Dominik Parisien

This is the tale of two women who must bear their burdens for the betterment of those around them. Because men cannot help themselves around her beauty, Amira must imprison herself high on a glass hill to keep all of her potential suitors at bay. Tabitha must wear out seven pairs of iron shoes to break her husband's curse. Neither questions their situation on their own, but when they cross paths and tell each other their stories, they learn not only about the value of perspective but also show more about assumptions and misconceptions as well as the power they both have to control their own destinies.

There is something about a well-written adaptation of a fairy tale that I always enjoy. Reimagining and reinventing a classic story invokes considerations of perspective and innovation, and it is not easy to retell an existing story in an original way. But here readers get the gift of not only one excellent retelling but two intertwined tales that gain additional layers of meaning through the juxtaposition of each woman's story. show less

Perhaps, she thinks, what’s strange is the shoes women are made to wear: shoes of glass; shoes of paper; shoes of iron heated red–hot; shoes to dance to death in.

The two female protagonists of this story are both bound by their fairytale curses, and they must decide whether it's worth leaving them behind. I loved how this story was a classic fairytale and yet the opposite of one, and it also referenced many other stories about women and curses.

That being said... I roll my eyes at the show more Wikipedia stating "they become friends, and their lives change" because well. Harold. show less

Retellings of myths and fairy tales = my cup of tea. I enjoyed this short story collection very much. The trouble with anthologies is usually that you find a couple of gems among mostly "meh" stories and have to go through 300-600 pages to do so. (Yes, I might have had bad luck.) Anyway, this was not the case here - mostly gems and just a few stories that were simply ok.

These were my favourites:

"Phantoms of the Midway" by Seanan McGuire (Hades and Persephone) - I loved the carnival setting show more and a rather unexpected look at a well-known myth.

"Fisher-Bird" by T. Kingfisher (The Labors of Hercules) - FUN. Hilarious.

"Labbatu takes command of the flagship Heaven Dwells Within" by Arkady Martine (Inanna takes command of Heaven/Inanna & Enki) - I think the world needs a masterclass with Arkady Martine, on how to take fragments of Sumerian poetry and turn them into badass space opera. I'd come running.

"Live Stream" by Alyssa Wang (Artemis and Acteon) - Women in gaming and a predator asshole who gets what's coming to him. Yes.

"Buried deep" by Naomi Novik (Ariadne and the Minotaur) - Naomi Novik weaves her magic web of words. Again.

"Florilegia: or, some lies about flowers" by Amal El-Mohtar (Blodeuwedd) - I was not familiar with the original myth, so there was a pleasure of discovery as well. A beautiful, poetic, furious tale, and a fitting conclusion to The Mythic Dream. show less

When they say fairy tales retold, they don’t mean “Rapunzel in middle school” or “Cinderella in cyberpunk“. This is more “crank up the maturity by adding sex, drugs, and woman abuse” type of retelling. The themes are skewed toward “men are the devil, women are helpless”. The writing is parched and lifeless and bleak. “The man put a seed in her belly. She lay there while he lay on top of her and did his thing.” And I mean literally using the terms “did his show more thing”.

Everything screams “I AM WOMAN” and “my character is defined by my womanhood. Whether I spread my legs and let a man on top of me or a take a lover (male or female because love should be free) or I’m a woman in a man’s role. I scream womanness and I have no point beyond that but to be a woman and exist in relationship to men.”

I get that lots of fairy tales are about women suffering due to the actions of men. But when you’re revamping those tales for current sensibilities, they don’t all have to turn it on the same head. Viewing everything from the same lens is dull. Plus it makes everyone unlikable. And I certainly don’t want to read about it over and over.

Especially the female authors. They treat their stories like they’re an artsy short film–all experimental and pretentious. Some of them call it “playing with form”. I call it choosing form over function. Construct over content. Should a collection of short stories really be your experimental ground?

Oh, and two of the stories are of the “set in a world from another story I wrote” variety, and I HATE that. Making your short story as if it’s an advertisement for your other book series. No wonder short stories fell out of favor. show less