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Rumpel
Rumpel is the dark and quirky retelling of the Brothers Grimm Rumpelstiltskin.
When foreigners arrive on an island beach in search of a lost spinning wheel which they believe rightfully belongs to them and on which their very existence depends, the island inhabitants are thrust into a course of events during which some will become allies and others will turn against their own and Elizabeth Miller must defend her unborn child from a vengeful troll.
When foreigners arrive on an island beach in search of a lost spinning wheel which they believe rightfully belongs to them and on which their very existence depends, the island inhabitants are thrust into a course of events during which some will become allies and others will turn against their own and Elizabeth Miller must defend her unborn child from a vengeful troll.
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First published August 21, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 3, 2011
I really liked the idea of this book, but the reality of it was not as exciting. There were so many characters and plot lines to keep track of, and the narration changed across chapters. Rumpel did not play a large part in the story for some reason. I know it is a retelling, but I expected the story at some point to encompass the original. A few of the original details were there, but if Rumpel had a different name, I don't know if I would have recognized which story was being retold. Like a fairytale, the characters are pretty one-dimensional, and big information is told as needed. Characters' special skills are revealed matter of factly at convenient times, making everything seem a bit cheesy. Unlike a fairytale, it does not end with a happily-ever-after. It ends with a big build up that suggests a sequel is coming. Very unsatisfying.
Related to the Kindle edition: for some reason the margins were off, making dialogue at times difficult. I had to reread at times to figure out who was speaking, because the indentations were not correct.
Related to the Kindle edition: for some reason the margins were off, making dialogue at times difficult. I had to reread at times to figure out who was speaking, because the indentations were not correct.
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August 24, 2012Don't forget to check out a guest post from Eileen Cruz Coleman, which reveals a bit about Book 2 in the Cursed Tales series!
Last year for Fairy Tale Fortnight, I read my first Rumpelstiltskin novel, A CURSE DARK AS GOLD by Elizabeth C. Bunce. This year, I read my second version of the tale, RUMPEL by Eileen Cruz Coleman. I knew the tale of Rumpelstiltskin as well as anyone else growing up, but it was never my favorite tale. I've grown to love Rumpelstiltskin a lot more this past year with the premiere of ONCE UPON A TIME on ABC, where Rumpelstiltskin is easily my favorite character of the bunch. My interest renewed, I was eager to see Coleman's take on the tale, and found myself reading the back story of what motivated Rumpelstiltskin.
RUMPEL is told through multiple POVs. While this can be confusing, once a reader figures out who's who and discerns the way everyone's path correlates to one another, it enhances knowledge of all the characters. Rumpelstiltskin couldn't always spin straw into gold, nor did he always want Elizabeth Miller's baby. Through his POV, we see the way his life shaped him, the way his desire for vengeance led him down the road he took. Elizabeth Miller's tale has an equally sad plight. She loses her mother early on and falls into a forbidden relationship with the Crown Prince of Rodavlas. Her father, in debt and still mourning the death of his wife, makes a bad bargain that brings everyone's lives colliding together.
Coleman also weaves in the story of the Kingdom of Niaps, which will be featured in the second book of her Cursed Tales series. The people of Niaps are unique in that they must ingest gold in order to survive. When their spinning wheel is stolen, they slowly begin to starve to death and desperately want to retrieve it. The kingdoms of Niaps and Rodavlas collide and form a path to the next novel, though the second edition of RUMPEL is a stand-alone with no cliffhanger ending.
I really enjoyed seeing the motivations of all the major characters from the original tale, as well as new ones. At times, there were perhaps too many characters to keep track of, but the multiple POVs also allowed more insight and a fuller story. While there was a little more tell than show at times when revealing various things that slowed the story down, Coleman's world was intriguing with a lot to think about. I loved how unique the Kingdom of Niaps was and emphasized with how low some characters had to sink as the result of previous decisions. There's a lot of gray in this story; nothing is black or white. Everyone thinks s/he is right, when the truth is, no one ever fully is. I liked seeing both sides to the story and am looking forward to another novel that features the Kingdom of Niaps.
