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A review by missbookiverse
The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales by Dominik Parisien, Navah Wolfe
4.0
Overall 3.5 stars
(German review below)
In the Desert Like a Bone by Seanan McGuire ★★★★☆
A kind of wild west Red Riding Hood. I really enjoyed the writing, the setting and the twist.
Underground by Karin Tidbeck ★★☆☆☆
This one was weird. It felt like it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be modern or old-fashioned in setting and writing style. Even though the author explains in her note at the end that she wanted to play with the things that bothered her about the original fairy tale I feel like she ultimately failed?
Even the Crumbs were Delicious by Daryl Gregory ★★★•☆
Basically Hänsel & Gretel on drugs in a futuristic setting. Not my cup of tea but it was well written and had sweet characters.
The Super Ultra Duchess of Fedora Forest by Charlie Jane Anders ★★★★☆
This one was so, so ridiculous (it's about a mouse, a bird and a SAUSAGE living together, come on!) but it wanted to be and it did so successfully. The author describes it as "Adventure Time fanfic" which is on point.
Familiaris by Genevieve Valentine ?
This was frustratingly confusing. It might become clearer if I reread it once or twice and I think it would even be worth it because I loved all the little snippets that question motherhood and what it means to be a woman but I couldn't put them together to form a coherent story... hard to rate.
Seasons of Glass & Iron by Amal El-Mohtar ★★★★★
This was gorgeously written with a queer romance and very feminist undertones. Loved it.
Badgirl, The Deadman, & the Wheel of Fortune by Catherynne M. Valente ★★★★☆
What is it with fairy tale retellings and drugs? This was as good as I had expected from Valente, (very) dark and thoughtful. It didn't quite reach me on a personal level though.
Penny for a Match, Mister? by Garth Nix ★★★☆☆
Another Western. The setting was nice and the magic system had potential but all in all the story was terribly linear and held no surprises.
Some Wait by Stephen Graham Jones ★★★★•
Children go missing in a small town. This was so, so creepy! I got a bit confused with all the names, so I might reread it to catch all the implications but I loved the atmosphere and the ending.
The Thousand Eyes by Jeffrey Ford ★★•☆☆
Bars and painting. It was ok but I didn't really connect with any of it.
Giants in the Sky by Max Gladstone ★★☆☆☆
Some type of almighty beings watch over primitive humans on earth. The story itself had potential but the storytelling was not for me: way too futuristic and told in confusing bits of dialogue and protocol snippets? Also, too much unnecessary swearing.
The Briar & the Rose by Marjorie Liu ★★★★★
This one was so beautiful. I loved the prose and the things the author did with the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty, posing questions about agency and body shaming. She invented a whole new story (including diversity in skin color and sexual orientation) instead of just retelling the original.
The Other Thea by Theodora Goss ★★★★•
I love the mix of magic and modern technology in this one because it worked flawlessly. It reminded me of Kelly Link's stories in the best way possible and I would've loved to read a whole novel about the character and the struggles she's facing.
When I Lay Frozen by Margo Lanagan ★★★★★
Wow, Margo Lanagan is simply amazing, just like she did in [b:Tender Morsels|2662169|Tender Morsels|Margo Lanagan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442809725s/2662169.jpg|2687395], she manages to incorporate Rape Culture into a fairy tale. Skillful, uncomfortable and beautiful.
Pearl by Aliette de Bodard ★★•☆☆
This one was hard to get into because of the futuristic setting and even though I liked the ideas I was pretty bored and wanted it to be over.
The Tale of Mahliya & Mauhub & the White-Footed Gazelle by Sofia Samatar ★★★☆☆
This was like a DIY-Story with lots of snippets that you had to glue together yourself. Maybe it works better if you know the tale it's based on (which I didn't) but as a story it didn't work for me.
Reflected by Kat Howard ★★☆☆☆
Pff, very pseudo-sciency which I didn't like. It didn't feel very fleshed out, a lot was summarized and not explained (especially about the scientific investigations) and some things just didn't make sense to me (why not lie the mirror flat on the ground if you're afraid the shards are gonna break apart again??).
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik ★★★★★
Loved, loved, loved this one. Very strong ending to the anthology. The atmosphere was great (wintery and fairy tale-esque), the heroine was fantastic and I loved the twist on the whole Rumpelstiltskin business.
