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A review by albatrossonhalfpointe
Twice Upon a Time by Denise Little
2.0
"Slay the dragon... Find the treasure... Marry the princess... That's what fairy tales are all about -- or are they? What if the dragons, the princesses, the big bad wolves, the giants, and all the other characters -- good and bad alike -- got to tell their side of the story? Well, here's your chance to find out, as some of today's finest fantasy weavers -- such master crafters as Jody Lynn Nye, Josepha Sherman, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Nancy Springer, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Jane Lindskold, and Esther Friesner -- give classic stories a brand-new spin.
From the lawsuit brought against Jack -- of beanstalk fame -- by the giant's grieving widow... to Rapunzel's self-instituted escape from her tower prison... to a princess who'd rather be a goose girl than marry a prince... to the story that only began after the bear found Goldilocks in his bed... Now you can learn the other side of the stories -- and discover whether anyone did get to live happily ever after!"
I picked it because it seemed cute, but I have to admit that "other side" stories of faeri tales are kind of overdone. That said, some of the stories in here were really cute, or really sweet. The one about Prince Charming and his many loves was pretty funny. A story with Red Riding Hood's sweetheart trying to save her but being too late was surprisingly sad. Cinderella running off with another servant instead of the prince was a cute one. And the frog prince and his bride trying to fend of ridiculous lawsuits was quite humourous.
It would have been kind of neat to see a little more awareness of other stories within each one. What I mean by that is that in a way, they all seemed like they were taking place around the same Enchanted Forest, and periodically, the paths of the characters in one story would cross the paths of characters from some other story. But never in any related way to any of the other stories actually in this book, if that makes any sense. For example, a PI trying to find Rumplestiltskin's name discovers that R only wanted the princess's firstborn because he and his wife couldn't have kids of their own, so when the PI finds Hansel and Gretel abandoned in the forest, he brings them to the Rs, who adopt them. But there are other stories in the book, about both R and H&G. So it just would have been neat if any mention in passing of a character form another faeri tale actually corresponded with the details of the story about that character.
Of course, in order to do that, the editor would have had to make sure there was only one story about each tale, rather than just letting each author pick the one they wanted, regardless of what others were writing. Certain characters were mentioned in various ways in several stories, and there were two stories actually about the finding of Rumplestiltskin's name -- although at least those were from different angles. I do have to seriously question the editor's decision to include not two, but THREE tellings of the story of how Jack is not a hero, he's a horrible murderous thief who climbs the beanstalk and completely abuses the hospitality of the peaceful and friendly giant family. If you're going to allow three stories about Jack, they should at least be different. By the third, it was really quite tedious.
But all in all, it was a nice fluffy read.
From the lawsuit brought against Jack -- of beanstalk fame -- by the giant's grieving widow... to Rapunzel's self-instituted escape from her tower prison... to a princess who'd rather be a goose girl than marry a prince... to the story that only began after the bear found Goldilocks in his bed... Now you can learn the other side of the stories -- and discover whether anyone did get to live happily ever after!"
I picked it because it seemed cute, but I have to admit that "other side" stories of faeri tales are kind of overdone. That said, some of the stories in here were really cute, or really sweet. The one about Prince Charming and his many loves was pretty funny. A story with Red Riding Hood's sweetheart trying to save her but being too late was surprisingly sad. Cinderella running off with another servant instead of the prince was a cute one. And the frog prince and his bride trying to fend of ridiculous lawsuits was quite humourous.
It would have been kind of neat to see a little more awareness of other stories within each one. What I mean by that is that in a way, they all seemed like they were taking place around the same Enchanted Forest, and periodically, the paths of the characters in one story would cross the paths of characters from some other story. But never in any related way to any of the other stories actually in this book, if that makes any sense. For example, a PI trying to find Rumplestiltskin's name discovers that R only wanted the princess's firstborn because he and his wife couldn't have kids of their own, so when the PI finds Hansel and Gretel abandoned in the forest, he brings them to the Rs, who adopt them. But there are other stories in the book, about both R and H&G. So it just would have been neat if any mention in passing of a character form another faeri tale actually corresponded with the details of the story about that character.
Of course, in order to do that, the editor would have had to make sure there was only one story about each tale, rather than just letting each author pick the one they wanted, regardless of what others were writing. Certain characters were mentioned in various ways in several stories, and there were two stories actually about the finding of Rumplestiltskin's name -- although at least those were from different angles. I do have to seriously question the editor's decision to include not two, but THREE tellings of the story of how Jack is not a hero, he's a horrible murderous thief who climbs the beanstalk and completely abuses the hospitality of the peaceful and friendly giant family. If you're going to allow three stories about Jack, they should at least be different. By the third, it was really quite tedious.
But all in all, it was a nice fluffy read.