Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures. Especially when you’re married to a laird who won’t even look at you…
The beginning of this story wasn’t quite what I expected. I
was really expecting a kidnap from the very start that possibly lead to a love
and marriage. Instead it started with a marriage, and the kidnapping doesn’t
occur until about halfway through. Though it works brilliantly and beautifully.
And I turned the last page of this book with a great smile on my face.
This story starts off with an estranged couple, and quickly
fills in the backstory as to their epic failing at being a couple. Even though
it’s pretty obvious that they’re going to reconcile their differences fairly quickly
in this story. After all, it’s in a romance collection. It’s still intriguing
and captivating the ways in which the two stubborn fools manage to make their
relationship work and start on a new adventure… together.
Rumplestiltskin has always seemed such an odd name for one of the “fair folk”, but was it his real name? Here Michael Cadnum offers an alternative point of view to the classical fairy tale.
I never quite realised how weird a name ‘Rumpelstiltskin’
is. It’s just a name that has always been. But when you read a cute little
short story about how odd that is, you start to realise that it is quite an
absurd name…
There were two things that I loved about this short story.
The first was the fact that Rumpelstiltskin started out as kind
of a benevolent figure. He is constantly helping and assisting others towards a
greater future. This is so completely at odds with the original and my understanding
of him that I was kind of taken aback. Even his assistance of the girl spinning
straw into gold came from a good place. It was just her attitude that turned it
into something more sinister.
I don’t like the idea of eating babies. I thought I should
start with that, since I actually loved the fact that a baby was eaten in this story…
it kind of seemed like justice to the annoyances of the previously thought of
victim of the story. A poetic kind of revenge.
Title: In Memory of a Summer’s Day Author: Matthew Kressel In: Mad Hatters and March Hares (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Easy reading, Fantasy, Wordplay Dates read: 28th January 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Tor Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: Can we play with them, forever and ever?
Tours to Wonderland aren’t quite what one would expect… and they can leave you a little bit twisted and turned around. Whether you are a guest or a tour guide.
I don’t know if I’d ever willingly go on a tour through
Wonderland. There just seems to be far too much that can, and will, go wrong. And
this short story reinforces that idea. I definitely only ever want to read
about Alice’s adventures… the real place just seems far too dangerous and
bizarre.
Although this short story isn’t as heavy on the wordplay as
some of the others in this collection, it is still kind of twisting and turning
in the way it tells the narrative. Kind of like the original journey through
wonderland… it is kind of hard to keep track of what exactly is happening and
where they are. Yet, there are all of the hallmarks that everyone remembers
from the original. Including Alice. Which was kind of sad…
Title: The Princess in the Tower Author: Elizabeth A. Lynn In: Snow White, Blood Red (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fairy tales, Food Date read: 28th January 2019 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Signet Year: 1993 5th sentence, 74th page: After the examination, he told Margherita to go outside, where she was instantly encircled by a small crowd of delighted urchins, who speculated aloud about the fatal, wasting disease she had obviously contracted.
Margherita can’t seem to put on the weight that characterises the rest of her family. So they decide to put her in a tower to save her from her madness. Luckily for her, a nice young gentleman comes along and loves her… just the way she is.
This is the second Rapunzel story in the Snow White, Blood Red collection. And it is far more light-hearted and entertaining than the first. Where the previous story was a little dark and twisted, this one was fun, happy and had me smiling throughout. It also made me a little hungry with the constant mentions of pasta and food.
This short story really turns the idea of beauty on its
head. Instead of being beautiful for her slenderness, Margherita is thought to
be sick and mad. It makes those who are large and curvy beautiful, and those
who are slender somehow “wrong”. A great way to flip current societal norms on
its head. I also love that in the happily-ever-after a gain in weight and a lot
of food feature. Again, something that wouldn’t normally involve a
happily-ever-after and one that I really loved.
Title: Run, Rabbit Author: Angela Slatter In: Mad Hatters and March Hares (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Easy reading, Fantasy Dates read: 27th January 2019 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Tor Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: He knows what to look for in newcomers
Rabbit is on the run from the Queen. But it isn’t until he is caught that he realises what a twisted trap he has laid for himself.
Sometimes it is fun to imagine what happens to the characters after you turn the last page of the story. Especially when you are dealing with characters such as Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It’s not a story that has a clear beginning and ending. And it’s one that leaves a lot of imaginative license – there aren’t a lot of very specific plot lines and it gives a lot of fluidity and manoeuvrability to the storyline.
This short story takes the idea of “what happens after” and
creates a whole new narrative. One in which the Rabbit is something a little
more evil. A little more twisted, and even Alice is turned into a darker and
more sinister version. Which, on rereading the original storylines, I can
completely understand the dark and twisty storyline and feeling.
It is the fifth year of the Lord Protector’s rule and while life has always been hard for the gypsies, since Oliver Cromwell has seized control of England, life has become harder than ever.
Emilila and Luka Finch’s family have been accused of vagrancy and murder, and thrown into gaol with only three weeks to live. Emilia and Luka’s grandmother believes that only the collection of six ancient gypsy charms will see them escape the hangman’s noose.
Emilia and Luka are now on a dangerous quest to find all six charms and with a little bit of luck – or, as Emilia believes, magice – save their family from the gallows. They have the first, an old gold coin, but now they seek the second precious charm.