Last year for Fairy Tale Fortnight, I read my first Rumpelstiltskin novel, A CURSE DARK AS GOLD by Elizabeth C. Bunce. This year, I read my second version of the tale, RUMPEL by Eileen Cruz Coleman. I knew the tale of Rumpelstiltskin as well as anyone else growing up, but it was never my favorite tale. I've grown to love Rumpelstiltskin a lot more this past year with the premiere of ONCE UPON A TIME on ABC, where Rumpelstiltskin is easily my favorite character of the bunch. My interest renewed, I was eager to see Coleman's take on the tale, and found myself reading the back story of what motivated Rumpelstiltskin.
RUMPEL is told through multiple POVs. While this can be confusing, once a reader figures out who's who and discerns the way everyone's path correlates to one another, it enhances knowledge of all the characters. Rumpelstiltskin couldn't always spin straw into gold, nor did he always want Elizabeth Miller's baby. Through his POV, we see the way his life shaped him, the way his desire for vengeance led him down the road he took. Elizabeth Miller's tale has an equally sad plight. She loses her mother early on and falls into a forbidden relationship with the Crown Prince of Rodavlas. Her father, in debt and still mourning the death of his wife, makes a bad bargain that brings everyone's lives colliding together.
Coleman also weaves in the story of the Kingdom of Niaps, which will be featured in the second book of her Cursed Tales series. The people of Niaps are unique in that they must ingest gold in order to survive. When their spinning wheel is stolen, they slowly begin to starve to death and desperately want to retrieve it. The kingdoms of Niaps and Rodavlas collide and form a path to the next novel, though the second edition of RUMPEL is a stand-alone with no cliffhanger ending.
I really enjoyed seeing the motivations of all the major characters from the original tale, as well as new ones. At times, there were perhaps too many characters to keep track of, but the multiple POVs also allowed more insight and a fuller story. While there was a little more tell than show at times when revealing various things that slowed the story down, Coleman's world was intriguing with a lot to think about. I loved how unique the Kingdom of Niaps was and emphasized with how low some characters had to sink as the result of previous decisions. There's a lot of gray in this story; nothing is black or white. Everyone thinks s/he is right, when the truth is, no one ever fully is. I liked seeing both sides to the story and am looking forward to another novel that features the Kingdom of Niaps.
October 25, 2011
Rumpel follows several people but is based around the classic story Rumpelstiltskin. This is a darker, more mature version that we grew up with. Rumpel is a troll that had a wife and child that have passed. Through a series of misfortunes, he has come across the opportunity to reclaim a child as his.
Elizabeth is Rumpel’s target. She has been friendlier than she should have with the prince and is now with child. But being the target of Rumpel’s obsession and the king’s desire for an heir don’t mean things are going to be easy for her.
At the same time, the county of Niapson has people in the Rodavlas harbor. The Rodavlas king thinks they are looking for fish. The truth is they are looking for a spinning wheel that turns straw to gold. Niapson’s people are slowly starving to death and have been for about a hundred years. They know that the spinning wheel is in Rodavlas and they are prepared to go to war for it.
Once I figured out who was who and what was going on, I did like the story. It is a great retelling of the classic story. I really liked the background to Rumpel’s obsession with Elizabeth’s unborn child.
But, the story was very choppy. It took me about four or five chapters to figure out who was who. It also bounced around a lot. One moment we are talking about a woman that has a child by Rumpel, then we go to Elizabeth sneaking around with the prince, to Rumpel’s history, and I have still to figure out what is going on with spirits and their abilities being taken away from them.
I really feel with more editing to make everything flow better this book would be much better than it turned out to be.
I received this book for free from Book Rooster in exchange for an honest review.
Elizabeth is Rumpel’s target. She has been friendlier than she should have with the prince and is now with child. But being the target of Rumpel’s obsession and the king’s desire for an heir don’t mean things are going to be easy for her.
