The Woodcutter family has magic aplenty. Saturday is the "normal" one... until she actually conjured an ocean behind her family's house. 
 But that's only the beginning of Saturday's journey, in the sequel to Alethea Kontis' charming "Enchanted." "Hero" is a slightly more rough'n'tumble affair -- reflecting Saturday's personality -- but there's still plenty of fae magic, special talents and fairy-tales come to life. Yes, if you thought she had run out of fairy tales to plumb in "Enchanted," you were dead wrong. 
 Saturday is the "ordinary" Woodcutter sister, with no magic or special talents. Her only interesting characteristic is a magic sword, which she spends her time training with so she can leave for parts unknown. 
 Then the Woodcutters receive word that Trix's mother has died. He uses magic so he can escape... but not before Saturday accidentally conjures an ocean with a magic mirror. Fortunately, royal relations mean that Saturday can easily get a ship and set out on a quest to find her cousin/brother... and immediately be captured by an evil lorelei witch who imprisons her at The Top Of The World. 
 Why? Because the lorelei mistook her for her brother Jack, who stole her eyes. She wants them back, or she'll take Saturday's. 
 In the meantime, the lorelei gives Saturday increasingly difficult tasks, which she is only able to accomplish with the help of the witch's "daughter" (actually a miserable guy enchanted to look like her daughter) Peregrine, who quickly falls in love with her. Together, they try to figure out a way to kill the lorelei and save the world -- and only Saturday's "godstuff" may be able to do the job. 
 If "Enchanted" was all about the magic in the Woodcutter family (and their special gifts), then "Hero" is exactly what the title indicates: the tale of a sword-swinging young hero out on her own adventure. It's a grittier, rough-and-tumble story, and Alethea Kontis relies more on her own fantastical creations than a hodgepodge of interlinked fairy tales. 
 But she still manages to weave a few classic stories in there -- as well as an intricate plot of dragons, demons, witches, a chimera, enchanted mirrors and a magic sword. Her prose is nimble and clever, with sparkling dialogue and plenty of clever humor even in the darker portions of the book (the witch's blindness causes her to not notice that her "daughter" is actually a guy). 
 The biggest flaw is that sometimes the action seems to jump around. For instance, Saturday ends up in the lorelei's dungeon so unexpectedly that even she is confused. I certainly was. 
 But Saturday is a fun heroine in the Robin McKinley mold -- she's gawky, blunt and tomboyish, and her dreams are of adventure and swordplay rather than romance. In fact, when she realizes Peregrine is falling for her, she's more chagrined than flattered. And as the titular hero, she gets to take what is usually the male role: rescuer, butt-kicker and solution to all the problems. 
 Peregrine is more the damsel in need of rescue... and not just because he's been enchanted to be more feminine-looking. He's a nice, ordinary guy who was unfortunate enough to resemble the lorelei's daughter, and his clever interactions with Saturday and the chimera Betwixt are delightful. 
 "Hero" fits its heroine nicely -- a rougher, more original story with a strong, clever heroine, and it leaves you wanting to hear more about the Woodcutter clan. A charming companion to "Enchanted."