Tag Archives: Villains

The Root of the Matter by Gregory Frost

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for snow white, blood red book cover

Title: The Root of the Matter
Author: Gregory Frost
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: Fairy tales,
Villains
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Signet
Year: 1993
5th sentence, 74th page: The Others had seen it coming much sooner.

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Synopsis

Mother Gothel and Rapunzel tell their stories in this slightly horrific and intense retelling of Rapunzel. Not for the young… or the faint of heart.

Thoughts

As with many of the retellings in Snow White, Blood Red, The Root of the Matter was filled with a sexuality that is almost missing from the traditional fairy tales. I say almost because it does kind of linger in the originals, but it’s possible to ignore and read in total innocence. You can’t read The Root of the Matter in total innocence. You can’t read it in any semblance of innocence for that matter.

Rapunzel has always been a fairy tale that I’ve enjoyed. And when I finally discovered the full version as an adult (the one with the blinding and wondering the desert), it made me love it all the more. There is just something about this story. And the fact that there is an eventual happy ending, even though there is a lot of suffering simply endears it to me all the more. After all, I tend to find that the happiest and sweetest of endings come from the sufferings. Can’t see the light without the dark and all of that nonsense. So it was really nice that although this was a very adult version of Rapunzel, it still had that happy ending. The living forever after together after both had faced their trials.

This is definitely a short story and retelling that is going to linger. It is almost the original, but with a much more adult spin on it that both disturbs and works beautifully.

 <- I Shall Do Thee Mischief in the Wood ReviewThe Princess in the Tower Review ->
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Troll by Jane Yolen

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for troll's-eye view book cover

Title: Troll
Author: Jane Yolen
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: But Troll, having no imagination, could not fathom what that splash and crash meant.

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Synopsis

Troll is small and doesn’t have much imagination. But that doesn’t stop him from making sure he has a decent meal every once in a while.

Thoughts

There’s something about trolls that is always… I guess amusing. Probably because they are often cast as dumb, lumbering and far south of thoughtful. And, this short story really doesn’t do anything to dispel those ideas. What it does do is take a creature that is traditionally gross and smelly and making him… well, kind of cute.

Although Troll is still kind of a villain in this story (he keeps eating others), it’s hard to dislike him. That very cute, dopey characterisation makes him seem like just a happy bystander to the eating of the goats and other creatures. It doesn’t make it feel like a story in which there is really a bad guy or a good guy. Rather a young fool trying to survive, and a heap of other fools who keep going near him…

 <- The Boy Who Cried Wolf ReviewCastle Othello Review ->
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I Shall Do Thee Mischief in the Wood by Kathe Koja

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Image result for snow white, blood red book coverTitle: I Shall Do Thee Mischief in the Wood
Author: Kathe Koja
In: Snow White, Blood Red (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Villains
Pace: Slow, Medium, Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Signet
Year: 1993
5th sentence, 74th page: The inn-tavern was hot, hot almost as the departed day, crowded with those with something to sell, vice or service, proferring to the retinue what did not first interest their lord.

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Synopsis

Red Riding Hood is poor, young and, too many, a little simple. So when a predator from another town fixates on her, and follows her into the woods, you think you know what’s going to happen. But you don’t. Because this is a very twisted fairy tale retelling.

Thoughts

In the collection, Snow White, Blood Red, I Shall Do Thee Mischief follows directly after Little Red. And I had to put this book down after Little Red because of the ick factor. So when I found out that there was a second story based on this fairy tale. Also with a sexual component… I’ll admit that I was kind of concerned. And uncomfortable. There is only so much ick I can read before I have to change over to the happy and carefree stories. Luckily for me, although the sexuality was still there, it wasn’t so intense. Or icky.

I did have to read the last page of this short story twice to feel like I fully understood what happened. And I’m still not entirely sure if my take is “correct”. But from what I absorbed… the young girl was completely able to turn the tables on her would-be predator. And, since that’s the kind of ending that I like… I’m going to stick with it.

 <- Little Red ReviewThe Root of the Matter Review ->
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The Boy Who Cried Wolf by Holly Black

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for troll's-eye view book cover

Title: The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Author: Holly Black
In: Troll’s-Eye View (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Villains, Werewolves
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: There was barely any wind, and the swells were small.

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Synopsis

When a young lad sniffs a flower, he quickly finds out that not everything he reads about in books is fiction. Will he have what it takes to save his family?

Thoughts

While I really enjoyed this short story, what bumped up my great opinion of it was Black’s explanation for why she wrote it in the first place. On childhood vacations, she often wished that she could turn into a wolf and eat her family – so she wrote about a boy who could. And, honestly, who hasn’t felt like that on a family vacation?

