Spindle - by E K Johnston (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"The Storyteller Queen lives, and her name is E. K. Johnston." -- Rachel Hartman, New York Times best-selling author of Seraphina

The follow-up to A Thousand Nights, Spindle is the feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty where the princess saves herself and owns the narrative.

The prison is crumbling. Through years of careful manipulation, a demon has regained her power. She has made one kingdom strong and brought the other to its knees, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When a princess is born, the demon is ready with the final blow: a curse that will cost the princess her very soul, or force her to destroy her own people to save her life.

The threads of magic are tightly spun, binding princess and exiled spinners into a desperate plot to break the curse before the demon can become a queen of men. But the web of power is dangerously tangled -- and they may not see the true pattern until it is unspooled.

Review Quotes

"Despite taking the perspective of Little Rose's potential savior, the story has a decidedly feminist slant, focusing on the princess's growth, power, autonomy, and eventual self-rescue... Hand this clever work to fans of the companion book."--School Library Journal

"The framework of 'Sleeping Beauty' plays out against a hot desert setting, with Yashaa playing the reluctant hero and Little Rose possessing far more agency, wit, and intelligence than is afforded to most fairy-tale princesses... Pleasing readers who would prefer their ever afters to be bittersweet."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"The most powerful stories encompass a paradox. SPINDLE is both mythic and true, old beyond reckoning and dazzlingly, gloriously new. You've known this story all your life; you have never heard its like before. The Storyteller Queen lives, and her name is E. K. Johnston."--Rachel Hartman, New York Times best-selling author of Seraphina

About the Author

E.K. Johnston had several jobs and one vocation before she became a published writer. If she's learned anything, it's that things turn out weird sometimes, and there's not a lot you can do about it. Well, that and how to muscle through awkward fanfic because it's about a pairing she likes.

You can follow Kate on Twitter (@ek_johnston) to learn more about Alderaanian political theory than you really need to know, on Tumblr (ekjohnston) if you're just here for the pretty pictures, or online at ekjohnston.ca.