Customer Reviews

Once Upon a Summer Day

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This book is awful.

There's no way around it. The writing is pretentious and lacks any kind of grit, substance, or texture. It rambles on for pages about the feast the nobles ate for dinner. The writing is overly flowery and poorly presented. It's awkward, condescending, and sounds like an arrogant 45-year old hitting on teenagers at a RennFaire. The sentences are choppy and overdone to the point of nausea, and the headache you get after reading a few pages doesn't go away until you've read something better to get the taste of McKiernan's book out of your head. I wish someone had told me how awful it was before I wasted my $7.99 at the bookstore.

There are much better books out there. Don't waste your time on this one.

Okay, when comparing the facts, I gave both this book and the first in the series "Once Upon a Winter's Night" 3 stars. But when comparing the content, the latter is more deserving of a 2, and I regret that now, for this one was far better. Well, far might be a bit of a stretch.

Haunted by the dream of a beautiful girl (Ha! How terrifying), Prince Borel of the Summerwood is determined to find and free the maiden from her constraints. To satisfy not only his curiosity but his hope that she is his destiny, Borel leaves the comfort of his palace to fight another battle in the war that is overcoming all of Faery: one of good and evil. By reading her diary and gaining some priceless friends, the Prince finds out why Chelle, the maid in the tower, is contacting him and how to reach her. But will it be soon enough?

Dun dun dun. Just kidding. It's nice to have interesting character as a lead that has a generally likeable disposition, unlike the previous book (Camille *shakes fist*). The tale itself is traditional but with new suspense, something hard to accomplish in a time-and-time-again-told tale (wow- a mouthful). It also ties in the series, and there are recurring characters from "Once Upon a Winter's Night", but they make vague appearances, which is wonderful.

Although there are a fair share of "boring" parts, the writing is much more improved from McKiernan's first book in the series, and it's more...well...readable. And enjoyable. If only to learn the characters and the series' plot line would I suggest "Once Upon a Winter's Night". But I would recommend this one as a decent book that a person can enjoy without having to think too much. (Which is always a pro.)

Having followed Mr. McKiernan's books for awhile now, I was not surprised to be spellbound by another of his writings.
I have read all of his books now, except for his short stories, and he constantly amazes me. His world of Faery is more magical then others I have read. He truly inspires me. I love the 'Unce Upon A' series. I never wanted to set the book down. I was truly captured by the story, I wanted to know what happened as fast as possible.
Borel rocks in his devotion to a maiden in a dream. I wished I was her locked in a tower, so he could rescue me. Flic, his companion, was agreat releif at stressful moments. Bringing an insight, when Borel seemed at a loss.
I cannot wait to see what adventures lie ahead for the rst of Borel's family.
Thanks again Dennis, for being the gifted scribe that you are!

Once upon a time in the world of Faery, Prince Borel Winterwood visits his brother Alain in his realm of Summerwood when he has a dream about a beautiful maiden who is in a stone turret, a blindfold hiding her weeping eyes speaking in the old language. When he wakes up he finds that the dream was a visitation from an imprisoned golden maiden, who will die thanks to the curse of the witch if he doesn't rescue her before the next full moon.

In his quest to find the woman Chelle who he knew as a child, he gains two allies in Flec the sprite and Buzzer the Bee. He and his two friends help the three crones who are disguised; in return for his kindness they each give him a riddle to solve that will lead him closer to Chelle. Along the way they fight evil monsters sent out by the witch to kill them and though Borel is near where Chelle sleeps, the path to her turret is filled with danger. He knows he might be killed but does not give up trying to reach the woman he loves even though he courts her only in dreams that they both share.

Dennis L. McKiernan always manages to enchant his readers with his fabulous fantasy novels. ONCE UPON A SUMMER DAY is his magical rendition of Sleeping Beauty only updated with more characters both good and evil including monsters, trolls, goblins, the sprites and other players. This romantic fantasy is very different because the lovers come together for the most part only in their dreams. Readers will not be disappointed with this beautiful adult fairy tale.

