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Wednesday 16 June 2010

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Sci-fi Fairy Tale
review by Maryom


Rosalind has been in stasis for 62 years when she is awoken, as in all good fairy tales, by a kiss. The world she wakes up isn't much of a fairytale though. While she's been asleep, everything has changed beyond recognition - millions have died including her parents and her boyfriend - and she now finds herself the heir to an interplanetary corporation which almost rules the world. Her peers see her as some kind of freak and her elders regard her as a potential threat to their power and status. To make matters worse, someone has sent out an android-like creature intent on her destruction....

What originally drew me to A Long Long Sleep was the 'Sleeping Beauty retold' concept. I've seen it before - for example in Sheri S Tepper's Beauty - and wondered how this novel would compare or even if it would just be the same concept re-hashed. Thankfully it wasn't. A Long, Long Sleep is an original, futuristic sci-fi take on the fairy tale. A combination thriller and coming of age story, it's told in the first person from Rosalind's viewpoint, with the reader sharing her confusion at facing this strange new world. At the same time, this device allows Sheehan to 'hide' some of the events from the pre-sleep past and only uncover them as Rose herself realises the extent to which her parents abused their power over her.
A Long, Long Sleep is a wonderful read for anyone looking for something a little different.


Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Orion Books

Genre - Teen/YA, thriller, sci-fi, fantasy


Buy A Long, Long Sleep from Amazon

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