Once Upon a Winter's Night

Faery #1

by Dennis L. McKiernan

Dennis L. McKiernan the bestselling author of the Mithgar novels, presents a new version of a fable that fires the imagination and touches the heart....

Once upon a winter's night, a poor crofter trades his daughter Camille to wed Prince Alain of the Summerwood in exchange for a lifetime of riches. Though love blossoms between Camille and the prince, he is haunted by sadness and will not allow her to see his unmasked face. Believing she can lift whatever curse has been bestowed upon him, Camille acts on her own-- with devastating results, all she loves is swept away.

Now, to regain what she has lost, she must embark on a desperate quest through the hinterlands of Faery, seeking a mysterious place lying somewhere east of the sun and west of the moon....

Genres: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Romance, Fiction, Fairy Tale Retellings, Retellings, Young Adult

418 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2001

About the author

McKiernan was born in Moberly, Missouri, where he lived until he served the U.S. Air Force for four years, stationed within US territory during the Korean War. After military service, he attended the University of Missouri and received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1958 and an M.S. in the same field from Duke University in 1964. He worked as an engineer at AT&T, initially at Western Electric but soon at Bell Laboratories, from 1958 until 1989. In 1989, after early retirement from engineering, McKiernan began writing on a full-time basis.

In 1977, while riding his motorcycle, McKiernan was hit by a car which had crossed the center-line, and was confined to a bed, first in traction and then in a hip spica cast, for many months. During his recuperation, he boldly began a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The publisher Doubleday showed an interest in his work and tried to obtain authorization from Tolkien's estate but was denied. Doubleday then asked McKiernan to rewrite his story, placing the characters in a different fictitious world, and also to write a prequel supporting it. The prequel, of necessity, resembles The Lord of the Rings; the decision of Doubleday to issue the work as a trilogy increased that resemblance; and some critics have seen McKiernan as simply imitating Tolkien's epic work. McKiernan has subsequently developed stories in the series that followed along a story line different from those that plausibly could have been taken by Tolkien.

McKiernan's Faery Series expands tales draw from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, additionally tying the selected tales together with a larger plot.

McKiernan currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.

(Biography taken from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Jamie R · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very flat characters and some odd sexual stuff (the troll princess flashing her apparently ugly crotch, a woman being raped by dogs, which had no relevance to the story ...)

Camille goes on a journey for more than a year to find her lost love, and it's so disappointing when they actually find each other. It's just like, "hey". I kept expecting her to suddenly realize her independence and kick him to the curb (he did, after all, purchase her from her father). But then I remembered that she's a completely one-dimensional character written by an author obsessed with purity and virtue and golden locks, and anyone in the story actually growing a brain wasn't going to happen.

The characters are all gender-stereotyped, with burly men protecting Camille because they want to "bed" her, and all the women as witches or maids. And the sex scenes seem to be taken directly out of vanilla porn -- he "slides into her" and she starts yelling and cumming. Lordy. "Oh, oh mithras! Oh mithras!"

And the language! Awkward, excessively flowery, some words that were just odd, and some very silly descriptions that frequently made my eyes glaze. Do I need to have four boats described to me in detail? No. And do I need to have Asian people's skin described to me as "yellow"? No, I really don't.

The only thing I really got out of it was the discussion Camille has with one of the Fates about time, and in what direction it moves. It was interesting.

[Kara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Top 5 Reasons I Am Giving This 1 Star

1. Hitler gets an unnecessary and undeserved shout out

2. Characters dance the minuet in pre-Christian France

3. The heroine is dumb as a box of rocks

4. The heroine can do stuff no one else can, despite the fact she is dumb as a box of rocks

5. My cold was getting better when I started this book and now its worse: this book literally made me sick

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

First, let me say that I have read McKiernan's other work, his Mithgar series, and liked it. I hated this book. I love fairy tales, and I love fairy tale retellings, but this novel doesn't really add anything to the tale or re-invent the tale like other authors, such as McKinley, Lee or De Lint, do. The main character is boring and dull, and the fairy tale cliches are over done. Not only are the older siblings bad, they are really bad, even worse than the original tale ("East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and/or "Beauty and the Beast"). The exaggerations just make the story more unbearable and unbelievable. It's the first book by McKiernan that I couldn't finish.