At the same time, the county of Niapson has people in the Rodavlas harbor. The Rodavlas king thinks they are looking for fish. The truth is they are looking for a spinning wheel that turns straw to gold. Niapson’s people are slowly starving to death and have been for about a hundred years. They know that the spinning wheel is in Rodavlas and they are prepared to go to war for it.
Once I figured out who was who and what was going on, I did like the story. It is a great retelling of the classic story. I really liked the background to Rumpel’s obsession with Elizabeth’s unborn child.
But, the story was very choppy. It took me about four or five chapters to figure out who was who. It also bounced around a lot. One moment we are talking about a woman that has a child by Rumpel, then we go to Elizabeth sneaking around with the prince, to Rumpel’s history, and I have still to figure out what is going on with spirits and their abilities being taken away from them.
I really feel with more editing to make everything flow better this book would be much better than it turned out to be.
I received this book for free from Book Rooster in exchange for an honest review.
June 19, 2011
High-points: Great story idea, new take on an old and well known tale, interesting world created, beautiful prose.
Hell-pits: Chapters names confusingly long (unnecessary, in my opinion), important world information only released when it came up in conversation making it seem forced.
Mini-review: Rumpel is told from many different points of view, which was at times confusing. It is set in the kingdom of Rodavlas, with threatened war from the kindgom of Niaps, in a world where you might be born with such an extraordinary gift that even in death you are chased, as a spirit.
I engaged with Rumpel (aka the troll, Rumpelstiltskin) far more than with any other character (with the possible exception of Boris, a Niapsan searcher). The names of the characters seemed odd: trolls had long names, yes, but humans had no uniformity about them and ranged from Elizabeth to Luna in one family.
The idea for this story is excellent, the writing descriptive and beautiful, but sometimes it felt as if it wasn't the story that gave the reader the information on how the world was built... information was instead spoon-fed out in an odd way (e.g. information on the mythical creatures, who was what and what each could do). Overall, I was impressed with the standard of this novel and would be very interested to read the rest of the series.
Hell-pits: Chapters names confusingly long (unnecessary, in my opinion), important world information only released when it came up in conversation making it seem forced.
Mini-review: Rumpel is told from many different points of view, which was at times confusing. It is set in the kingdom of Rodavlas, with threatened war from the kindgom of Niaps, in a world where you might be born with such an extraordinary gift that even in death you are chased, as a spirit.
I engaged with Rumpel (aka the troll, Rumpelstiltskin) far more than with any other character (with the possible exception of Boris, a Niapsan searcher). The names of the characters seemed odd: trolls had long names, yes, but humans had no uniformity about them and ranged from Elizabeth to Luna in one family.
The idea for this story is excellent, the writing descriptive and beautiful, but sometimes it felt as if it wasn't the story that gave the reader the information on how the world was built... information was instead spoon-fed out in an odd way (e.g. information on the mythical creatures, who was what and what each could do). Overall, I was impressed with the standard of this novel and would be very interested to read the rest of the series.
July 31, 2011
I was intrigued with the plot because Rumelstiltskin was one of my childhood favorites. I thought it to be well written but have to agree that it was difficult to follow with different narrations and timelines. The story was so compelling that I was hooked and kept looking forward to picking it back up when life made me put it down. Have no fear, midway through you begin to grasp the characters and the author binds them all together. I was disappointed in the end because I wanted the story to continue and feel as if there is a coming sequel, though the author made no mention of one.
May 10, 2011
The idea of this book is really cool and I liked the characters, but the way it was written was so confusing. Each chapter was a different character and they switched from present to past in no apparent order. Then, just when I was figuring everything out and getting into the story, it ended with no sequel that I know of. Very frustrating book!
August 9, 2012
I gave up after 20%. There was just too much skipping around and the story was not making sense. It didn't hold my interest so I'm moving onto something else.
January 17, 2012
Note: I received a complimentary review copy of this ebook. This review is also posted on Amazon.com.
