Happy Ending Is Put on Ice

The story develops in the unassailable Granite Mountain and the blossoming Lemon Drop Valley. The daughter of the Granite Mountain's king is abducted by the vicious dwarf Zhabrey. As the royal vizier pledges to catch the abductor, the king unveils the secret of a hidden path between Granite Mountain and Lemon Drop Valley. Our hero, Spark, overhears the conversation and takes the task upon himself. He finds the princess, loses her twice and ends up guarding her in captivity. From Spark, she learns the hidden place of the magic machine that helps her to return to Lemon Drop Valley. By rescuing herself, she breaks faith with Spark. But dutiful Spark persists with his mission of catching the princess' abductor. He suffers one fiasco after another until he, finally, intercepts the cunning dwarf. The story has a two-fold ending, a truthful and a deceptive one. One of them will allow the author to stick to her guns and publish the sequel to Spark's adventure. ''It mesmerizes like a dream with unpredictable landscapes, emerging at every step of its plot.'' - A. Usachev, poet, children writer ''... The beauty of this bold creation consists in that we can never say for sure whether the hero is immersed in a wonderful dream or he experiences everything for real...'' - O. Bulgakowa, Professor of Film - Gutenberg University, Mayence, Germany ''The author provides an intriguing twist on many concepts of fantasy with her own Lemon Drop Valley, with her own brand of magic and wonder... The incredible anime-influenced illustrations of high artistic quality and daring, enhanced, imaginative, action-oriented characters and plot twists.'' - James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review ''This cryptic, undying tale of a magical author will not disappoint either real children or the child in older readers... Beautifully illustrated in full color, the art animates alien worlds that are new yet simultaneously familiar terrain, as the courageous and charming hero, Spark, is torn between Granite Mountain and Lemon Drop Valley.'' - A. Gendler-Schmitt, editor - Evanston, Illinois, USA ''A fantasy story in the tradition of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Andersen and J.R.R. Tolkien written by Russian author Asya Pekurovskaya and lovingly, creatively illustrated by Olga Titova!'' - Judith Nasse, author, teacher, critic - Taos, New Mexico, USA ''I loved the definition of burlesque and the musings on Nothing.... The ending - which, like the thoughts about nothing, is quite Shakespearian - is a tour de force, playfully refusing the obvious or anticipated conclusion.'' - Hellen Wilcox, Professor of English at Bangor University - Wales, UK