Tag Archives: Troll’s-Eye View

The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces by Ellen Kushner

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Overview
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Title: The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces
Author: Ellen Kushner
In: Troll’s-Eye View (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Family
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: I couldn’t be responsible for all those men, as well as my horrible sisters.

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Synopsis

Sometimes being the eldest really sucks. Especially when you have eleven younger sisters who are determined to dance the night away. That is, until the “responsible” one finds a way out of their situation.

Thoughts

I’m an older sister. And it doesn’t matter how old my younger sister and I are. It doesn’t matter where life takes us. I will always be her big sister. And I will always feel responsible for her. And protective of her. So it’s really nice to read a short story that reminds me that I’m not the only one in this position. That is uses the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses just makes it all the more fun and engaging.

Although this short story is in a collection about villains, I didn’t really feel that there was a villain in this story. after all, the oldest sister is just trying to watch out for the younger ones. Alright, they’re kind of bratty… but no one was truly evil. Or really cast as a villain in the story. But, mostly, I love the fact that although you can understand why the sister does what she does… everyone ultimately gets a nice ending and happiness.

 <- Up the Down Beanstalk ReviewPuss in Boots, the Sequel Review ->
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Up the Down Beanstalk by Peter S. Beagle

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
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Title: Up the Down Beanstalk: A Wife Remembers
Author: Peter S. Beagle
In: Troll’s-Eye View (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Comedy, Easy reading, Fairy tales
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: The things they believe about us down there!

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Synopsis

We all know about Jack’s journey up the beanstalk – but what really happened up there? The giant’s wife reveals all!

Thoughts

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.

 <- Rags and Riches ReviewThe Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces Review ->
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Rags and Riches by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Book Review, , ,
Overview
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Title: Rags and Riches
Author: Nina Kiriki Hoffman
In: Troll’s-Eye View (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Villains
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: The water looks so call and fresh.

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Synopsis

Nina Kiriki Hoffman retells the old fable of the Goosegirl… from the villains point of view.

Thoughts

I remember the story of the goose girl from my recent reading of Grimm fairy tales. But, it took me a little while to connect that storyline with Hoffman’s Rags and Riches. I just thought that this was a story that halfway explains the cruelty of a maid. It wasn’t until the end that I recognised her punishment and the actual storyline.

This was one of those villain stories that makes you understand why the bad guy starts down the path that she does. But, it reaches a certain point where she crosses a line and you loose all sympathy. I also loved the way in which Hoffman is able to explain how she pronounces her own punishment. I too have never understood how the villains in many of the early, early fairy tales don’t realise that it is their own crime being repeated back. Finally, Rags and Riches manages to help explain this. In a way that wasn’t tedious, frivolous or irritating. But a way that actually made sense.

 <- Faery Tales ReviewUp the Down Beanstalk Review ->
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Faery Tales by Wendy Froud

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
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Title: Faery Tales
Author: Wendy Froud
In: Troll’s-Eye View (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Poetry, Villains
Pace: Fast
Format: Poem
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: wished, as I had done.

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Synopsis

A poem that looks at the three different stages of women throughout fairy tales. It asks (and answers) the question “what happens after happily-ever-after”?

Thoughts

I really loved this poem. I tend to find with poetry, some things just strike me beautifully, and some don’t really pull me in at all. But, probably because this is a story that is based on the women of fairy tales, I adored it. There was a great passage of time throughout the three stanzas and they captured the ways in which we change over time.

What I liked most about this poetic tale was that it starts with the innocents – the goosegirls, the princesses. Then it travels to their happy endings – the princesses, the mothers. But, ultimately, it shows how these happy endings turn into not-so-happy-endings – the stepmothers and the evil witches. There is great duality right throughout this tale.

 <- An Unwelcome Guest ReviewRags and Riches Review ->
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Wizard’s Apprentice by Delia Sherman

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
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Title: Wizard’s Apprentice
Author: Delia Sherman
In: Troll’s-Eye View (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fairy tales, Villains, Wizards
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: And leave your boots by the door.

Synopsis

The evil wizard in the bookshop is about to take on a new apprentice, but their relationship is not all as it seems.

Thoughts

This short story made me smile. It’s a great start to a collection of villain-based rewritings of fairy tales. For starters, the evil wizard that is a pretty common standpoint of many fairy tales and modern retellings is not at all what you would expect. The apprentice (who I thought was going to be eaten or turned into a toad) is from the background that I was anticipating, but the actual apprentice himself wasn’t even remotely who I thought he would be.

This is the second short story that I have read by Delia Sherman, and something about her writing manages to infuse a subtle, cheeky sense of humour into her tale telling. Wizard’s Apprentice is a little less subtle than the other stories I’ve read by her, but it still has that great twisting joy that I’m beginning to associate with her name. It’s especially joyful and obvious at the conclusion of the short stories, there is a fun and entertaining twist that leaves a happy little smile lingering across my lips.

<- Troll’s-Eye ViewAn Unwelcome Guest ->

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An Unwelcome Guest by Garth Nix

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Overview

To Hold the BridgeTitle: An Unwelcome Guest
Author: Garth Nix
In: To Hold the Bridge (Garth Nix) & Troll’s-Eye View (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Easy reading, Fantasy, Witches
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: ‘Won’t do any good, but I’ll call,’ said Jenny.

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Synopsis

Garth Nix has a brilliant spin on the traditional tale of Rapunzel… and how to get rid of spoilt brats.

Thoughts

I love new spins on old stories. After all, there is something about faery tales that brings us back again and again and again. And An Unwelcome Guest is a brilliant way to reimagine Rapunzel. Nix’s spin on such a classic left me outright laughing and grinning. It was cute, funny and not at all what I was expecting.

Like the well-known Wicked, An Unwelcome Guest takes the villain of the tale of Rapunzel (the wicked witch) and makes her good. It then twists Rapunzel into a spoilt brat under some kind of weird compulsion. Her rescue into an attempt to kick her out. And the happy ending a small girl running away in tears with her soccer boots still on. Like I said, it was a great way to twist and turn a well-known faery tale into something more and in my opinion, thoroughly enjoyable. Certainly much more humorous than the original tale anyway.

<- The Curious Case of the Moondawn Daffodil Murder Review The Highest Justice Review ->
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