Spindle's End

In a country where magic collects as dust on every surface and having a fairy on hand is always helpful, the king and queen announce the long awaited birth of their first child, a girl. Inviting one person from every village in the country to the name-day and giving their daughter twenty-one fairy

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godparents, seems like a good plan. Katriona, a fairy in training, is selected as the representative for her small village in the Gig and gets far more than she bargains for when the evil fairy, Pernicia, curses the baby princess with death by pricking her hand on a spindle and Katriona ends up abducting the princess to keep her safe. Raised by two fairies, Rosie has no notion that she is the cursed princess, but dark magic is persistent and as Rosie's twenty-first birthday approaches the curse looms with a threat that could tear the entire country apart.

A rich retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Robin McKinley creates a small group of characters that bring a simple tale to life. The world she creates is delightful, with the tendency for magic to crop up anywhere and fairies who are just like any other trades person. What I particularly enjoy is that Rosie is far from the image of perfection one would expect of a princess, especially one given gifts by fairies, and she is instead flawed and real. The only small issue I had was that there would occasionally be leaps in the plot or the introduction of a character without any real notice and I would attempt to spend time attempting to figure out if I'd missed something. Otherwise, a beautiful fairy retelling with a happy ending that will leave you smiling after you turn the last page.

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Robin McKinley's best works, especially those drawn from traditional folklore, are so cozy, like a cup of tea on a rainy day. That is what I like best about Spindle's End, her take on "Sleeping Beauty": the simple warm feeling of it, rather than any particular characterization or twist of the plot.

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It's hard to completely dislike a novel that opens by declaring that "The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like slightly sticky plaster-dust." It's equally as hard not to fall in love with the Gig, the especially magical corner of the kingdom where most of the story is set.

It's just a shame that McKinley wasn't able to create a more enthralling story to take place in this world. When I was a preteen, it took me two tries to get through Spindle's End, and though I found it to be smoother sailing as an adult, I still cannot say I love it. Part One is quite good, with provincial fairy Katriona attending the new baby princess's name day only to be saddled with the task of spiriting the child away after she is cursed in her cradle by the evil Pernicia. Katriona is to my mind the most vivid character in the book, and it's a shame she fades into the background after her flight back to the Gig. The rest of the book sort of plods along—it's about fifty pages too long, I'd say—and even the climax is more vague than it is exciting.

A good comfort read that I'll keep on my shelves and perhaps reach for again in another ten or fifteen years, but certainly not up to the standards of Beauty or the Damar books.

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I feel bad giving this book so few stars. But I honestly can't say that I enjoyed it. I actually skipped parts, and the darn thing was only 300 or so pages long.

McKinley is a good writer; she produces gorgeous and very funny prose, she's a master worldbuilder, and she creates believable characters

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and complex plots. I would have happily read the short story version of this novel. But I got bored at about the hundred page mark.

The reason I got bored is that this novel began with Rosie's birth (as it had to) and ended with the events surrounding her twenty-first birthday (as it had to). In the meantime, we had to watch Rosie grow up. And it was BORING.

It was boring, first of all, because of the style. McKinley *tells* the story rather than shows it, especially in the middle, and she is such a lovely writer that it almost works. Except that all of her pretty words actually form a barrier between us and the characters. Rosie and the others are interesting enough that we really could have fallen in love with them and rooted for them at the end. However, we're told what Rosie is like rather than witnessing what she's like, and as a result reading about her is not very compelling. In addition, whenever McKinley tries to create an emotional response with dramatic language, the subtle beauty of the words falls flat because it comes out of nowhere; all of a sudden this character who we don't really know all that well is having a poetical life-changing moment, and I'm left wondering, why? And so what?

Conclusion: Even writers who are super brilliant aren't allowed to break the "show don't tell" rule in long form fiction unless the story demands it. Not the story they think they're telling, the story that they're actually telling.

The other problem was that, oh yeah, NOTHING HAPPENED. It was about the characters and not the plot, and these characters were not dynamic enough to carry the story. Of course good characters don't have to be dynamic. In Coraline, the titular character is not, when you stop to think about it, a super dynamic or complex character, but she's believable and likable and as a result we're rooting for her every moment. The difference is that Coraline is always doing something, always in danger. By giving us a long middle in which there's only occasional danger, McKinley put the onus of interest on her characters, and thus fails.

I also have found that I generally dislike stories with friendly animal helpers. Did she really expect us to remember all of the names of the different animals? But I can accept that this might just be my problem.

I know a lot of people really like Spindle's End, and I do think it had a lot to like (how 'bout that worldbuilding)? I also know that it's often shelved as a children's or YA book (although I got it from the adult's section), so faulting it for a lack of complexity is perhaps not fair. But there are so many children's books that are super enjoyable for adults to read that I'm not going to give this one a pass on that account.

