Product Description

The award-winning editors of Snow White, Blood Red return us to distinctly adult realms of myth and the fantastic - with 18 wondrous works that cloak the magical fictions we heard at grandma's knee in mantles of darkness and dread. From Roger Zelansky's delightful tale of Death's disobedient godson to Peter Straub's blood-chilling examination of a gargantuan Cinderella and her terrible twisted "art," here are stories strange and miraculous - remarkable modern storytelling that remold our most cherished childhood fables into things sexier, more sinister... and more appealing to grown-up tastes and sensibilities.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #243991 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780809557752
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
Datlow and Windling (Snow White, Blood Red), winners of the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology, have compiled a second volume of "fairy tales for adults"-an enchanting, witty collection of 18 original stories that in general achieve relevance without losing their patina of magic. A case in point is Jane Yolen's brilliant retelling of Rumpelstiltskin story, in which the "imp" is a Jewish moneylender caught in a pogrom because he helped the wrong princess. Equally impressive is Midori Snyder's subtly feminist story about how to keep love alive after "happily ever after" has been going on for a while. Several comic entries include Michael Cadnum's hip retelling of the Gingerbread Man story, Howard Waldrop's entry about about Prohibition gangsters at a music festival. The anthology's many powerful themes (e.g., the tyranny of beauty, the sanctity of life) are taken up as suitably by the traditional fantasy voices of Patricia C. Wrede and Nancy Kress as they are in Roger Zelazny's more experimental entry. Even more than its predecessor, this superior volume proves that the notion of modern-day Grimms, Andersens and Wildes isn't just a fairy tale.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
The editors of the annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror concoct a potent brew of fairy tales spiked with feminism. These intoxicating delights are not meant for children or the timid. Storm Constantine retells the princess and the pea through the voice of the widowed queen of Gordania, a narrator so wickedly charming, sinister, and intimate with the use of poisons that she brings to mind ancient Rome's Livia. In Nancy Kress's version of Rumpelstiltskin, an enchanted young woman surrenders her talent to spin gold, and ultimately her own life, to save her only son. Susan Wade presents overweight princess Ylianna who, to gain the love of a prince, uses a toxic powder to metamorphose into a raven-haired beauty. Life as a mortal is so unbearable after his rejection that Ylianna transforms her wounded spirit into the magnificent black swan. Death gains a face--and a godson--in Roger Zelazny's witty story about the grim reaper who, despite his power of death-over- life, cannot resist sparing his favorite football players. No matter which tour you take through this frightening and dark enchanted wood, Datlow and Windling again prove themselves the best guides. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Ellen Datlow was the fiction editor at Omnimagazine for seventeen years. She is now editor of thewebzine Event Horizon She has edited numerous successful anthologies, including Blood Is Not Enough, Little Deaths, Off Limits, Twists of the Tale, and Vanishing Acts. With Terri Windling she has edited the popular anthology series The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror for thirteen years. A multiple World Fantasy Award-winner, she lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Once upon a time fairy tales were for adults
Many people don't realize that the fairy tales we grew up on were not always stories aimed at children. As is discussed in the forward of this book, the original fairy tales were frequently much darker and disturbing than the ones we are familiar with today. Sleeping Beauty, for example, is not brought awake by the chaste kiss of Prince Charming but rather the suckling of the twin babies she has born, having been impregnated by the less-than-charming prince while she slept. It was only during the Victorian period, when realism became the fashion, that these stories were relegated by men to the domain of women and children, being sanitized in the process so as not to upset the more delicate sensibilities.

This anthology, along with its companion volumes, returns the fairy tale to its roots. In doing so it strikes a chord deep within us. The stories contained within are both familiar and strange at the same time. Because of this they are sometimes eerily disturbing, sometimes heart-wrenchingly poignant, always entertaining.

The one drawback of this collection, as with any anthology, is that style and quality vary according to author. The good news is that most of these stories are very well written and if you run across one you don't like, you can always move on to the next.

If you're looking for something enjoyable to read, you could do far worse than this collection. Overall I strongly recommend this book.

The best of this series I've read yet...
...Now, admittedly, I'm only halfway through the series. I've read _Black Heart, Ivory Bones_ and _Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears_, liked them both for the most part, and yet this volume (second in the series, chronologically) tops them both. There are so many wonderful stories...here are some of the highlights:

"Stronger Than Time", a poignant take on Sleeping Beauty, sad yet hopeful.

"Somnus' Fair Maid", Sleeping Beauty again; this time it's a delightful Regency romp. No supernatural elements, but plenty of magic.

"The Brown Bear of Norway", a touching teen romance between a lonely girl and her mysterious pen pal.

"Tattercoats"--this is what comes _after_ "happily ever after". The Princess has been married to her beloved for ten years, and their marriage has become a dull routine...but she is going to fight for it, with the help of three magical gifts. Sexy, sexy, very sexy, and also made me cry.

"Godson", in which a young man has the Grim Reaper himself as a mentor. They fall out over whether certain people should be spared. Darkly comic; the ending is hilarious.

"The Black Swan"--seems to be a blend of Cinderella, Swan Lake, and Pygmalion. A pretentious serving-man trains an awkward princess in social graces and gives her a makeover; this story is both a heartbreaking tale of shapeshifting, and a barbed commentary on beauty standards of any time.

And the trouble is, I just know I'm going to think of three more stories I loved as soon as I log off the computer. BUY THIS BOOK. All these incredible stories, and cheap! LOL...

More of the (great) same
The good AND bad thing about Datlow's anthologies is that they sort of lack a common theme in the selection of stories. Thus with each book you're bound to find some items which fit your tastes and capture you, and some which you'll find absurdely boring or uninteresting just because of some old grudge against a particular character or theme. Having said this, if you're even remotely interested in "mature audiences" fairytales, you'd better go and get hold of this and the other titles in the series.