaging and complex. The princess and prince were occasionally arrogant, but overall they were admirable and brave.
Initially, the tension was created by wondering who Una would choose to marry, but I mainly kept reading because of the enjoyable humor woven into the story and the charming writing style. Then the story shifted into adventure mode where the tension was created by physical dangers but also by the question about whether or not the princess would chose to trust the right person. I had a hard time putting the book down once the adventure section began.
There was an underlying Christian allegory that I found very moving. The allegory wasn't overt, and I think the story would still be quite enjoyable and exciting even if the reader didn't realize the allegory--though they might think Prince Aethelbald's love for Una wasn't realistic (at least, for a human, so it's a good thing that he's not precisely human).
There was no sex or bad language (that we'd call bad language). Overall, I'd highly recommend this well-written novel as engaging, clean reading. I look forward to reading this author's future novels.
I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.
Princess Una of Parumvir has turned 18 years old, and princes and nobles from neighboring kingdoms are coming to court her. The first prince, Aethelbald, arrives with a magical faerie market. Una resents his interference when he removes her from a situation she doesn't realize is dangerous, plus she finds him too practical. What she wants is a prince who will sing love songs about her beauty. The next prince to arrive does just that, but she's disappointed when reality still fails to match her romantic dreams.
Then Prince Aethelbald receives word that the Dragon who has been destroying Southlands is on the move. He warns the king that the Dragon is coming to make Una one of its own. Una's father dismisses the danger, so Prince Aethelbald leaves to deal with the Dragon as does another prince. But the Dragon still arrives, accompanying an invading army. He takes Una captive and chases her father and younger brother away. Can she, her family, or any of the princes save her from the Dragon before he breaks her to his will with lies?
--My Review--
"Heartless" is an enjoyable fantasy novel for young adults and adults (though teen boys probably won't find it quite as interesting since the teen girl gets more point-of-view time than her brother).
The world-building was excellent, skillfully immersing the reader in a unique and fantastical world without bogging the pace down with long descriptions or hard-to-pronounce names. The characters were engaging and complex. The princess and prince were occasionally arrogant, but overall they were admirable and brave.
Initially, the tension was created by wondering who Una would choose to marry, but I mainly kept reading because of the enjoyable humor woven into the story and the charming writing style. Then the story shifted into adventure mode where the tension was created by physical dangers but also by the question about whether or not the princess would chose to trust the right person. I had a hard time putting the book down once the adventure section began.
There was an underlying Christian allegory that I found very moving. The allegory wasn't overt, and I think the story would still be quite enjoyable and exciting even if the reader didn't realize the allegory--though they might think Prince Aethelbald's love for Una wasn't realistic (at least, for a human, so it's a good thing that he's not precisely human).
There was no sex or bad language (that we'd call bad language). Overall, I'd highly recommend this well-written novel as engaging, clean reading. I look forward to reading this author's future novels.
I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.
July 18, 2010
Fairy tales and fantasy books are not usually the types of books I reach for, but every once in a while, it’s good to branch out from the usual and see what Christian writers in different genres are writing about. Once again this is a debut novel, and debut novels are my favorites. Now Heartless is among my favorites. This book is vibrant and colorful and full of interesting characters in a world that comes straight from the author’s active imagination.
I have been going through a stressful time lately and this book was just what I needed to read. It was a wonderful escape and a wonderful distraction from all the craziness of life these days. Some of my recent reads were a bit difficult for me to concentrate on and follow, but not Heartless. I was pulled into this fantasy world of romance, bravery and forgiveness.
Even if you think you would not be interested in a fantasy story, give Heartless a try. It is incredibly entertaining and has a wonderful message. I am so glad that Anne Stengl has future books in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series. I will likely be a big fan of the series if the rest of the books are as good as Heartless.
I have been going through a stressful time lately and this book was just what I needed to read. It was a wonderful escape and a wonderful distraction from all the craziness of life these days. Some of my recent reads were a bit difficult for me to concentrate on and follow, but not Heartless. I was pulled into this fantasy world of romance, bravery and forgiveness.
