Gilded (Gilded Duology, 1)

Gilded is the first book in an as yet untitled series by NYT best-selling American author, Marissa Meyer. Rumpelstiltskin. You remember, don't you? That Brothers Grimm story. The poor miller, the miller's daughter, the greedy king who imprisons her to spin gold from straw, the magical man who does the spinning, for a price, the gold locket, the ring, the promised firstborn, the to-be-guessed-at name. This is that story, but with tweaks, embellishments, twists and enhancements as only Marissa Meyer can do them. Thus a few pages become an enthralling five hundred.

Once upon a time, in the north of the Kingdom of Tulvask, in the village of Märchenfeld, just south of the menacing Aschen Woods, a daughter is born to a poor miller…. nup, that's not how this story starts, but it could. Now eighteen, Serilda Moller is that miller's daughter, born under the blessing (or curse) of Wyrdith, god of fortune and of stories (lies), her black irises etched with a golden wheel of fortune, Wyrdith's mark.

That god's other legacy is Serilda's story-telling, tales that just pop into her head, that sometimes seem touched by prophesy, but are seen by all except the village schoolchildren as dreadful lies. The villagers consider her cursed, the cause of every piece of bad luck they suffer.

The king who locks Serilda in a room to spin gold from straw is not your run-of-the-mill king: His Grim, Erlkönig the Alder King is the ruler of hellhounds and other fearsome magical creatures, ghosts, the undead and the dark ones; he leads the wild hunt that happens every full moon, when people lock their doors and hold onto their children.

Serilda is certain that the person who spins the straw to save her from the Erlking's wrath is not a ghost, but quite what he is, she can't guess. Mischievous, but not an imp, that's for sure: he looks just like a human boy her own age. Gild is the name he tells her to use, and she learns that the townspeople of the castle town of Adalheid fondly refer to him as the Vergoldergeist, The Gilded Ghost.

The more she gets to know him, the more she realises there's no malice in him, and that, captive in the castle, he is starved of human company, craving human touch. And having been avoided by the village boys (those unholy eyes), she's incredulous that he finds her attractive.

Soon, though, Serilda's concern about her own fate at the Erlking's mercy is eclipsed by her anger on behalf of his ghostly servants, denied eternal rest in Verloren due to their captivity in the castle, and the ordinary folk who succumb to his thrall, and an uncertain fate, on full-moon nights. And before long, a more personal aspect to her anger emerges.

Serilda wonders, too, about the fate of the royal family who owned Adalheid Castle before Erlking captured it, and for what purpose this magical king needs to amass all this spun gold.

What a marvellous retelling of this classic tale Meyer gives the reader: a cast of intriguing, appealing, quirky or downright nasty characters; her version of the plot is clever, imaginative and has enough mystery to keep the reader engrossed and the pages turning; there's humour and romance and a number of satisfying "aah" moments as it all unfolds; and sufficient unresolved issues to have readers eagerly anticipating the sequel. More of this, soon, please!

This unbiased review is from a copy provided by Text Publishing.