The charm, they believe, lies with the horse-trading Hearne family. But the Hearnes are reluctant to help, let alone give up their treasured talisman. With Coldham close on their heels, Emilia and Luka must race against time to win the support of the Hearnes – all the while trying to keep a grumpy old brown bear out of sight and out of trouble.
The second book in this exciting six-book series about the adventures of two daring children, a monkey, a dog and a dancing bear in search of the chain of charms.
I found this story kind of sad. Emilia and Luka are on the
next step of their journey to try and find help for their family. And yet, the
people who are supposed to be closer than kin are the very ones who turn their
backs on the children. And also decide to take advantage of them. No matter
that it is a family trying to take care of themselves, my heart broke a little
for both gypsy children the further the story unfolds.
This is a reread of the Chain of Charms series, and although it has been over a year between rereading the first story, The Gypsy Crown, and this, the second, I still get that same great joy of the tale. And, as I’ve gotten older and revisited this story, I am realising more and more how amazing Forsyth’s talent is at mixing historical fact with imaginative fiction. The blending of the two, and the notes at the end of the story which highlight the facts and fiction intertwine beautifully.
As a child, there was something intriguing and alluring
about being a gypsy. Probably for me, the no shoes and no permanent abode. I’ve
mostly lost that intrigue (I can’t have a library like mine if I lived on the
road). But, there is still something of that childish and innocent desire to
explore the world. That nostalgia for a time and peoples that I’ve never met or
experienced. It makes me incredibly excited to pick up the next in this story
and continue my very enjoyable journey down nostalgia-lane.
When a strange man comes to town, one sister thinks that she’s found the answer to her happily ever after. But, all is not as it seems and it may take the gumption of her sister to help her escape the trap she has set for herself.
I haven’t yet had the chance to read the original Bluebeard fairy tale (I don’t think). But I did thoroughly enjoy Angela Carter’sretelling. So it was kind of fun to read a far more innocent and simpler retelling. One in which the villain suddenly becomes something completely different and offers an entirely new perspective to an otherwise dark and twisted tale.
Where Carter’s retelling is about the woman triumphing in a way that she wasn’t able to in the original, Farmer’s is about retelling the story from an entirely different point of view. She almost Disney-fied the tale. And sometimes that just frustrates me, yet this worked kind of beautifully. Not only by intertwining historical facts, but also in keeping to many of the key themes that seem to run through these two stories.
Castle Othello is
a completely innocent story. One that, surprisingly, instead of frustrating me
was thoroughly enjoyable. And I was actually quite sad to turn the last page on
such a sweet, happy ending.
We all know about Jack’s journey up the beanstalk – but what really happened up there? The giant’s wife reveals all!
I love different points of view on fairy tales. And Jack and
the Beanstalk is an incredibly well-known tale. The fact that this story is
told with him as a kind of villain made this thoroughly enjoyable. After all,
if you think about it… how does the good guy end up killing someone and stealing
things? There is nothing very virtuous and “good” about this at all.
Although Jack is mildly cast in the role of villain… he is
also looked upon with favour by the giant’s wife. After all, it is all from her
point of view, and the frustrated affection she feels towards her husband (ew,
who is called Harvey?) highlights her independence and intelligence. The fact
that Jack is as quick-witted and quick-footed as the giantess and an equal
match for her just made everything all the more entertaining. Especially when
you consider the brilliant ending of this story.
Title: Conjoined Author: Jane Yolen In: Mad Hatters and March Hares (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Animagus, Easy reading, Fantasy Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Tor Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: “The value,” he used to say, “is not what a thing is worth intrinsically but what someone is willing to pay for it.”
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are constantly fighting, but that isn’t what makes their ape friend travel to Wonderland. Rather, a cheshire cat, a battle with the Jabber Wocky and a series of rather interesting events send him forth.
I thought that this story was going to be about Tweedledee
and Tweedledum. Until I slowly realised that it is about an orangutan in the
circus… which Tweedledee and Tweedledum are part of. Talk about a rapid change
of direction!
Tweedledee and Tweedledum are both such humorous characters,
but it wasn’t until I read this story that I really wondered how such human-like
creatures could be in Wonderland. And then it really wasn’t until the very end
that I felt like this was a great beginnings story. How the Tweedles made it to
Wonderland, where the idea of “off with your head” came from… and so many other
things.
The connectivity between modern-day circus performers and
acts, the Cheshire Cat and the world of Wonderland was incredibly fun. And I
was mostly just disappointed that the story was over so quickly… after all, I
wanted to know more about the man-ape that took centre stage.
Title: The Frog Prince Author: Gahan Wilson In: Snow White, Blood Red (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Comedy, Easy reading, Fairy tales Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Signet Year: 1993 5th sentence, 74th page: Sometimes, lying there, he wondered if he was making visible rivulets and pools beneath himself on the surface of the couch.
Everyone needs a shrink sometimes… even a frog prince.
I really enjoyed this story – it took the well-known trope
of a frog prince and turned it around a little. For starters… the frog is still
a frog… for another thing, his entire story is told in a weird, dream-like
state.
There’s something about therapy offices that have a very
distinctive feel. The couch that the characters lie on (I never did this in
therapy, but it always seems to be in the media…), the stress…. And in the case
of the frog prince, the constant sweating. It added an extra sense of realism
and an increase in the stakes of the storyline as the amphibian royalty unfolds
his latest dream.
Originally I thought that this short story was about the
frog prince’s happily ever after going a little skewy, but, as it turns out, it
is more about a loss of hope and trying to find one’s dream…
Earth and Skye 