Even if you think you would not be interested in a fantasy story, give Heartless a try. It is incredibly entertaining and has a wonderful message. I am so glad that Anne Stengl has future books in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series. I will likely be a big fan of the series if the rest of the books are as good as Heartless.
September 24, 2022
Heartless is beautifully perfect and perfectly beautiful. The characters are colorful, lifelike, and beautifully imperfect, especially Una. There are very few characters who I've felt as close to as Una. Prince Aethelbald is also amazing- there's no way I can even begin to express how much I love him. As for the Dragon- well, I have yet to meet a villain who can equal him. The plot is deceptively simple: a princess searching for her prince and threatened by a dragon. Even a few chapters in, though, and you'll discover that this book isn't quite what you expected- in fact, it's far better. The tale unfolds bit by bit, with the perfect blend of romance, humor, adventure, and heartbreak. It's a beautiful, inspiring, wonderful story, and a book everyone should read.
Update from my 2022 reread: still SO GOOD. I love this book deeply, both on its own and as an allegory, and I don't think it'll ever leave my favorites shelf.
Update from my 2022 reread: still SO GOOD. I love this book deeply, both on its own and as an allegory, and I don't think it'll ever leave my favorites shelf.
July 25, 2015
I don't know any words that would properly describe this book. It was amazing. So beautiful, real, astounding and lovely. I absolutely loved it. Everything was more amazing than I ever expected; the world, the characters, it was all exquisitely crafted. Anne Elisabeth Stengl converted into writing all the feelings and hardships of the characters in such an amazing way. I really, really, really recommend this book.
January 31, 2014
I had seen the Tales of Goldstone Wood series, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, online before, but hadn't been much interested. Then an author friend recommended the series, so I decided to pick them up. So far, I have read the first book, Heartless, and I am glad I did so, because it is really good.
As the story begins, a young prince and princess, as little children, are playing near what is believed to be an enchanted woods when they come across a dirty cat who is missing both of his eyes. The boy, Felix, doesn't think much of the very ill-looking animal, but his much more empathetic sister, Una, takes pity and carries it home with her.
The book then cuts forward by several years, and a now teenage Una and Felix are preparing for school lessons with their tutor, when their cat Monster shows up (yes, he is the same cat as earlier mentioned). There is something special about the animal that the reader learns of about a third of the way through the novel.
Anyways, while they are in their lessons, out of the woods, for the first time in many decades, come many fantastical creatures. Various faerie creatures, the stuff of old wives tales and legends, come tromping out for a special fair where people can buy their wares, and see and visit with these strange, scary, and delightful people. Of course, the children, lead by their father King Fidel, comes out to visit the fair, and that is where things get interesting. This is especially true when the second purpose for the people of the kingdom of Farthestshore, which is the what the kingdom of the fae is called, to visit Fidel's kingdom is revealed: Prince Aethelbald of Farthestshore wants to ask for Una's hand in marriage.
Una rejects his proposal, as she finds him to be singularly unromantic, boring, and not at all the ideal prince of her dreams. Plus his name is boring and rhymes with “applebald”, and who can take that? Certainly Una deserves better. She finds she can't stand this uptight, stuffy, unromantic, unwanted suitor. For those who wonder, yes, this is very much her attitude.
Upset at being jilted, but still intending to woo her over, and concerned about her welfare, the prince of Farthestshore leaves on an errand, but intends to return as soon as possible. It should be noted that he is not trying to stalk her or refuse her answer of “no” in a bad way. He simply knows some of the evil that is about to happen to her kingdom, and is determined to prevent it. He tries to warn King Fidel before he leaves, but Fidel ignores his warnings, much to his later regret.
