Spindles End

by Robin McKinley

An exceptional retelling of The Sleeping Beauty which takes the reader into a magical world filled with modern characters, encountering adventure, love and loss. Rosie is very, very ordinary. No-one, not even an extremely powerful and evil fairy who is out for the princess's blood, would give Rosie a second glance. But then, even Rosie doesn't know the secret of her own birth...and she cannot be hidden forever as her twenty-first birthday approaches. The curse placed on her at her christening will hunt her down through the years, gathering strength, and at some point a princess must become a queen, even if she would rather just stay ordinary...

• ISBN10: 038560419X
• ISBN13: 9780385604192
• Publish Date: 1 April 2002 (first published 22 May 2000)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 20 September 2014
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: David Fickling Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[ladygrey]

Yes, this is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but just barely. [a:Robin McKinley|5339|Robin McKinley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1314406026p2/5339.jpg] has wonderfully defied all the rules she can, redefined the ones she can't, crafted lovable and surprising characters, given the narrative a great sense of depth and left enough vestiges of the original fairy tale for the story to feel delightfully familiar.

I love the sense of magic created in this world. It almost seems real, as if in describing this magic [a:Robin McKinley|5339|Robin McKinley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1314406026p2/5339.jpg] is actually trying to describe the forces and energies she harnesses to write. The magic also matches how dense and complicated the narrative is (in language and concept, not in plot).

I actually like that it's complicated, and this is as complicated as I've ever seen her write. Some bits need to be read and then reread to make sense of (and extraordinarily long sentences don't help). But in being willing to be complicated, the story is allowed to explore tattered spells and princesses and insane, beautiful bindings and the fatigue wielding magic leaves. It's stronger and more interesting for being so insanely complicated.