Review: A True Fairy Tale
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 25, 2011
About the Book:At the bidding of his master, Lux must attend a ball he finds distasteful where he meets up with young Lilly. Lilly seems quite shy, yet forward somehow and soon they share that first kiss which is always so tantalizing. As she touches the back of Lux's neck and twirls a bit of his hair around her finger, Lux gets a unique feeling that stops him in his tracks.It is only later Lux learns he is expected to `kidnap' Lilly because she is being traded to Lux's master by her own stepmother. Taking Lilly to his master seems like a horrible idea ever since Lilly twisted his hair around her fingers. To protect her Lux drops Lilly off at the scariest enchanted forest. How strange but Lux does have some very good reasons for it. From there Lux must return to his master empty handed and face the wrath or figure out a way to save both Lilly and himself. Thus begins the tale of good versus evil complete with demons, goblins, and sea monsters.My Take:Having never read any of Hocking's books before, I cannot say if this is a good example of her work.  Those who read her work should look at the fan reviews on Amazon. I can say that for a fairy tale this is a good story. It is not a Romance with a capital `R' and though there are innuendos, the story is chaste.Virtue started out rather interesting, especial when Lux meets Lilly. By the time Lux drops Lilly at the enchanted forest I was seeing shades Snow White. This story weaves much more of a tale. Think Snow White meets the Old Testament. The reason Lux's master wants Lilly is so he marry her, thus winning her to his side and shifting the balance of power, which will allow him to win control of earth for all time.Like most fairy tales, the characters are second to the story. There is a bit of affinity for the main characters and a few of the minor characters, but most of the time the characters tend to be rather flat. This is common for fairy tales where the overriding quality of the tale is the moral. The writing is clean and straightforward, well edited, a joy to read.All in all, I enjoyed the tale and the writing. If you liked the movie Princess Bride, this tale may well remind you of it, and you should find this as likable.