Lily in the Snow & Other Elemental Tales: Book Review & Giveaway

We’re participating in the Fairy Tale Giveaway Hop, and our giveaway for that hop is Lily in the Snow & Other Elemental Tales by Christine E. Schulze. This collection of short stories and novella-length stories includes 6 tales about different elementals, all of which read a bit like classic fairy tales. I haven’t read many elemental stories; however, I did enjoy these. They do seem to be more geared toward a tween and teen audience; however, adults who like light romantic elemental tales may also appreciate some of them.

The stories included are:
Lily in the Snow
The Story Teller
If Earth Had Wings and Angels Wore Viols
Labyrinth: Heart of Stone
Ashling
Spyral

These elemental tales include all kinds of elementals. Below are brief descriptions of several of the stories to give you an idea of what’s included:

Lily in the Snow: This novella-length story was my favorite. It centers around Micah Schist, a teen rock elemental, and Jeremy, a 1/2 earth elemental farmer who falls in love with her. When he takes her from her cave home, can he protect her from outsiders who want to rob her of her valuable crystals, which would destroy her?

“Jewett rose before the dawn to make his way up the gentle slopes of the mountainside…He knew his surprise already, and yet he didn’t, for what new wonders might she hold in store for him? His newfound childlike excitement – it was her gift too, and he smiled.”

The Story Teller: This novella-length story involves a teen elemental whose powers are just developing. When her stories begin to come true, it seems she will be forced to make a life-and-death decision between her best friend and the boy she loves. Can she do it? Will she lose them both if she doesn’t?

“Aadrian Smith ensnared my every thought and sense: every fiber of my body was rendered immobile with visions of him. We danced from my day-dreams even into my actual dreams as I drifted off to sleep…”

If Earth Had Wings and Angels Wore Viols: This short story is about a flower maiden in a lush garden found in an alternate Earth, which is tucked away deep within our Earth. While in the midst of deciding which of the Weedles (boy plant tenders) she wants to be with, she meets Stephen, an Angel of Music who protects the Rings of Earth.

“Then, straightening fully, his breathing finally calmed. He turned his sharp gaze upon her. As a gleam of light played upon his hair like a crown, she at last realized what he was, and why she never before thought that he could possibly be what he was, standing before her.
‘You’re an Angel,’ she gasped. ‘A guardian from the Rings of the Earth.’”

Romantic fantasy, elemental fairy tales, mystery, adventure and danger – all lurk within the pages of Lily of the Snow & Other Elemental Tales. If you enjoy fairy tales then you’ll want to enter our giveaway for an autographed copy of this delightful collection of novellas and short stories.

Can’t wait to read it?

Lily in the Snow & Other Elemental Tales was published on January 17, 2012, so it should be available from your favorite bookseller below. Just click the button to go there to get it.

I’d love to get your comments on Lily in the Snow & Other Elemental Tales, Christine E. Schulze or her other work, and/or this review.

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Of the options we were given for the Fairy Tale Giveaway Hop, I’ve chosen to name five of my favorite fairy tale characters from my childhood. Actually there are more than five but here they are:

First are Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. I loved that Peter could fly and seemed so carefree, and I loved Tinkerbell’s take-no-prisoners attitude. At that time, there weren’t strong role models for girls and she was my first exposure to a kick-butt female, and a pint-sized one too – just like me!

Next is Red Riding Hood. I thought she was the bravest little girl I had ever seen! I admired that she cared about her grandmother and stood up to the wolf, who was terribly frightening.

Next is the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland. I loved his lofty attitude and snarkiness. His admonition to “feed your head” rang a bell with my already well developed thirst for knowledge.

Last but not least are all of The Seven Dwarfs in Snow White. I liked them even before I saw the movie but the Disney animators really captured each of their personalities and made them into characters who I love even to this day. That’s why the illustration I’ve chosen is the concept art for those classic animated characters.

Our Giveaway:

One lucky reader will win an autographed, finished, trade paperback of Lily in the Snow & other Elemental Tales by Christine E. Schulze.

Once you’ve entered our giveaway, check just below the Rafflecopter form for the link to all of the other giveaways in the Fairy Tale Giveaway Hop!

Giveaway Rules:
1) The deadline for entries is Tuesday night, 5/1/2012, at 11:59pm EDST. No entries after that date/time will be eligible.
2) This giveaway is open to entries with U.S. mailing addresses only because we do not ship books outside of the U.S.
3) You must be at least 13 years old to enter this giveaway.
4) You must use the Rafflecopter form. Even if leaving a comment is part of the giveaway, you must use the form in addition to leaving the comment for the comment to count as an entry.
5) If you do not provide a COMPLETE mailing address in the Rafflecopter form, your entry will not be eligible. We will use your mailing address to ship your book to you.
6) That’s it – it’s a very easy giveaway, so have fun and best of luck!

If you’ve never used Rafflecopter before to enter a giveaway, here’s a little 45 sec. video on how to do it: