Category: Fantasy

Fairy Tale Round-up: Rumpelstiltskin

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews4 Comments

Rumpelstiltskin has been gathering many fans in recent days, with his role in Once Upon a Time, so I thought I’d talk about that story this week.  The original fairy tale is in the Brothers Grimm, and like many fairy tales, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

The story is about a strange little man who spins straw into gold for a miller’s daughter, so that she can marry the king (who has shown himself to be a real catch by threatening to kill her if she doesn’t spin straw into gold).  The little man demands the girl’s first-born child in payment, but when he comes to collect he agrees to a second bargain, to relinquish his claim if the girl can guess his name.  Exactly why anyone is doing most of what they do in this story…well, that’s mostly a mystery.  And that makes it a good one for retellings.

In the Once Upon a Time TV show, Rumpelstiltskin has been one of the most fascinating and complex characters.  He spins straw into gold, but he also has other fantastic magical powers.  He appears as a kind of devil figure, who will grant your dearest wish…for a price.  A series of episodes have also delved into his past.  What we haven’t seen, actually, is a direct retelling of his original story!  Maybe next season.

Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen casts Rumpelstiltskin as an ordinary man who crippled himself at a spinning wheel, trying to win the girl he loves.  The girl instead marries the miller, and has a daughter who proves to be a master spinner.  And one day she catches the eye of the king…  I loved the way this novel explored the characters, giving them greater depth and motivations.  I really liked it…up until the end, and then I was disappointed.  I don’t want to give it all away, but I will say I was hoping for a happier ending than I ended up getting.

Straw Into Gold by Gary D. Schmidt is set ten years after the usual story of Rumpelstiltskin ended, but with a twist–the Queen didn’t guess Rumpelstiltskin’s name, and lost her child to him.  The protagonist is Tousle, who has been raised by a mysterious little man who spins.  Tousle may or may not be the missing prince.  I love the concept of this, but I think it would have been better if it had more clearly told the original Rumpelstiltskin story, before getting to the results.  There are a lot of complicated conspiracy things going on, and some of the characters make questionable choices which are supposed to be secretly good…but I didn’t know the characters well enough to quite believe that.

The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivan Vande Velde casts Rumpelstiltskin as the villain–and the hero–and maybe he’s just an invention of the miller’s daughter.  Vivian Vande Velde looks at fairy tales the same way I do.  She asks why people are doing what they’re doing, and points out the parts that don’t even remotely add up, and wants to know what the logic of it all is.  This book has a wonderful introduction analyzing “Rumpelstiltskin,” and then she wrote six short stories taking the story in all different ways.  It’s a wonderful collection of similar-but-oh-so-different stories, and shows in a single volume how much you can do with a fairy tale.

When Princesses Take Over the Fairy Tale

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews6 Comments

I’ve read many (many) fairy tale retellings, but rarely have I come across fairy tale crossovers, mixing characters from more than one tale.  That’s exactly the premise of Jim C. Hines’ Princess Series, of which I just read the second one for the Once Upon a Time Challenge.  This also goes towards my Finishing the Series challenge (two more books in this series to go!)  Since I hate to start out by reviewing Book Two, I’ll just tell you a bit about both, and try for a minimum of spoilers for the first one.

The Princess series books (so far, at least) are about adventures after the traditional fairy tale ends.  The main character is Danielle, also known as Cinderella.  The first book, The Stepsister Scheme, opens with Danielle recently married to her handsome prince, Armand.  Her stepfamily, however, is not ready to accept defeat, as becomes clear when stepsister Charlotte attacks Danielle, and kidnaps Armand.  Fortunately, Danielle finds valuable allies ready to help her rescue her prince.  Her new mother-in-law, Queen Beatrice, likes to take princesses-in-need under her wing, and has a kind of secret service made up of Snow White, a powerful sorceress (she doesn’t like the term witch) and Talia (Sleeping Beauty), who has used her fairy-given gift of grace to become a skilled fighter.  Together, the princessess set off for the realm of fairies to rescue the prince.

Book Two, The Mermaid’s Madness, brings in another fairy tale–and this is definitely not Disney’s version.  In the original story, the little mermaid can’t marry her prince, and instead sacrifices herself to save him.  Hines’ mermaid killed her prince, and went mad as a consequence.  With Queen Beatrice mortally wounded and a war brewing between humans and merfolk, the princesses have to find a way to capture the mermaid, the only one with power to save the queen.

There’s so much to enjoy about these books.  I love the interpretation on the princesses.  Their abilities are grounded in the original fairy tales (Talia gets skills from her fairy gifts, Snow White’s magic revolves around mirrors), but reinterpreted to make the girls so much stronger and more powerful than they ever were in the originals.  I love the gender reversal of the first book–not only are these princesses not sitting around waiting to be rescued, they’re setting out to rescue the prince!  When I was around ten, I started writing a short story about a knight who was rescued by a girl.  The story never went very far, but I feel like it was motivated by some of the same impulses that make me love this series.

