The Sleeping Prince

March 15, 2016
A sensible young woman runs afoul of fairy-tale figures in this high-fantasy sequel set in a typical, white, medieval-ish kingdom. For four months, Errin Vastel has struggled to live in the rough-and-tumble town of Almwyk, dodging the attentions of an unctuous official, supplying the mysterious Silas with potions and poisons, and keeping her mother locked up and drugged. With her father dead and brother, Lief, missing, Errin longs for her former life as an apothecary's apprentice in Tremayne but attempts to care for her mother, first mad with grief, now possibly morphing into a monster. Haunted by erotic, enigmatic dreams, Errin looks for companionship from Silas, but the always-hooded smuggler has his own agenda. Even fairy tales cannot comfort her, for the mythical Sleeping Prince--a man or god or alchemist whose origins are repeatedly but never definitively explained--has woken, killing King Merek, razing religious houses, and sending forth his army of golems and traitorous men. When Errin blackmails Silas into helping her escape, she instead falls deeper into a plot involving the Sleeping Prince, a religious fugitive, and a long-hidden colony of alchemists. In this second volume in the trilogy that began with The Sin Eater's Daughter (2015), Salisbury delivers another complex protagonist, torn between science and magic and intent on survival but often overwhelmed with grief and guilt. Readers will be grateful for the map that helps them locate the many fantasy places that pepper the book. A tale of monsters--mortal and mythical--that intersects with the previous installment but offers no happily-ever-after conclusion. (Fantasy. 14-18)

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July 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-In The Sin Eater's Daughter, 16-year-old Twylla is engaged to the Prince of Loremere but is an outcast. People fear her because she also happens to be the kingdom's executioner. One simple moment of skin-to-skin contact with her will emit a poison that will kill. Twylla feels that no one will truly be able to love her. When a new guard, Lief, arrives at the jail, he looks at her like she is a real person. When they uncover a devious plot by the Queen to destroy Loremere's enemies that could place everyone in danger, they join together to save the kingdom. The second installment opens with the Queen awakening the Sleeping Prince, who is not very happy about the years he spent cursed from his long enchantment. The plot then follows Errin, Lief's sister, as she tries to take care of their ill mother, who she believes has "Scarlet Varulv," a disorder that causes her to act like a wild animal during the full moon, by selling illegal herbal cures in an effort to keep her out of an asylum. When her village is evacuated because of the impending war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin must travel across the kingdom to save her family. Give to teens who enjoy fairy-tale settings with good vs. evil conflicts and battles mixed with fantasy magic, strange creatures, and spooky folklore.

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