As I said, I have a bit of a weakness for rewritten fairy tales. Thus this page.
As a child, I always wanted to be a princess. (Big surprise, huh?) I have very pale skin which tans only under severe duress, so I had the feeling that I was born in the wrong century to be beautiful, and of course if I were a princess, my skin color would be appreciated. However, my romantic view of princesses' lifestyle sank like the Titanic when it hit the reality's glacier; noble and royal women were, with few notable exceptions, little more than breeders of children. This is not the place to go into great detail, but their lives were not great. Even the esteemed Queen Elizabeth I of England, who never married and never bore children, had a horrible, neglected childhood before she became queen.
In any case, I was an avid reader of fairy tales, particularly those which featured beautiful princesses with long hair, which I also always wanted (but did not have until my mid-teens). I still like reading fairy tales, but these days I prefer versions written for adults.
I shall provide a list of the books which presently compose my fairy tale library, with commentary on them. I must admit that not all of these are strictly fairy tales; there are also legends, myths, and others. However, they are all, with notable few exceptions, very good, and I can recommend them unreservedly, except where otherwise noted.
These do have a logical order; however,
it's a continuum of general "type" rather than my usual straightforward
alphabetization, so don't look too hard for a system. There isn't
one.
Marion
Zimmer Bradley
The Firebrand,
The Fall of Atlantis, The Forest House, The Lady of Avalon, The Mists of
Avalon
The Firebrand is about the Fall of Troy; The Fall of Atlantis is obvious.
The other three are a trilogy; The
Mists of Avalon was written first and is a retelling of the King Arthur
legend, told from the perspective of the women around him: Guinevere, Ygraine,
Morgaine, and Morgause, for example. The other two are prequels,
so they belong with Mists on the shelf, even they are not about
King Arthur; instead, they are prequels about another, more female-oriented
aspect of the novel.
Nancy
McKenzie
The Child Queen,
The High Queen
This is a two-volume version of King Arthur,
told all from the perspective of Gwenhwyfar. It is quite different
from Mists, and it's interesting to compare the two. These
two are less "deep" than Mists, also, but I enjoy them.
Anne
McCaffrey
Black Horses
for the King
King Arthur actually never appears in
this one directly, I think; instead, the protagonist is a boy working with
King Arthur's horses, the ones for his army to ride into battle.
It's an enjoyable little book.
Joan
D. Vinge
The Snow Queen,
The Summer Queen
The Snow Queen is a science-fiction
retelling of the fairy tale with the same name. At the beginning,
the fairy-tale elements are not very noticeable, but farther into the story
the connection becomes clearer, without spoiling the plot or seeming too
obvious. I quite frankly adore this book and its sequel, though The
Summer Queen is, like Mists' prequels, unrelated to the story
which inspired the original book.
Robin
McKinley
Deerskin, Beauty,
Rose Daughter, The Door in the Hedge
Deerskin is, quite frankly, my favorite book in the whole world. It is based on "Donkeyskin" by Charles Perrault, the original non-bowdlerized version with all the violence and non-prettiness. Accordingly, this is not a pretty book, and it does not have the happy ending of most fairytales (at least Disney's). However, it has the right ending, kind of sad but positive also, more so than any artificial "happily ever after."
Have I convinced you yet? :-)
Beauty and Rose Daughter are both retellings of "Beauty and the Beast," written twenty years apart. Both are good, I think, and particularly interesting in comparison with each other.
The Door in the Hedge is a collection
of four original tales of faery. I enjoyed them, but then again you
can see that I'm rather partial to Robin McKinley, anyway; I've read at
least three of her other books that I can think of off the top of my head
(The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, and The Outlaws
of Sherwood).
Sheri
S. Tepper
Beauty
Instead of a simple retelling of "Beauty
and the Beast," this is a melange of several different fairy tales, with
some original elements tossed in for flavor. I really cannot recommend
it too highly.
Mercedes
Lackey
The Fire Rose
You guessed it, "Beauty and the Beast"
again. This one is not my favorite; actually, Mercedes Lackey is
not my favorite author, either, but I received it as a gift, read it, and
did honestly enjoy it. It has an interesting twist on the Beast's
reasons for being one, and it's always interesting to see the variety of
creativity which springs from the same old story.
Jane
Yolen
Briar Rose
In general, I love Jane Yolen as an author.
Here she has mixed "Briar Rose," otherwise known as "Sleeping Beauty,"
with a Holocaust survival story. At first glance, these stories don't
obviously go together, but the book combines them brilliantly.
Pamela
Dean
Tam Lin
Tam Lin is not, strictly speaking,
a fairy tale; it's a ballad. However, it fits just as well in my
collection as anything else. I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't
strike any deep chords with me. On the other hand, the woman who
gave it to me said that it's her favorite book, so I pass along her recommendation
with the respect I have for her and her opinion.
Ellen
Datlow and Terri Windling, editors
Snow White,
Blood Red; Black Thorn, White Rose; Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears;
Black Swan,
White Raven; Silver Birch, Blood Moon
These are anthologies of rewritten fairy
tales. All five of them are amazing. I won't let myself say
any more, for fear I may never stop.
This concludes my collection. It is not yet very big; however, I flatter myself that it has quality if not quantity.
I am eternally open to suggestions of other books to read and add to my collection, even if I cannot foresee the time to read them, so please do tell me if you know anything of interest. Even if it's not strictly a fairy tale, or even close, good books are welcome on my shelves.
Home Memoirs Interests Books Quotations Family Friends Updates