The girls are complex characters as well.  We get bits and pieces of backstory for them all, and it becomes clear that these girls didn’t live Disney movies, and maybe not even the Brothers Grimm stories.  Talia, at least, is coming from an even older and much darker version of Sleeping Beauty.  They have tragedies and they have complexities.  But there’s also humor in here too.  The relationship between the three girls is often a lot of fun, and it’s nice to see a story focusing on female friendship.

Much as I enjoy that, it also brings me to the one thing I don’t like as well.  I feel like Armand is under-developed as a character.  With Danielle as the lead (though occasionally Snow or Talia will narrate as well), I feel like her husband should have a bigger part!  He’s in it just enough for me to notice that he’s not in it enough, if that makes sense.  I love the focus on the girls, but I’d like a little more balance to give Armand and Danielle’s relationship some time too.

That’s a minor complaint about an excellent series, though.  If you like fairy tales and strong heroines, these are the books to read.  They’re from the grown-up section (is there a proper term for that?) and I’d probably classify them as appropriate for older YA, because of some of the darker themes.  I’d recommend starting with the first book, as a better way to get to know the characters, though the plots are independent.  I think I enjoyed the second one a bit more, but more because I was getting to know the characters better than because it was an inherently better book.  They’re both great!

Author’s Site: http://www.jimchines.com/

Other reviews:
Shiny Book Review
Bookshop Talk
Bookish
Yours?

Another Day, Another Monster

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews, Young Adult5 Comments

I felt terribly clever putting Rick Riordan’s newest book, The Serpent’s Shadow, on reserve at the library a month before it was coming out.  That meant I was only #23 in line! 🙂 They bought enough copies that I actually got mine quickly–and I already returned it for the 150 people now waiting.

If you don’t recognize the name, Rick Riordan is the author of the very popular Percy Jackson series.  The Serpent’s Shadow is the final book in The Kane Chronicles, his Egyptian mythology trilogy.  (Read my review of the first one.)  The trilogy follows Carter and Sadie Kane, a brother and sister who are learning their powers as Egyptian magicians, and practicing forbidden magic by engaging with the Egyptian gods (who are far more metaphysical than their Greek counterparts).  In the third book, Sadie and Carter have to face Apophis, a monster serpent determined to destroy the world and return it to pre-creation-type chaos.

As is typical for Riordan, the book is set in a compressed time period (I think only two or three days), there’s a clear deadline for the end of the world, and the characters have to pursue quests to get the pieces they need to fight the monster.  It’s a structure that I think works well–sometimes he can be a little episodic, but mostly I thought this was tied together well, had a good drive and focus, and both the looming deadline and the present crises kept the tension level high.

The story is told through alternating first-person narration.  The frame story is that an audio recording was mysteriously sent to Mr. Riordan, and throughout the recording Sadie and Carter have been passing the microphone back and forth.  I really enjoyed Carter in this book.  Throughout the trilogy, circumstances have been forcing him to take on more and more responsibility, and by the third book he’s coming into his role as a leader.  He’s still unsure of himself though, and that made him very human and relatable.

If Carter had been the only narrator, I would have loved this book.  I still liked it…but Sadie just irritated me completely.  She’s conceited, obnoxious, and has this incredibly aggravating tendency to view her personal life as of equal importance to the end of the world.  There are two guys she has crushes on, I have no idea what either sees in her, and I can’t help feeling that deciding between them is just not as important as the imminent destruction of the universe.  Especially when I wasn’t that drawn into her relationship with either guy.  (To give Riordan credit, I liked the romance in Percy Jackson better, and Carter also has romantic troubles that are better balanced with the larger looming threat.)  Some of Sadie’s most conceited, most relationship-drama lines are perhaps meant sarcastically or tongue-in-cheek, but it doesn’t come across that way enough for me.  I remember Sadie bugging me a bit in the previous books, but it was much more so this time.

However–it’s a problem but not an insurmountable one.  I did enjoy the book.  I sighed a little whenever I turned a chapter to see Sadie was narrating the next one, but even her sections had good aspects to them.  And it’s a good book, lots of excitement and lots of irreverent mythology humor, which Riordan is so good at.

This winds up the Kane Chronicles trilogy, but there were some very blatant hints at the end about new problems with “other gods.”  I’m seeing a Greek/Egyptian crossover coming, which seems like it would be enormous fun!  I’d definitely read that…even if Sadie is one of the narrators.

Author’s Site: http://www.rickriordan.com/

Other reviews:
Lost in a Book
21st Century Once Upon a Time
Knight Reader
Anyone else?

Friday Fairy Tale Round-Up: Cinderella

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews14 Comments

Last week I looked at a list of “Twelve Dancing Princesses” retellings, and this week I thought I’d look at what might be the best-known fairy tale in this culture–Cinderella.  I suspect if I really tried to gather up every version I’ve read, this would become completely unmanagable!  So, I’m highlighting the major ones and recent reads instead.  🙂

One thing I found interesting in searching out the “originals” (with due acknowledgement to earlier oral tradition) is that “Cinderella” is one of the few stories that’s in both Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.  Between the two of them, they seem to account for almost every major fairy tale in Western culture, so maybe both of them presenting “Cinderella” is part of the key to its popularity.  And, of course, it plays right into the dream that life can be better–that no matter how dreadful your circumstances, everything can change (and the cynic in me says, without you even needing to do anything!)

