Gem ’s Comments (group member since Sep 12, 2022)

Gem ’s comments from the Once Upon a Time... group.

High fantasy or epic fantasy takes place in an entirely fictional fantasy world. The stories are often lengthy involving multiple characters and large-scale quests where the fate of the world rests on the shoulders of the heroes.

For the purposes of this group, we will include Portal Fantasy in this category.

Browse High , Epic , and Portal Fantasy new releases and lists.

Author: Terry Goodkind
Author: Robin Hobb
Author Patricia C. Wrede

Myths are stories that are based on tradition. Some may have factual origins, while others are completely fictional. But myths are more than mere stories and they serve a more profound purpose in ancient and modern cultures. In a sense, mythologies were never simply tales: they always contained within them thoughts and musings that sought to discover something new about the human condition.

Browse Mythology new releases and lists.

Retellings are a new version of a story that is based on or inspired by a fairy tale or myth that draws heavily on fairy tale tropes. Retellings are distinct from actual fairy or folk tales in that they are contemporary, novel-length, or series-length stories with complex plots and characters. Sometimes, a fairy tale or myth may be reimagined with a modernized setting or retold from a minor character's perspective.

Fractured Fairy Tales change the original story often extensively, resulting in a new lesson or moral more in keeping with the social and political ideas of the time.

Browse Retellings and Fractured Fairy Tales new releases and lists.

This discussion is intended to be an ongoing nomination discussion. Please feel free to add, as a reply, to this list.

I'll add your book to the group's "to-read" shelf then delete your reply. If you'd like to lead a discussion of the book, send me a message and let me know.

The waiting list is long for this audiobook so I've ordered a physical copy from the library. If I can I will read if not I'm on the waiting list for the audiobook. I think what I'm going to do is catchup with some of the other books I didn't get through from earlier in the year provided I can get audiobooks.

Lisa wrote: "Oh, no! I didn't know anything was going on with your son too. I knew about your husband and your ex. Goodness, I hope things calm down some for you.
Both of the other two in this trilogy are avai..."

I've already grabbed the second one and will start listening to it this weekend.

Lisa wrote: "I have to be honest and say that this is one I might not read in October. That is simply because I have read it multiple times and just reread it within the past year again. I own the entire series..."

I read several books of this series about ten years ago. I'm hoping to find an audiobook. I seem to be doing better with audiobooks right now.

Thanks for the tip about the narrator.

I'm finished, I loved this story. I'm hoping the next one is on audio too. I just haven't had the brain power to actually read with everything that is going on with my husband and son right now.

I'm a bit over halfway through. I've been listening to the audio book. The narrator is fantastic. I think this book might be in my top 10 young adult/fantasy books that I've read. I definitely want to read the rest of the series.

I haven't gotten past the intro. I ordered the audiobook, I'm second in line. I'm finding it far easier to listen to books at the moment, than reading. I just don't have the focus and wind up reading the same thing over and over. I'll comment more when I get the book and read it.

Ohhh, my library has the audio edition for this one. I'll be downloading it today.

I got halfway through this selection when I realized I was reading it in the wrong month, lol. I returned it to the library so I'm going to order it again today and try to figure out where I left off.

Hello Fellow Fairy Tales Readers,


Welcome to our discussion about Arrows of the Queen (Valdemar: Heralds of Valdemar #1) by Mercedes Lackey.
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Summary

Chosen by the Companion Rolan, a mystical horse-like being with powers beyond imagining, Talia, once a runaway, has now become a trainee Herald, destined to become one of the Queen's own elite guard. For Talia has certain awakening talents of the mind that only a Companion like Rolan can truly sense.

But as Talia struggles to master her unique abilities, time is running out. For conspiracy is brewing in Valdemar, a deadly treason that could destroy Queen and kingdom. Opposed by unknown enemies capable of both diabolical magic and treacherous assassination, the Queen must turn to Talia and the Heralds for aid in protecting the realm and insuring the future of the Queen's heir, a child already in danger of becoming bespelled by the Queen's own foes.

Hello Fellow Fairy Tales Readers,


Welcome to our discussion about Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher.
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Summary

HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a—well, whatever. There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks.

So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get interesting.

Magic - it can get a guy killed.

Hello Fellow Fairy Tales Readers,


Welcome to our discussion about Gilded (Gilded #1) by Marissa Meyer.
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about spoilers

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Summary

Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue.

Or so everyone believes.

When one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her... for a price.

Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.

I had to go look up elemental magic, lol.

Hello Fellow Fairy Tales Readers,


Welcome to our discussion about The Bear and the Nightingale (The Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden.
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about spoilers

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Summary

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales.

The Bear and the Nightingale is a magical debut novel from a gifted and gorgeous voice. It spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent.

Hello Fellow Fairy Tale readers,


Welcome to our discussion about Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle #1) by Tracy Deonn .
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about spoilers

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Summary

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

Hello Fellow Fairy Tale readers,


Welcome to our discussion about Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman .
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about spoilers

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Summary

Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction, presents a bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world from their origin though their upheaval in Ragnarok.

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose, these gods emerge with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.

Hi everyone. I'm so sorry this is late. I'll be ordering the book today and hopefully I'll get it by weeks end and I'll jump in to the discussion then.