Moonlight (Crowns of the Twelve)

FANTASY:  There was once a King who was the son of the sun, and a Queen who was the White Sun and was like the moon with black hair and porcelain skin. They were very much in love and they had six sons and a daughter. One day the king and queen approached the children to tell them that the queen was dying.  She suspects that her handmaiden has done something to her. After the queen is dead, the handmaiden’s goal is to become the new queen.  She uses black magic to turn the young princes into swans. The sister, Aowyn, seeks out the aide of Sylas Mortas. He will help change the swans back into princes, but it will require three years of silence from Aowyn. A single word from her will be the death of her brothers.

This is a new spin on a very old tale by The Brothers Grimm, "The Swan Princes".  This delightful version is told from the viewpoint of the Gaelic people and based on their folklore. All of the names of the characters in this book are Gaelic and the author has kindly provided a key in the beginning of the novel on the proper pronunciation of these names. At the end of the novel is a listing of the definitions of the names, which adds to the story overall. This reader would have preferred that the meanings would have also been in the beginning of the book, before the story began. Although a story for young adults, this was a fun novel for this reader and was easily read in an afternoon. 

Belinda Wilson