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

Aesop’s 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!