Turandot
Mayer (The Unicorn and the Lake) again demonstrates her talent for spinning elegant fairy tales in understated, dramatic prose. The story of Turandot, the cold-hearted princess who challenges her suitors with a life-or-death game of three riddles, unfolds as both a mystery and a love story. Readers will be perplexed and then compelled by the power of her beauty, asking, as Prince Calaf does, "What sort of creature is this Princess Turandot that suitors gladly go to their death for her?" Pels's (Beauty and the Beast) moody, oil-and-pencil illustrations have a still, posed quality; certain images seem composed as if for the stage, echoing the famous opera. Her ice-gray palette slowly gives way to warm reds and oranges as Turandot falls in love with Calaf; the final scene shows a triumphant wedding procession. An author's note references the many versions of Turandot, including the original Persian as well as a variation from the Brothers Grimm. All ages.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.