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reader44ever's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
Though not all the stories were "amazing," I did enjoy them all. I really love this series of re-imagined fairy tales for adults. They're so imaginative and entertaining!
Though not all the stories were "amazing," I did enjoy them all. I really love this series of re-imagined fairy tales for adults. They're so imaginative and entertaining!
errantdreams's review against another edition
4.0
The concept behind Black Swan, White Raven is simple and beautiful: creative retellings of fairy tales by modern authors. These are not meant to be children’s stories. Many of them depict sex, violence, and other subjects you wouldn’t want to read to your children.
Fairy tales have a sort of fundamental appeal. They’re stories of love and loss, revenge and justice, royalty and peasantry, mundanity and magic. Some have a moral; others are told to explain natural events. Many started out as popular folk tales. Most address what happens when ordinary people meet up with the world of the extraordinary.
The fairy tales found in “Black Swan, White Raven” run the creative gamut of modern fairy-tale-telling. Some are old tales re-written in a modern light. Others are traditional fairy tales told from a new and interesting point of view. Still others take the core kernel of story from a fairy tale and make it something new and uniquely different. Many of the stories play with popular fairy tales such as Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel, while others play with less-well-known stories. A couple I didn’t recognize. As always, with so many wildly different stories by very different authors, you’re almost guaranteed to find at least one or two stories that don’t amaze you. But then, that’s a problem inherent in any anthology.
There are 21 new and different pieces in here, including a couple of poems. Anne Bishop, author of “The Black Jewels Trilogy,” has a story in here, and she didn’t disappoint in the least. I’m not quite as enamored of the poems, somehow – they just didn’t have the emotional or intellectual impact that some of the stories did.
I definitely enjoyed it, and there are certain stories in here (most notably “Sparks” and “Rapunzel”) which I expect to read over again. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fairy tales – particularly the old ones, not written for children.
NOTE: review book provided by publisher
View a longer review with information on some of the individual stories at my site: http://www.errantdreams.com/2014/09/review-black-swan-white-raven-ed-datlow-and-windling/
Fairy tales have a sort of fundamental appeal. They’re stories of love and loss, revenge and justice, royalty and peasantry, mundanity and magic. Some have a moral; others are told to explain natural events. Many started out as popular folk tales. Most address what happens when ordinary people meet up with the world of the extraordinary.
The fairy tales found in “Black Swan, White Raven” run the creative gamut of modern fairy-tale-telling. Some are old tales re-written in a modern light. Others are traditional fairy tales told from a new and interesting point of view. Still others take the core kernel of story from a fairy tale and make it something new and uniquely different. Many of the stories play with popular fairy tales such as Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel, while others play with less-well-known stories. A couple I didn’t recognize. As always, with so many wildly different stories by very different authors, you’re almost guaranteed to find at least one or two stories that don’t amaze you. But then, that’s a problem inherent in any anthology.
There are 21 new and different pieces in here, including a couple of poems. Anne Bishop, author of “The Black Jewels Trilogy,” has a story in here, and she didn’t disappoint in the least. I’m not quite as enamored of the poems, somehow – they just didn’t have the emotional or intellectual impact that some of the stories did.
I definitely enjoyed it, and there are certain stories in here (most notably “Sparks” and “Rapunzel”) which I expect to read over again. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fairy tales – particularly the old ones, not written for children.
NOTE: review book provided by publisher
View a longer review with information on some of the individual stories at my site: http://www.errantdreams.com/2014/09/review-black-swan-white-raven-ed-datlow-and-windling/
abetterjulie's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't care for most of these adaptations, but I did love True Thomas by Bruce Glassco. The other three I liked were The Reverend's Wife by Midori Snyder, On Lickerish Hill by Susanna Clarke, and Godmother Death by Jane Yolen.
fortifiedbybooks's review
4.0
Black Swan, White Raven is a short story anthology of modern, dark fairy tales. What I love about anthologies is that each story is very different than the others. If I don't happen to like one of them, it's quickly done and I can move on, and if the editors do a good job, there won't be one after the other that I don't like. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling did well in that regard. Also, they did a great job of choosing a first story, "The Flounder's Kiss" by Michael Cadnum, that sucked me in and made me hungry for the next, and they ended with a story equally as good, "Godmother Death" by Jane Yolen, that left me satisfied and feeling generally positive towards the book as a whole.