____________________________
In dieser Sammlung haben 18 verschiedenste Autor.inn.en selbst gewählte Märchen neu erzählt. Dabei fällt auf, dass sich neben den Klassikern wie Rotkäppchen (neu von Seanan McGuire) oder Dornröschen (neu von Marjorie Liu) auch viele eher weniger verbreitete Märchen wiederfinden, z.B. Grimms Das Mädchen ohne Hände, Andersens Der Schatten oder die mir komplett unbekannten Dã Tràng & the Pearl (aus dem Vietnamesischen) und The Glass Mountain (aus dem Polnischen).
Diese Vielseitigkeit ist einer der größten Pluspunkte der Sammlung und findet sich auch in den Geschichten wieder. Manche sind eher futuristisch (und weniger mein Fall), andere fühlen sich wie traditionelle Märchen an und dazwischen gibt es Schauplätze wie den Wilden Westen (in Garth Nix’ Story) oder ein Physiklabor (in Kat Howards Fall). Fast alle haben eine starke feministische Prägung, denn vielen Beteiligten ging es darum, den weiblichen Figuren aus den Originalstoffen mehr agency zu verleihen und zu beleuchten, was in ihren Märchen eigentlich schief lief. Spannende Einblicke bieten daher auch die Autor.inn.ennotizen, die nach jeder Story folgen.
Schließlich gibt es zwei Geschichten (Familiaris; The Tale of Mahliya & Mauhub & the White-Footed Gazelle), die sich trauen auf unkonventionelle Erzählarten zu verzichten und stattdessen eher zusammenhängende Fragmente liefern. Einerseits finde ich das mutig und es fordert dazu heraus, sich eingehender mit einer Geschichte zu beschäftigen, andererseits ist es schwierig in diese Erzählungen hineinzufinden und wenn ich sie nur einmal lese, nehme ich kaum etwas aus ihnen mit. Nichtsdestotrotz finde ich es gut, dass das Herausgeberduo auch schwerer zugängliche Texte mit aufgenommen hat.
(German review below)
In the Desert Like a Bone by Seanan McGuire ★★★★☆
A kind of wild west Red Riding Hood. I really enjoyed the writing, the setting and the twist.
Underground by Karin Tidbeck ★★☆☆☆
This one was weird. It felt like it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be modern or old-fashioned in setting and writing style. Even though the author explains in her note at the end that she wanted to play with the things that bothered her about the original fairy tale I feel like she ultimately failed?
Spoiler
a girl is traded off into captivity, her captor rapes her, she gets pregnant, he does not help her take care of the baby. Later on he is being held captive by another woman and the girl saves him by killing the woman and after that leaves him. Mh, okay, I'm glad she doesn't stay with him but why does she save him at all? And why kill the woman whom she knows nothing about?Even the Crumbs were Delicious by Daryl Gregory ★★★•☆
Basically Hänsel & Gretel on drugs in a futuristic setting. Not my cup of tea but it was well written and had sweet characters.
The Super Ultra Duchess of Fedora Forest by Charlie Jane Anders ★★★★☆
This one was so, so ridiculous (it's about a mouse, a bird and a SAUSAGE living together, come on!) but it wanted to be and it did so successfully. The author describes it as "Adventure Time fanfic" which is on point.
Familiaris by Genevieve Valentine ?
This was frustratingly confusing. It might become clearer if I reread it once or twice and I think it would even be worth it because I loved all the little snippets that question motherhood and what it means to be a woman but I couldn't put them together to form a coherent story... hard to rate.
Seasons of Glass & Iron by Amal El-Mohtar ★★★★★
This was gorgeously written with a queer romance and very feminist undertones. Loved it.
Badgirl, The Deadman, & the Wheel of Fortune by Catherynne M. Valente ★★★★☆
What is it with fairy tale retellings and drugs? This was as good as I had expected from Valente, (very) dark and thoughtful. It didn't quite reach me on a personal level though.
Penny for a Match, Mister? by Garth Nix ★★★☆☆
Another Western. The setting was nice and the magic system had potential but all in all the story was terribly linear and held no surprises.
Some Wait by Stephen Graham Jones ★★★★•
Children go missing in a small town. This was so, so creepy! I got a bit confused with all the names, so I might reread it to catch all the implications but I loved the atmosphere and the ending.