[Katherine Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book that I had bought at some random book booth at a small strip mall because the cover reminded me of the old fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon and I love the movie The Polar Bear King. Really, it’s as simple as that. I barely even read the back of the cover to see what it was really about.

Thankfully, it turned out to be some amazing money spent because not only is it a fantastic book – and a great adaptation of the fairy tale – but it opened the door to the rest of the series which was still being published.

I loved Camille as a heroine and as her journey took her from her home, into the summer kingdom, and then on an adventure to find her Prince, I really connected with both her and her quest, not to mention the story itself. This is one of those books that you get more and more into as it goes on until you’re on the edge of year seat at the very end. And even though I knew how the story ended, it was great to read how it unfolded – the events sometimes throwing me for a loop since I never expected them.

Sadly, there are a lot of negative reviews on Goodreads, and it makes me wonder if I missed something when I read it the first time since I was so enthralled with the fairy tale aspect of it. I definitely think that I’m going to have to re-read the book soon; which is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while since it’s been well over 5 years since I read it the first time. However, from memory, this was a 9/10 book for me.

[Shelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writer seems to have set out to tell a story in the tradition of fondly-remembered childhood fairy tales to pay them homage, in an extended format for adults. The problem is it’s not longer on content or substance, it’s just longer.

It’s formulaic and predictable. It has all (and I do mean ALL) the requisite characters and plots including but not limited to enchanted lands, a prince, a damsel in distress, an ugly (step)mother, goblins, unicorns, giants, sorceresses, witches, wizards, dwarves, serpentmen, sea monsters, tree and water sprites, men that transform into beasts, magic staffs, curses, faeries, elves, dragons, a quest journey...

But they are all one-dimensional and flat, and the pace is plodding.

I love vocabulary and learning new archaic words has been the only positive so far. However, the flowery language, though beautiful and a clever device to support the “fairy tale” concept, becomes stilted at times and only serves to slow down the narrative all the more.

Being exactly halfway through, I find myself saying, “Get on with it, Camille, let’s move on to the obligatory happily ever after already!”

I don’t know what the moral of the story will be, and frankly nothing at this point has inspired a reason in me to care.

Addendum: I made it to the end and the moral seems to be persevere even if the fates seem to be against you. I don't recommend this book.

[Annie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was terrible. It did little to nothing new with the fairy tale (it's set in France instead, but it makes no impact other than adding in french words where it wasn't needed), the language was terribly flowery and unnecessary, and I despised the characters.
Camille is the card board cut out from fairy tales; beautiful and still very, very kind despite alllllll the hardships she's been through. How she survived with beautiful, unblemished, baby soft skin after living in a shack that's exposed to the elements twenty four seven for fifteen years is a mystery to me. Alain is the poster board Ken, and his...conquest? of this teenager gave me the creeps. And don't even talk about their relationship! The frequent, nauseating usage of endearments like "my love" made me throw the book down more than once in disgust, and character development (and depth) were nonexistent. These types of characters are fine for traditional, short fairy tales, but throw them in a very, very long full length novel and it's just...no thank you!
Now, I didn't read far enough to really get into the plot, but from what I can see it follows the fairy tale pretty much to a t, and in some cases the "secrets" were so painfully obvious that I have no idea why Camille didn't figure it out sooner.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Even if the plot picks up, I doubt that I could've withstood the horrible characterization long enough to enjoy any aspect of it at all.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a lovely, fun book to read! I liken some books to sorbets served between courses of an elaborate meal, and this one falls into that category: it goes down easily, it's refreshing, and it clears your mental "palate" between deeper reads. I almost felt transported back to the Uncle Remus library on Gordon Street in Atlanta, nestled into a sling chair with the Blue Fairy book in my lap. The story is based on (and faithfully retells) the fairy tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon". I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'll definitely read the others by this author.

