The Sleeping Beauty (novel)

Last updated
The Sleeping Beauty
TheSleepingBeauty.jpg
First edition
Author Mercedes Lackey
Country United States
Language English
Series Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms
Genre Fantasy novel
PublisherLUNA Books (Harlequin Enterprises)
Publication date
2010
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Preceded by The Snow Queen  
Followed byBeauty and the Werewolf 

The Sleeping Beauty is a novel by Mercedes Lackey, published in 2010 as the fifth book of the Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series. As in the previous book, The Snow Queen , characters from earlier books are either mentioned or appear as secondary characters

Contents

Background

The Sleeping Beauty was written by Mercedes Lackey as the fifth installment in her Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series. [1] [2]

Plot summary

Lily is the godmother to the Kingdom of Eltaria, which is quite wealthy due to its vast number of mines. After its queen dies, Lily takes on the appearance of an evil sorceress, with the name "Sable", and marries its king in name only, so that he won't be trapped into marrying a real evil sorceress and Princess Rosamund won't have a wicked stepmother. However, this doesn't stop the Tradition from focusing on Eltaria, particularly on Rosa, who ends up with two Traditional paths tangled up and directed at her: the Beauty Asleep and Snowskin. While her outer appearance is that of a Sleeping Beauty, Rosa ends up following the story of Snow White. Prince Siegfried of Drachenthal and Leopold of Falkenreid get into a fight over who will kiss Rosa awake. Rosa recovers from her ordeal before either one wins and begins training as a Godmother.

King Thurmand dies, leaving "Queen Sable" as Regent until Rosa turns twenty-one. This means that their enemies will descend on Eltaria, intent on taking over, unless measures can be taken to prevent it. Godmother Lily comes up with a plan for one hundred princes to come and take part in trials to see which one of them will win the hand of the princess. Siegfried and Leopold decide to stay and take part in the trials, and they strike a bargain to help each other through the trials until the last task. Another prince named Desmond enters the trials and catches Rosa's attention for a short while.

The first trial consists of a race on horseback, in full armor, with a break in the middle to herd three sheep into a pen and line up a dozen eggs without breaking them. The second test involves getting rid of a cursed item. The third trial involves the remaining princes answering a series of riddles. By the time of the fourth and last trial, Rosa and Siegfried have fallen in love. The final trial is announced, in which the remaining ten princes have to come up with a way to protect Eltaria for the present and future, and marriage is not a solution. The prince with the best answer will be declared the winner and receive Rosa's hand in marriage.

The Huntsman and Desmond kidnap Rosa, invoking the Sleeping Beauty Tradition by locking her in a tower with thorns surrounding it. After a fight, Desmond is killed and Rosa is rescued. Siegfried wins her hand in marriage by proposing they have good dragons guard the borders. Queen Sable steps down and proclaims Rosa and Siegfried to be Queen and King of Eltaria.

Sequel in the Harvest Moon anthology

In the Harvest Moon anthology, published in 2010, the story of Prince Leopold and Brunhilde continues. While doing their travels they end up in a country resembling ancient Greece. While they are resting a man in a black chariot comes up out of the ground and kidnaps Brunhilde, thinking she is Persephone. At the same time Hades is revealing himself to Persephone, who already knew who he was and agreed to go and be his consort. When they arrive in Hades's kingdom, they encounter a furious Brunhilde and the perplexing problem of how to get her back to the world of the living.

Meanwhile, Leopold has taken one of the flying horses he and his wife received at the start of their adventures and goes off to confront the Gods. They inform him that Demeter has left and Leopold immediately takes action to make sure the people of the land are taken care of. While he is taking care of that, Persephone and Brunhilde are tasked with making a pomegranate grow in the Elysian Fields, the only place in Hades's kingdom where something edible has grown.

In the end Persephone and Brunhilde successfully get one pomegranate to ripen and she earns the right to stay with Hades for part of the year. The solution to Brunhilde and Leopold's problem is found in a journey back to the world of the living, with Leopold in front being tempted and dealing with his own personal demons while not being able to turn around and look at Brunhilde, and Brunhilde behind having to work out her own internal problems without interfering in any way. They successfully complete the tasks and are reunited, with an added bonus: Brunhilde had demanded Leopold get some form of lasting immortality that did not backfire (such as making him grow old and live forever) and at the end of the story they are making it happen, even though it involves not being able to touch each other for a very long time.

