“I am glad that you are here with me… Here at the end of all things…”
~Frodo Baggins, via the pen of J.R.R.Tolkien, The Return of the King
And here we truly are, at the end of our first Once Upon a Time Challenge. The last day. The very last day.
With talk of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien on a few participants’ blogs, I found it poetically bittersweet to watch Return of the King last night as a send off to this year’s challenge. It has put me in the right frame of mind to bid this challenge adieu.
Not coincidentally, it is also the end of Spring. Summer Solstice. Yesterday I picked up my recently received copy (Thank you, Pat) of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, illustrated by the incredible Arthur Rackham. Full of color plates and pen and ink illustrations, it is a beautiful copy of this play.
Only a few pages into the book and I began marveling, as I always do, at the genius of Shakespeare. The beauty and cleverness of the language is a true work of art.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. Act i. Sc. 1.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is such an entertaining and imaginative way to close out both spring and the Once Upon a Time Challenge. Remember that you have until midnight tonight to finish Gaiman books and post links on the Review Site, to submit a Tiny Story to me, and to finish the challenge itself–all things that will qualify you for fabulous prizes! 😉
Update: If you have sent me a Tiny Story, please let me know in the comments section here as I want to make sure I actually did receive it. I would hate to have had anyone do all the work and then not get entered into the contest.
As I mentioned Monday, tomorrow’s Friday Favorite is a particularly meaningful one to me and I hope you come back and visit. Then tune in Monday morning for the Once Upon a Time Challenge Newsletter in which I will wrap up the challenge and, of course, announce prize winners.
Speaking of, I believe someone has won themselves a copy of Natasha Mostert’s book, Season of the Witch! And that someone is:
Congrats! Shoot me an email with your address and I’ll pop it in the mail for you.
(As a sneak preview of one of the many things I am arranging for this year’s R.I.P. Challenge, Natasha Mostert has agreed to go under the interview spotlight and has graciously donated an autographed copy of her book for giveaway!)
I am indeed sad that the Once Upon a Time Challenge is coming to an end. Surprisingly so. It is a lot of work and I thought I would feel relieved for the break, which I am sure I will, but instead today I just feel melancholy about it. I am glad to be with all of you here, at the end of this thing.
It is said that dreams that are dreamt on Midsummer’s Night will most certainly come to pass. I wish you all the most magical dreams as you lay your heads to rest this evening.
No way…I really won? Can’t wait to read it!
Thank you again Carl, for a wonderful challenge. I have enjoyed it thoroughly. Will be posting my final bits and pieces today, along with some good news!
http://blbooks.blogspot.com/2007/06/once-upon-time-challenge.html
Thanks for coming up with the challenge Carl. I have a copy of AMND open beside me as I type, although it doesn’t have the lovely illustrations yours does 🙂 Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.
Thanks again Carl for hosting such a wonderful challenge. As much as I have enjoyed rreading the the books I picked to read for the challenge I have enjoyed reading everyone’s comments on all the different posts you’ve made during the challenge even more. I think a wonderful sense of community was found in all our love of these different books. Which lead to reading tons of great reviews and visiting numerous new blogs for me. Even though I didn’t finish all my challenge books this time I look forward to trying much harder during RIP to accomplish my goals.
yes! it was truly wonderful and i read SEVERAL things I would not have otherwise picked up. I joined a “second helpings” challenge and have picked Neverwhere as one of the titles as a result of reading American Gods.
my final post can be found here:
http://think_pink.typepad.com/books/2007/06/once_upon_a_tim.html
Update: If you have sent me a Tiny Story, please let me know in the comments section here as I want to make sure I actually did receive it. I would hate to have had anyone do all the work and then not get entered into the contest.
I will continue to visit the fantasy challenge site, as I know more will be listed, just not at a challenge..
“the beetle wants more?!” ..you betcha!
You really work so hard at this site for all of us who enjoy reading… I would curtsy to you but I no longer wear dresses! .. so you will have to settle for a big “THANK YOU CARL”
yes, yes, yes I know you know I sent a tiny story!
Another huge THANK YOU for hosting this challenge, Carl!
I sent you my Tiny Story earlier on Carl – hope it reached you ok, let me know if not!
Got yours, Elaine. Thanks.
First – that edition of MND is gorgeous! I may have to buy a new copy!
Second – I completed the challenge! I actually exceeded it, since I read more than 5 books. Once I finished MND (hopefully tonight) I’ll have seven. My review post should be up today or tomorrow. Getting ready for July Estella is taking up a bit of my extra PC time!
Thirdly, thank you Carl, for yet again coming up with such a fantastic reading challenge. Yours are definitely the best! I can’t wait for RIP2!
Okay, I HAVE to get a copy of the Rackham illustrated MSND. Amazing!