This was a compelling read! This rich and dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin brings the reader to a well-conceived fantasy world where trolls and humans co-exist, and the spirits of the dead roam the earth and interact with the living.
The is the story of many interconnected characters, told in bits from each of their points of view. It is a puzzle where the pieces arrive slowly and from many different directions, all coming together in the end to form an (almost) clear picture. (Unfortunately, it took me about 2 weeks to find the time to read this whole book, and I feel like there are still a few pieces missing from the puzzle -- quite possibly details I lost track of because my reading was a bit spread out.) Although I enjoy books that unfold in this way, I felt that this one might have been a little "forced" in terms of holding every detail back to be revealed at a later time. Sometimes I felt like the author needed to give just a little more, and found it just a bit too choppy for my taste.
The ending was also extremely abrupt and unsatisfying. I believe that there is a sequel in the making.
I loved the wonderful world-building and intricately interwoven story lines. This story has five-star potential, but because of my perception of some choppiness, and the very unsatisfying ending, I gave it four stars instead.
This was a compelling read! This rich and dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin brings the reader to a well-conceived fantasy world where trolls and humans co-exist, and the spirits of the dead roam the earth and interact with the living.
The is the story of many interconnected characters, told in bits from each of their points of view. It is a puzzle where the pieces arrive slowly and from many different directions, all coming together in the end to form an (almost) clear picture. (Unfortunately, it took me about 2 weeks to find the time to read this whole book, and I feel like there are still a few pieces missing from the puzzle -- quite possibly details I lost track of because my reading was a bit spread out.) Although I enjoy books that unfold in this way, I felt that this one might have been a little "forced" in terms of holding every detail back to be revealed at a later time. Sometimes I felt like the author needed to give just a little more, and found it just a bit too choppy for my taste.
The ending was also extremely abrupt and unsatisfying. I believe that there is a sequel in the making.
I loved the wonderful world-building and intricately interwoven story lines. This story has five-star potential, but because of my perception of some choppiness, and the very unsatisfying ending, I gave it four stars instead.
April 19, 2012
This story definitely had the essential elements of the original Rumpelstiltskin story like the straw to gold and the first born being the price of his help. The story did not have a set time period which was really nice and it was a lot darker than I thought it would be. The main character, Rumpel was not only the troll from the original story but he was also mean and nasty. The intrigue and weaving of the many characters was done well. Ms Coleman did a great job with showing the dynamics between different creatures from Fairytales such as mermaids, trolls, fey, etc. The only reason I did not give this story more stars was because the story did seem to be drug out a bit and sometimes the story was slow. If a story is slow and not drug out I am ok or vice versa but when it is both the amount of stars I give in a review does suffer. I did enjoy this story and look forward to Ms Coleman's next Dark Curses novel.
November 13, 2010
Eileen Cruz Coleman’s RUMPEL has given new life to the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. In Ms. Coleman’s version the devious Rumpelstiltskin still strikes a deal with a poor miller: a magic spinning wheel that turns straw into gold in exchange for his unsuspecting daughter’s first born. But from royalty and common folk to spirits, trolls, witches, and angels, there’s so much more to the tale this author weaves, one that in many ways parallels the injustice of modern society—misuse of power, forbidden romance, unyielding discrimination, and poverty at its worse. RUMPEL is a must read for anyone who enjoys a thought-provoking escape into Old World fantasy.
February 29, 2012
I was pleasantly surprised by how good this book is. Rumpel is the classic tale of Rumpelstiltskin retold from the point of view of several narrators. All of the stories are woven together to form a tale of love, loss, despair, and hope. I do agree with the previous reviewers' comments about how the book is not an easy read due to the multiple narrators and a timeline that seems to jump all over this place, but I plan to read the book over again just so I can better understand all of the characters and how they fit together to create this enchanting story.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in order to review it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in order to review it.
