New Book: When Rose Wakes by Christopher Golden

When Rose Wakes by Christopher Golden (Kindle edition) was released last week.  It's been on the SurLaLune 2010 new releases list but somehow I got the release date wrong. From the title, it's easy to guess that Sleeping Beauty provides some of the inspiration for this novel.

Book description from the publisher:

Her terrifying dreams are nothing compared to the all-too-real nightmare that awaits. . . .

An enchanting tale by Christopher Golden about a teenager who wakes from a coma and slowly comes to realize that she is Sleeping Beauty of fairy tales.

Ever since sixteen-year-old Rose DuBois woke up from months in a coma with absolutely no memories, she's had to start from scratch. She knows she loves her two aunts who take care of her, and that they all used to live in France, but everything else from her life before is a blank.

Rose tries to push through the memory gaps and start her new life, attending high school and living in Boston with her aunts, who have seriously old world ideas. Especially when it comes to boys.

But despite their seemingly irrational fears and odd superstitions, they insist Rose not worry about the eerie dreams she's having, vivid nightmares that she comes to realize are strangely like the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. The evil witch, the friendly fairies, a curse that puts an entire town to sleep - Rose relives the frightening story every night. And when a mysterious raven-haired woman starts following her, Rose begins to wonder if she is the dormant princess. And now that she's awake, she's in terrible, terrible danger. . . .

You can also read more about the author on his website.

Golden previously worked on a fairy tale inspired graphic novel, Baltimore or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden, which has received strong reviews over the years.  Here's its description while we're here:

On a cold autumn night, under a black sky leeched of starlight and absent the moon, Captain Henry Baltimore clutched his rifle and stared across the dark abyss of the battlefield, and knew in his heart that these were the torture fields of Hell, and damnation awaited mere steps ahead.

From celebrated comic artist Mike Mignola and award-winning novelist Christopher Golden comes a work of gothic storytelling like no other. Reminiscent of the illustrated tales of old, here is a lyrical, atmospheric novel of the paranormal -- and a chilling allegory for the nature of war.

"Why do dead men rise up to torment the living?" Captain Henry Baltimore asks the malevolent winged creature.

The vampire shakes its head. "It was you called us. All of you, with your war. The roar of your cannons shook us from our quiet graves . . . You killers. You berserkers . . . You will never be rid of us now."

When Lord Henry Baltimore awakens the wrath of a vampire on the hellish battlefields of World War I, the world is forever changed. For a virulent plague has been unleashed -- a plague that even death cannot end.

Now the lone soldier in an eternal struggle against darkness, Baltimore summons three old friends to a lonely inn -- men whose travels and fantastical experiences incline them to fully believe in the evil that is devouring the soul of mankind. As the men await their old friend, they share their tales of terror and misadventure, and contemplate what part they will play in Baltimore’s timeless battle. Before the night is through, they will learn what is required to banish the plague -- and the creature who named Baltimore his nemesis -- once and for all.