Dewitched: The Untold Story of the Evil Queen by E. L. Sarnoff

Here's a fun mashup of fairy tales: E. L. Sarnoff's Dewitched.  The premise of this one is a lot of fun -- after the evil queen's plans to kill Snow White are thwarted, she's entered into a rehab program, by none other than the Huntsman she had trusted to help her with her wicked plan.  With a steady barrage of familiar fairy tale characters, and lively writing, this one is a page turner.

The only real problem I had with this was the constant use of sexuality and ugliness equating to wickedness among the female characters.  This was all from the viewpoint of the rehabilitated queen, whose thoughts and attitudes don't change so much as she learns to progress from her initial impulses of anger and jealousy.  So I suppose it's a matter of the character, but I felt uncomfortable with the constant uses of the words "skank" and "whore" as derogatory terms.  There is also a whole can of worms about body image here and I didn't feel like the writing handled that in a fully responsible way -- in spite of the premise that the queen must overcome her inability to see inner beauty, there is a consistent use through the book of ugliness or ugly terminology to depict evilness.  So if that is a hot button for you, I would avoid this one.

However, it is a fun romp with a lot of clever writing in terms of the use of fairy tales and sly puns about them.  Some of the throw-away mentions of other tales startled laughter out of me and there are good chuckles throughout the book, both in the fairy tale references and the characters themselves.

It's a light and funny read, with a cute premise and a lot of great cameos.  The book didn't go quite where I was hoping it would, but with some surprising twists near the end it was enough to keep me guessing.  It's only available as an ebook now, and for the low price it's a fun afternoon read.

ABC's Once Upon a Time (Pilot)

If you are a fairy tale enthusiast like me (does anyone other than that read this blog??) then you have also been looking forward to ABC's new fairy tale mashup, Once Upon a Time. The pilot aired last Sunday, and those of us who are hulu-inclined may or may not have caught up since then.

I watched the first episode yesterday with my husband. There was a bit of cheese involved, some definite hamming, at least in the fairy tale backstory--but not as much as I feared. The early scene that was released as a promotional bit was probably the worst as far as that went, and it was literally the second scene in the episode (where the evil queen comes in and warns everyone that she's going to take away their happy endings).

The show has gotten some mixed reviews, especially as far as mainstream reviewers are concerned, but all of the feedback I've heard from the fairy tale communities has been positive. I'll add my own to that--it's a lot of fun to look for the fairy tale references and see how the characters are spun to be recognizable but modern in the Storybrook, Maine, setting.

Even my husband, who politely indulges my fairy tale obsessions, got to the end of the episode and said, "Wait... so... is the next one out yet?" Which I think is very promising in terms of layman fans of the show.

Here is the trailer, in case you somehow have missed it:

Also it's available on hulu; I'm not sure if they'll have an expiration date with it now--I don't see one at the moment but they do tend to roll five episodes at a time for current network TV.

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate My, edited by Kate Bernheimer

Kate Bernheimer put together this stunning collection of fairy tale retellings and remodelings with the idea that "fairy tales remain a literary underdog--undervalued and undermined." Well, I hate to argue with you, Ms. Bernheimer, but look around. They are mined EVERYWHERE right now. Thank you Hollywood.

Okay, now that I've gotten my reverse sarcasm out of the way, let me say that this book is truly a gem. For all the wonderful adaptation and recreations of fairy tales that are out there, My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me is a truly spectacular collection, and I thank Ms. Bernheimer for this successful attempt to elevate fairy tales in a literary manner.

If a fairy tale retelling is a treat, then I have gorged myself on this delectable book. With stories from Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link, and Francesca Lia Block (to pick a random three among the ones I had previously heard of) these stories give many tales, both obscure and well-known, an excellent and valuable re-illumination.

A couple of my favorites:

Aimee Bender's "The Color Master," retells Donkeyskin by Charles Perrault, and features the tailors who create the princess's beautiful gowns (remember? the moon, the sun, the sky?) and how they manage to pull of the required dresses.

"First Day of Snow" by Naoko Awa features a Kamikakushi Tale from Japan, in which a little girl plays hopscotch with some snow rabbits and is nearly lost forever.

Kevin Brockmeier's "A Day in the Life of Half of Rumpelstiltskin" takes a long moment to imagine how the halves of Rumpelstiltskin fare after all of Rumpelstiltskin is thwarted.

Some stories worked better for me than others, as is the case with any short story collection. Overall, though, this book is well worth your time, both in terms of literary merit and stunning fairy tale retelling.

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Charlotte Miller is stubborn, a family trait. So when the mill is left to her, instead of giving it up, she continues to run it, in spite of the doubts of her family and neighbors, in spite of the fact that she's a woman.

Fighting debt and a strangely unlucky mill, a sweet, subtle love story, and a family bond weave together in this skillful reimagining of Rumpelstiltskin (or Jack Spinner, here). This is one of my favorite retellings, rich and deeply layered, with more nuance than many of the books aimed at the same age group.