You should indeed have a tiny story from me!
I’m very melancholy about this challenge being over as well. It’s been such a great experience and I’ve enjoyed reading all of the wonderful reviews and meeting so many great people. I think what I’ve enjoyed more than anything is seeing so many people discovering this genre of literature that I’ve loved for so long. It’s been great!
Thanks again for this great challenge, Carl. I enjoyed every minute of it!
Oh! And congrats to Suzanne!!!!
I’m with Chris – I LOVE Arthur Rackman, so I really need a copy of that edition!
Thanks again for everything, Carl. It was a wonderful experience. I’m sad to see it come to an end, but I’m very happy to know there will be more next year.
Unfortunately I did not have the time to write a Tiny Story 🙁 May and June were much more stressful than I had predicted.
Good luck to everyone participating, though! I will love seeing your efforts at the end.
Thank goodness I’ve got until midnight! Great idea for a challenge, Carl. I’m listening to a Midsummer’s Night’s Dream as I type.
I sent you a tiny story.
This challenge has really helped me focus on my reading, and I appreciate it. I didn’t finish all the books I wanted to, but read some really good ones and made me realize the books I own are far better than what’s on TV!!
Thank you for the Once Upon a Time Challenge and all the related activities. I can imagine it must have been alot of work. I had a great time participating and reading the blogs of other participants. I sent you a Tiny Story. Did you receive it?
Yes, I got yours aichaku. Thanks.
I wanted you to know how much I enjoyed reading the books in the Challenge and the wonderfully creative manner in which you kept coming up with new ideas throughout. What a lot of work you put into this. I, too, feel sad that it’s come to an end, except for the many books I have written down from people’s lists. Glad you liked the book; I was thrilled when I found it. And…I already have five books waiting for RIP. Congratulations, Suzanne, for winning the draw. Gosh, this is sad.
Well, I’ve settled everyone into bed (husband, mom, son), and I’m about to post the beginnings of the last two reviews I owe for the challenge (Greenmantle and Silver Birch, Blood Moon), and then hunker down with MND.
It’s been a helluva day, which I’m sure I’ll post details of…later. I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to get to any of my unread Gaiman’s before midnight, but that’s just how things go sometimes.
More detailed thanks, kudos, etc. to follow
Appreciate the wishes for good dreams tonight. May I wish the same for you. Thanks for doing this fun challenge!
Being as I am a last minute kind of girl, I didn’t get most of my reviews in until the last minute. But they are in!
I sent you the tiny story three times! I hope one of them made it through .
Thanks for the challenge, Carl, it was lots of fun!
what great challenge!
the post introducing it really inspired me and reminded me of how wonderful the genre can be and what a difference fantasy has made in our lives.
Yep, I got it Homie.
And thank you everyone! 🙂
I sent a tiny story – though if you haven’t gotten it by now it’s probably WELL beyond too late. 🙂
It was a fun time, Carl. Good challenge!
I got yours, RB, no worries!
Thanks for the challenge Carl. I only managed to finish two of the five books but I had lots of fun!
And so begins summer, which I had never thought of as sad until this year. Thank you again for hosting the Challenge! I submitted a Tiny Story (crossing my fingers that it made it).
I too will continue to use the review site to post more reviews and I look forward to reading the ones that others continue to post.
Oh, and congrats Suzanne!
Wow, that went fast. Great idea for a challenge, Carl! Here’s my linkhttp://mymiddlenameispatience.typepad.com/my_middle_name_is_patienc/2007/06/whew-the-longes.html#comments:
I wish I could have been more involved with all the wonderful activities during the challenge, but I did have fun reading other bloggers’ reviews of their picks and my wishlist is considerably longer. Thanks for hosting the challenge, Carl.
I do hope that it is not true, that my midsummer’s night’s dreams will come true. My bedtime reading of late hasn’t been to pleasant and while I cannot remember my dreams from last night, I am sure it is a good thing. 🙂
That is probably true for many of us, LF! Of course we could probably classify all of the unpleasant dreams as nightmares thus making the word ‘dreams’ apply only to the good stuff and then it would be okay to wish for this.
Carl, it was great fun to dip my toes into fantasy: a new genre for me to become more familiar with. I only read four of the books I’d planned, and I know it’s too late to properly submit because I was in Wisconsin at the due date. Computer-less. But, tangible prizes aren’t the only incentive. I feel that I won on many levels: being exposed to exciting titles which were being read; finding wonderful new blogger friends (such as Carl, Quixotic, and Nymeth), and the spark I feel toward trying more Fantasy/Mythology books. I’m glad you sponsored this Challenge.
I really enjoyed this challenge and look forward to hearing more about the RIP one. I love your blog so will keep visiting 🙂
Glad to have you, Rhinoa, and thanks. 🙂