I wish I could say the number of stories I liked outweighed the bad, but they were equal. It could have been worse, but the bad ones I absolutely despised, such as "Snow in Dirt" by Michael Blumlein, or was literally bored to sleep by, as with "True Thomas" by Bruce Glassco. Then there was "The True Story" by Pat Murphy, which came off as a preachy, condescending Feminist rant more than it did an actual story. I consider myself a Feminist, and I feel that there is an excellent way of re-telling a classic fairy tale that doesn't alienate the audience and give credence to the prevailing misconceptions about Feminism. An example of that would be the movie Maleficent. Oh, I wish that were a book! "The Black Fairy's Curse", by Karen Joy Fowler, was disjointed and confusing, and Joyce Carol Oates's "The Insomniac Night" made me extremely anxious with it's stream of consciousness and bouncing back and forth between the present and the past. I had the feeling something horrible was going to happen at any moment, but then it ended so abruptly, I had to put the book aside for awhile before I could continue on to the next story.
Another story that made me pause for a bit, but that I loved, was "No Bigger than my Thumb" by Esther M. Friesner. I have to say that this one could fit very well into the Horror genre. It was excellent, and very unsettling. "The Trial of Hansel and Gretel" by Garry Kilworth, was an ingenious twist on the classic, as was "Steadfast" by Nancy Kress. I also greatly enjoyed "Rapunzel" by Anne Bishop, which is told from the perspectives of Rapunzel's mother, the witch who keeps Rapunzel in the tower, and Rapunzel herself. Not only was each perspective insightful, but it held to the classic inclusion of threes in a very modern way. This is the only one that I think could safely be shared with a teenage daughter. The rest are definitely for adults, not just for the sexual content in several of them, but because of the many disturbing scenes.
Overall, I recommend Black Swan, White Raven to anyone who loves dark fantasy, horror, and alternative versions of fairy tales, especially if you're looking for new authors to read.
I wish I could say the number of stories I liked outweighed the bad, but they were equal. It could have been worse, but the bad ones I absolutely despised, such as "Snow in Dirt" by Michael Blumlein, or was literally bored to sleep by, as with "True Thomas" by Bruce Glassco. Then there was "The True Story" by Pat Murphy, which came off as a preachy, condescending Feminist rant more than it did an actual story. I consider myself a Feminist, and I feel that there is an excellent way of re-telling a classic fairy tale that doesn't alienate the audience and give credence to the prevailing misconceptions about Feminism. An example of that would be the movie Maleficent. Oh, I wish that were a book! "The Black Fairy's Curse", by Karen Joy Fowler, was disjointed and confusing, and Joyce Carol Oates's "The Insomniac Night" made me extremely anxious with it's stream of consciousness and bouncing back and forth between the present and the past. I had the feeling something horrible was going to happen at any moment, but then it ended so abruptly, I had to put the book aside for awhile before I could continue on to the next story.
Another story that made me pause for a bit, but that I loved, was "No Bigger than my Thumb" by Esther M. Friesner. I have to say that this one could fit very well into the Horror genre. It was excellent, and very unsettling. "The Trial of Hansel and Gretel" by Garry Kilworth, was an ingenious twist on the classic, as was "Steadfast" by Nancy Kress. I also greatly enjoyed "Rapunzel" by Anne Bishop, which is told from the perspectives of Rapunzel's mother, the witch who keeps Rapunzel in the tower, and Rapunzel herself. Not only was each perspective insightful, but it held to the classic inclusion of threes in a very modern way. This is the only one that I think could safely be shared with a teenage daughter. The rest are definitely for adults, not just for the sexual content in several of them, but because of the many disturbing scenes.
Overall, I recommend Black Swan, White Raven to anyone who loves dark fantasy, horror, and alternative versions of fairy tales, especially if you're looking for new authors to read.
madarauchiha's review
slow-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.25
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Best stories: Riding the Red by Nalo Hopkinson. That's it. What a waste of my time, personally.
◆ The Flounder’s Kiss by Michael Cadnum
minor drowning, animal death, sharps,
◆ The Black Fairy’s Curse by Karen Joy Fowler
minor blood,
medium sex scene,
◆ Snow in Dirt by Michael Blumlein
minor addiction, alcohol, domestic abuse,
medium sexual harassment, alcoholism, medical situations, ableism heightism,
you can tell a man write this because he thinks theres no solidarity between women. This story is incredibly misogynistic cishet male fantasy. A free servant and mother figure he can fuck and also makes money for him. I cant read this garbage, frankly. This is boring. How did this even get into the anthology?