It won a number of awards, and having read it, I can see why. If you haven't read this one yet, you're in for a treat.

Also check out Ms. Bunce's website for more information on this and her newest book, Star-Crossed.

Glasgow Fairytale by Alastair D. McIver

I am especially excited to tell you about this book because the author, Mr. McIver, has been a long-time member of my fairy tale community on LiveJournal. We've had quite a few talks about fairy tales and folklore, so I am just thrilled to see his storytelling in action here.

The story starts as several fairytales begin to act upon one another, with often hilarious results--as, for example, Reggie King decides to take out Snowy White (in a nicely done gender reversal) to be the bonniest man in Glasgow--and he hires none other than Ella McCinders to get the job done.

I won't give too much away, but I will tell you that this is one of the funniest adaptations I've ever read, mixing stories and rearranging the elements to fit McIver's own Glasgow. I giggled out loud frequently, and the Cinderella ball scene is my favorite every Cinderella dance. Also: Best Frog Prince Ever.

McIver's penchant for telling stories is apparent in his prose, which is excellent for reading aloud. As an American reader, I had to sometimes slow down to read the Scottish dialect, but even then it wasn't so heavy that I had trouble understanding it.

This is only available in America through intermediates on amazon.com marketplace, but it IS available, and for an excellent price for a trade paperback. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes mixed up fairy tales and funny retellings. I hope you'll check it out!

The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde

Have you ever wondered about Rumpelstiltskin? What's up with that guy, anyway? Why does he WANT a baby? Why does the Miller make up such a blatant lie about his daughter? How dumb can the king be, to believe him? Why does the daughter agree to marry the king after he threatened to kill her?

Have you ever noticed how many PROBLEMS there are with this story?

Ms. Velde certainly did, and she set about to fix these problems, with six imaginative and hilarious retellings of the story.

This is an extremely quick read, and extremely entertaining. I hope you'll do yourself the favor of reading this book. My favorite versions of this story are always the ones where the Miller's Daughter runs off with Rumpelstiltskin. Velde may have a couple of those--and other fun variations, as well.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly

I was really hesitant to read this when I heard about it, because I am wary of books about children that claim to be for grown-ups. Not that that's a recipe for failure, by any means, but it made me set it aside, mentally, until it popped up again in my life in the form of my friend Annamarie.

Annamarie is not a BIG reader. She loves books about horses, and fairy tales where everything comes out okay in the end. I have recommended a lot to her; she had never returned the favor--until The Book of Lost Things. Which she insisted emphatically that I read. And dragged me to a bookstore, and bought it for me, and put it in my hands, and sat me down, and forced me to read the beginning so that I would be hooked and read it right away.

Which I did, nearly in one sitting. And oh my. What an excellent recommendation.

This is the story of David, a 12-year-old boy who's just lost his mother. When his father remarries and has another son, David retreats into his books and fairy tales, but gets much more drawn in than he expected.

And, oh, the references and rewritings. With many stories twisted into new shapes (including a Beauty and the Beast where the Beast is the woman--and the Beauty does not free her from her spell--and a Sleeping Beauty where the sleeper awakens every night and is more of a danger to the princes than any thorns ever were), David explores a new land where the greatest danger will be the ones he calls from his own imagination.

Try to figure out who the villain is before the reveal at the end. (Yeah, I totally did.)

This is now one of my favorites books. (I don't say that too often, do I???) Check it out!

I do recommend the paperback edition with the red cover, as there's a section of notes at the back of the book, with Connelly's thoughts on the fairy tales he used, as well as original versions of the tales.

AND

I know that I say "This is one of my new favorite books!" far too often, especially here where I am talking about my favorite kind of book. But I really want to back that up this time, with this exceptionally good book.

SO.

A GIVEAWAY!

Post a link back to this blog on your blog for 1 entry, or on twitter for 1 entry. (If you have multiple blogs you can have an entry for each blog you post on, but only one entry per blog.)

Be sure to put a comment on this entry so I can see your links!

I'll draw a random winner on Friday, December 3rd, and I'll send the winner a copy of The Book of Lost Things.

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Rumpelstiltskin

Man, this is a greedy king. Well, of course, we all know the story of Rumpelstiltskin, and Faerie Tale Theatre doesn't go out of its way to excuse that. The king is depressed because he can't find a princess rich enough to marry, when the Miller shows up and begins talking about his beautiful and talented daughter who can embroider tapestries that are like gold--that are practically gold--that in a gold-like way are very much like gold!

Which naturally leads to the tale as we know it.

Again, this episode isn't one of the best as far as pacing, although it is a quite close translation of the commonly told tale. The special effects are dated but they work pretty well for this particular tale--and I admit I do love the matte paintings of the external castle.

Also: Unicorn pony? Freakin' cute.

You can watch for free on Hulu, though, so that's a good price for a show.

(I've chosen to review all the Faerie Tale Theatre episodes separately because they vary so much and cover so many different stories. Also: reading/watching the material for this blog takes a lot of time! I hope you enjoy the slightly more in depth reviews this way.)