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This book may be based on a fairy tale, but don't expect anything remotely approaching sparkly wands and happy ever after. This is a thoroughly Gothic story, full of menace, and (ably assisted by David Roberts' atmospheric and unsettling illustrations) it features many of the best-known conventions of the genre. Strange, scary castles in the woods lure unwary travellers to their doom, and townsfolk barricade their homes each night for fear of the monsters that roam outside the walls. There is, as in the very best tales, a distressed and helpless heroine, and Otto himself features as the traditional outsider, welcomed and rejected in turn by society. The atmosphere throughout is dark and mysterious, and even when Otto falls for the pure and beautiful Safire there is little to suggest he can hope to win her hand. A heavy sense of dread hangs over his world, and although he does at times experience happiness and encounter kindly companions on the road, the curse of solitude and failure is ever-present. It is, as ever with Ms Gardner's books, beautifully written, moving and engrossing, and for lovers of the dark and doom-ridden, it is well worth reading.

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