The Thousand Eyes by Jeffrey Ford ★★•☆☆
Bars and painting. It was ok but I didn't really connect with any of it.
Giants in the Sky by Max Gladstone ★★☆☆☆
Some type of almighty beings watch over primitive humans on earth. The story itself had potential but the storytelling was not for me: way too futuristic and told in confusing bits of dialogue and protocol snippets? Also, too much unnecessary swearing.
The Briar & the Rose by Marjorie Liu ★★★★★
This one was so beautiful. I loved the prose and the things the author did with the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty, posing questions about agency and body shaming. She invented a whole new story (including diversity in skin color and sexual orientation) instead of just retelling the original.
The Other Thea by Theodora Goss ★★★★•
I love the mix of magic and modern technology in this one because it worked flawlessly. It reminded me of Kelly Link's stories in the best way possible and I would've loved to read a whole novel about the character and the struggles she's facing.
When I Lay Frozen by Margo Lanagan ★★★★★
Wow, Margo Lanagan is simply amazing, just like she did in [b:Tender Morsels|2662169|Tender Morsels|Margo Lanagan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442809725s/2662169.jpg|2687395], she manages to incorporate Rape Culture into a fairy tale. Skillful, uncomfortable and beautiful.
Pearl by Aliette de Bodard ★★•☆☆
This one was hard to get into because of the futuristic setting and even though I liked the ideas I was pretty bored and wanted it to be over.
The Tale of Mahliya & Mauhub & the White-Footed Gazelle by Sofia Samatar ★★★☆☆
This was like a DIY-Story with lots of snippets that you had to glue together yourself. Maybe it works better if you know the tale it's based on (which I didn't) but as a story it didn't work for me.
Reflected by Kat Howard ★★☆☆☆
Pff, very pseudo-sciency which I didn't like. It didn't feel very fleshed out, a lot was summarized and not explained (especially about the scientific investigations) and some things just didn't make sense to me (why not lie the mirror flat on the ground if you're afraid the shards are gonna break apart again??).
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik ★★★★★
Loved, loved, loved this one. Very strong ending to the anthology. The atmosphere was great (wintery and fairy tale-esque), the heroine was fantastic and I loved the twist on the whole Rumpelstiltskin business.
____________________________
In dieser Sammlung haben 18 verschiedenste Autor.inn.en selbst gewählte Märchen neu erzählt. Dabei fällt auf, dass sich neben den Klassikern wie Rotkäppchen (neu von Seanan McGuire) oder Dornröschen (neu von Marjorie Liu) auch viele eher weniger verbreitete Märchen wiederfinden, z.B. Grimms Das Mädchen ohne Hände, Andersens Der Schatten oder die mir komplett unbekannten Dã Tràng & the Pearl (aus dem Vietnamesischen) und The Glass Mountain (aus dem Polnischen).
Diese Vielseitigkeit ist einer der größten Pluspunkte der Sammlung und findet sich auch in den Geschichten wieder. Manche sind eher futuristisch (und weniger mein Fall), andere fühlen sich wie traditionelle Märchen an und dazwischen gibt es Schauplätze wie den Wilden Westen (in Garth Nix’ Story) oder ein Physiklabor (in Kat Howards Fall). Fast alle haben eine starke feministische Prägung, denn vielen Beteiligten ging es darum, den weiblichen Figuren aus den Originalstoffen mehr agency zu verleihen und zu beleuchten, was in ihren Märchen eigentlich schief lief. Spannende Einblicke bieten daher auch die Autor.inn.ennotizen, die nach jeder Story folgen.
Schließlich gibt es zwei Geschichten (Familiaris; The Tale of Mahliya & Mauhub & the White-Footed Gazelle), die sich trauen auf unkonventionelle Erzählarten zu verzichten und stattdessen eher zusammenhängende Fragmente liefern. Einerseits finde ich das mutig und es fordert dazu heraus, sich eingehender mit einer Geschichte zu beschäftigen, andererseits ist es schwierig in diese Erzählungen hineinzufinden und wenn ich sie nur einmal lese, nehme ich kaum etwas aus ihnen mit. Nichtsdestotrotz finde ich es gut, dass das Herausgeberduo auch schwerer zugängliche Texte mit aufgenommen hat.