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s one of the most consistently exciting writers to emerge in the last twenty-five years, Orson Scott Card has been honored with numerous awards, immersing readers in dazzling worlds only he could create. Now, in Enchantment, Card works his magic as never before, transforming the timeless story of Sleeping Beauty into an original fantasy brimming with romance and adventure.

The moment Ivan stumbled upon a clearing in the dense Carpathian forest, his life was forever changed. Atop a pedestal encircled by fallen leaves, the beautiful princess Katerina lay as still as death. But beneath the foliage a malevolent presence stirred and sent the ten-year-old Ivan scrambling for the safety of Cousin Marek's farm.

Now, years later, Ivan is an American graduate student, engaged to be married. Yet he cannot forget that long-ago day in the forest — or convince himself it was merely a frightened boy's fantasy. Compelled to return to his native land, Ivan finds the clearing just as he left it.

This time he does not run.

This time he awakens the beauty with a kiss . . . and steps into a world that vanished a thousand years ago.

A rich tapestry of clashing worlds and cultures, Enchantment is a powerfully original novel of a love and destiny that transcend centuries . . . and the dark force that stalks them across the ages.

Copyright © 1999 Orson Scott Card

A Del Rey Book

Published by The Balentine Publishing Group
Book Design by H. Roberts Design

Praise for Orson Scott Card and Enchantment

"Card is skilled at pacing and good with an action scene, but he has raised to a fine art the creation of suspense by ethical dilemma, and in doing so has raised his work to a high plane."

-- Chicago Sun-Times

"Charming and lively."

-- San Francisco Chronicle

"To anyone who doubts that Orson Scott Card is a master storyteller, here, in the fantasy Enchantment, is the ultimate proof, the preeminent test of storytelling: being able to move intimately in totally foreign lifestyles and cultures and to make the readers believe that the writer always lived there. Between getting the cadence of the dialogue correctly and fears and rationalizations of both Jewish and Russian cultures, Card has produced a magnificent fairy-tale-that-isn't-a-fairy-tale-at-all."

-- Anne McCaffrey

"[Card's] prose is a model of narrative clarity; the author never says more than is needed or arbitrarily withholds information, yet even a simple declarative sentence carries a delicious hint of further revelation."

-- The New York Times

"At once deeply realistic and shot through with curious magic . . . The extreme effects of culture clash and shock often prove to be funny, and there's a whiplash of comedy driving through the grim and gritty scenes, the perceptive comments on serious moral questions."

-- Locus

"Enchantment is enchanting, and it resonates with the unkillable magic of the fairy tale it has followed."

-- Interzone

"Card understands the human condition . . . He tells the truth well -- ultimately the only criterion of greatness."

-- Gene Wolfe

"Appealing . . . [Card's} new look at a classic tale is clever . . . adding attractive whimsical twists and cultural confluences to a familiar story."

-- Publisher's Weekly

"Fascinating . . . richly detailed and engagingly peopled."

-- Kirkus Reviews

"Have you ever wondered what happens after Happily Ever After? . . . Breathe a long sigh of relief, for at last, the wait is over. Orson Scott Card's Enchantment takes us beyond the curtain of the cursive scrawl of 'The End' that normally bars our way, past the famous folklore kisses, past everything we've come to know of classic folktales, and on into a realm that will open your tear ducts even as it opens your eyes . . . Enchantment is so much more than merely that ancient tale with a modern twist . . . It feels like a cross between Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk with a splash of two-way time travel. This is a compelling and vibrant story that turns classic ideas on their heads, written by a true master. Every fan of fantasy, of Card, or of storytelling will consider it priority reading."

-- Realms of Fantasy