While Aethelbald is gone, tragedy strikes and the kingdom is attacked by a dragon and an enemy army. And the dragon has a dark secret in store for Una, one that will transform her life into a nightmare. The royal family is spread to the winds, and their only hope lies in a man whom Una has treated despicably.
For those who think I shared too many spoilers so far, I am sorry. I felt that just saying that a dragon attacked and the jilted suitor had to save them all wasn't a good enough description. Unless the background is understood, the main plot, which I have left many details unexplained about, can not be properly grasped.
This book was oh so beautifully written. Stengl's use of language was riveting and absolutely poetic. It wasn't overly done, though. There was no “purple prose” here, just language that fit each situation wonderfully, yet had a lovely sort of “ring” to it. This was good, as it made the second half of the novel, where the main characters undergo a lot of suffering, more bearable. The almost whimsical tone of the words was a reminder that, despite the bad stuff happening at that moment, this isn't a super dark story, and that good will win in the end.
Though very little in the way of the religion of this fictional world comes into play in this book (what happens in later books I don't know yet), there are some obvious (at least to me, they are) parallels to Christian theology. I can easily see Aethelbald as having many traits of a Messianic archetype. Even when rejected and treated horribly, he still sacrifices all for others, including in a physical/metaphysical sense I still don't understand, his heart. He loves Una as he is commanded by his father to do so. Una has to suffer some things as Aethelbald saves her from her crisis and her dark secret. The thing is that I could be entirely wrong, but even if I'm right, the ideas are subtle enough that one will not notice them if one doesn't think about it. In other words, this isn't “in your face” preaching, but subtle moral points.
The above gets into why I don't have much to criticize about this book. When I read it, for most of the book, before I saw the various thematic elements of the story, I really disliked Una and wanted nothing to do with the parts of the story where she was the point of view character. She had empathy for those weaker than herself and she believed in others, but that is about all I can say good about her. For the most part, as noted in my description of her thoughts in an earlier paragraph, she was an absolutely spoiled, arrogant brat. Not mean, but still as spoiled and arrogant as a person can be and still be called at all “nice”.
I honestly wondered what in the world Aethelbald could see in her to love, until the story progressed and the various revelations of the backstory and of the prince of Farthestshore's feelings and character came to light. When they did so, I saw that the way she was written was on purpose to make this point about how only the sacrifice of Another can take away our hurts. We don't deserve Christ's sacrifice, as we are unlovely, but He gave all and rose for us to save us nonetheless.
The one single part I didn't like was how abrupt the ending was. While I thought that the ending of some books, like Jill Williamson's From Darkness Won, for instance, are arguably too long and drawn out, this one was too fast and didn't give the reader enough of a “payoff” in terms seeing the characters getting to be happy post-victory.
This book was so, so, soooooo beautifully-written, convicting, and a great page-turner. I can't recommend it enough.
As the story begins, a young prince and princess, as little children, are playing near what is believed to be an enchanted woods when they come across a dirty cat who is missing both of his eyes. The boy, Felix, doesn't think much of the very ill-looking animal, but his much more empathetic sister, Una, takes pity and carries it home with her.
The book then cuts forward by several years, and a now teenage Una and Felix are preparing for school lessons with their tutor, when their cat Monster shows up (yes, he is the same cat as earlier mentioned). There is something special about the animal that the reader learns of about a third of the way through the novel.
Anyways, while they are in their lessons, out of the woods, for the first time in many decades, come many fantastical creatures. Various faerie creatures, the stuff of old wives tales and legends, come tromping out for a special fair where people can buy their wares, and see and visit with these strange, scary, and delightful people. Of course, the children, lead by their father King Fidel, comes out to visit the fair, and that is where things get interesting. This is especially true when the second purpose for the people of the kingdom of Farthestshore, which is the what the kingdom of the fae is called, to visit Fidel's kingdom is revealed: Prince Aethelbald of Farthestshore wants to ask for Una's hand in marriage.