◆ Riding the Red by Nalo Hopkinson
major NSFW implications in the story
◆ No Bigger Than My Thumb by Esther M. Friesner
minor ableism,
medium violence against elderly women, infertility, NSFW nudity, poison, murder, child death miscarriage, murder, gore, sexual assault,
Major rape, kidnapping,
weird transmisogyny thing? um it a women makes a man get pregnant by force and trickery.
◆ In the Insomniac Night by Joyce Carol Oates
minor underage drinking and smoking tobacco, imagined pedophilia csa,
medium pregnancy off screen, male chauvinism, major cissexism, divorce, sexual harassment, almost car accident,
pretty terrible honestly. what's the horror or fantasy in this? the plot is spoiler a woman gets divorce and moves herself and her two kids out to a beach resort town. there she suffers an episode of insomnia, goes out for a run, nearly get run over by sexual harasses in a van, and then run homes. she also imagines that her ex husband is molesting their children. when she gets home she tears off their bedding all the while weeping. the end. huh??
◆ The Trial of Hansel and Gretel by Garry Kilworth
minor child abuse, unsanitary,
medium murder gore cannibalism,
major fatphobia
◆ Rapunzel by Anne Bishop
medium pregnancy and childbirth
major child abuse, blood libel retelling,
◆ Sparks by Gregory Frost
Used Japanese racial slurs. no further cws as I'm not reading this garbage.
◆ The Dog Rose by Sten Westgard
medium gore,
major classism,
◆ The Reverend’s Wife by Midori Snyder
Midori Snyder why does this person have a japanese name
According to Midori Snyder, “The Reverend’s Wife” was an oral tale collected from the Kordofan people of Sudan and was originally known as “The Muezzin’s Wife.” In that version it was the men, a muezzin and a caravan trader, who dupe each other’s wives into having an affair. Snyder’s version, set in rural America, is definitely not for children. this author whitewashed this ethnic story of its culture, you mean.
major religion christianity, pregnancy, marital infidelity, rape by deception, NSFW theme,
As mentioned in the anthology, the original fairy tale / folk tale was purely middle eastern. This racist white woman took this ethnic story and made it a bland, boring porn fanfic. The only thing I liked was nothing, and the only good part was that it ended.
a white author whitewashing an Islamic folk tale to write porn is repulsive. no further cws as I'm not finishing this story.
◆ The Orphan the Moth and the Magic by Harvey Jacobs
minor usury, kidnapping, theft, gambling, pimping, drugs, adulterer, a pornographer, he practiced medicine without a license and was not above plagiarism or the robbing of graves
medium kidnapping,
major sexual abuse,
◆ Three Dwarves and 2000 Maniacs by Don Webb
minor body horror,
major incest, child abuse, torture, slavery
you can tell a white person wrote this because anyone getting sectioned would have hell to deal with. a psych dealing with their co workers ableism about their own legit mental illness? nah. The thing I hate most a out cis white authors when they are so fucking horny ot cant help but sleep into their work. No further cws
◆ True Thomas by Bruce Glassco
medium alcohol,
"Since her husband was put below ground her skin has ached for the touch of a man’s hand. I smell an egg within her as well, ready to begin its long journey to the womb. If she is ploughed tonight, she will crop. "
WHY ARE CIS MEN LIKE THIS. No further cws. What a dumb story. Fuck you bruce.
◆ The True Story by Pat Murphy
medium semi explicit rape via alcohol,
major arranged marriage
best story in the anthology
◆ Lost and Abandoned by John Crowley
major classism and racism in the. background
◆ On Lickerish Hill by Susanna Clarke
i... who thought typing this all out in ye older English was a good idea? frankly it just reminds me of cringy fan fics that try to mimic accents or stuttering. no cws, I dont feel like reading this, sorry.
◆ Steadfast by Nancy Kress
minor blood, whorephobic language, pregnancy, diseases, injuries, bone fractures, throat trauma, gore, war propaganda
medium anti sex worker sentiment, gore, bloodshed,riot suppression by soldiers,
major french ppl, wars, stalking
◆ Godmother Death by Jane Yolen
skipped because they're antisemitic.
Best stories: Riding the Red by Nalo Hopkinson. That's it. What a waste of my time, personally.