Critical reception

In a review by Publishers Weekly , the reviewer wrote that "despite plenty of twists and laughs, the plot is surprisingly forgettable, and most of the fun comes from finding all the fairy tale in-jokes peppering the pages". [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hades</span> God of the underworld in Greek mythology

Hades, in the ancient Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed joint rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth available to all three concurrently. In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bident and wearing his helm with Cerberus, the three-headed guard-dog of the underworld, standing at his side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persephone</span> Greek goddess of spring and the queen of the underworld

In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone, also called Kore or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld, who would later also take her into marriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minthe</span> Greek Naiad nymph

In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Minthe is an Underworld Naiad nymph associated with the river Cocytus. She was beloved by Hades, the King of the Underworld, and became his mistress, but she was transformed into a mint plant by either his wife Persephone or her mother Demeter. The plant was also called by some as hedyosmos, which means "sweet-smelling".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sleeping Beauty</span> European fairy tale

"Sleeping Beauty", also titled in English as The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, is a fairy tale about a princess cursed by an evil fairy to sleep for a hundred years before being awakened by a handsome prince. A good fairy, knowing the princess would be frightened if alone when she wakes, uses her wand to put every living person and animal in the palace and forest asleep, to awaken when the princess does.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beauty and the Beast</span> French fairy tale

"Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins. Her lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and published by French novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 in Magasin des enfants to produce the version most commonly retold. Later, Andrew Lang retold the story in Blue Fairy Book, a part of the Fairy Book series, in 1889. The fairy tale was influenced by Ancient Greek stories such as "Cupid and Psyche" from The Golden Ass, written by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis in the second century AD, and "The Pig King", an Italian fairytale published by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola around 1550.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maleficent</span> Disney villain character

Maleficent is a fictional character who first appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film, Sleeping Beauty (1959). Maleficent is the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" based on the evil fairy godmother character in Charles Perrault's fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, as well as the villainess who appears in the Brothers Grimm's retelling of the story, Little Briar Rose. Maleficent was originally animated by Marc Davis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairy godmother</span> Archetype

In fairy tales, a fairy godmother is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's Cinderella, he concludes the tale with the moral that no personal advantages will suffice without proper connections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Blue Bird (fairy tale)</span> French literary fairy tale

"The Blue Bird" is a French literary fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy, published in 1697. An English translation was included in The Green Fairy Book, 1892, collected by Andrew Lang.

Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter in Greek mythology, appears in films, works of literature, and in popular culture, both as a goddess character and through the symbolic use of her name. She becomes the queen of the underworld through her abduction by Hades, the god of the underworld. The myth of her abduction represents her dual function as the as chthonic (underworld) and vegetation goddess: a personification of vegetation, which shoots forth in Spring and withdraws into the earth after harvest. Proserpina is the Roman equivalent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wicked fairy (Sleeping Beauty)</span> Fictional character

The Wicked fairy is the antagonist of Sleeping Beauty. In some adaptations, she is known as Carabosse. The most notable adaptation of the character is Maleficent, a Disney villain who appeared in various Disney media, beginning with the 1959 Walt Disney film Sleeping Beauty.

This is a list of books by Mercedes Lackey, arranged by collection.

<i>Cinderella</i> (1977 film) 1977 American erotic musical comedy by Michael Pataki

Cinderella is a 1977 American erotic musical comedy film directed by Michael Pataki and starring Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith, Brett Smiley, and Sy Richardson.

<i>The Land of Stories</i> Book series by Chris Colfer

The Land of Stories is a series of children's fiction, adventure and fantasy books written by American author, actor and singer Chris Colfer. The first book, The Wishing Spell, was released on July 17, 2012. The sixth book was published in July 2017. Colfer revealed plans for a prequel series in 2016, and has since published three books in this prequel series beginning with A Tale of Magic... in 2019.

<i>Fairy Tale Police Department</i> Australian TV series or program

Fairy Tale Police Department is an Australian-German animated series, produced by the company Yoram Gross-EM.TV in co-production with EM.TV & Merchandising AG, Victory Media Group, and Talit Communications. It aired on Seven Network at various times. It offers a new perspective on classic fairy tales through the central characters Johnny Legend and Christine Anderson. They are magic police officers who restore balance to society.

Cinderella is a Disney franchise that commenced in 1950 with the theatrical release of the 1950 film Cinderella. The series' protagonist is Cinderella, who was based on the character of the same name from the Cinderella fairy tale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather</span> Disney animated movie characters for "Sleeping Beauty"

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are the three good fairies in Walt Disney's 1959 film Sleeping Beauty. They are characterized as Princess Aurora's fairy godmothers and guardians, who appear at baby Aurora's christening to present their gifts to her. The three were voiced by Verna Felton, Barbara Jo Allen, and Barbara Luddy, respectively.

<i>Lore Olympus</i> Romance webcomic by Rachel Smythe

Lore Olympus is a romance webcomic created by New Zealand artist Rachel Smythe. The comic is a modern retelling of the relationship between the Greek goddess and god Persephone and Hades. It began publishing weekly on the platform Webtoon in March 2018. Lore Olympus is currently the most popular comic on Webtoon; as of January 2024, it has 1.3 billion views and 6.5 million subscribers. The comic has won a Harvey Award, two Eisner Awards, and received nominations for Ringo Awards. It was announced in 2019 that a television adaptation was under development.

Princess Aubergine is an Indian folktale collected by Flora Annie Steel and sourced from the Punjab region. It concerns a princess whose lifeforce is tied to a necklace, and, as soon as it falls in the hand of a rival, the princess falls into a death-like sleep - comparable to heroines of European fairy tales Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Variants exist in India, both with a heroine and a hero whose life is attached to a magical necklace.

References

  1. "The Sleeping Beauty". Mercedeslackey.com. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "The Sleeping Beauty". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved July 20, 2015.