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Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden & In the Cities of Coin and Spice

黑眼圈奇幻系列套書：I荒原之書/ II海之書/ III風暴之書/ VI灼枯之書

        2006年科克斯書評年度十大奇幻小說 / 2007年紐約圖書館青少年選書 / 2008年創神文學獎

名人推薦：《蝕刻之城》作者克絲汀．畢夏：「黑眼圈系列以一千零一夜這樣的傳統故事循環，編出讓人驚豔的故事。瓦倫特的散文想像力豐富，狡黠幽默，有如抒情詩，擁有不受拘束的靈魂。」

書籍簡介：

一個神祕的小孤女住在王宮花園裡，雙眼漆黑如墨的小女孩，被紋滿了層層疊疊的故事，所有人都因為女孩雙眼隱含的魔法，不敢輕易靠近。

直到有一天，伊斯蘭的小王儲來到花園，小王儲發覺並不會因為和小女孩說說話就遭致厄運。太久沒有接觸到人類溫暖的小女孩告訴小王儲，紋在她眼眶的故事是精靈留下來的咒語，要等到這些故事全部被說完的那天，精靈才會回來審判女孩。

　　於是好奇的小王儲，和渴望陪伴的小女孩就藏匿於花園深處，由小女孩訴說一個個奇詭的故事，故事裡的角色又訴說他們自己的故事，看似不相關的一個個故事，彼此纏繞，層層開展。

似乎永無止境的神奇故事令小王儲深深著迷，不論是象牙籠與鐵籠的祕密，留下來的巨人、貪得無厭的寶石老饕、羽毛斗篷和藍色海蛇，火舞者、火鳥和巨靈的各種奇談。

　　但是當公主蒂娜薩的婚禮在即，粗暴的現實開始侵入脫離現實的花園，這時小女孩的故事也終於要說盡了……黑眼圈女孩的身世之謎呼之欲出，盤根錯節的大小迷霧是否終將撥雲見日？

　　一場前所未見的不可思議之旅，隨手翻開，就會落入書中的魔咒，因為生生不息的魔法才剛開始……

Product Description

Every once in a great while a book comes along that reminds us of the magic spell that stories can
cast over us–to dazzle, entertain, and enlighten. Welcome to the Arabian Nights for our time–a lush and fantastical epic guaranteed to spirit you away from the very first page….

Secreted away in a garden, a lonely girl spins stories to warm a curious prince: peculiar feats and unspeakable fates that loop through each other and back again to meet in the tapestry of her voice. Inked on her eyelids, each twisting, tattooed tale is a piece in the puzzle of the girl’s own hidden history. And what tales she tells! Tales of shape-shifting witches and wild horsewomen, heron kings and beast princesses, snake gods, dog monks, and living stars–each story more strange and fantastic than the one that came before. From ill-tempered “mermaid” to fastidious Beast, nothing is ever quite what it seems in these ever-shifting tales–even, and especially, their teller. Adorned with illustrations by the legendary Michael Kaluta, Valente’s enchanting lyrical fantasy offers a breathtaking reinvention of the untold myths and dark fairy tales that shape our dreams. And just when you think you’ve come to the end, you realize the adventure has only begun….

 Catherynne M. Valente enchanted readers with her spellbinding In the Night Garden. Now she continues to weave her storytelling magic in a new book of Orphan’s Tales—an epic of the fantastic and the exotic, the monstrous and mysterious, that will transport you far away from the everyday….

Her name and origins are unknown, but the endless tales inked upon this orphan’s eyelids weave a spell over all who listen to her read her secret history. And who can resist the stories she tells? From the Lake of the Dead and the City of Marrow to the artists who remain behind in a ghost city of spice, here are stories of hedgehog warriors and winged skeletons, loyal leopards and sparrow calligraphers. Nothing is too fantastic, anything can happen, but you’ll never guess what comes next in these intimately linked adventures of firebirds and djinn, singing manticores, mutilated unicorns, and women made entirely of glass and gears. Graced with the magical illustrations of Michael Kaluta, In the Cities of Coins and Spice is a book of dreams and wonders unlike any you’ve ever encountered. Open it anywhere and you will fall under its spell. For here the story never ends and the magic is only beginning….

小業務推薦：

這套黑眼圈系列，說真的，一開始看到書的時候有被封面嚇到，一整個暗色調的混濁，有些小可怖，不免為它不夠討喜的封面，捏了把冷汗。這不是青少年奇幻小說嗎？怎麼不太青春洋溢呢？

但看在有不少前輩作家們對這套書說故事的功力驚豔，才發現到作者用後現代筆調融合瑰麗文字與超現實元素，所架構出的Orphan's Tales (馥林文化譯本：黑眼圈系列)確實厲害，一舉拿下2006年的詹姆斯‧提普奇獎James Tiptree,Jr. Award，還在2008年獲得創神文學獎Mythopoeic Award。就像是Online Game的劇情架構一樣，層層疊疊的故事，再一一撥開謎霧。是誰說青少年小說只能青春洋溢？ 融入了世界各種神話傳奇的高明筆觸，讓人讀起來很容易不自覺就墜入小女孩一層又一層的故事圈裡。