◆ The Flounder’s Kiss by Michael Cadnum
minor drowning, animal death, sharps,
◆ The Black Fairy’s Curse by Karen Joy Fowler
minor blood,
medium sex scene,
◆ Snow in Dirt by Michael Blumlein
minor addiction, alcohol, domestic abuse,
medium sexual harassment, alcoholism, medical situations, ableism heightism,
you can tell a man write this because he thinks theres no solidarity between women. This story is incredibly misogynistic cishet male fantasy. A free servant and mother figure he can fuck and also makes money for him. I cant read this garbage, frankly. This is boring. How did this even get into the anthology?
◆ Riding the Red by Nalo Hopkinson
major NSFW implications in the story
◆ No Bigger Than My Thumb by Esther M. Friesner
minor ableism,
medium violence against elderly women, infertility, NSFW nudity, poison, murder, child death miscarriage, murder, gore, sexual assault,
Major rape, kidnapping,
weird transmisogyny thing? um it a women makes a man get pregnant by force and trickery.
◆ In the Insomniac Night by Joyce Carol Oates
minor underage drinking and smoking tobacco, imagined pedophilia csa,
medium pregnancy off screen, male chauvinism, major cissexism, divorce, sexual harassment, almost car accident,
pretty terrible honestly. what's the horror or fantasy in this? the plot is spoiler a woman gets divorce and moves herself and her two kids out to a beach resort town. there she suffers an episode of insomnia, goes out for a run, nearly get run over by sexual harasses in a van, and then run homes. she also imagines that her ex husband is molesting their children. when she gets home she tears off their bedding all the while weeping. the end. huh??
◆ The Trial of Hansel and Gretel by Garry Kilworth
minor child abuse, unsanitary,
medium murder gore cannibalism,
major fatphobia
◆ Rapunzel by Anne Bishop
medium pregnancy and childbirth
major child abuse, blood libel retelling,
◆ Sparks by Gregory Frost
Used Japanese racial slurs. no further cws as I'm not reading this garbage.
◆ The Dog Rose by Sten Westgard
medium gore,
major classism,
◆ The Reverend’s Wife by Midori Snyder
Midori Snyder why does this person have a japanese name
According to Midori Snyder, “The Reverend’s Wife” was an oral tale collected from the Kordofan people of Sudan and was originally known as “The Muezzin’s Wife.” In that version it was the men, a muezzin and a caravan trader, who dupe each other’s wives into having an affair. Snyder’s version, set in rural America, is definitely not for children. this author whitewashed this ethnic story of its culture, you mean.
major religion christianity, pregnancy, marital infidelity, rape by deception, NSFW theme,
As mentioned in the anthology, the original fairy tale / folk tale was purely middle eastern. This racist white woman took this ethnic story and made it a bland, boring porn fanfic. The only thing I liked was nothing, and the only good part was that it ended.
a white author whitewashing an Islamic folk tale to write porn is repulsive. no further cws as I'm not finishing this story.
◆ The Orphan the Moth and the Magic by Harvey Jacobs
minor usury, kidnapping, theft, gambling, pimping, drugs, adulterer, a pornographer, he practiced medicine without a license and was not above plagiarism or the robbing of graves
medium kidnapping,
major sexual abuse,
◆ Three Dwarves and 2000 Maniacs by Don Webb
minor body horror,
major incest, child abuse, torture, slavery
you can tell a white person wrote this because anyone getting sectioned would have hell to deal with. a psych dealing with their co workers ableism about their own legit mental illness? nah. The thing I hate most a out cis white authors when they are so fucking horny ot cant help but sleep into their work. No further cws
◆ True Thomas by Bruce Glassco
medium alcohol,
"Since her husband was put below ground her skin has ached for the touch of a man’s hand. I smell an egg within her as well, ready to begin its long journey to the womb. If she is ploughed tonight, she will crop. "
WHY ARE CIS MEN LIKE THIS. No further cws. What a dumb story. Fuck you bruce.
◆ The True Story by Pat Murphy
medium semi explicit rape via alcohol,
major arranged marriage
best story in the anthology
◆ Lost and Abandoned by John Crowley
major classism and racism in the. background
◆ On Lickerish Hill by Susanna Clarke
i... who thought typing this all out in ye older English was a good idea? frankly it just reminds me of cringy fan fics that try to mimic accents or stuttering. no cws, I dont feel like reading this, sorry.
◆ Steadfast by Nancy Kress
minor blood, whorephobic language, pregnancy, diseases, injuries, bone fractures, throat trauma, gore, war propaganda
medium anti sex worker sentiment, gore, bloodshed,riot suppression by soldiers,
major french ppl, wars, stalking
◆ Godmother Death by Jane Yolen
skipped because they're antisemitic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Transphobia
bibliotropic's review
4.0
Fairy tales are interesting, both in their original form and the more sanitized happy versions we tend to grow up with today, and the differences between them. They resonate with so many people, no matter which form they’re in. From cautionary tales to hopeful visions of one’s future, there’s a place for fairy tales in our lives.