Not writing off McKinley entirely - I liked Beauty when I read it in high school! But I think I'll skip ahead a hundred pages in the next thing I read by her, to make sure that abrupt boredom does not ensue.

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Another wonderful fairy tale adaptation, this time of Sleeping Beauty. I love this book - I probably liked fairy tales when I was a kid, but now the kind of story where the princess sits (or lays, as the case may be) around waiting for the prince to rescue her don't appeal to me. This is a much

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more active story, with the princess taking part in her own defense. The animal characters are fantastic - the different personalities they have are so appropriate to the species. And as always with McKinley's books, the description is incredible, with so much detail that the world seems to come alive.

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I have to admit, Robin McKinley's retelling of the story of Sleeping Beauty was a book I had trouble making sense of as a child. It just didn't fit with the way I felt the story should go. Now that I am an adult, however, I finally appreciate McKinley's deft handling of possibly the most passive

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princess in all of fairy tale literature. Spindle's End sets this familiar story in a land steeped with magic--so steeped, in fact, that the folk who live there must descale their teapots of magic encrustation so that it will continue to pour tea, and not, say, spiders. Magic is everywhere, and the people deal with it on a daily basis. Either they are fairies and they handle the odd magics themselves, or they hire a fairy to keep things from running amok. Being an avid reader of fantasy novels, I have read many, many books dealing with magic, and this book handles it in a wonderfully logical way. In Spindle's End, magic is a practical, mundane part of life. While the novel's characters recognize it's power, they also are completely accustomed to its effects. This interesting setting informs the tone of the whole story. Rather than talking further about the plot, I will just say that this novel is worth reading merely for the unique experience of this magically drenched setting full of its utterly practical people, of whom our cursed princess is one.

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In this retelling of Sleeping Beauty, McKinley has re-imagined a familiar world and provided her own deft twists. Katriona is but a girl when she is selected to be her village's representative at the long-awaited naming ceremony for the new princess. The ceremony goes awry when a wicked fairy

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arrives, cursing the baby princess to death by her 21st birthday. In a whirlwind of events, Katriona is the one who grabs the baby and makes a run for safety. With the help of animals along the long journey, she and the infant survive. In her remote village, she and her Aunt raise the princess as a very normal sort of girl named Rosie... a girl who happens to have a knack for talking with animals. The threat of attack is always looming, and as her 21st birthday draws near, a confrontation is inevitable.

I really wanted to love this book. I love Sleeping Beauty. I have fond memories of McKinley's books from when I was a preteen. Even though the magic of the world comes across well, this is a book where almost nothing happens until the end. The first 200 pages are almost all filler and tales of the princess as she grows up. At the end when magic is in full force, things became confusing, especially as a wide cast of animals took over. As much as I liked the setting and the twists in a familiar tale, the book was incredibly uneven for me and I had to force myself to finish.

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Cats were often familiars to workers of magic because to anyone used to wrestling with self-willed, wayward, devious magic - which was what all magic was - it was rather soothing to have all the same qualities wrapped up in a small, furry, generally attractive bundle that looked more or less the

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same from day to day and might, if it was in a good mood, sit on your knee and purr. Magic never sat on anybody's knee and purred.

I fell in love with McKinley's writing years ago, she's on the list where you just buy it because it's her. This was a look at the Sleeping Beauty story and has a lovely, rich world of fairies and magic. Did you know magic precipitates and forms a dust? That you have to descale the kettles or after about a week you might pour yourself a nice cup of thimbles?

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I love this book. I'm a fairy tale romantic sometimes, and that makes retold fairy tales one of my favorite. The first that I fell in love with - Ella Enchanted - I've reread more than eight times now. Sadly, I couldn't finish this book the third time through. Though I didn't remember it at first -

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I was slightly worried that it was one of Ms. McKinley's short story compilations- once I started it, I remembered it all. Don't get me wrong - it's a fabulous book. I just can't read it three times. I got almost to the end, but wasn't able to finish the last chapter or two. It's lame that I can’t finish- believe me, I know.

Despite this sad statistic, this book really is lovely and I really wanted to reread it. The pages - like this sleeping beauty's kingdom - are steeped in magic. There's so much magic in that country that it falls like dust, and causes things to change from what they really are. Fairies are not mystical or wispy like dandelion seeds, but sturdy, homegrown, vegetables. That might seem like a weird simile, but I think it gets my point across – they’re normal and homely.