Harriet Klausner

Once Upon a Summer Day (2005) is the second fantasy novel in the Faery series, following Once Upon a Winter's Night. In the previous volume, Camille challenged the marriage of the troll princess to Prince Alain and won all three contests. When the troll king refused to honor his terms and attacked Camille, the thralls rose up and, with a little help from the dwarf band, killed all the trolls and goblins. Upon returning to Summerwood Manor, Camille also solved the previous disappearance of Prince Alain's parents.

In this novel, Prince Borel of Winterwood passes an enjoyable summer day with his brother, sisters and sister-to-be at Summerwood Manor. Lazing in the gazebo, he falls asleep and dreams of a Demoiselle within a stone chamber with a band of shadow across her eyes. Free-floating daggers are outside the tower facing inward at him. The young lady cries out "Aidez-moi" and he awakes with a jerk.

Prince Borel tells his siblings and Camille about his dream before supper and they discuss the possibilities. Borel is morose during the meal and Alain calls for a gala that evening to cheer him. Borel seems to enjoy the singing and dancing, as do all within the manor.

The next morning, Borel awakens early, dresses for the road, and leaves the manor with his wolves. For the next four days, they travel toward the Winterwood. After his arrival, Borel bathes, eats and sleeps until he has recovered from the travel, then he arms himself and sets out to consult a dream diviner.

On his way, Borel scouts the hut of the witch Hradian. Since the primitive hovel seems to be deserted, he searches inside for any indications of the witch's intentions. He stuffs scrolls and a memoire into a rucksack and departs the hut. Just then, the witch lands on her besom and sends him flying with a black wind.

In this story, Prince Borel escapes from a keep that is guarded by Red Caps and Trolls. In the process, he frees Flic, a meadow sprite, and Buzzer, a bumble bee. From what he has learned from the memoire, Borel seeks the lands of Duke Roulan and Buzzer leads the way.

This story is a greatly enhanced version of Sleeping Beauty. The author presents a compelling argument that the fairy tale is a condensed and simplified version of the original bardic tale. This version, however, is much too long to be told in a single evening, since verbal renditions have a very low data rate. Indeed, this novel would provide enough material for a cinema taking five or more hours.

Nonetheless, this fairy tale has much the same flavor as others in that genre. Like the previous work, the vocabulary and settings are enchanting and the story is so engrossing that the chapters seem to fly by. Putting this novel down takes true willpower or maybe just overwhelming sleep.

Highly recommended for McKiernan fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of faery lands, noble princes, evil witches, and magical creatures.

-Arthur W. Jordin

The sequel to Once Upon a Winter's Night is an entertaining, action-packed, and sometimes humorous story. Keeping with the theme of the series, Once Upon a Summer Day is based on a fairy tale, though which one may surprise you. Those familiar with this author's work won't be surprised to find "red slippers" here and there, and I look forward to seeing how these might come to play in upcoming books.

Once Upon a Summer Day stars Borel, Prince of Winterwood, and two unlikely companions on their quest to rescue a damsel in distress. I enjoyed returning to Faery, and as in the first book the author does an outstanding job of transporting the reader to this magical realm. My favorite scenes were those where the mystery and mysticism of Faery come most into play, like those with the King Under the Hill. I also loved the rich, evocative use of language, which is very much a part of what Faery is. Although I missed the sweetness of the first book, the second installment of the Once Upon a... series doesn't disappoint in the least. Faster pacing, loads of adventure, and heroes/heroines to cheer for, this was truly Borel's tale, and a definite keeper.

I will admit, I'm biased as my favorite tale as a child was Sleeping Beauty! Dennis McKiernan's writing continues to enthrall me! I become part of the characters in the book and I cheer them on.

This tale is wonderful- a beautiful mix of romance, adventure, chivalry, and fantasy. It is yet another epic fairy tale told by a bard himself.

Again, I highly recommend you read the foreword to his novels! He takes famous, legendary fairy tales and expands upon them, going from a mere few pages to a full book. I claim that Dennis McKiernan himself is a bard and I would take the opportunity any day to sit in a great hall and listen to his stories.