Shout-Out: Charming by Jade Linwood

Brave, Resourceful, Deceitful, Double-Crossing... Charming.

Prince Jean-Marc Charming Arundel, known to friends and enemies alike as "Prince Charming," is handsome, well-mannered, brave, a peerless swordsman, a cunning tactician – and a liar, a con man and a fraud. For years he has been travelling from one kingdom to the next, rescuing endangered princesses and maidens, securing their troths and his place in their fathers' palaces, then looting their treasuries and having it away before dawn.

Until a chance meeting of three of his victims – raven-haired Marie Blanche de Neige, the sorceress Doctor Emilia Rapunzel and the long-slumbering Bella Lucia dei’ Sogni – suggests a course of revenge...

Shout-Out: The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner

In a remote village surrounded by vast forests on the border of Moldova and Ukraine, sisters Liba and Laya have been raised on the honeyed scent of their Mami's babka and the low rumble of their Tati's prayers. But when a troupe of mysterious men arrives, Laya falls under their spell-despite their mother's warning to be wary of strangers. And this is not the only danger lurking in the woods.

As dark forces close in on their village, Liba and Laya discover a family secret passed down through generations. Faced with a magical heritage they never knew existed, the sisters realize the old fairy tales are true...and could save them all.

Movie Review: The Shape of Water

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, 2017

IMDb listing 

Pros: brilliant acting, interesting story, great creature effects

Cons: 

“At a top secret research facility in the 1950s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.” (IMDb)

Sally Hawkins plays Elisa Esposito, the mute janitor, who’s able to hear but cannot speak. The actress does a brilliant job with a difficult role. I thought it was cool that sometimes her signing was subtitled and others it was verbally translated by friends. In one scene she forces the person she’s talking to to repeat her words back in order to force him to listen to what she’s saying. I was also impressed by how much information she transmitted via gestures and facial expressions.

I loved Giles, her flatmate artist who’s also lonely, and feeling his age. In fact, the entire supporting cast did great jobs. Michale Shannon as Strickland, the antagonist, was quite menacing. Octavia Spencer as a fellow janitor, and often translator, was a real joy to watch.

The creature effects were wonderful. It looks very realistic.

I’m not sure I believe the two could fall in love so quickly given the communication - and situational - difficulties of their meeting. I did appreciate that they took time to develop a relationship and trust.

The story had more varied threads than I was expecting, elevating it from a regular creature feature to a kind of spy thriller/romance.

My husband pointed out that Esposito’s bathroom was surprisingly watertight in order to handle the pressure during one scene. I expected more water to leak out around the door, if nothing else.

There is some nudity and sexual content. There’s also some violence and a few scenes that made me cringe.

It’s a brilliant film, a real modern fairy-tale.

Book Review: The Little Red Wolf by Amelie Flechais

Pros: adorable wolf, pretty artwork 

Cons: some scary images 

A little wolf cub is given a rabbit to bring to his ailing grandmother and warned away from an area of the forest where humans live. But little wolves, like little girls, don’t always follow instructions.

I’m not sure how to describe the artwork. It looks like watercolours, with most pages having a slight fantasy look to them. There’s lush greenery of the forest and strangely stylistic birds and bunnies. The wolves walk upright and have adorable cloaks. The wolf cub himself often poses in ways that show both attitude and emotion. The guard looks rather terrifying and there are a few scarier images though it’s on par with other fairytales in this respect.

I liked the little wolf a lot. While he’s portrayed as arrogant, he’s pretty typical of a child who wants to show some independence but isn’t quite as aware of the dangers of the world as he’d like to appear. He also faces some consequences for actions he chooses and has a dreadful moment when he’s done something bad and is worried his family will hate him for it. I felt for the little guy.

The story is very much in line with other fairytales. Obviously this one draws upon Little Red Riding Hood, but includes some innovations to the story. You can draw several messages from it or read it for fun. 

As an adult I enjoyed this and I suspect children will too.

Shout-Out: Just Off the Path by Weston Sullivan

Hansel never asked to be a hero. He never wanted to fall in love with Rapunzel, Queen of the East. He didn’t ask to be raised by Gothel the Wretch, and he certainly never wanted to be credited for her arrest. But more than any of that, Hansel never wanted to lie: but he did. He lied about everything. He thought that he was done with it all when he and his sister Gretel retreated into the woods to reclaim their land, but he should have known better. 

