Fairy Tale Mashup Week: The Stepsister Scheme

One of my favorite formats is the fairy tale mashup: an author takes two or more favorite fairy tales and mixes them together, with unpredictable or unusual results. So this week I thought I'd highlight some of my favorite mashups, some old and some new. If you haven't read many of this format, these are the ones I would recommend starting with.

Let me just start with: Awesome.

This is the first book in Jim C. Hines' Princess series, featuring a Cinderelle, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty who will have you completely rethinking your Disney versions. These ladies are based on their original prototypes--that is to say, Cinderella (Danielle) can talk to birds, and Snow White's (Snow!--don't ask her if you can call her by her real name!) nemesis is her own mother, not a stepmother. And you probably know what happened to Sleeping Beauty (Talia).

I was beyond impressed with this. It's fast-paced, funny, and interesting, without losing sight of the characters and giving all three of these girls a lot more depth that they usually get. If you haven't read it, please give yourself the opportunity to enjoy it!

There are now two sequels, with another coming out soon. This has been one of my favorite series of all time, both for the fairy tale aspects and for the consistency of the writing and storytelling from one book to another. I cannot wait to read the new book.

Jim C. Hines also has a blog that's great reading.