It’s the beginning of summer, which means…a lot of things, actually, but among them is that the Once Upon a Time Challenge concluded yesterday.
I had a lot of fun finding some books to fit the categories. Here’s how the reading went (links go to my reviews):
Quest the First: Read five books that are fantasy, fable, fairy tale or mythology.
Quest the Second: Read four books, one from each category.
It seems easiest to combine the lists for these two:
Fantasy
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Among Others by Jo Walton
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
The Seven Towers by Patricia C. Wrede
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
Mythology
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Greek)
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (Egyptian)
Abandon by Meg Cabot (Greek)
Fairy Tale-Inspired
Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones (Tam Lin)
The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines (mostly Cinderella)
Sleeping Helena by Erzebot Yellowboy (Sleeping Beauty)
Fables
Fables: Volume 15: Rose Red
Quest the Third: Quest one or two, plus reading or watching A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream in June.
I watched a BBC version from 1968 last week. I’ve seen a number of versions, but this was a new one. It was truly bizarre on several levels. For one thing, the fairies were all painted green. For another, it was full of actors who I know really well in much later roles, so it was a trip to see them forty years younger. Most notably, a very young Helen Mirren plays Hermia, and a nearly nude (and green) Judi Dench plays Titania. It was an…interesting version. Worth watching, but probably not going to be my new favorite telling of the story.
Quest on Film: Watch any movies or TV that also tell stories fitting the categories.
Fairy Tale: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
Mythology: Hercules and the Underworld, Hercules and the Amazon Women
Fantasy: Dragonheart, The Page Master, Disney’s Peter Pan, Pete’s Dragon
By the end of this challenge, I can only conclude that if someone was going to design a challenge which required reading everything I normally read…it would look a lot like this one!
We’re coming up on the end of June, so stay tuned for an update on other challenges next week!
Tales of the Marvelous 
Hey, Artemis Fowl! I know that title! I’d love to read what you thought about it, if you ever do a review for it.
I’ve been debating whether to review Artemis Fowl and now I’m thinking I should…I’ll try to write one up soon!