Years later, Rapunzel’s guards knock at his door, and they say the words he hoped that he would never hear: Gothel has escaped. As he and Gretel take refuge inside Rapunzel’s castle in the eastern capitol of Hildebrand, Hansel is thrust back into everything he never wanted in the first place: his lies, his legend, and his lust. In the wake of it all, he knows that Gothel has escaped to finish what she started. She is out to make sure that the Sleeping Beauty never wakes, and that Grimm suffocates under her blanket of thorn and vine. In order to find Gothel and save the kingdom, Hansel and Gretel must look for fact in a land of fairy-tale by following a trail of grisly murders, a girl in a red cape, and a powerful little man who can’t stand the sound of his own name. 

As they search for answers, Hansel finds that he isn’t the only liar in Grimm, and that there may be a traitor among them of royal proportion.

Book Review: Roses and Rot by Kat Howard

Pros: lyrical writing, thought provoking, evocative

Cons: 

Imogen is a writer while her younger sister Marin is a ballet dancer. Their mother supported Marin’s beauty and talent, as they reflected positively on her. She denounced Imogen’s storytelling as lies, punishing her as necessary. Imogen escaped but had to leave her sister behind. They grew up. This is the fairytale of two sisters, coming together after a decade apart, to work on their arts in an artist’s colony where things aren’t as they appear. 

I loved this book. It resonated with me on so many levels. Howard captures the hard work, the fear, the loneliness, the exhilaration of being an artist, believing in yourself one moment while wondering if you’re good enough the next. She also captures the emotional turmoil of a broken family: the guilt, the attempts to reconcile the truth you know from the truth others believe, protecting yourself from harm while constantly dreading the next attack - whether physical or verbal. 

The book is so lyrically written, it’s prose is beautiful, and often heart-wrenching. The snippets of Imogen’s stories that retell her childhood are so sad and yet so hopeful as well. The descriptions are vivid and lush, easy to picture and viscerally present as events progress.

I loved the characters and the hints of what’s happening at Melete, the campus where they’re studying. Everything felt real. The characters impacted each others lives in ways it was hard to imagine when the novel started. Though I thought there were times when Imogen should have been more honest and open with her sister, I can understand why such intimacy was difficult for them, given their upbringing and past.

This is a brilliant book and I can’t recommend it enough.

*** SPOILERS ***

I considered making this a con, but there was no way to mention it without spoilers and I’m not really sure it detracted from the book at all. I wondered, at the end, about the magic Gavin has, that saying something makes it true. He was afraid Marin would die, but she kind of points out - without really pointing it out - that had he (and by extension Imogen) believed in her surviving and succeeding in the fae realm, then his magic would have made that belief truth instead. 

Shout-Out: Roses and Rot by Kat Howard

Imogen and her sister Marin escape their cruel mother to attend a prestigious artists’ retreat, but soon learn that living in a fairy tale requires sacrifices, whether it be art or love in this haunting debut novel from “a remarkable young writer” (Neil Gaiman).

What would you sacrifice for everything you ever dreamed of?

Imogen has grown up reading fairy tales about mothers who die and make way for cruel stepmothers. As a child, she used to lie in bed wishing that her life would become one of these tragic fairy tales because she couldn’t imagine how a stepmother could be worse than her mother now. As adults, Imogen and her sister Marin are accepted to an elite post-grad arts program—Imogen as a writer and Marin as a dancer. Soon enough, though, they realize that there’s more to the school than meets the eye. Imogen might be living in the fairy tale she’s dreamed about as a child, but it’s one that will pit her against Marin if she decides to escape her past to find her heart’s desire.

Book Review: Dust City by Robert Paul Weston

Pros: wonderful world-building, great characters, some humour

Cons: some unpleasant descriptions

When the fairies vanished other hominid species moved into their home on the floating island of Eden and started mining the dust they left behind.  Though the dust isn’t as potent as what the fairies once used, it can cure minor ailments, and the hominids and animalia in the city below are hooked.

Henry Whelp is the son of a convicted drug runner and murderer.  Though he’s a good kid, a bad decision lands him at the St Remus Home for Wayward Youth, and another reason society still fears and distrusts wolves.  But Henry uncovers a mystery that involves his dad, the missing fairies, and the dust that’s becoming more and more potent.