(Comments when this was on my 'currently reading' shelf)
Since the only unread book in my stack is another apocalyptically-themed novel, and since I didn't want to read two back-to-back, I went searching through Mark's hoard of books and discovered this one. The author's preface hooked me; he confesses having been absorbed as a child by the Rainbow Fairy books. His hypothesis is that as those stories were handed down to us through the years, they were changed and shortened from the versions spun by the fireside by bards of the old tradition, who set out to entertain their audience for nights on end. In this book he takes one of his favorites from the Blue Fairy Book, and reimagines it as it might once have been told. I'm just a couple of chapters into it but enjoying it so far.

[Melissa Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looooooooooong book with a very VERY repetitive story, but entertaining enough. I liked the main character, and the writing was fun and the locations/lore developed in the book were unique and interesting. I especially liked the description of the River of Time and the Fates. Overall, I'm glad I read it, but it's not in my top 20.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This morning I completed Once Upon A Winter's Night by Dennis McKiernan. This was not the book that I had really planned to read next...here's how it happened. I normally leave my current book on the dresser and grab it on the way out to work every day. I had been reading Way of the Wolf and was really looking forward to being able to read more on it during my lunch break that day. But I get up rather early and since it was still dark in the bedroom when I left, I grabbed the wrong book, one that my wife had left out in order to take on a trip the following week. So lo and behold when I got to my lunch break and took out my book, there it was.

At first I was a bit taken aback because this was a fantasy book that looked like a "chick-lit" style fantasy. It would appeal to my wife and my daughter but it wasn't one that I would have rushed to pick off the shelf. But what was I to do? It was either plunge in or listen to talk radio all through lunch. I opted to give it a shot.

I liked it a lot during that first hour or so. I didn't want to go back to work (never do) but often I get sleepy at lunch time with my reading and that was not the case this time. I was enthralled. Nevertheless, I am a loyal reader so I completed Way of the Wolf before returning to this one. The book itself is a retelling of the classic Norse fairly tale, "East O' the Sun, West O' the Moon". Mr McKiernan greatly expands the original tale, turns it into a novel basically, and adds some more intrigue, mild sex, and adventure. Once I returned to reading the book I was happily engrossed in that world once more. It has all the classic fairly tale themes: princes, damsels, goblins, dwarves, curses, quests, and above all, true love conquering all obstacles. Reading the book gave me a good feeling inside, made me happy in fact. That sounds silly but it's true.

This is the first book I've read by Dennis McKiernan. My research turned up some interesting facts though. Apparently he had a full career with Bell Labs before he ever began writing fiction and only came to that after a bad accident that left him in a full body cast. Rather than go insane, he made up stories and actually wrote (dictated?) a sequel to Lord of the Rings (LOTR). He found a publisher and at their suggestion, rewrote the story so that it wouldn't be a Tolkien story at all. That became the "Iron Tower Trilogy" and McKiernan himself confesses it to be a LOTR ripoff. Unfortunately, discerning fantasy readers tend to write him off as a result, never giving him a second look. That seems to be the cardinal sin for fantasy authors...never write a story that is remotely similar to LOTR. Its too bad. I for one will be looking to read more of his work, especially the sequels to this one.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one.

It is very much a 'retelling' of a fairytale (in this case, "East of the Sun and West of the Moon"); unlike Ella Enchanted or Daughter of the Forest, it doesn't especially break with the traditional form. It was very much a return to the hours during gradeschool spent buried in large volumes of fairytales: once upon a time, an utterly noble protagonist, a series of tests, a few unexpected twists, and a happily ever after.

