Never After

A fantasy story that liberally mixes several fairy tales. Prince Althelstan has been searching for a princess to marry; there's quite a shortage. He finds a likely candidate while investigating a cursed castle whose inhabitants are locked in slumber. To break the curse, a princess must kiss the sleeping princes, so Althelstan retrieves his cousin, Vevila, to do the job. She has little interest in princes, but finds the adventure enticing.

When they arrive at the castle, the witch who caused the curse insists that Vevila may not kiss the prince until she proves herself by passing a princess test--spinning straw into gold. An odd little man--Rumpelstiltskin--offers to help her with that, and Vevila is not idle herself, repeatedly escaping.

A few other fairy tales have been mixed in, when all is said and done, and Vevila has married Rumpelstiltskin and set off for adventure.

Overall, a pretty nice book. It's a bit slow, and the wizards never really do much more than stretch the story out, but it's a pleasant read.