It was really cool reading a fairytale story from the point of view of one of the talking/evolved animals.  In the stories these are either the bad guys (like the wolf), guides to human protagonists (ravens & foxes), or creatures drafted into the magic (mice, birds).  So it was an interesting perspective, as the humanoid characters mostly look down on the animalia.

As with most books that riff on fairy tales, part of the fun is figuring out what characters come from what stories.  There’s little mystery here if you’ve read the brothers Grimm, though I’ll have to look up the story of the girl without hands.  The characters are cleverly used, particularly Detective White, referencing their fairytale backgrounds without being limited to their origin stories.

The world is wonderful and feels real, what with its racism, drug problems, corruption, and more.  Henry encounters several people from different walks of life, giving a decent overview of the lower city.

While the book isn’t funny - in fact, it’s quite dark - there were a few lines, particularly in the scenes with Siobhan’s granny, that made me laugh out loud.   

Some of the descriptions got a little… gross.  There’s a lot of spit and drool, disgusting smells, some blood and violence, and a torture scene.  But that’s a pretty minor issue.  

On the whole I really enjoyed this book and found it quite unique in its treatment of the stories and characters.

Shout-Out: Spelled by Betsy Schow

Fairy Tale Survival Rule #32: If you find yourself at the mercy of a wicked witch, sing a romantic ballad and wait for your Prince Charming to save the day. Yeah, no thanks. Dorthea is completely princed out. Sure being the crown princess of Emerald has its perks-like Glenda Original ball gowns and Hans Christian Louboutin heels. But a forced marriage to the not-so-charming prince Kato is so not what Dorthea had in mind for her enchanted future. Talk about unhappily ever after. Trying to fix her prince problem by wishing on a (cursed) star royally backfires, leaving the kingdom in chaos and her parents stuck in some place called "Kansas." Now it's up to Dorthea and her pixed off prince to find the mysterious Wizard of Oz and undo the curse, before it releases the wickedest witch of all and spells The End for the world of Story.

Book Review: The Turnip Princess And Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales

Collected by Franz Xavier von Schönwerth; translated by Maria Tatar; edited by Erika Eichenseer

Pros: fun, wide variety, readable translation, interesting characters, informative introduction

Cons: commentary could have been more in depth

This is a collection consists of 72 of the lost tales Franz Xaver von Schönwerth recorded in the Eastern Bavarian region of Oberpfalz in the late 1850s.  Rediscovered recently and translated into English, this collection allows modern readers more insight into the Germanic oral culture of what we now call fairy tales.  

There’s a short forward by the historian who discovered the papers on how this volume came to be published.  The translator of the collection, the chair of folklore and mythology at Harvard, does the introduction and commentary on each of the stories.  The introduction explains where these stories fit with the other tales that have come down to us and points out that fairy tales morphed from stories told by and to adults into stories told more often by women (whether mothers or nannies) to children.  Which is why there are so many princesses and female rags to riches stories, and so few such tales about boys.  This book brings back several tales of ‘Cinderfellas’ and other disenfranchised young men.  The commentaries, coming at the very end of the collection, mention the similarities between these tales and others we’re familiar with.  There’s only room for a little explanation, so some of the commentaries are merely synopses while others have a bit more depth to them.

While some of the tales have morals and happy endings, several don’t have either, with some truly unscrupulous people getting away with horrible things and curses going unbroken.  And since these were oral tales you can expect a lot of twists out of left field, where the stories turn on previously unmentioned characters and events.  

The collection is separated into seven categories: Tales of Magic, Enchanted Animals, Otherworldly Creatures, Legends, Tall Tales and Anecdotes, and Tales About Nature.  It’s a decent attempt to separate the stories, but the reality is that most of the stories can fit into several categories and that some stories with similar elements end up in different sections.  There are a few with overly Christian themes (including some tales with the devil as the antagonist), and some with more ’pagan’ themes.  There are a lot of dwarfs and witches/evil women, and a smaller number of elves, gnomes, mermaids and other fantastical creatures.  And curses.  Lots and lots of curses.

One story ended with a very modern idiom, which made me wonder what the original German said, but on the whole I thought the translation was great, immersive and entertaining.