In spite of this, here is something especially charming in McKiernan's tale. The wealth of added detail to the familiar plotline reminded me of the particularly detailed illustrations in a couple of my favorite childhood picture books (The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Saint George and the Dragon). I remember staring at the illustrations, composing tales about the creatures or people depicted/developed in the decorative margins. Come to that, I expect this novel would be a lovely read-aloud, as each segment of Camille's quest is contained to a few chapters.

For a few afternoons, I thoroughly delighted in escaping to Faery and following Camille's adventures on her quest to rescue her prince from the dread trolls and their curses.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this one years ago and enjoyed it while I was reading it, mostly because I've always been intrigued by the "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon" fairy tale and there weren't a lot of retellings of it back then.

However, in retrospect, it left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I couldn't put my finger on why, not for some time, but now--after nine years--it's pretty clear. Sexism. There are only a few things I remember about Once Upon a Winter's Night anymore, and here they are:

--A skeevy conversation in which an elder female character regales our heroine with the reasons why women should be virgins when they get married but men shouldn't.

--The heroine gets the final clue to her quest by crying. She doesn't say "I thought Urd was right" matter-of-factly, or shout it in anger or frustration, or anything like that. She breaks down into tears and a man solves the problem for her.

--At the end, they're all going to go confront the evil witch, but our heroine hasn't actually picked up any new skills along the way. She's a sitting duck unless the witch is allergic to tears.

Bleh. We don't need this anymore, not now that several up-and-coming writers have interpreted "East o' the Sun" in ways that preserve the "girl saves the day" aspect of the tale.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

McKiernan wrote his re-telling of this fairy tale before it became the thing to do for all fantasy authors. I enjoyed reading it, but not as much as the Mithgar books; the language was a little more flowery and French than it needed to be, and the story was longer than the material. Still, McKiernan presented a complex kick-ass female fantasy character before that was the thing everyone had to do, too, and there are some fantastic adventure sequences. (And I always love books with bears on the cover.)

[Regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was suggested by Lance, not sure where he picked it up. It's a fun "flipped" fairy tale - familiar but a world all its own. I like a few of the touches, Bear and Scruff in particular. A few times I was bogged down, the story does lag from time to time, but overall it's a fun adventure. If you like fairy tales and/or fantasy, this book is a nice little read.

[Ruth E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the use of older language. It seemed to go along with the story well. Her adventures were interesting and kept drawing her closer to the prince, but there were plenty of troubles along the way which made it, of course, even more interesting.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming retelling of an old fairy tale. Sometimes I wanted to smack Camille, the protagonist, but I do believe that's normal. :p

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, with the exception of two references to bestiality that didn't need to be in there, if you ask me. Otherwise, it was a great book and I loved it.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A splendid retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. Mr. McKiernan can certainly spin a yarn!

[Ken McWilliams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic take on classic fairy tale theme. Teen girl and fairy prince fall in love, overcome a curse, and live happily ever after.

[Lark of The Bookwyrm's Hoard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I'm really quite fond of this embellished retelling of "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," for all its sometimes overblown language. It reads like a fairytale of yore, but with the length and the depth of description of a Greek epic or Norse saga (and then some.) The main character, Camille, is engaging, and McKiernan's Faery lands are wondrous and well worth wandering. Full review to come.

[Nighteye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story and characters, choose it for the title and liked it.

