Point of View

The novel is written in third person from an omniscient perspective. This is necessary because there are multiple storylines woven together. The author does not follow every single character all the time. For example, the woodcutter is left alone when Sister Witch is at the queen's castle and Ned is in the forest with the Bandit King. The reader sees only what happens to him after Madame Thuane finds him. This is appropriate for the omniscient perspective. The narrator is able to inform the reader of things that some characters do not know. For example, Ned grows up in a small village near a forest. Everyone is afraid of the forest because of stories of the monstrous things there, but no one in the village remembers the real history that led to those fears. During a scene involving the Stones, the narrator reveals the past...