This was a fun, easy and quick read. It took the idea of a boy who doesn’t quite fit in and twisted and turned it into a tale that was a little bit scary, a little bit about being right and a lot about family. It has that darkness that I tend to associate with Holly Black and one that I thoroughly enjoy.

 <- Puss in Boots, the Sequel ReviewTroll Review ->
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Little Red by Wendy Wheeler

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for snow white, blood red book cover

Title: Little Red
Author: Wendy Wheeler
In: Snow White, Blood Red (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales,
Villains
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Signet
Year: 1993
5th sentence, 74th page: I wish you would buy me riding boots and dungarees.

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Synopsis

In this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf is far more terrifying than the original. There is a far more modern setting. And the grandmother is just a lingering memory watching over the horrors of her granddaughters life.

Thoughts

This short retelling of Red Riding Hood lost half a point because of the creep factor. The creep factor still made the story thoroughly enjoyable and a perfect addition to a series of adult fairy tale retellings. But I didn’t like the feelings I got when I finished it. Hence the deduction of half a point.

I actually really enjoyed the shifting of a wolfish predator from traditional fairy-tale land to a modern day setting. Not only did it work immensely well, but it increased the sense of warning and horror that I’m sure the original story would have had. After all, the original fairy tales were not happily ever afters and nice. They were horrible, ended with some pretty intense torture and murder half the time and were mostly designed to show you how wrong your reality can go if you don’t heed the warnings.

And this story did exactly that. It showed the horrors of the modern world and what one person’s downfall can do to another. How predators and wolves lurk around every corner, and even with the thin veneer of civility, you can still be in a lot of danger. Did I mention that there was a pretty high creep factor in this story?

 <- Snow-Drop ReviewI Shall Do Thee Mischief in the Wood Review ->
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Snow-Drop by Tanith Lee

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for snow white, blood red book cover

Title: Snow-Drop
Author: Tanith Lee
In: Snow White, Blood Red (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) & Redder Than Blood (Tanith Lee)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales,
Villains
Pace: Slow, Medium, Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Signet
Year: 1993
5th sentence, 74th page: However.

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Synopsis

Tanith Lee provides an alternate (and slightly disturbed) take on Snow White that will leave you thinking about it, and feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

Thoughts

Not all fairy tales have a happy ending, and in the case of Snow Drop, there is most certainly not a happy ending. At least for Snow Drop… I’m still not sure whether the ending was happy or just twisted for Cristena…

I honestly thought by the name of this short story that there would be an innocent at some point throughout. Whether it was the reworked Snow White, the reworked step mother, or some vague bystander. I thought that in some way, there would be a purity and innocence to this story that would contrast with the darkness.

I was wrong.

So very, very wrong. There is no innocence in this story. There is no purity, and the depths of depravity throughout the story just kept on exceeding my expectations. Not that I minded… it was just enough “huh” to make this story impossible to put down and even more impossible to forget.

 <- Stalking Beans ReviewLittle Red Review ->
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Stalking Beans by Nancy Kress

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for snow white, blood red book cover

Title: Stalking Beans
Author: Nancy Kress
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: Fairy tales, Villains
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Signet
Year: 1993
5th sentence, 74th page: The hay is thick and yellow in the fields of the manor house.

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Synopsis

Was Jack really the innocent that he seemed to be? Nancy Kress provides an incredibly different take on this traditional fairy tale, one that doesn’t shed the most flattering of lights on Jack’s adventures up the beanstalk.

Thoughts

It wasn’t until reading this story that made me seriously question the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. After all, it’s a great little fairy tale that we’ve all grown up with. Until you really start to think about the what he actually does. He breaks into a giant’s house, steals his belongings and kills the man. Alright, in the fairy tale he is trying to eat Jack, but what if that’s all a figment of his retelling? What if he was actually just a bit of a douche?

In this retelling, Jack is an adult, and he really doesn’t make any good life decisions. Slowly, but surely, he weaves himself a web of lies and deceit that entangles and ensnares. Leaving him not only the bad guy of the story, but sad, alone and really not in any position to judge others. Yet, there is still a sense of sympathy that you feel for Jack as he becomes the villain of his own story. An ability that I’ve only been able to find in the best of writers – feeling sympathy for the fool who is the creator of his own downfall.

 <- The Frog Prince ReviewSnow-Drop Review ->
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Rags and Riches by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for troll's-eye view book cover

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
Image result for troll's-eye view book cover

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
Image result for troll's-eye view book cover

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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