[Ella Sulzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series evolves around the world of Faery. It has adventure, magic, retelling of old fairy tales in a fairly modern manner. In this book, Once Upon a Winter’s Night, we follow the tale of Camille and her beloved Alain. Camille lives with her sister, brother, and parents in a run-down shack. They are poor beyond belief and one day a bear comes to their home with a note that she must marry an unknown prince and if she does, her family will have riches beyond belief and be taken care of for the rest of their lives. Camille sees no debate to the issue, while her family does, but soon it is decided that she go with the bear, into the land of Faery, where time does not exist as it does in the mortal realm. She soon perceives that she never sees her prince in the morn, but rather only the bear and the prince comes out at night, under the guise of a mask. What all is hidden under the mask, she does not know, nor is she allowed to know. Only that she may never see the prince, Alain, without his mask. One night, she tires of not seeing the true prince underneath the mask and she sets up a ruse to see him without his mask. No sooner than she sees him as such, then a mighty wind rushes through the castle and everyone vanishes and the castle is under attack. What then begins for Camille is a quest to find her beloved, and along the way she learns more about herself and the world of Faery in which she lives. She helps to solve riddles that are years old and helps lost ones find their true selves again. She only has her small sparrow with her for companionship and along the way she encounters help from means she never would have imagined. In the end, does she complete her quest in time, or does she lose Alain forever to the passage of time, never to hold her beloved again?
Camille learns various lessons on her journey and transforms from the naïve girl she is at the beginning; into the grown woman she is becoming at the end.

Overall the story is beautifully written. The descriptions are exquisite and always leaves you wanting more. You can truly picture yourself there and the characters, though there are many, are easy to keep separate because each one is so vastly different from the other, even ones that are of the same race. I can’t wait to get started on the second book in the series!

[Elfdart · Rating 2 out of 5]

east of the sun and west of the moon is one of my preferred stories from mythology, and this book did it little to no justice. i didn’t connect with the heroine at all and at times felt like she was trying too hard and with not enough motivation. i felt that the author was making her out to be more clever and strong than she actually was, which is annoying. i mean, we all love strong, smart, courageous heroines, and because we love them we can tell when someone doesn’t fit the bill, however hard the author tries to boost the character’s image in the eyes of the reader (the truth always comes through).
also, there’s suggested bestiality in the story, which is cool, i mean besides the fact that some people are into that, it can symbolically bring a raw, primal aspect to the story, but not in a book intended for something of a younger audience. i am not against younger people becoming familiar with what sex is, as it would be absurd to hide it from them beyond a certain age and not do them some sort of harm, but the… flavour of sexual experience they are aware of should be left to human on human until later on. this may be my inner prude coming to light, but i would be hesitant to give it to anyone younger than me for fear that they might pick up on the suggestion.
i didnt completely hate it because i like faeries, and i suppose i appreciate the author’s attempt to incorporate faeries into the plot, what with the red caps n such, and the prince being kind of a faery himself, so i put aside the poor writing for one of my obsessions, but other than that i deem it to be a failed attempt.
i’ve just finished reading another retelling called East by Edith Pattou. i found that to be more successful. the story is a good one, this was just a bad version of it.

[Tess · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars.
this book could have been great. I usually love retellings of fairy tales.
Camille was an OK character - her innocence was a strength in the book, but annoying as personal trait.
Overall I liked the world, I liked all the characters Camille met, and it was a pretty good Quest.
Two things kept this book from being anything more than a 2.5 (or 3, via Goodreads). The first is the deliberate choice of the author to throw in random French words because he "felt" that East of The Sun, West of the Moon should be a French story. At least the French wasn't italicized each time because a third of the books would be in italics.
The second problem is also related to the author's use of language. In an attempt to make the story feel more archaic, he used flowery language that grew tiresome right away. Words like 'abed,' 'ahorse.' and 'arear' didn't make this book sound old fashioned, they made the book sound annoying. I don't care that "gloaming" is a real word and can be used for describing twilight falling, but honestly the word shouldn't be used outside of Scottish romance novels.

If the author hadn't tried just so hard to make his retelling sound "authentic" and old, this would have been a much better book.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once Upon a Winter's Night begins with a large white bear knocking on the door of a peasant family on a cold winter night. The family notices a document holder discovers that a noble wishes to marry one of their daughters, a beauty with golden hair and a marvelous golden voice as well. He promises a great bride price and the greedy mother encourages the wedding... And so, Camille sets off astride a huge white bear through the snow to the Land of Faery.