Una rejects his proposal, as she finds him to be singularly unromantic, boring, and not at all the ideal prince of her dreams. Plus his name is boring and rhymes with “applebald”, and who can take that? Certainly Una deserves better. She finds she can't stand this uptight, stuffy, unromantic, unwanted suitor. For those who wonder, yes, this is very much her attitude.
Upset at being jilted, but still intending to woo her over, and concerned about her welfare, the prince of Farthestshore leaves on an errand, but intends to return as soon as possible. It should be noted that he is not trying to stalk her or refuse her answer of “no” in a bad way. He simply knows some of the evil that is about to happen to her kingdom, and is determined to prevent it. He tries to warn King Fidel before he leaves, but Fidel ignores his warnings, much to his later regret.
While Aethelbald is gone, tragedy strikes and the kingdom is attacked by a dragon and an enemy army. And the dragon has a dark secret in store for Una, one that will transform her life into a nightmare. The royal family is spread to the winds, and their only hope lies in a man whom Una has treated despicably.
For those who think I shared too many spoilers so far, I am sorry. I felt that just saying that a dragon attacked and the jilted suitor had to save them all wasn't a good enough description. Unless the background is understood, the main plot, which I have left many details unexplained about, can not be properly grasped.
This book was oh so beautifully written. Stengl's use of language was riveting and absolutely poetic. It wasn't overly done, though. There was no “purple prose” here, just language that fit each situation wonderfully, yet had a lovely sort of “ring” to it. This was good, as it made the second half of the novel, where the main characters undergo a lot of suffering, more bearable. The almost whimsical tone of the words was a reminder that, despite the bad stuff happening at that moment, this isn't a super dark story, and that good will win in the end.
Though very little in the way of the religion of this fictional world comes into play in this book (what happens in later books I don't know yet), there are some obvious (at least to me, they are) parallels to Christian theology. I can easily see Aethelbald as having many traits of a Messianic archetype. Even when rejected and treated horribly, he still sacrifices all for others, including in a physical/metaphysical sense I still don't understand, his heart. He loves Una as he is commanded by his father to do so. Una has to suffer some things as Aethelbald saves her from her crisis and her dark secret. The thing is that I could be entirely wrong, but even if I'm right, the ideas are subtle enough that one will not notice them if one doesn't think about it. In other words, this isn't “in your face” preaching, but subtle moral points.
The above gets into why I don't have much to criticize about this book. When I read it, for most of the book, before I saw the various thematic elements of the story, I really disliked Una and wanted nothing to do with the parts of the story where she was the point of view character. She had empathy for those weaker than herself and she believed in others, but that is about all I can say good about her. For the most part, as noted in my description of her thoughts in an earlier paragraph, she was an absolutely spoiled, arrogant brat. Not mean, but still as spoiled and arrogant as a person can be and still be called at all “nice”.
I honestly wondered what in the world Aethelbald could see in her to love, until the story progressed and the various revelations of the backstory and of the prince of Farthestshore's feelings and character came to light. When they did so, I saw that the way she was written was on purpose to make this point about how only the sacrifice of Another can take away our hurts. We don't deserve Christ's sacrifice, as we are unlovely, but He gave all and rose for us to save us nonetheless.
The one single part I didn't like was how abrupt the ending was. While I thought that the ending of some books, like Jill Williamson's From Darkness Won, for instance, are arguably too long and drawn out, this one was too fast and didn't give the reader enough of a “payoff” in terms seeing the characters getting to be happy post-victory.
This book was so, so, soooooo beautifully-written, convicting, and a great page-turner. I can't recommend it enough.
August 10, 2013
Princess Una has just come of age, and is expecting suitors to start lining up at her door immediately. However, the first prince who comes calling is so contrary to her imagined perfect prince and visions of romance that she rebuffs his offer of marriage without even considering the man who is asking.
When rumors of something terrible and dangerous that has taken over a neighboring kingdom start to reach the ears of Una and her family, the spoiled princess does not dream that these whispers could have anything to do with her. Wrapped up in her own concerns, Una does not realize she is in danger until it is far too late.
