Do you remember when I blogged about PAY ATTENTION CARTER JONES? Well, I also mentioned I had read Orbiting Jupiter (Amazon Link) and then I was just reallllllly wanting a kind of gaurantee of a good story... so I picked up Straw into Gold. Now here we are. I tell the best stories.
An amazon summary, "What fills a hand fuller than a skein of gold? By order of the king, two boys, Tousle and Innes, must find the answer to this puzzling riddle within seven days or be killed. A former nursemaid to the queen’s child tells the boys that the banished queen may have the answer they seek. Danger presents itself at every turn, for the boys are pursued by the Great Barons, who are secretly plotting against the king. Another pursuer, the greedy King’s Grip, reveals a strange story of a little man who once spun straw into gold of incredible beauty for the queen but then disappeared with her firstborn son. Tousle realizes that the man he calls Da is the strange little man and, even more amazing, that he himself may be the lost prince. Or could it be Innes, who although cruelly blinded can hear the music of the dawn?
This skillful blend of fantasy and adventure reveals what might have happened before the queen makes her third and last guess and the story of Rumpelstiltskin—as we know it—ends." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
It all starts with the miller. One day, the king and his men are passing by the mill where a miller shouts out to the king. Upon getting his attention, he flounders what to do with it, before he boasts that his daughter is able to spin gold out of straw. The king and his disbelieving men, tell the miller to bring his daughter to the castle to prove it. The miller does with much regret, and the daughter winds up sobbing in a room full of straw that night. However, a small, peculiar man visits the miller's daughter and offers to spin the straw into gold for a price. The first two nights she gives him different trinkets of hers, but the third night she has nothing left to give, so she promises him her first born child. The peculiar man spins all the straw into gold and the daughter marries the king. After some time, the Queen bears a son to the king and the peculiar man returns. He tells the Queen that if she can guess his name, he will not take her son. She has three nights to try. Alas, the Queen does not guess his name, and the peculiar man takes off with her son.
Enter Tousle and his Da. Tousle and his Da go to see the King's parade in the city and Tousle is ever so excited. His Da can do wondrous things, but Tousle acts like this is normal, so whatever (like pluck money out of dirt). Tousle watches the King's parade, so excited, sees the Queen, is struck by the grieving atmosphere around here, before he sees the rebels bringing up the end of the parade. There's a young boy and two little girls in chains amongst the rebels, and they are all doomed to be killed for their treason. Tousle speaks for the rebels, the Queen speaks for Tousle, and the king charges Tousle and the blind boy with solving his riddle in seven days time, What fills a hand fuller than a skein of gold?
That's enough summary.
This is definitely a reimagining of Rumpelstiltskin, but I still liked it. There were enough new elements to the story where I didn't grow bored, and there was enough mystery about it that I remained curious. However, I did get a little annoyed that the boys seem to constantly be in danger (which makes sense based on what goes on in the books), but I also loved how they continued to stumble into people who helped or DID NOT help them on their quest.
I liked how Tousle stood up for the "doomed" rebels because it was the good and just thing to do.
What I REALLY liked, is how the story plays out in the end, because it manages to dodge some expectations while fulfilling others. I mean it's the end, I'm not going to tell you what happens. Dun dun dunnnn
A solid, yet short (I read the mass paperback version - 172 pages) read. Twas good I say, good!
Happy reading!
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