The stories are only a few pages each and the collection as a whole is a quick and pleasant read.  While most of these wouldn’t be considered ‘children’s stories’, they’re not overly bloody or ribaldrous.  The collection is fantastic for the variety of tales told and for the ways they used the fairy tale tropes we’ve become familiar with.

Movie Review: Maleficent

Directed by: Robert Stromberg, 2014

IMDb listing

Pros: beautiful cinematography, great special effects, interesting characters

Cons: predictable

After being betrayed by a human she loved, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) curses the man’s daughter.  But as the years pass, she comes to regret her decision.

This is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the evil fairy’s point of view.  Angelina Jolie does a brilliant job as Maleficent.  She’s got perfectly chisteled cheekbones and great poise in the role.  I loved her wings and the fight scene towards the beginning of the film where she uses them offensively.  Her story arc, while simplistic, made sense, and it’s cool to see her slowly realize the princess didn’t deserve her anger and that maybe she reacted badly to what Stefan had done.

The cinematography on the whole was magnificent.  The sets, costumes, special effects, etc. were all wonderful.  There’s a slight muted quality to the human world, with things taking on a yellowed tinge - except Maleficent’s bold red lipstick.  Contrasted with the brightly coloured fairy land, the human world was pretty plain and boring.

I also enjoyed the performances by the 3 pixies, one of whom was played by Imelda Staunton, whom viewers will recognize from her role of Professor Umbridge in Harry Potter.  Here, she’s part of the comic relief team and does a wonderful job.  I wasn’t sure why the king would entrust 3 pixies who don’t know how to feed a baby with his infant daughter when he’s at war with the fairy kingdom, but oh well.

The transforming crow was a cool touch.  The effect was awesome and his character interesting.  I kind of wanted to see him try the ‘true love’s kiss’ at the end.

I had a few minor complaints about the film, the most obvious being that - as a well known fairy tale - it’s predictable.  My other complaints consist of spoilers and will be detailed below.

Ultimately I enjoyed this film.  The effects alone make it worth watching and there’s just enough action to maintain interest.

*** SPOILERS ***

The kiss that wakes Aurora would have had more effect if Frozen hadn’t used the exact same idea last year.  Similarly, it doesn’t make much sense that Aurora would become known as sleeping beauty (the way her epilogue states) when she’s only in the enchanted sleep for an hour or two.  I also didn’t think it was fair to the fairy folk that Maleficent makes up for her error by making Aurora queen of the fairies.  We’re told at the beginning of the film that the fairies have no ruler, and Maleficent’s time as their ruler has obviously had a negative effect on the land.  Sure, Aurora may be sweet and just, but there’s nothing to show that her descendants will have those qualities too - unless the fairies bless them that way (they way they did Aurora…).  

Book Review: Snow Queen's Shadow by Jim C. Hines

Pros: great series conclusion, fast paced

Cons: one scene felt superfluous

Bea is dying and Snow has a plan to keep her around longer.  When her spell goes wrong she unwittingly releases something that takes control of her and others, Prince Jakob being a strange exception.  So she takes the boy when she leaves Lorindar's Palace and heads for home.

Making a beloved protagonist into the antagonist made this concluding volume of the Princess Series a heart wrenching one.  By the end of the book 'Snow' has done so many horrible things it's hard to imagine a good ending.  But Hines delivers one that fits the subject matter and neatly wraps up the series.

The pacing is fast - it's a quick, exciting read.  The protagonists' trip to see the fairies seems superfluous, but it's tied into the overarching plot well, making it a minor complaint.

If you haven't read this series, what are you waiting for?

Movie Review: Sucker Punch

Director: Zach Snyder, 2011

Pros: fascinating story within a story, modern fairy tale, complex message, great action scenes

Cons: Brutal, music overlay got distracting

Sucker Punch is a modern fairy tale.  It tells the story of a young woman who is incarcerated in a mental institute.  She forms a plan to escape and encourages some of her fellow female prisoners to help her.

In order to escape they need five things and it's here that the film gets... creative.  They're also under a deadline as in five days the doctor comes to labotamize "Babydoll" (Emily Browning).

*** Minor spoilers ***

The scene shifts and suddenly we're seeing, not a hospital, but a bordello.  The girls are no longer patients but dancers in this club.  This is the protagonist's way of dealing with what's going on.  Many people, when faced with horrific situations create fantasy worlds they can cope with.  In this film, there's a fantasy within a fantasy.  In addition to the bordello - an inward view of the abuse the girls undergo while in the hospital - there's a second fantasy world, the one where the girls fight back.