McKiernan writes this wonderful fantasy novel with a Fairy Tale feel-- but a grown up fairy tale feel. There are moments of sexuality (though not graphic) but all surrounded by ideas that are inspired by folk tales and fairy tales.

There are wonderful characters in the book. Besides the servants-- Camille will meet old crones, young maidens, iron-bearing dwarves (the magical inhabitants of faery cannot stand to be in the presence of iron)-- a tiny sparrow that warns of imminent danger, a foot tale "giant"-- and a number of goblins, trolls, elves, and assorted characters.

I recommend this one for fantasy lovers. Done well, in a neat and different style so that it is not old hat!

[Marla · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up at a used bookstore based on the author, I liked his Mithgar books, but didn't care for this book.

I had read some reviews here on goodreads that made me apprehensive, rightly so.

There was no sense of urgency, even though the heroine had a specific time frame in which to complete her quest. At some points it was overly descriptive, which was okay in and of itself, I liked the description of the Summerwood estate, but did nothing for moving the story along in a timely manner. Several times there were included some descriptions that were completely superfluous and did nothing for the story, not to mention they were ... vulgar? crude? risqué? Without them I might have upgraded my rating and read the others in the series, but as is I won't be reading the others.

Our local Amtrak station has a bookshelf were you can take a book off of it to read on your trip or leave one for someone else and I'm considering taking this book to leave there, but given those questionable parts I'm a little hesitate to do so...

[BookForAHeart · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing fairytale!!

While many a novel centering around fairies and dragons center around a knight in shining armor in raging battle against a dragon for a trapped princess's hand in marriage, this fairytale proved the stereotype most definitely wrong.

Lady Camille, a heroine I will not soon forget, raged against trolls and monstrous beasts and nearly impossible to beat riddles told from the mouths of ancient Fae. But at last, the crofters daughter set her dear prince go and along with him, his glamoured parents restored.

And a bonus I should not leave out--naming her sickly brother, Giles, the ruler of Isle de Camille where she had broken her lovers curse of becoming a Northern bear by day.

[Kristi Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming, lovely fairy-tale. A retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, with flavour of Beauty and the Beast, but even more of Cupid and Psyche. Not deep or memorable, but very nice indeed, lots of pretty little touches.

The one jarring note was his attempt at using an archaic style. He tried a bit too hard, I think, without having a real feel for how the language should flow. Dropping "did" into sentences at random doesn't really cover it.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read a review that mentioned a woman being absurd in a very bad way by dogs. Decided to read this book anyway. Got to page 118, then skipped to end-ish, page 409. Sure enough, Camille's older sister married an old man for money. He had six dogs, who slept with them at night... Suffice it to say, this book will never be finished, I will NEVER pick up another book by this author and this particular copy will be chucked into the recycling bin.

The writing was also really, REALLY bad. Overly flowery, telling nothing, other than cardboard cutout characters, most of whom are dumber than a bag of turnips.

Do yourself a favor and skip this book. I wish I did.

[Brenda Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The tale and the many various characters were well thought out and very well written. There is good and evil, romance and suspense with plenty of action throughout.
The only reason it took me so long to read, is that I kept it in my automobile and only read a few pages at a time between appointments.
Toward the last quarter of the book, I brought it in the house to finish as I had to see what would happen next. So, I finished that last quarter very quickly.
This was a very good read and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a strong story full of action, romance, etc. (Especially if you enjoy fantasy/fairy tales).

[Ziggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. This novel is the start to what quickly became one of my favorite series. This installment, in particular, really impressed me as it takes a tale I was never particularly fond of and turns it into a most enjoyable story. McKiernan breathes a fresh life in to the tale with compelling characters and an enchanting supporting world. The novel embodies the spirit of classic fairy tales at their finest. I would highly recommend this novel, and the series as a whole, to any fairy tale fan.