Heartless (Tales of Goldstone Wood Book #1) by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Epub)

Description

Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and will soon be married. She dreams of a handsome and charming prince, but when the first suitor arrives, she finds him stodgy and boring. Prince Aethelbald from the mysterious land of Farthestshore has traveled far to prove his love–and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be approaching Parumvir.

User’s Reviews

From Publishers Weekly Debut author Stengl conjures the fantastic world of Parumvir. The kingdom’s Princess Una is courted by Prince Aethelbald of Farthestshore. She, however, finds him insufficiently romantic and much too boring in his concerns for her safety as a dragon approaches the kingdom. When Una makes the wrong choice, catastrophe ensues for the princess and her family, and love, courage, and trust are needed when darkness engulfs the kingdom. Allegory is hard at work here–occasionally too hard, when the intended meaning drives the plot instead of the plot being driven by the momentum of events. But Stengl does let her imagination run in inventing some delightful things and scenes: the Twelve-Year Market that appears in its own good time and sells fairy goods; a clever blind cat who is invariably underfoot and has, of course, a secret. Since they never get enough to read in this small market niche, Christian fantasy fans will be particularly enthralled by this first in the Tales of Goldstone Wood. A clever debut from an author worth watching. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I don’t often read fantasy allegory, but my goodness, Anne Elisabeth Stengl can write it with twists like few others! It did take me a few chapters to get used to the rather unusual and complex fantasy world, as well as her use of omniscient narrative. But once I did, I couldn’t put it down.The world of Goldstone wood is one of the most complex and layered storyworlds I have ever come across in fantasy. It is huge and ever-expanding with so much more depth, and history, and characters that you could believe – or sometimes keep track of! Each book in the series is better than the last!Anne Elisabeth’s unusual writing style is reminiscent of older classic fairy tales, though a bit difficult to get used to at first, but hang in there! Because once you catch onto her unique and beautiful style it is one incredible ride and well worth the time.(Warning! Slight personal rant ahead!)One thing I really don’t understand is, why do so many people hate Una? I think some folks just don’t like her because she’s a little too real. Yes, she’s selfish, she’s stubborn, she’s a dreamer, always looking for something newer, brighter, more appealing. She’s totally unsatisfied and missing out on the good and wonderful things (and people) that are right under her nose.She’s just like you and me.Some of us really don’t like to see that. So many folks go out complaining about how much they dislike unrealistic characters in there books, then an author like Anne goes out and creates a realistic character with all the same normal faults that we have. So what do we do? We complain some more and criticize the heck out of that character. It’s really hard looking in a mirror sometimes.Personally, I love Una. And I love how Anne Elisabeth breathes life into these beautiful, broken characters. Her characters may be far from perfect, and their endings may be too, but in the end, that is what makes their story so much more meaningful.Here, Una is a representation of the modern day church and its many faults. It is a story about how God pursues us relentlessly, calling us back to him, and to show that no matter how vile we can become God still loves us and is waiting to claim us as his.How incredible is that?Safety Ratings: note, this is also an older review being re-written. It has been a few years since read the novel. I may not remember everything.Romance: a sweet kiss or two.Language: none. Unless you count exclamations such as “Dragon’s Breath / teeth/ whatnot!” as bad language.Drinking / Drugs: There was some dinner wine.Blood / Violence: there is plenty of violence, though the author does keep things tasteful. blood is fairly minimal. There are several battles, deaths, people being burned by dragons (not graphic), imprisonment, and such.Other: there is a bit of magic in this book, but no “spellcasting” or anything of the like. And the villain also does love playing some slightly twisted mind games with the people he’s after.

⭐ Age Appropriate For: 13 and up for violence and some fantasy elementsBest for Ages: 13 and upEvery few months, I get the urge to read a fantasy. Well, I got the urge and decided to read Heartless which has been on my to-read list for a long time. I was expecting a cute little story with romance. Instead, I was blown away by a powerful allegory.At first, I thought I was going to hate Una through the whole book. She starts out very selfish and irritating, yet she was a fascinating character. I think that her desire to find the man of her dreams who loves her passionately is something that most girls can relate to. As the story progressed, and the allegory unfolded, Una became a character that reflected parts of me, and I liked her a lot more.Aethelbald was by far my favorite character. He is the Christ figure of the story, and he was perfect. He has strong character and loves Una unconditionally, even when she was unlovable.Sometimes, the story felt a bit weird, especially when it came to the dragons. It was weird and amazing all at the same time, which is why this book gets five stars from me. Younger children who haven’t read a lot of fantasy might find some of the elements of this book disturbing.It is hard to rave about this book, because if I talked about my favorite parts, I would spoil the ending. I will just say that as it is a redemption story, I loved it. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.I highly recommend this book to those who like fantasy, allegories, and redemption stories.