February 20, 2012
I don't recommend this book. This was another book I obtained free of charge for my Kindle. After starting it I felt obligated to see it through and find out where the characters were headed. I couldn't tell you now where that was. The story jumped from character to character and backwards and forward in time so much it was hard to continue following. I was intrigued by the reinvention/expanding on the Rumpelstiltskin character but this book didn't succeed in doing that in a way that was satisfying in the end. I give it two stars because it was OK if you could get passed the disjointedness.
October 2, 2011
This book was a very incoherent retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. Every character in the story was unlikeable, and Rumpel himself seemed like he was written to garner sympathy when really he was a psycho weirdo. The setting itself was strange. Very often I found myself wondering if I had missed something, only to come to the conclusion that I kept getting confused by the strange world and writing. Not worth the time.
July 27, 2012
Bleh. I couldn't even finish this one. I didn't mind the jumping of perspective so much as much as the change in tenses/viewpoint (going from 3rd person limited in passive to 1st person active). Also, it felt like things were happening that weren't being described - a character would react to something that I had no idea was going on. At least it was free. I did read the reviews and thought I would give it a chance - should have paid better attention to the less than 3 rating on Goodreads.
September 19, 2011
I don't think I've been this lost in a book since Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Or my college calculus textbook. It just doesn't make sense. I can't figure out a plot and haven't recognized one since the first page. Perhaps it's a formatting issue since it's an eBook? I'm a huge fan of fairy tales being re-invented and updated and Rumpelstiltskin is a great option but this just didn't work for me.
October 3, 2011
It's been a long time since I found a book so hopelessly boring that I couldn't finish it. For a little while I sort of wanted to know what happened to one of the characters so I kept reading but by the time I hit the 2/3 mark (a week and a half later) I really didn't even care about him anymore so I gave up.
February 27, 2014
It took me three tries to get into it, but once I figured out the author's style of each chapter having a different narrator it got better. The story is thinly based on the children's fairy tale. Once you stop trying to force it into the constricts of the original tale, and read it for the story that it is, it is very interesting and enjoyable.
May 23, 2012
“Rumpel" by Eileen Cruz Coleman was a very good book and hard to put down. With all the twist and different character storylines it kept my interest and wondering what was going to happen next. The author did a great job of developing the various characters and their stories. She weaved an exciting tale and brought it all together for a surprising finish.
I highly recommend this book.
I highly recommend this book.
September 12, 2011
This was a great book until it ended. By that I mean that it just ended, leaving things unfinished, and me wondering if the author is going to write another book to finish this one! I hope so, as I would like to know what happens.
August 31, 2011
Just could NOT get into this one! I stayed with it for 30% (yes on the Kindle)...maybe it was the writing style, but never grabbed me, and I'd rather be reading books that pull me in and entertain me! If someone else reads it and tells me it gets better....I'll go back to it.
Want to read
March 9, 2012oh my god xD RUMPEL!
September 15, 2011
A retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.
September 26, 2011
I liked this book once I figured out all of the characters. It was a quick little read that explained why Rumpelstiltskin wanted a baby.
October 21, 2011
Written strangely, even for a fairytale. Don't waste your time. I already did that. I think book must have made sense when the author was high.
November 6, 2011
Interesting twist on an old fairy tale. Despite this book being around 600 pages, it held my interest and kept me reading to the end.
January 29, 2012
Choppy as hell and unreadable. Not even as a free book could I read this this crap.
Find an editor A.S.A.P. and just remember you don't need to use 5 dollar words to impress your audience.
Find an editor A.S.A.P. and just remember you don't need to use 5 dollar words to impress your audience.
June 10, 2012
It was a slow sart, but it grew on me. But just as the plot got interesting the book ended. There was no conclusion, no ending, the author just quit. What a disappointment it was.
July 4, 2012
its diferent
August 20, 2013
If you want the classic story read the fairy tale but if you are looking for a new twist this is the book for you.
April 13, 2014
The idea sounds interesting but the writing makes my teeth hurt.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews