Okay, I was wondering what to do this week, but then I remembered that I have a tale set in the same world as Ella Enchanted. It is set in the neighboring kingdom, but it is the kingdom where one of Ella’s best friends live. So, here is the tale of Areida’s older adopted sister in the kingdom of Ayortha.
Aza is the adopted daughter of innkeepers. She was abandoned at their inn as a baby for unknown reasons, unless someone didn’t like her looks, for by most standards she was ugly. Pale skin, red lips, black hair, and a big-boned, bulky build. But, she possessed one of the finest voices in Ayortha, which is highly prized in a kingdom dedicated to songs and beauty. At a young age Aza made a gnome friend, zhamM, and at age fourteen, she discovered what she called Illusing (or ventriloquism). At fifteen, she was taken as a replacement maid by a duchess who was going to attend the royal wedding of King Oscaro to a Kyrrian commoner, Ivi. At the castle, Aza meets Prince Ijori, Oscaro’s nephew (who doesn’t seem to mind her ugliness), and Queen Ivi, who is hiding some strange secret. Aza is quickly employed as Ivi’s lady-in-waiting . . . at a price. Aza must illuse for Ivi to hide the queen’s weak singing voice and cannot tell anyone or else she and her family with suffer. Things only get worse when Oscaro is horribly wounded so that he is near death. Queen Ivi rules the kingdom, but not in the way it should be ruled and creates enemies in the court. Will Aza survive the conspiracies of the castle? What will happen if their deception is discovered? Will King Oscaro recover? And what is the truth behind a mirror with the name Skulni engraved on the back? When I first discovered this story is was through a multicast unabridged reading of the book . . . at least that is what stands out. Possibly because when the characters are said to sing, they actually sang. A slight change of pace in reading. But enjoyable.
Like Ella Enchanted, the fairytale that inspired the story is not obvious at first glance. It may take possibly two readings (or listenings if you have the audio version) to pick it out: Snow White. It certainly doesn’t start with a beautiful princess, but it does start with a kind girl who tries to do good even if she makes mistakes. She also yearns to be beautiful to avoid stares. This leads to one or two misadventures. There are some familiar elements you can recognize if you watch closely, much like in Ella. There are also some references to the first book, which appears to be sharing roughly the same timeframe. Areida attending finishing school, Sir Peter of Frell staying at the inn, mentions of Kyrria and a couple of its towns, even Ella gets a quick mention in the epilogue. However, for those who have read Ella Enchanted and hope to get a glimpse of Char during his visit to the Ayorthian court, you will be disappointed. Although, the visit could be taking place when and where Aza isn’t able to witness it. That’s my theory anyway. This tale was written by Gail Carson Levine and is 326 pages long. Within those pages are thirty-eight chapters and an epilogue. The pages are scattered with various songs composed by the characters and depending on what edition you buy there are some extras. These include an interview from the author, a deleted chapter from an early draft, and sneak peek at the next book Ms. Levine was going to publish.
All in all, a very enjoyable book. I would highly recommend it. I would rate this fairytale ending five dragons out of five.
Until next time. Bye.
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