Enchantment

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
Best known for his Ender Quartet and the Tales of Alvin Maker series, Orson Scott Card has produced some of the most popular books in the science fiction/fantasy field over the last decade or so. Remarkably, with Enchantment, Card has carved out new territory for himself as he capably takes his narrative voice and love of research to new heights of charm and satisfaction. Card's particular fusion of magic — usually incorporating folklore, witchcraft, and American history — now breaks new ground with the addition of Judeo-Christian history and Russian fairy tales. He creates a detailed account of Russia's early religious struggle and skillfully carries out this greatly appealing tale of, well, enchantment.

At the age of ten, Ivan Smetski discovers that his once-liberal Jewish parents, who are now attempting to flee Russia, are also embracing their religious heritage. The thought of circumcision, though, sends Ivan running into the woods every day, where he soon finds a sleeping woman on a pedestal encircled by a ring of leaves. Ivan senses that beneath the leaf-strewn meadow rustles a dark power, and he races away in fear for his life. The speed with which he runs foreshadows the fact that he'll eventually become a star athlete. Before long, his parents secure a flight to America and relocate to upstate New York, where Ivan's father, Piotr, is able to pursue his study of ancient Slavic languages and teach at a local college. Eventually, Ivan follows in his father's footsteps and undertakes graduate studies in the same field. His research on the origins of theRussianfairy tale — from which all others may have come — eventually allows him the opportunity to return to Russia. Once there, Ivan finds himself drawn back to his childhood home and decides to find out once and for all if the meadow with the sleeping woman was real or only a dream.

Of course, the beauty is all too real, as is the beast that guards her. Ivan discovers that a moat surrounds the lovely woman, and a furious supernatural bear heaves rocks with enough force to crush skulls, even from a great distance. Eventually, Ivan outwits the beast and awakens the beautiful Princess Katerina, only to discover that once he's crossed the invisible bridge to the pedestal, he's thrust back more than 1,000 years into Russia's history. In order to save Katerina's homeland from the evil witch Baba Yaga, the two must agree to marry. As Ivan struggles to grasp the ancient codes of decorum, he's forced to convert to Christianity and is alternately considered to be a knight, fool, scholar, demon, and possibly the land's next king. Baba Yaga and her husband, the god Bear, set forth schemes to have the Russian people drive Ivan off. If that fails, they will kill him themselves.

While Ivan is lost in time, his mother, Esther, who is something of a mystic, does what she can to draw him back to the present world. Card puts Ivan's mother to brilliant use in a subtle, quiet characterization that works as the perfect modern counterpoint to the long-dead past. Esther's role is both wondrous and understated, and even her brief appearances at the end of several chapters add another layer of profundity to the overall magical quality of the narrative.

In creating Enchantment, Card has done his homework. He gives us an incredibly authentic and thought-provoking tale that spans 1,000 years, yet he also allows the reader the comfort of his familiar dry wit and allusions to current events. Card fuses Judeo-Christian historical references, Russian history, folklore, and myth into so fine a blend that we're never totally sure when one discipline ends and another begins.

Enchantment works on several levels, which is no easy feat even for a writer of Card's caliber. The author is to be commended for all the elements he manages to thread into his story: It's a critical examination of the origins of the fairy tale, a scholarly inquiry into the advancement of an entire religion, as well as an engaging tale of a quest for knowledge, love, and spiritual enlightenment. Card offers us a novel set in an age when religious conversion and the beliefs of old-world worship met in a head-on confrontation, and Ivan's mixed background makes him the perfect medium through which to study the outcome of these issues. Part A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, part ancient fable, and part modern love story, Enchantment is a fulfilling addition to Card's canon of powerful and beloved fantasy-folklore-adventure novels.

—Tom Piccirilli

Tom Piccirilli is the author of the critically acclaimed supernatural novel Pentacle, as well as the dark suspense mysteries Shards and The Dead Past. His short fiction has appeared in many anthologies, including The Conspiracy Files. His two latest, an exciting mystery called Sorrow's Crown and a horror novel called Hexes, have just been released.

