Sunlight and Shadow (Once Upon a Time (Simon Pulse))

Dokey is a wonderful author, and I love to see her fun spin of fairy tales. None of them quite exactly like the originals, but all taking a place in my heart.This particular story I love for it's bidding one to know themself. It is simply written, an yet has much depth to it. I recommend it to any and all.

Deep and fluffy, not a bad thing at all. A bit confusing with the narration, bug still a very good book. A must read for fans of Cameron Dokey.

I love the Once Upon a Time series of books. They always give you fresh insight into old fairy tales. I reread them all the time and especially fond of the one Dokey writes. You should give them chance.

Quick read, good storyline but lack substance and character development. May be a good book for a middle school age student

"Sunlight and Shadow" by Cameron Dokey makes the seventh book I have read in the "Once Upon a Time" series for young adults. It is a reworked telling of Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute". Seeing as how I know very little of the original story until after I read this version it was hard for me to compare the two initially, but I will do my best to do it justice.Mina is the daughter of a most distraught coupling, that of Sarastro, Mage of the Day, and Pamina, Queen of the Night. Her parents endure never ending conflict with one another, being that they did not want to wed one another in the first place. Since the moment she was born she has been used by her parents to hurt one another. She spends the first fifteen years of her life with her mother, knowing that on the eve of her sixteenth birthday she must give up her previous life to live with her father, a man whom her mother suspects will not hold up his end of the agreement. As she suspects on the eve before Mina's birthday the Lord Sarastro has her abducted into his realm, a thing which causes all sorts of chaos in the land of the Night.A young man named Lapin is dispatched to aid in the release of Mina. Armed with a set of bells and an unusual gift to call to the birds of the realm he seems an unusual candidate for a hero. On his way he meets with a Prince of a nearby Kingdom who has given up his right as heir so that he might follow his heart to find it's match. Tern, for that is the Prince's name, has a wooden flute that he carved from the King's oak tree of his native land that won him the right to roam free, and from it he plays the most beautiful melodies that anyone has ever heard. Together they undertake the quest to free Mina from her father's clutches.As it happens Mina has been betrothed to Statos, a young beautiful man who is her father's apprentice. Statos was once the object of desire of a young maiden named Gayna, the daughter of a forester who passed away some years before. At his death Sarastro took in the Lady Gayna to be his ward and this naturally causes confused feelings for Mina upon their first meeting...after all, the Lord did not even care to raise his own daughter in her formative years, and now he has taken on another's to be his own? At first the two are vowed to oppose one another, but when Gayna realizes that she can help Mina to flee she accepts the young lady's proposition to pose as her long enough for Mina to escape into the dark recesses of her father's dominion.This story seems to be based more in mythology than in fairy tale; this is not surprising as "The Magic Flute" itself is based on Egyptian Mythology. However, Dokey has given it a new voice, adding likeable characters into the mix as well as allowing each character to narrate at times so that we might get all points of view as this drama unfolds. This is wonderfully told and a treat to read, although it is a bit short. I would recommend this to anyone.

This is a retelling of “The Magic Flute.” I haven’t listened to the opera this is based on since I was in grade school (and then it was in German), so I won’t be able to comment on the parallels between as I don’t remember them too clearly.Pamina, Queen of the Night, and Sarastro, Mage of the Day, have an agreement. Until their daughter Mina is sixteen, she will live with her mother. On her sixteenth birthday Mina will go to live with her father who will choose her husband. Sarastro, however, does not honor that agreement and steals his daughter the night before her birthday.Mina’s mother asks a man named Lapin for help. Lapin has grown up with Mina and has a set of magical bells that has been in his family for generations. These bells allow the player to call their true love to them if that can play the song of their heart upon the bells. Lapin’s task is to play the bells for Mina to call her true love to rescue her.Tern is a prince from a distant land. His father sets a task to his sons to carve something from a fallen tree. Tern’s younger brother carves a spear while Tern carves a flute. Tern, sensing that he is meant for something more, gives up his birthright as the eldest son to his younger brother. Tern then follows the sound of bells which he alone hears.The story is a nice retelling of a relatively unknown story. I enjoyed it and it is a nice, short retelling.This review first appeared at Orandi et Legendi (...).

This book was based upon the opera, THE MAGIC FLUTE by Mozart. Now, I have never seen this opera, so I cannot discuss this book in comparison to it, but if the opera is half as good as this lovely little book, it should be amazing.As the title suggests, this book occurs in a place where division is a part of life, in fact, the opposites of light and dark create life through their union. Sarastro, Mage of the Day and Pamina, Queen of the Night wed and have a daughter. However, despite being married, the couple do not stay together - they are far too opposite to be able. So, their daughter, Mina lives with her mother, until she reaches her sixteenth birthday. For at this time, it has been agreed that she will go to live with her father and he will choose a man to be his daughter's husband.That is a very short synopsis of the story. There are a few more important characters along the way, but to try and explain their place and relevance in the story will just onfuse my review. For such a short book, there is a lot of detail here - the story has many layers.As a fairytale goes, it has everything you could expect and hope for. There is obviously love and hate; betrayal and courage; hope and despair. But, unlike some fairytales, there is also another dimension - love and longing are not mistaken here; there is one charcater who thinks that she is in love with another, and would do anything for him to be with her at one point, but then, for reasons so well explained, she allows him to walk away. I don't want to say too much in case I give something away, but what I'm trying to say here is that there is an intelligence and a profundity to the description and exploration of love. This tiny little book shows you in under 200 pages that, sometimes, your heart thinks it holds one thing, when in fact it may not be your true desire.Another point I have to make about SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW is that the writing is truly beautiful - as already stated, there is real depth to the words used. One of the most delightful parts of the story, for example, is when Mina is taken to her father's house. She is taken during the night, and upon reaching her living quarters, she begins to look out of the window, watching the night. There follows a description which is the most beautiful and bitter described in literature - the stars falling from the sky as her mother, Queen of the Night, grieves for her loss: -"Never, not even on the clearest night I could remember, had I seen so many stars. Nor had I ever seen any behave in quite this way. . . . it all happened without a sound. Below, the world was absolutely still, while in the heavens above, the stars committed suicide." (pp75-76)This is such a fantastic book. Do not be put off by seeing that it is classified as for Young Adult readers - truth is, a lot of the best fiction around falls within this bracket. I loved this story. I feel that is one of the few that will stay with me for a long time after having finished reading it. And I shall certainly keep it an return to it in the future - perhaps when I have a daughter of my own.