Some Bargain Ebooks by Patrick Ness and Erika Johansen

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness is $1.99 for ebook format. Ness is the author of The Crane Wife, which is NOT on sale for a bargain price right now, but he uses folklore elements in many of his novels. He is also very popular right now so I thought I would share some of this books that are on sale at deep discounts right now. These books are all usually between $7-10. This is one of his highest acclaimed books and I own it but haven't read it yet. I bought it when it was on sale almost two years ago for $3.49. This price is even lower.

Book description:

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting— he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd— whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself— Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

More Than This by Patrick Ness is $1,99, too.

Book description:

From two-time Carnegie Medal winner Patrick Ness comes an enthralling and provocative new novel chronicling the life — or perhaps afterlife — of a teen trapped in a crumbling, abandoned world. A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust, and completely abandoned. What’s going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this. . . .

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking Book 1) by Patrick Ness is also $1.99.

Book description:

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is. Includes “The New World,” a short story by Patrick Ness.

And while we are here, another book is also on sale for $1.99 that will probably interest some SurLaLune readers: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen has received a lot of buzz since its release this past summer.

Book description:

Magic, adventure, mystery, and romance combine in this epic debut in which a young princess must reclaim her dead mother’s throne, learn to be a ruler—and defeat the Red Queen, a powerful and malevolent sorceress determined to destroy her.

On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown.

Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust.

But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend . . . if she can survive.

Fairy Tales in Advertising: Toyota Foundation: Little Red Riding Hood

Toyota Foundation: Little Red Riding Hood

Without nature, there are no stories.

Save them by applying for one of our environmental grants for non-profit organizations.

Toyota Foundation

Okay, I never expected to see Little Red Riding Hood and Napoleon used for the same ad campaign. But I really love the Red Riding image and message--for me since I am biased anyway--it's much more powerful than Napoleon. Besides, one is fiction and one is history so the Napoleon seems to be playing fast and loose with what was a real war, a real tragedy for many, just lessened in emotional impact thanks to time. Ick. How about using Hansel and Gretel instead? Or Jack and the Beanstalk? Or almost anything else from fiction? Not Waterloo. A battle that would have likely happened whatever the natural landscape anyway.

Campaign info from Ads of the World:

Advertising Agency: Badillo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Creative Directors: Juan Camilo Valdivieso, Pedro Pérez
Art Directors: Cristina Burckhart, Fernando Suárez, Cristo Oviedo
Copywriters: Pedro Pérez, Juan C. Valdivieso
Photographer: Ale Burset
Illustrator: Diego Speroni / F16 Producciones

Toyota Foundation: Napoleon

New Release: The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson is a another new release this week. This is the fifth book in Dickerson's inspirational fairy tale series. It is also the most unusual offering to date in the series. Previously we've had the usual suspects with Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. The Princess Spy is an interpretation of the Frog Prince which is very unusual, especially in a novel.

Book Description:

Margaretha has always been a romantic, and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, is destined to be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to Hagenheim Castle, claiming to be an English lord who was attacked by Claybrook and left for dead. And only Margaretha—one of the few who speaks his language—understands the wild story.

Margaretha finds herself unable to pass Colin’s message along to her father, the duke, and convinces herself “Lord Colin” is just an addled stranger. Then Colin retrieves an heirloom she lost in a well, and asks her to spy on Claybrook as repayment. Margaretha knows she could never be a spy—not only is she unable to keep anything secret, she’s sure Colin is completely wrong about her potential betrothed. Though when Margaretha overhears Claybrook one day, she discovers her romantic notions may have been clouding her judgment about not only Colin but Claybrook as well. It is up to her to save her father and Hagenheim itself from Claybrook’s wicked plot.

New Release of Original Into the Woods to DVD and Blu-ray

Into the Woods: Stephen Sondheim (DVD) is not technically a new release but it is a re-release of the original Tony Awarding winning Broadway cast to DVD, new design and disc released next month. The Into the Woods: Stephen Sondheim [Blu-ray] will be released on December 2. None of this is surprising since we are quickly approaching the new Disney version of the musical for its Christmas Day release to movie theatres this holiday season.

Description:

A baker and his wife journey into the woods in search of a cow, a red cape, a pair of golden slippers and some magic beans to lift a curse that has kept them childless. Tony Award winners Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason and the rest of the original Broadway cast weave their magic spell over you in Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece, directed by James Lapine, a seamless fusion of fairy tale characters and what happens after "happily ever after." With oft-recorded songs such as "Children Will Listen" and "No One Is Alone," Into the Woods is a music lover's delight from start to finish--and will forever cement Stephen Sondheim's unparalleled position as the giant of the American musical theater.

Twelve Dancing Princesses Tales From Around the World Now $1.99

Twelve Dancing Princesses Tales From Around the World is now $1.99 and will stay at that price for 29+ more hours when it will be $2.99!

New Book: Path of Needles by Alison Littlewood

(Amazon US/UK Covers with links)

Path of Needles by Alison Littlewood is officially released in the US this week. I'm not sure what kind of planning resulted in this week being fairy tale mystery week with this and Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) as new releases, but sometimes its fun to wonder.

The hero of the book is expert on fairy tales which is fun!

Actually, the book is not new, new since it was released in May 2013 in the UK--see Path of Needles--but this week is its official US debut.

Book description for US edition:

When an expert on fairy tales is called in to consult on the investigation of bizarre murders, her premonition and insight causes suspicion; she must solve the case--and fast--to prove her innocence.

Alice Hyland is an expert on fairy tales--lecturing on the well-known stories and their lesser-known variants--and the natural choice for Police Constable Cate Corbin to consult when a dead girl is found in the woods dressed up as Snow White. Especially when the girl's grieving mother receives a parcel containing a glass bottle of blood stoppered with the dead girl's toe. Cate's boss, Detective Superintendent Heath, isn't convinced of the connection to folklore until a second girl is found, this time dressed as Red Riding Hood and with claw marks gouged into her flesh, like a wolf had been at her.

As she dives deeper into the case, Alice beings to sense a supernatural pull connecting her to the murders. A series of uncanny events seem to be pointing her in the right direction, but she's not the only one noticing; By the time a third girl is found in the local castle, Heath begins to wonder if their fairy tale expert knows too much, and Alice finds herself no longer an asset, but a suspect. But she can't stop following the clues, and her determination to solve the mystery herself and prove her innocence may lead her somewhere she can't return from.

Book description for UK edition:

Some fairy tales are born of dreams... and some are born of nightmares.

A murderer is on the loose, but the gruesome way in which the bodies are being posed has the police at a loss. Until, on a hunch, Alice Hyland, an expert in fairy tales is called in. And it is Alice who finds the connection between the body of Chrissie Farrell and an obscure Italian version of Snow White.

Then, when a second body is found, Alice is dragged further into the investigation - until she herself becomes a suspect.

Now Alice must fight, not just to prove her innocence, but to protect herself: because it's looking like she might well be next.

Guest Post: Maia Chance, Author of Snow White Red-Handed

(Amazon US/UK Links)

As I promised yesterday, we have a guest post from author Maia Chance, author of Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery), officially released today. Welcome to SurLaLune, Maia!

I am excited and honored to be guest posting today here at SurLaLune. I’ve been a regular visitor of this beautiful site for years.

I’m also pinching myself about joining the ranks of fairy tale retellers. My new book, Snow White Red-Handed, is a fun historical mystery that intertwines fairy tale lore with a classic whodunit plot. I dreamed up the story while I was teaching a freshman comp course. In order to help my students think past problems of author intentionality when interpreting literature, I used Maria Tatar’s wonderful anthology, The Classic Fairy Tales. At the same time I was teaching that course, I was reading 19th-century American literature (Hawthorne, Alcott, Melville) in preparation for my PhD exams. Thus, my practical Yankee sleuth, Ophelia Flax, was concocted. . . and of course I had to plop her into the seriously impractical Black Forest.

I believe that fairy tales are a special kind of writing. Each variation may be unique, and many can be attributed to particular authors, but in the end they are a kind of jointly owned reservoir of ideas and emotions and characters that belong to everyone. My own favorite retellings are Robin McKinley’s—Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast just blew me away at age twelve, and I’ve reread it at least twice—and Angela Carter’s jaw-droppingly terrifying and gorgeous The Bloody Chamber. I also adore exploring all the children’s picture book versions out there. My most recent favorite is the exquisite, 1920’s-style version of Perrault’s Cinderella illustrated by Roberto Innocenti, and my kids’ favorites are the versions with James Marshall’s illustrations.

In writing Snow White Red-Handed, I enjoyed exploring themes from the fairy tale in depth, through the mystery and through my own characters. I treated the tale’s central mother-daughter theme partly through Prue Bright. Prue is a girl, as lovely as a princess, whose mother Henrietta is an actress and courtesan. Henrietta taught Prue to rely solely upon her looks in life. Then—related to this—there is the tale’s theme of beauty: what women do to get it and keep it (and isn’t a wicked queen eating a young girl’s liver or heart an “extreme beauty” treatment?). The woodland setting was a pleasure to write, since I’m a forest-lover myself; ancient trees, toxic mushrooms, a miniature cottage in the brambles, an abandoned hunting lodge, and rumors of fairies and elves all found their place in Snow White Red-Handed. And because of the presence of the glitzy Baden-Baden casino that was really a Big Deal in the 1860’s, I found a way to do a new take on “dwarf’s gold.” But I won’t give anything else away!

I hope SurLaLune’s readers enjoy Snow White Red-Handed, as well as the second book in my Fairy Tale Fatal series, Cinderella Six Feet Under, which will be released in September 2015. Please visit me on the web:

WEBSITE: maiachance.com
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/MaiaChance
TWITTER: twitter.com/maiachance
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8127322.Maia_Chance


READ AN EXCERPT FROM SNOW WHITE RED-HANDED:

            “I simply must have you at my side this afternoon, Flax,” Mrs. Coop said.  “I’ve come down with a sick headache, but I wouldn’t miss Professor Winkler’s gold test for the world.  Tighter!”

            “I’m doing my utmost, ma’am,” Ophelia said, straining to cinch Mrs. Coop’s corset laces.

After luncheon, Mrs. Coop had returned to her cream-and-gold jewel box of a boudoir, high in a turret of the castle, to change into her afternoon gown.  She’d been breathless and disheveled, and determined to shrink her waist to a smaller compass.

Mrs. Coop’s disarray, and her sudden wish to appear pixie-like, resulted, Ophelia suspected, from the presence in the castle of either Princess Verushka or Mr. Royall Hunt.  Mrs. Coop and Miss Amaryllis had made the acquaintance of these two fashionable personages at some point in the last two weeks’ frenzy of excursions into Baden-Baden.

            “You must,” Mrs. Coop said, “stay by my side with my smelling salts, should I need them, and fetch me glasses of water and whatever else I may need.  I am not well, Flax—even Mr. Hunt noted that I’m white as a lily—yet this is perhaps the most thrilling day of my life.”

            “Yes, ma’am,” Ophelia said.

            “Just think!  Snow White’s cottage on my own estate.  And a dwarf’s bones!”

            “Mm.”

            “Do I hear doubt in your tone, Flax?”

            “Truth be told, ma’am, it is difficult for me to believe that that house belonged to creatures from a storybook.”

            “Difficult to believe?”

            “Well, ma’am, near impossible.”

            Ophelia had performed with P. Q. Putnam’s Traveling Circus for two years, and she’d known a so-called dwarf.  He’d been a shrimp, true, but there hadn’t been a thing magical about him.  Unless you counted swearing like a sailor and smoking like a house on fire as magic.

            “Of course.”  Mrs. Coop sniffed.  “I nearly forgot you’re a Yankee.”

            Ophelia held her tongue; she was stepping out of character.  It had to be the result of exhaustion.  Mrs. Coop and her stepsister Amaryllis—they had, Ophelia had learned, different mothers—kept her on her feet from dawn to dusk, arranging their hair, pressing their clothing, mixing beauty concoctions, and running up and down the spiraling castle stairs fetching things.

            But how could anyone past the age of pigtails think Snow White and the seven dwarves had really existed?

BIO:

Maia Chance writes historical mystery novels that are rife with absurd predicaments and romantic adventure. She is the author of the Fairy Tale Fatal and The Discreet Retrieval Agency series, and her first mystery, Snow White Red-Handed, will be released in November 2014 by Berkley Prime Crime.

Maia is a candidate for the Ph.D. in English at the University of Washington. This means that the exploits of Fairy Tale Fatal’s heroine, variety hall actress Ophelia Flax, were dreamt up while Maia was purportedly researching 19th-century American literature and fairy tale criticism. The Discreet Retrieval Agency series was born of Maia’s fascination with vintage shoes, automobiles, and cocktails combined with an adoration of P. G. Wodehouse and chocolate.

Upcoming titles include Come Hell or Highball (St. Martin’s Press, 2015) and Cinderella Six Feet Under (Berkley Prime Crime, 2015). Maia lives in Seattle, where she shakes a killer martini, grows a mean radish, and bakes mocha bundts to die for.

Bargain Ebook: Twelve Dancing Princesses Tales From Around the World

Twelve Dancing Princesses Tales From Around the World edited by Heidi Anne Heiner--yes that's me!--is on sale this week as part of Amazon's Ebook Countdown Deals. That means the book is on sale for $.99 for another 36 hours from this posting and then will rise to $1.99 for another 42 hours and then go to $2.99 for 42 hours eventually returning to its usual price of $4.99 for the ebook a week from now.

Book description:

The Twelve Dancing Princesses is a fairy tale known under several names such as "The Dancing Shoes," "The Worn-out Shoes," and "The Shoes that Were Danced to Pieces." The best known version of the tale comes from the Brothers Grimm and yet the tale remains relatively obscure in comparison to tales such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel. However, it has been a popular favorite with fairy tale readers for decades, appearing in countless collections of tales, but rarely studied. In recent years, many books and even a toy collection, a movie and a musical have used the story as inspiration. This collection offers over twenty variants of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, some that are new English translations. In addition, several Grateful Dead tales and Greek myths are presented as interesting comparisons to the tale. Sometimes the princesses journey to a version of hell, at other times they visit a version of heaven. Many of the stories are obviously related to each other and at times the relationship is tenuous. Some additional stories with similar motifs or elements are also included, illustrating that the elements of this tale are not as obscure as they first appear. In the over fifty tales collected here, strange journeys are made, secrets are revealed, and curses are broken. Most-but not all-of the heroes and heroines live happily ever after. Either way, the journeys and the mysteries they solve provide fascinating visits to other realms. Whether you are a student of folklore or an armchair enthusiast, this anthology offers a diverse array of tales with a unifying theme that both entertains and educates, all gathered for the first time in one helpful collection.

Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance

(US / UK Covers with links)

Released this week, Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance is the first in a new mystery series from Prime Crime books. It's a historical mystery fiction series with fairy tale inspirations. I'm actually surprised there aren't more of these. Prime Crime is known for its cozy mystery series, several with novelty themes from knitting to coffee houses to antiques to unusual historical settings. I've been a fan of several Prime Crime series--seeing as how mysteries are one of my favorite genres for leisure reading. With the pop culture rise of fairy tales again on TV, I've been waiting to see if fairy tales would get a new cozy mystery series or two or three. Here's the first.

I've received a review copy to read but as of of writing this post--for me it's September, not November nearly yet--I haven't read it. I'll post more about it when I do. And Maia is planning a guest post for the SurLaLune blog, too, so stay tuned.

Book description:

Miss Ophelia Flax is a Victorian actress who knows all about making quick changes and even quicker exits. But to solve a fairy-tale crime in the haunted Black Forest, she’ll need more than a bit of charm…

1867: After being fired from her latest variety hall engagement, Ophelia acts her way into a lady’s maid position for a crass American millionaire. But when her new job whisks her off to a foreboding castle straight out of a Grimm tale, she begins to wonder if her fast-talking ways might have been too hasty. The vast grounds contain the suspected remains of Snow White’s cottage, along with a disturbing dwarf skeleton. And when her millionaire boss turns up dead—poisoned by an apple—the fantastic setting turns into a once upon a crime scene.

To keep from rising to the top of the suspect list, Ophelia fights through a bramble of elegant lies, sinister folklore, and priceless treasure, with only a dashing but mysterious scholar as her ally. And as the clock ticks towards midnight, she’ll have to break a cunning killer’s spell before her own time runs out…

TODAY ONLY: Fairest of All by Serena Valentino for $2.99 in Ebook

 

Fairest of All by Serena Valentino is on sale today only in ebook format for $2.99. It is usually in the $9.99 range.

Book description:

For anyone who's seen Walt Disney's Snow White, you'll know that the Wicked Queen is one evil woman! After all, it's not everyone who wants to cut out their teenage step-daughter's heart and have it delivered back in a locked keepsake box. (And even if this sort of thing is a common urge, we don't know many people who have acted upon it.)


Now, for the first time, we'll examine the life of the Wicked Queen and find out just what it is that makes her so nasty. Here's a hint: the creepy-looking man in the magic mirror is not just some random spooky visage-and he just might have something to do with the Queen's wicked ways!

And while we're here, another bargain ebook of possible interest to SurLaLune readers is Let's Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By by Leslie M. M. Blume, on sale for $1.99 in ebook format. Don't know the length of the sale on this one but these are the types of titles my niece and I read and discuss together. Always fun.

Book description:

The Huffington Post's "Let's Bring Back..." columnist, Lesley M. M. Blume, invites you to consider whatever happened to cuckoo clocks? Or bed curtains? Why do we have so many "friends" but have done away with the much more useful word "acquaintance"? All of these things, plus hot toddies, riddles, proverbs, corsets, calling cards, and many more, are due for a revival. Throughout this whimsical, beautifully illustrated encyclopedia of nostalgia, Blume breathes new life into the elegant, mysterious, and delightful trappings of bygone eras, honoring the timeless tradition of artful living along the way. Inspired by her much loved column of the same name and featuring entries from famous icons of style and culture, Let's Bring Back leads readers to rediscover the things that entertained, awed, beautified, satiated, and fascinated in eras past.