Why two for two?  Well these first two reviews are good reads, but not personal favorites.  Next up is Hiddensee by Gregory Maguire.  Tough one for me.  It was the type of book that I wasn’t really into, but felt compelled to finish since it was recommended by a respected library friend.

I enjoyed Maguire’s Wicked when I first read it quite a while back.  This book didn’t match up.  It was long, wordy and left me waiting for some excitement. It’s the tale of Drosselmeier’s back story from his childhood as a foundling, through his wanderings into adulthood.  The book comes to a close with the story of how the infamous Nutcracker was built, and how it waited through a couple generations before becoming a gift to his goddaughter Klara.  Intertwined with this was the strange near-death experience as a child in which Drosselmeier encounters Pan and Pythia.  I have to admit my Greek mythology knowledge isn’t too strong.  Perhaps I could appreciate this underlying story better if I did my research first.

I think Hiddensee will appeal to those into fairy tale worlds and language.  For me, my mind wandered a bit too much through the tale to keep it all straight.