Normally my favorite character is the main one, but this story sort of has two main characters (it switches perspectives half way through). My favorite is not the princess with 21 names, but rather Katriona, her accidental 21st godmother and care taker. Katriona is only sixteen or so years older than the princess, whom they call "Rosie". It might be because I'm jealous of her magical powers, or the fact that she's been in love with the same person since she was 12. I'm not sure which. It might be how strong she was to protect Rosie, and how wonderful a person she is in general. In comparison with the wild Rosie, she's a lot more gentle and motherly, which I like. She's just... better, for lack of a more creative word.

While the villain, and evil fairy is not humanized in the least, many other things - like the lack of sharp spindles - are made clever. Katriona doesn't hide Rosie in the forest, but rather disguises her in a normal town. As Rosie grows, very few of her christening gifts show themselves because of Rosie's natural disposition and stubbornness. Rosie, ever the odd one, was given the gift to speak to animals by Katriona, and uses it in an everyday manner. A much more daring and dangerous escape plan is used to escape the Rosie's planned death.

This book enchanted me as Robin McKinley's other fairy tales have done, and is a marvelous bedtime read.

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I picked up Spindle's End (a retelling of sleeping beauty) because I loved reading Beauty while I was growing up (a retelling of Beauty and the Beast also by Robin McKinley). I will admit I found the book to be slightly confusing in the beginning - taking awhile to understand and become interested

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in the characters and the magic. It concentrated too much on trying to create the magical world and not on letting the magic simply speak for itself as needed. McKinley's attempt at a magical fight at the end I also found lacking in magic. It seemed she tried too hard to show the mystical side of the book and forgot about the characters in the final showdown. She is definitely not an author to portray action that would keep you enthralled. In the end though I liked the story overall. I did come to care about the characters and the everyday magic. I do suggest reading Beauty first though, as that is a much better display of McKinley's talents at storytelling and magic-making.

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I thought I would like this one better. Just did not hook me

This is one of my all time FAVORITE books. Robin McKinley has several books, all of which are spin off's of traditional fairy tales. This one is a twist on Sleeping Beauty, and is by far her best book. READ THIS!

Rosie is quite a character -- animal loving and adventurous, she'd rather be helping out in the town forge than spinning, sewing, or cooking. She's certainly no princess -- except that she is. McKinley has re-conceived Sleeping Beauty as a tom boy who certainly doesn't fit her proper role in the

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traditional fairy tale. This princess, with some help from her friends, saves herself.

Wonderful characterization and McKinley's usual deft hand at plot and narrative make this one of her best fairy tale adaptations to date.

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This was funny, sweet, full of magic, and the characters were entirely engaging. Oh, I'd love to take a holiday in the Gig. And see some baby magic. From a safe distance.

I was simultaneously frustrated and enthralled by Spindle's End...overwhelmed by details, yet compelled to keep on reading! I positively loved the character development...come on, in the original most of us heard, Briar Rose has no character, she's literally a sleeping beauty and nothing more. In

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McKinley's retelling, we get a richly developed and individual character...and this development extends to all the main and secondary characters, including a large cast of animal characters. The fairy-tale locations are all superbly drawn and in reading this, one can slip easily into the story as if it were an old friend...but what is wonderful about this story is also what is frustrating about it. There is such a cacophony of details that at some points in the story it hurts to read, but for me, this is easy to forgive simply because I loved the way McKinley drew the characters giving them life beyond what we'd normally expect based on the bones of the original tale.

Briar Rose is swept away from her name-day celebration when Pernicia (the wicked fairy) places the curse upon the child by Katronia and swept away to the far end of the kingdom where she manages to live in relative safety until close to her 21st birthday...the time when Pernicia's curse is set to take her life. Along with way Katronia is helped by a menagerie of animals who nurse the young princess...from cows and goats to bear and otters...an interesting twist that seems to have a lingering effect on the young princess. As she grows up, she is more of a tomboy that she is a princess, talking to animals and becoming friends with the grizzled smith and ultimately leaning to be a healer of animals, even apprenticed to Narl the smith. In all of this we root for Katronia, Aunt, Narl and Rosie while sympathizing with the King and Queen (who have no idea where their princess is, but maintain the ruse that they have her in hiding), and sharing the same curiosity as to the location of Pernicia and her reasons for cursing the princess...for this is one character that is black and white, she's evil and beyond a sparse few details, we see very little of her and know almost nothing of her, her life/history, or motivations...this was disappointing, because she has the potential to be such a delicious, juicy and evil character and she is not.

The ending was interesting and confusing in some places...and, I think, I little more drawn out than necessary, but I LOVED the twist on the kiss at the end. I thought that was a well done touch that was also a bit of a surprise! Overall, I give it an A-, it's a bit long in the tooth with the details and the ending could have been polished a bit more, but what carries this story is that it's faithful to the original fairy tale feel whiling brining both the land and the characters to life in a way that is unique and fulfilling! McKinley is a master of brining us inside a character (or cast of characters) that were previously only flat and stereotypical, definitely going on the shelf as a keeper!

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Rosy spends her time talking to animals, pestering the local blacksmith, being generally troublesome. What she doesn't know is that she is a princess. A princess that is being hunted down by the evil enchangress Malificient. Robin Mckinley outodes herself with a new twist on the old tale of

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Sleeping Beauty. Her herione gets up and changes her fate, none of that waiting for Prince Charming.

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Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorite fairy tales, but reading this book made me wonder "is the 'fairy tale' of Sleeping Beauty really all that interesting?" And true, the children's version is kind of silly. This book takes the memorable elements of that story and fleshes it out to create real

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characters. The Princess Briar-Rose is an independent young woman, who has to face this "curse", but is in no way helpless.

Robin McKinley creates a strong "princess" and a fascinating magical world where the sleeping beauty curse could happen.

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Always fun. A new take on Sleeping Beauty, with a very willful princess - and a lot more about her 'raised by fairies' life than any other! Rosie is wonderful, Katriona is great. The ending - the whole solution - is a little convenient (what would they have done if Peony wasn't there or wasn't

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willing?). And Peony said they couldn't tell Rowland that it would be happy-ever-after, but they didn't tell him what was going on...so what did they tell him? Narl is wonderful, though his great revelation was more than a bit anti-climactic - I agree with Flinx (about time!).

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This book has a lovely feeling. McKinely is a master of atmosphere, and in this book it truely shows. The symbolic use of the colors purple and black in the naming scene and all the other little details are stunning. The plot is beautiful, though I had to read it twice to appreiciate all the

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nuances.

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The story of Sleeping Beauty has never been a favorite of mine. Quite apart from the utter passivity of the female protagonist, it's always seemed depressingly fatalistic to me. Once the curse is pronounced, the princess is doomed; there is no possibility of escape. However, in this version the

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protagonist is anything but passive or fatalistic. The story also subverts the fairytale pattern of a lowly peasant who is secretly royal and ascends to the throne once the secret is discovered. In this case the lowly peasant who is secretly royal absolutely does not want the throne, nor is she particularly suitable to rule (by her own admission). She and her friends find a unique solution to this problem. Like other books on this list, the subject of inherent ability versus individual choice is ripe for group discussion.

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Very nice. Sort of a Briar Rose retelling, but with enough differences that I wondered why she kept her link to the original fairy tale at all.I liked best the parts about the hazards of living in a country with a large amount of ambient background magic, and other background bits. The book seemed

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too long; I almost would have liked it better with more background and less plot.

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McKinley gives a readable retelling of Sleeping Beauty with Spindle's End. Rosie is adopted by the young fairy Katriona and her aunt after being cursed; she is sheltered by obscurity and ordinariness. She is, as expected, an atypical "princess", not beautiful or demure but full of character.

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McKinley's writing is eminently readable and she gives new life to an old story. Magic and just a touch of romance, along with some memorable characters, make this story engaging throughout its predicted storyline.

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I think I may have found another author to fall in love with! So far the only thing I've read by her is this book, "Spindle's End," but if the rest of her books are any thing like this one then I'm in love! I think you will be too.

"Spindle's End" is a fanciful retelling of the Sleeping Beauty

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story. The story is set in a land where magic permeates every day life, and there are fairies in most of the villages. When the princess is born the King and Queen decide to invite 21 fairies to be her godparents. Unfortunately, as they each give the princess her gifts, an evil fairy shows up. She curses the princess to die by pricking her finger on a spindle on her 21st birthday. But can the curse be evaded?

Katriona is a going to be a fairy when she gets older, and she was blessed enough to attend the Princesses name day ceremony. She finds herself accidentally kidnapping the Princess, but it's the best thing that could have happened! By taking away the Princess to her home village she hides her from the evil fairy, Pernicia, and because of this she has the blessing of the palace, not that any one knows where Katriona and the Princess are.

The Princess, who they call Rosie, grows up to be her own determined personality. She talks to animals, doctors horses, and works hand in hand with the village blacksmith. Eventually, though, she must learn her true parentage, and then face Pernicia's curse. Will she manage to triumph? You'll have to read the book to find out!

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A recasting of Sleeping Beauty - marvelous. Some of the exuberance I'd hoped for was there in this one; the animals were wonderful. She held suspense quite well, too; even knowing how the fairy tale runs doesn't help you here, because it's a very free adaptation. Loved it.

I love Robin McKinley, and normally can devour one of her books in a day, but I had a hard time losing myself in Spindle's End. The pace seemed jolting and only the last several chapters left me with that 'can't put it down' feeling. If you're looking for a great fairytale, I'd suggest Beauty with

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much more enthusiasm.

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