Houston Post

Orson Scot card makes a strong case for being the best writer science fiction has to offer.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Intertwining the story of Sleeping Beauty with Russian mythology, Card (Homebody, etc.) creates an appealing though not potent fairy tale. Ten-year-old Ivan is terrified by, yet drawn to, a beautiful woman frozen in time in the middle of the primordial forest of Russia. More than a decade later, he returns and uses his prowess as a track-and-field star and a promise of marriage to rescue this princess. Echoes of Narnia sound (including some slightly preachy undertones) as Ivan is drawn back into the princess's time. He finds that he has no skills useful in the ninth century, and yet must find a way to defeat the witch Baba Yaga, who has harnessed the power of a god to take over Princess Katerina's kingdom. Ivan brings his betrothed into the modern world to keep her from Yaga's clutches and the pair learn to understand not only each other, but each other's powers and weapons. By the time they return to the fairy-tale world, they are armed with modern-day knowledge and aided by Ivan's relatives, who turn out to be minor Russian deities and witches. In an apparent desire to make his tale believable, Card leaches it of some of its magic, offering up the extraordinary as matter of fact, and his characters lack some of the depth that usually makes his writing so rewarding. His new look at a classic tale is clever, however, adding attractive whimsical twists and cultural confluences to a familiar story.

KLIATT

Ivan is an academic with an almost single-minded passion: ancient Russian folklore. His parents emigrated from the Ukraine when he was a boy, looking for a place more tolerant of their Judaism. Now an adult, Ivan returns to the Ukraine to do research for his thesis, but instead finds himself part of the very folklore he has been studying. Almost accidentally, he breaks an enchantment that holds a princess hostage and travels to an ancient, mythical past, where everything he thought he knew about himself and the history he has been studying is changed. This story cleverly weaves the past and present, folklore and technology, into one marvelous story peopled with giants, kings, princesses, warriors, and witches. Although the legends used in the story may not be immediately familiar to the contemporary American reader, Card makes them accessible through Ivan's discovery of their roots in historical reality. Equally interesting is the description of the characters from the past that travel to our present (picture Baba Yaga hijacking a 727). Readers who enjoy fantasy and romance will especially like the story, but it should appeal to anyone who likes a good read. Highly recommended. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 1999, Ballantine/Del Rey, 419p, 18cm, 99-91097, $6.99. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Adrienne Ehlert-Bashista; Media Spec., Chatham Cty., NC, September 2000 (Vol. 34 No. 5)

Library Journal

YA-Card uses Grimm's "Sleeping Beauty" as the loom upon which he weaves his magical time-travel tale. Using the fabric of traditional fairy-tale elements and Russian folklore, myth, and history, he sets the stage for his drama set in the present and 1000 years in the past. Ten-year-old Ivan stumbles upon Sleeping Beauty deep in the Russian forests near his uncle's farm, only to flee in terror at some dimly perceived menace. Now an American graduate student studying folklore and ancient Slavic languages, he is drawn back to Russia to research his thesis and to seek out his uncle's farm. Back in the woods, he defeats Sleeping Beauty's evil guardian through athletic prowess and intellect. He awakens her with a kiss, only to find that he now has to promise to marry her in order to help her save her kingdom from the witch Baba Yaga. The youthful protagonists, the elements of fantasy and romance, and Card's imaginative, humorous storytelling make this a winner for young adults.-John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Card's new fantasy (Heartfire, 1998, etc.) reworks an Old Russian variant of the Sleeping Beauty tale. In the Carpathian forest, the boy Ivan Smetski stumbled upon a leaf-filled pit where an eerie malevolent presence deterred him from reaching a pedestal upon which lay a beautiful sleeping girl. Years later, Ivan, now an upstate New York scholar of Slavic languages and folklore, returns to Russia to research ancient manuscripts. Inevitably, he returns to the pit to find a huge, slavering bear guarding the sleeper. This time, he puts out the bear's eye with a rock, leaps to the pedestal, and wakens the girl with a kiss. Princess Katerina conducts him across an invisible bridge, where, astonishingly, it's 890 a.d., and the horrid megalomaniac witch Baba Yaga threatens Katerina's homeland. Ivan struggles to adjust: not only does Katerina despise him because he lacks the muscles necessary for plowing or battle, but because he's Jewish and has to convert to Christianity before they can marry (which they must do to avert Baba Yaga's curse). Worse, the evil witch goads Katerina's folk into plotting and treachery, so the couple — their marriage solemnized but unconsummated — flee back to 1992, a world as bewildering to Katerina as is hers to Ivan. But Baba Yaga soon follows, so Ivan's good-witch mother Esther helps Katerina fend off the witch's magical sorties, while Ivan learns how to make gunpowder, a secret he can carry back with him to 890. Finally, the pair realize they love each other, consummate the marriage, and return across the bridge. Baba Yaga also returns (she hijacks a 747), and the stage is set for a desperate showdown involving contending armies, loyalties,magic, and wits. Richly detailed and engagingly peopled: a fascinating remake, if sometimes dreadfully long-winded.