by Daniel Xiao Wang

Created on: July 25, 2011

You've probably heard the story before. The beautiful princess, much beloved by her people, is cursed by the wicked witch. Good witches keep the evil spell from killing the princess but she falls into a deep sleep from which she can only be awakened by true love's kiss. When he comes valiantly in to rescue the princess they live happily ever after.

“Enchantment” by Orson Scott Card takes that familiar fairy tale and turns it on its head. The Russian versions of these same fairy tales do not end with happily ever after. They involve adultery, murder, hatred, chaos, and in some versions the princess also dies. Ivan Petrovich Smetski, called Vanya but whose real name is Itzak Shlomo, comments that only an idiot would want to live through a Russian fairy tale.

Yet, much to Ivan's dismay that is exactly where he finds himself. His family left the Soviet Union to start a new life in America, but the day before the visa arrived Ivan was out for a run in the woods and came to an odd clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a stone pedestal. Upon it he could make out the features of a face, under the leaves that covered everything. A female face. Before he could investigate further though something under the leaves started moving towards him and, as a little boy, he ran away in fright.

The next day the visas arrived and his family moved to the United States. He grew up to be a scholar, following in his father's footsteps. He met a young woman and became engaged- much to his mother's dismay. But Ivan always remembered that woman in the clearing, had he imagined the whole thing?

Research for his dissertation brought Ivan back to the Ukraine where he had seen that clearing and curiosity led him back to the clearing. As he watched in amazement, the leaves lifted and there was indeed a beautiful woman laying on the pedestal. But between him and the pedestal was a pit and in the pit a very large, very angry, magical bear.

Across that pit and through the bear was the fairy tale princess asleep by the curse of the wicked witch (Baba Yaga in Russian fairy tales). Ivan's first challenge, and perhaps his easiest, is figuring out how a modern day scholar with nothing he could use as a weapon can overcome a magical bear. But after kissing and awakening the sleeping princess, his troubles have only just begun.

And for princess Katerina, scrawny, bizarre, heathen Ivan was not the knightly prince that she expected to awaken her from the curse. For the man that woke her was to be her husband, the future king, and the war leader that was destined to face Baba Yaga and save her people.

Ivan stepped into a fairy tale that altered both of their lives irrevocably forever and neither one of them could have expected the outcome.

“Enchantment” by Orson Scott Card takes a familiar fairy tale and makes it into an incredible story of of virtue, true love, honor, and what it really means to be a hero. Like so many other of Orson Scott Card's novels, “Enchantment” is a must read for fans of science fiction and fantasy.

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