Once Upon a Summer Day (Once Upon A Time Series) [Paperback]

Dennis L. McKiernan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2006

Borel, Prince of the Winterwood, has been dreaming of a beautiful, golden-haired maiden night after night. He believes that she truly exists-and that she is in terrible danger. To save her, Borel must journey through the land of Faery-and face the dark forces that await him...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Romantics, rejoice! McKiernan's retelling of Sleeping Beauty is the way it should have been done the first time around. Prince Borel, lord of the Winterwood, falls asleep one warm summer afternoon and dreams of a beautiful, golden-haired maid in distress, trapped within a stone turret. Her only words to Borel are, "Please--help me!" Borel awakens, uncertain whether he has had a vision or only a dream. But the maid's terrified plea is enough to give him pause, and after having the same dream again and again, Borel sets out to discover where she is being held. But before the happy ending, our hero, assisted by the loyal and brave Flic (a sprite) and steadfast Buzzer (a bumblebee), must encounter and overcome trolls, sorcerers, hideous things that go bump in the night, and the cunning king of Faery himself. The lines between good and evil are clear, and romance and chivalry and true love are alive and flourishing. McKiernan's magic invites readers to dive completely into the story, as children do, and conjures the same overwhelming wonder that children experience. A positively charming--and well-told--tale! Paula Luedtke
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A positively charming-and well-told-tale (Booklist, starred review)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Roc (April 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451460316
• ISBN-13: 978-0451460318
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #876,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Once upon a recurring dream, April 12, 2005

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Once Upon a Summer Day (Hardcover)

Things are starting to rev up in Dennis McKiernan's "Once Upon A Summer Day," the second of his "Once Upon A..." series. This time around, McKiernan takes another well-beloved fairy tale ("Sleeping Beauty") and gives it a a rework, this time with tighter writing, tighter plotting, and a very likable hero.

While napping at Summerwood Manor, Borel has a dream about a young woman in a tower, surrounded by knives and blindfolded. Searching for an answer to who she is and what trouble she is in, he goes to the seemingly abandoned cottage of an evil witch. By reading her diary, he manages to find out that she is Chelle (Michelle), the daughter of his father's old pal.

Accompanied by a sassy Sprite, Flic, and his bumblebee Buzzer, Borel sets off across Faery to find Chelle and set her free. Every night he encounters her in his dreams, without her knowledge that it's only a dream, and tries to figure out where she is and who has taken her captive. To learn where she is, Borel will deal with tricky faerie kings and spectral rider, and even the Fates. But he has only one month to find Chelle, and not many clues to go on...

After the sugary heroine of "Once Upon A Winter's Night," the down-to-earth Borel is a relief. He was one of the more interesting minor characters of that first book, and it's nice to see him getting his own book. This time around, it's not initially as obvious what fairy tale McKiernan is retelling, and he manages to keep up the suspense about the daggers, squeaking and other odd clues that come together at the finale.

With only a month to deal with the wicked witch and damsel in distress, the plot goes quite fast, and has some genuinely creepy scenes, such as when Borel is captured by trolls. The book does sag somewhat in the middle, and also retreads old ground by having Borel deal with each of the rather pompous Fates in turn -- something Camille did in the previous book.

However, McKiernan's writing has improved a great deal. The plot is sparer and leaner, with virtually no side trips or red herrings. So is his writing; he throws in a few discussions about love and sex, but not enough to sabotage the suspense. And he reveals quite a few little tidbits about the forthcoming Great Epic Struggle against The Evil Force, leaving some enormous plot threads dangling at the end. (Not to mention name-dropping some future villains for our heroes to fight)

While it has some flaws, "Once Upon A Summer Day" is a tighter, faster read than its predecessor. Here's hoping that the rest of the series follows this trend.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointing fantasy effort by McKiernan, June 25, 2006

By 

R. Nicholson - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Once Upon a Summer Day (Once Upon A Time Series) (Paperback)

Previously, I've liked most efforts by this author, but this one was an exception.

My concerns?...let me explain

1.) I found that the rather unusual combination of heroes, that being, Borel (Prince and all round good guy), Flic (a faery) and Buzzer (a bumble bee), really pushed the envelop of believability to the very edge (I know, unbelievability is difficult to conceive as a concern when discussing the fantasy genre).

2.) Although this novel did have a few good moments, I felt that the dialogue between the main characters had an overall sense of immaturity; this hindered character development and made it difficult to become immersed in this book.

3.) I got the feeling that a lot of the background story telling done in this novel was really, (and let me be honest here), just fill; maybe to enlarge the book to novel length?...I began to find it easy to begin skimming some of these sections.

4.) Many of the "quests" in this story seemed somehow, out of place; they just didn't seem to fit in. It seemed a new piece of the puzzle would spontaneously appear in a chapter and then become the next important piece in a series of problems that need to be solved. The concern being, that more often than not,(after a period of head scratching by our heroes and several dead ends) a convenient, timely solution appears, like magic, to let the story finally proceed onwards.

All in all, less than I'd hoped for! 2 Stars.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a letdown, January 27, 2006

By 

R. Jeffery (MA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once Upon a Summer Day (Hardcover)

I really loved the first book in this series, and I remember being fascinated with the character of Borel when he was introduced. I was excited to hear that the sequel was all about Borel, but I find myself a bit let down. While an interesting read, this book is just not as satisfying as the first, and I would venture to call it predictable.

I do admire McKiernan's use of old fairy tales in his work, and I very much enjoyed seeing some of the characters from the old tales as well as characters from Celtic lore. Adding the French flavor to his world of Faery also serves to make it more unique than many of the "stock" fantasy worlds we have out there already. But, Borel is still not very fleshed out.