Which is why this collection is such a great one. It’s the sort of thing that can appeal to so many, not just fans of genre fiction. Though that is their primary appeal, since the overwhelming majority of the stories feature a sci-fi or fantasy bent, some read more like historical fiction or contemporary fiction, so there’s a range in here that’s fitting with the range of authors.
As with just about any anthology I read, though, some stories and some presentations hit harder with me than others. Particular favourites in this collection were Michael Blumlein’s Snow in Dirt (a sci-fi story involving a man who finds a strange comatose woman buried in his yard, then proceeds to revive and live with her), Esther M Friesner’s No Bigger Than My Thumb (a very twisted story of revenge), Gary Kilworth’s The Trial of Hansel and Gretel (exactly what it sounds like, portrayed as a medieval courtroom drama), Anne Bishop’s Rapunzel (a take on the classic story in which adversity builds character and everybody is more deeply flawed than you expect), Midori Snyder’s The Reverend’s Wife (a hilarious tale of ignorance and infidelity)… Okay, I’m starting to realise that there are more favourites in this collection that I first thought. Maybe it would be easier to say that there were really only 2 stories that I didn’t enjoy as much as the others rather than list all the ones I did like. And the ones that I didn’t find so appealing weren’t indicative of the quality of the story or the writing so much as they were just stories that didn’t really click with me. This happens a lot when I read anthologies with a mix of authors; inevitably there’s something that doesn’t appeal as much as the rest. Can’t win ’em all.
I understand that this isn’t the first collection in the series, and that there are plenty of other dark retellings of fairy tales edited by Datlow and Windling that I can look for now, and believe me, if this collection is indicative of the others, I’m going to have a damn good time reading through them. If you’re looking for a trip into a disturbing twist on the stories you grew up with (assuming you didn’t grow up with the Grimm versions, that is; they’re disturbing enough on their own), then I highly recommend Black Swan, White Raven. You’ve got a star collection of authors contributing here, and it really shows in the fantastic diversity of content and style. This is one to stay on my bookshelves for years to come!
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
Which is why this collection is such a great one. It’s the sort of thing that can appeal to so many, not just fans of genre fiction. Though that is their primary appeal, since the overwhelming majority of the stories feature a sci-fi or fantasy bent, some read more like historical fiction or contemporary fiction, so there’s a range in here that’s fitting with the range of authors.
As with just about any anthology I read, though, some stories and some presentations hit harder with me than others. Particular favourites in this collection were Michael Blumlein’s Snow in Dirt (a sci-fi story involving a man who finds a strange comatose woman buried in his yard, then proceeds to revive and live with her), Esther M Friesner’s No Bigger Than My Thumb (a very twisted story of revenge), Gary Kilworth’s The Trial of Hansel and Gretel (exactly what it sounds like, portrayed as a medieval courtroom drama), Anne Bishop’s Rapunzel (a take on the classic story in which adversity builds character and everybody is more deeply flawed than you expect), Midori Snyder’s The Reverend’s Wife (a hilarious tale of ignorance and infidelity)… Okay, I’m starting to realise that there are more favourites in this collection that I first thought. Maybe it would be easier to say that there were really only 2 stories that I didn’t enjoy as much as the others rather than list all the ones I did like. And the ones that I didn’t find so appealing weren’t indicative of the quality of the story or the writing so much as they were just stories that didn’t really click with me. This happens a lot when I read anthologies with a mix of authors; inevitably there’s something that doesn’t appeal as much as the rest. Can’t win ’em all.
I understand that this isn’t the first collection in the series, and that there are plenty of other dark retellings of fairy tales edited by Datlow and Windling that I can look for now, and believe me, if this collection is indicative of the others, I’m going to have a damn good time reading through them. If you’re looking for a trip into a disturbing twist on the stories you grew up with (assuming you didn’t grow up with the Grimm versions, that is; they’re disturbing enough on their own), then I highly recommend Black Swan, White Raven. You’ve got a star collection of authors contributing here, and it really shows in the fantastic diversity of content and style. This is one to stay on my bookshelves for years to come!
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
vulturetime's review
3.0
I personally preferred the stories in the 2nd half much more than the stories in the first half.
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