Can true love really conquer all?
I really enjoyed this story. It is what might be considered an "original fairy tale" - not really fantasy, not a re-telling, but a story set in a fairy tale world with fairy tale type characters. And while I love classic, epic fantasy, I must confess that I have a soft spot for fairy tales. Particularly original ones, though retellings are wonderful as well.
There is also a hint of allegory to this tale, that I really loved. Thankfully, I did not feel that the allegory jumped out and smacked me across the face, nor did I feel that the story got sacrificed for the sake of the allegory - which is far too often the case in the Christian Fantasy genre.
This story has it all: princesses, knights, princes, dragons, sword-fights, ballads, romance, betrayal, jesters, and a blind cat (who is far more than he seems).
I give it 5/5 stars. If you enjoy fairy tales, or just love a good villainous dragon... I highly recommend this book. (And the rest of the series... I'll post my reviews of the rest of the books later).
When rumors of something terrible and dangerous that has taken over a neighboring kingdom start to reach the ears of Una and her family, the spoiled princess does not dream that these whispers could have anything to do with her. Wrapped up in her own concerns, Una does not realize she is in danger until it is far too late.
Can true love really conquer all?
I really enjoyed this story. It is what might be considered an "original fairy tale" - not really fantasy, not a re-telling, but a story set in a fairy tale world with fairy tale type characters. And while I love classic, epic fantasy, I must confess that I have a soft spot for fairy tales. Particularly original ones, though retellings are wonderful as well.
There is also a hint of allegory to this tale, that I really loved. Thankfully, I did not feel that the allegory jumped out and smacked me across the face, nor did I feel that the story got sacrificed for the sake of the allegory - which is far too often the case in the Christian Fantasy genre.
This story has it all: princesses, knights, princes, dragons, sword-fights, ballads, romance, betrayal, jesters, and a blind cat (who is far more than he seems).
I give it 5/5 stars. If you enjoy fairy tales, or just love a good villainous dragon... I highly recommend this book. (And the rest of the series... I'll post my reviews of the rest of the books later).
September 12, 2013
The only fantasy I have read before this book was C.S. Lewis and a little Tolkien. But with the persuasion of two respected blog friends and a determined sister, I picked it up. (Okay, so I actually got the series for Christmas. But hush, those are meaningless details.)
My first thought was "I really like this writing style." But that was before I was swept into Anne Elisabeth Stengl's marvelous world of allegory. Have I ever mentioned that I really like allegory? Well, now you know.
In reading some reviews before I read the book, I've heard several people say that Una bothered them; she was too silly and somewhat ditsy. But I found this to further the allegory. I see Una as representing us as humans, and her ridiculous nature (which was not as much as it was made out to be) representing our own petty way of life. Had Princess Una been a strong heroine with a razor-sharp wit, that would be ill delineation of the human race.
In conclusion, well done Miss Stengl. Your book has quickly made it's way to my list of favorites, and I look forward to reading more of your work. :)
My first thought was "I really like this writing style." But that was before I was swept into Anne Elisabeth Stengl's marvelous world of allegory. Have I ever mentioned that I really like allegory? Well, now you know.
In reading some reviews before I read the book, I've heard several people say that Una bothered them; she was too silly and somewhat ditsy. But I found this to further the allegory. I see Una as representing us as humans, and her ridiculous nature (which was not as much as it was made out to be) representing our own petty way of life. Had Princess Una been a strong heroine with a razor-sharp wit, that would be ill delineation of the human race.
In conclusion, well done Miss Stengl. Your book has quickly made it's way to my list of favorites, and I look forward to reading more of your work. :)
January 4, 2020
THIS BOOK. Almost 10 years since I first read it, and just finished rereading yesterday. I LOVE it. Just the whole thing about being loved no matter what is just so beautiful. It is such a lovely representation of Christ's love for everyone. 💜
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