Once Upon a Time VIII Challenge Completed

Carl’s Once Upon a Time Challenge for this year ended on 21 June and I exceeded my expectations – well, it wasn’t hard as I aimed very low with The Journey, which was to read at least one book within one of the four categories of Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology. So I went on to the First Quest which was to read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within those categories.

I read:

1. The Last Enchantment by Mary Stewart
2. Tantalus by Jane Jazz
3. The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart
4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
5. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

I initially wanted to read from my own to-be-read books, but as usual I actually read books that appealed to me at the moment of choosing what to read next, but two of them were books I’ve owned for some years – The Last Enchantment, an excellent book and The Book of Lost Things, not such an excellent book in my opinion.

Choosing a favourite out of these books is not easy but by a short head it’s Jane Jazz’s début novel Tantalus. There is so much in this book that I loved – the characters, the story, the charged emotions and longing, the setting (in Yorkshire and Tuscany), and the art – the paintings and the sculpture. 

Tantalus is a perfect title for the novel as according to Greek myth Tantalus was famous for eternal punishment by being made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the water always receding before he could take a drink.

Thanks to Carl for hosting and I’m already looking forward to September and his R.I.P. Challenge.