Later versions have mostly been pretty consistent with the older ones, in the major strokes at least.  Cinderella is a kind, beautiful girl who is downtrodden by her nasty, ugly stepmother and stepsisters.  When the prince throws a ball to find a bride, Cinderella desperately wants to go.  And she does, aided by some kind of magic–either a fairy godmother, or the spirit of her deceased mother.  Cinderella charms the prince but has to leave early, and the prince uses her dropped slipper to identify her–which is a truly bizarre way to find anyone.

I have a lot of problems with the original Cinderella–the incredibly passive main character, the absentee fairy godmother, the prince who apparently can’t recognize his “true love,” and the really weird slipper element.  But often the strange bits of the story are exactly what new authors can use to spin off a brilliant retelling…

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine tackles Cinderella’s passiveness head-on.  Levine’s Ella is brave and determined, but cursed by an obedience spell.  She has to find her own strength to overcome it, and the story is more about her quest to take control of her life than it is to win the prince–who is a childhood friend, not a stranger at a ball.  There’s a movie version too, but don’t see it.  It bears very little resemblance to Levine’s wonderful book.

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix plays with how hard it would be to go from scullery maid to princess.  This is another smart and determined Ella, who made her own way to the ball, only to realize afterwards that the life of a princess is not what she expected–and that the prince isn’t either.

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines is another one that looks at the story after the ball.  This Cinderella (Danielle, actually) got her prince and he is charming–but then he’s abducted by her evil stepsister.  Fortunately, a couple other fairy tale princesses are on hand to help get him back.  This is a great twist on the usual themes of fairy tales, with some truly awesome princesses.  I just read the sequel, so stay tuned for a review of both soon!

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George tells the story from a very different point of view–a princess visiting the court, who notices how really creepy it is when everyone, especially the prince, are suddenly enamored of this mysterious woman in the glass slippers.  Because really–why exactly is everyone so blown away?

Disney’s Cinderella is probably the version everyone knows best, and it’s pretty close to Perrault.  It’s a cute fluff of a cartoon, although the mice are the best part.  Cinderella and her prince are pretty bland, and I just can’t take them seriously when they start singing, “So This Is Love.”  No, it’s attraction.  I can’t believe you got all that far exploring the depths of human emotion in just one dance.

Silver Woven in My Hair by Shirley Rousseau Murphy is, with Ella Enchanted, my other favorite retelling.  It somehow creates a very real, very practical world, tells about it with gossamer-beautiful writing, and even without magic is utterly enchanting.  Thursey has dreams, but they’re real ones.  Her friends are real people and she falls in love with a real man, not a shining prince out of a daydream.

There must be more Cinderellas out there–any recommendations?

Gender Equality in Discworld

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews14 Comments

So far, I’ve seen Terry Pratchett be hysterically funny while tackling subjects like racial tension, politically-motivated war, business competition, and murder investigations.  In my most recent Discworld read, Equal Rites, he took on gender equality–and if not hysterically funny, he was at the least quite amusing.

This is a new one for me but not for him, as it’s actually the third book in the Discworld series.  Unfortunately, it shows.  It took a few books for Pratchett to quite work out Discworld, and there seems to be universal agreement that the first couple are simply not as funny.  It’s true for the third one too–it’s funny, but something’s off.  Timing, style, character…I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s just not AS funny.  Don’t get me wrong here–that still makes it one of the funniest books I’ve read this year.  It pales only in comparison to the rest of the series.

I read this one because it’s the first book focusing on the Witches, one of the groups of major recurring characters within Discworld (along with the Wizards, the City Guard, and Death).  I read Maskerade, another Witches book, long before I read any other Discworld (it’s that Phantom connection), and I hadn’t read any Witches books since, so I couldn’t quite put Maskerade in context.  This helped a bit, though there’s much more to read.

As to the actual plot…a dying wizard passes his power on to what he thinks is a newborn boy–but turns out to be a girl.  This is a problem because girls never become wizards.  When Esk gets older, strange occurrences start happening around her–as when she turns her brother into a frog.  Her family sends her to the local witch, Granny Weatherwax, who starts teaching her witchcraft.  But Esk still has all this wizard power hovering around her, and eventually they set off for Unseen University, where all the wizards are trained, to see what can be done about a girl wizard.

There are certainly funny moments.  Granny is an excellent character, although she’s not quite there yet.  She’s a major character in Maskerade too, and she’s funnier then–but she’s funny here.  There’s chaos and there’s mayhem and there’s at least a bit of commentary on gender rights.

It’s a good book–but I only recommend it if you’re really interested in reading as much Discworld as possible.  If you want a fantasy novel about gender equality, read Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness quartet.  If you want to read one book in Discworld, read Going Postal (and if you want to read a few more, check out my post here).  As for me, I’ve got my eye on another Witches novel, Lords and Ladies, which I’ve been told is a retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream…

Author’s Site: http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/

Other reviews:
Confessions of an English Literature Eater
Eyrie
Cubilone’s Dimension
Yours?