These secondary fantasies are the scenes that are action packed and cinematographically beautiful even though, or perhaps because, they borrow so heavily from other films (Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and various anime).  Each fight scene is different, emphasizing that each item they need to acquire requires different tactics to steal.

Fairy tales are about growing up.  They're warnings of the evils that await in the larger world.  They're morality tales.  And Sucker Punch is no different.  The bordello setting hints at the sexual abuse these girls suffer living in this institution where they have no rights and no way to fight back.  Indeed, the first fight scene is Babydoll coming to grips with her fear and hopelessness, and discovering she does have a way to fight back - to escape.  Other messages are mentioned, especially at the end, but I won't spoil them here.

I loved the ending.  If you like fairy tales, you'll understand what they've done here.

If you want a good explanation of the film and don't mind spoilers, check out this fantastic two part Tor.com review.  One thing that reviewer mentioned that I'd like to touch on is her annoyance that the 'wise man' was still a man pointing the way rather than an older woman.  My response to that, and I may be reading too much into the film here, is that it was done as a balancing effect.  Fairy tales often have evil stepmothers and/or fairy godmothers.  The stepmother was changed to a stepfather (a welcome change), so it makes sense that to balance the otherwise entirely evil male cast a good male character had to be included.  Making him a godfather/guardian angel/archtypal wise man didn't bother me.

Like Inception, Sucker Punch made me think and try to figure out what happened.  The story within a story was fascinating and a good source for discussion as things could be interpreted many ways.

Ultimately I enjoyed the film.  But then, I like fairy tales.

Not Your Children's Fairy Tales

Considering that Fairy Tales were not originally written for children this may seem redundant, but rewriting fairy tales for a modern adult audience seems to be in vogue at the moment so I thought I'd make a list of some good ones. I'm using the term original tales VERY loosly. Again, the list is not comprehensive - espicially in the originals section - but should steer you towards something intesting to read. The books are listed in no particular order.

“Original” Tales:
Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Other Classic Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault - Angela Carter
Perrault’s Fairy Tales - Charles Perrault
Norwegian Folktales - Peter Christen Asbjornsen
Annotated Hans Christian Anderson - Hans Christian Anderson
Complete Fairytales of the Brothers Grimm - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Folk & Fairy Tales - Martin Hallett and Barbara Karasek, Ed.
Carter’s Fairy Tales - Angela Carter
Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde - Oscar Wilde
Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies - Moss Roberts
Irish Tales of the Fairies and the Ghost World - Jeremiah Curtin
Russian Fairytales - Aleksandr Afans’ev
Arabian Fairy Tales - Amina Shah
Blue Fairy Book - Andrew Lang (has a whole series of coloured fairy books)
Feminist Fairytales - B. Walker
Politically Correct Bedtime Stories - James Finn Garner (out of print)

Short story collections:
Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears - Ellen Datlow, Ed.
Hags, Sirens and other Bad Girls of Fantasy - Denise Little, Ed.
Fair Folk - Marvin Kaye, Ed.

Novels based on Fairy Tales
Stepsister Scheme - Jim Hines
Faery Taile Project: Red’s Tale - Jim Hines
Woodcutter’s Grim Series - Karen Wiesner
Mirror Mirror - Gregory Maguire
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire
Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski
Rose Daughter - Robin McKinley
Beauty - Robin McKinley
Spindle’s End - Robin McKinley
Unhandsome Prince - John Moore
Never After - Rebecca Lickiss (out of print)
Once Upon a Winter Night - Dennis McKiernan
Once Upon a Summer Day - Dennis McKiernan
Once Upon an Autumn Eve - Dennis McKiernan
Once Upon a Spring Morn - Dennis McKiernan
Once Upon a Dreadful Time - Dennis McKiernan
Fairy Godmother - Mercedes Lackey
Briar Rose - Jane Yolan
Brother Grimm - Craig Russell
Fables 1: Legends in Exile - Bill Willingham and Lan Medina (graphic novel)

Midsummer Night’s Dream - William Shakespeare
Lords and Ladies - Terry Pratchett
Sandman 3: The Dream Country - Neil Gaiman (graphic novel)