⭐ Heartless was unusual and breathtaking. I was leaning toward five stars, but I decided on four stars because there were some spots where I grew impatient. Other than that, I loved it! It was beautiful and completely different from anything else I’ve read. It didn’t follow any sort of cannon for fantasy novels. It was new and fresh and it threw things at me that I didn’t see coming.At the beginning, Una was shallow and silly. She desperately wanted to fall in love with someone handsome or charismatic. The man that loved her was neither. As events progressed, the reason for her earlier shallow behavior became obvious. She changed a lot during the course of the book, and I loved her by the end. Aethelbald is a character that I loved the whole way through. He was a true prince.Heartless is appropriate for anyone 12 and up. It is squeaky clean, full of adventure, and beautifully written. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that likes fantasy and dragons.Content: clean

⭐ Heartless, book one in the series “Tales of Goldstone Wood”, was a fun and interesting read. Being the first in the series, it was hard to clasp onto the book at first, and it’s main character Princess Una, whom you might find hard to be likable at first introduction. When I say clasp though, I don’t mean like, I mean the read was so interesting, the author’s imagination so vast, that it takes a while for your mind to comprehend just how deep the read gets, and just how far her imagination will take you.You get kind of sidetracked at first by Princess Una’s personality, and her somewhat selfish focus on meeting the ‘Handsome Prince!’ who she feels should be pursuing her any day now! The next moment the book dips your toes into a world of fantasy, introducing you to characters who are so mysterious and magical, that your mind jumps into the story and starts bouncing in excitement. Then suddenly you are back into the castle with Princess Una, listening to her complain about the oh so boring, and plain, Prince Aethelbald of Farthestshore who has come calling, and who refuses just to leave her alone!In a desperate attempt to escape the boring suitors, and gain some freedom, Princess Una finds herself wandering the garden, and suddenly in the presence of a jester, one whom seems to have captured her attention far more then any of the Princes visiting her Kingdom. Una finds comfort in her new found friend, going out of her way to aide in his journey, and help him by finding him work within her castle. During his company, Una can’t help wishing it was he who was her prince, unlike the others whom she wished to be out of her sight.Little does she know she would soon get her wish to be left alone, and not even her jester will be there to comfort her. Here, the mysteries of the story take hold, and the characters start to unfold. Here you meet one, in which you had barely caught a glimpse of in the beginning of the book. One who Even Prince Aethelbald, who had came to warn the Princess, can not prevent the from coming, for he knew the game was played, the horror won, and soon all would come to encounter the Dragon.Anne Elisabeth Stengl, I feel for a first book in the series, did a great job starting off this journey into Goldstone Wood! Many have commented on the inexperience in the book, but as a writer hoping to one day write my own fantasy novel, I’ll proudly say that I wish my first novel to be as exciting and creative as this one! As I’ve continued to read on through this series the first book continues to come to life in my mind, making the read even more exciting just to look back upon. I am heading onto book four of the series and can hardly stop to write these reviews. It’s surely a book you will love diving into, just don’t expect to resurface until it’s over! 🙂 Heartless (Tales of Goldstone Wood)

⭐ The Bad:About the first half of this book sounded like it was trying WAY too hard to sound like a fairy-tale. I like fairy-tales and all, but the word choices got in the way. Fortunately, around half-way through it stops trying so hard and gets caught up in the story. That’s where I got really interested.The book’s also got some bad poetry. Disclaimer: I’m not a poet, and in general, I don’t like poetry, so I can’t really tell if it’s good or not. In an interview I read, the author stated that at least some of that is intentional, as she thought it’d be funny if one of the most famous poets of the land wasn’t terribly good. And that does fit the character…The other thing that annoyed me was the main character, Una. Boy is she whiny and stupid…The Good:Once the story forgets it’s trying to be a fairy-tale, it really gets rolling. The pace and plot both pick up, and I was really hooked from there.As far as characters go, yeah, I didn’t like Una, but just about every other character was awesome. One of the minor villains was almost a cardboard cut-out, but then he was supposed to be as the real villain using and manipulating him.Prince Aethelbald is a fascinating character. At first, I wasn’t sure if he was the good guy just because the story said so, or if he was going to turn out to be a cheap Aslan clone…. then we got out of Una’s viewpoint and into his and Una’s brother’s… and we get all kinds of character complexity.Said bad poet from above is also a fascinating character, and funny too. Can’t say much more about him without giving away spoilers, but I want to read more about him.At the beginning of the story, I wasn’t sure if I was going to give it two stars, or stretch for three. After about that halfway point (possibly a tad before it), I’m comfortable giving it four, and now I really want to see what the rest of the series has to offer. It helps that Una’s character does develop by the end of the book…

⭐ How is true love measured? Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s Heartless address this question in a compelling manner. I immensely enjoyed this riveting account of a young girl’s loss of innocence and the steadfast love of a suitor who will go to any lengths to protect her.Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and awaits courtship from various suitors who hope to win her hand. Some of the suitors have ulterior motives and plan to use the princess for their own evil purposes. To whom will Una give her heart? When a mysterious fairy market arrives, Una is enticed into glimpsing her future by a mysterious stranger. Touching the object he holds, she is catapulted into a journey never to be forgotten: a jurney that will not only place Una in danger, but will endanger the lives of everyone around her. For a seductive yet malicious Dragon is on the prowl, and he hunts for the one “beloved by his enemy”.The various settings and multi-faceted world this author creates is stunning, and I loved the characters. My favorite character, (besides Una and Prince Athelbald), was Monster, a blind cat who is more than he seems.Please give this stunning novel a chance. The ending is marvelous and will move you to tears. True love sometimes necessitates pain and is only true if sacrifice is involved. God bless you all.

⭐ A beautiful new allegorical series. A wonderful traditional English fairy tale setting in styles reminiscent of Shakespeare’s “A Mid-summer Night’s Dream”, C.S. Lewis’ “The Horse and His Boy” and “The Magician’s Nephew” as well as a touch of Tolkienesque epic.The main character is very realistic – people are immature, contrary, prone to bad scissors when young and extremely reticent to change (even when it is in our best interest) if we are honest with ourselves. I feel that the reviewers who disliked these aspects in her character were probably feeling (as I did) that they had been included in the author’s honest yet painfully keen insight into the average human’s failings of character.After reading this book I found printed copies of it and several other books in the series. They now sit on the shelf, slightly dog-eared in the company of my other favourite Christian allegories: Hinds Feet On High Places, Pilgrim’s Progress, The Narnia Chronicles and The Anthropos Chronicles among others.A book you will come back to again and again!

⭐ This book actually surprised me. It was clean and exciting and there was so much adventure and mystery and intrigue and they were times when I was on the edge of my seat in the moment I thought I had it figured out I realized I did it. It’ll have you getting to the end and it’s so beautifully put together. This is a romance book like no other. And I love that

⭐ . . .and find something new every time. As a lover of YA fantasy (Robin McKinley, Megan Whalen Turner, Diana Wynne Jones), I found this book deeply satisfying and thought-provoking.The characters are lightly drawn yet serve serious roles in the story. Some female readers might take offense at Princess Una either because she strikes a nerve (many of us are just about that naive and self-centered at some time in our lives–I know I was!) or because she reminds them of someone they know and disrespect. She is startlingly real in her shallow attitudes–and this makes the ending so much more satisfying! Some characters are better drawn than others, certainly, yet all serve a purpose. This is the first book in a series, so I expect to see some of these characters again in their own stories (book two, Veiled Rose, for example, expands one of the characters in a fascinating direction).I particularly enjoy the author’s storytelling voice, a classic narrative with lyrical beauty and touches of humor. The themes of this story are timeless fantasy tropes, and its characters are original takes on fantasy standards, which gives the reader a sense of familiarity with the material. Yet the plot is unlike anything else on the market I’ve ever seen–full of startling and intriguing twists! I have read a few reviews criticizing “out of time period” language and items, but I would respond that a fantasy world need only be consistent with itself, and Heartless is that. Megan Whalen Turner puts cannons in her otherwise Byzantine world. C.S. Lewis’s Narnians sometimes use 20th-century British expressions, but it works because that is simply how they talk in the world he invented!Finally, the allegory is beautiful. This book is appropriate for ages 12 and up, or younger children not easily frightened by fantasy villains. It is a straightforward fairytale, simple on the surface yet with layers of meaning beneath. Allegory is a tightrope-walk for any author–some will think it heavy-handed, some will pronounce it “just right,” and others will ask “What allegory?” In my opinion, time will prove this book not perfect, but just about right.

⭐ I liked this book. I became really engaged in it and enjoyed it. From about halfway through I finished it in one (long) sitting.For me, in particular, some themes from this book stuck a chord in my own life, so I think I related (in conceptual fashion) to a lot of the story, which helped me enjoy it more than other readers might.I didn’t mind Una (unlike some other readers). I felt that the Dragon was the most compelling and interesting character, myself, but I had no problem with Una as a guide. She won’t turn into my favorite character of all time, but I enjoyed her journey. The other characters were fine, too, though except for the Dragon, I don’t think anyone really stood out. Maybe they were a little bland, but at least they weren’t chewed over and over dramatized.No major objections about the plot. This story does have many themes of love woven through it, and Una experiences many different sorts of love–which I really, really like–but it’s not really a “romance” novel. The first half of the book, I felt was a little slow, more “slice of life” than anything else, but once the action gets going the book really took off for me and I was very engaged. Basically, once the Dragon shows up, the tension goes way up and the story glowed to me. Before that, a little dull, but necessary set-up for the later half.The writing was fine but not super-outstanding, in my opinion. This book is by a new author, so I’m inclined to be generous, knowing that new authors grow and the first few books are major experience-building time.Any other objections are fairly minor…I don’t think Una needed to bemoan “it’s not romantic!” quite as much as she did. Actions speak louder than words.I wanted to know more about the otherworldly characters which were not concretely described or defined (unlike the dragons, which I felt were poignantly handled).I guess, overall, I liked it. I will probably re-read it as well.

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