TIOLI September 2010: Fairytale Challenge

I adore fairytale retellings, so I thought it would be fun for my challenge this month.

The best thing is, we're all basically reading the same book in varying formats so it's easy to discuss. I'd be interested to see how one version of Cinderella (just as an example) differs from another.

So far I've listed The Fire Rose, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and Phoenix and Ashes, which is Cinderella-y. They're both by Mercedes Lackey. I think she's written six actually, they're all fairytale retellings using elemental magic.

I did read Ash last month, but I really didn't rate it.

So come on. What are you all reading? :)

I've started reading Ash, but I'm not sure I'll actually finish it. Seventy pages in, this girl still hasn't shown any personality or tendency for long-term thought; she just acts on whims or the orders of others. Someday I hope I'll learn that "it's so short" isn't a very good reason for finishing a book that I'm not enjoying, but I'm not sure I'm quite there yet.

I've listed the Cinderella retelling Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, but I haven't started it yet.

Caty, I liked Confessions.... a lot. Not all the Maguire books work, imo, but that one did.

That's good to know!

>2 _Zoe_:. I just didn't think Ash was very Cinderella-y. It's meant to be a retelling but I could barely see it. And the girl doesn't seem to feel anything at all, she just kind of drifted.

Zoe - there was quite a discussion on my thread when I read Ash as I found the book ok, but the character of Ash weak, especially compared to the stronger female protaganists in books like Graceling and Hunger Games. Gosh, even the little girl in Where the mountain meets the moon that I'm currently reading has more gumption.
So I haven't thought about it much, but is the character of the traditional Cinderella strong - the story is very romantic....? I'll need to mull on this.

I'm going to read Baba Yaga laid an Egg, it's one of the Canongate Myths series 'a series of short novels in which ancient myths from myriad cultures are reimagined and rewritten by contemporary authors'. Several in the series are well known, others less so and new titles are still forthcoming.

I read Beastly, which is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast in the modern world. It was pretty good, but it was meant for younger readers. And I heard it's about to come out as a movie.

I also read Gregory Maguire's Wicked and Son of a Witch, though I am not sure if the Wizard of Oz story is considered a fairy tale. I loved both, and am looking forward to getting Lion Among Men, which is the third installation to the Wicked Years series. Gregory Maguire is just brilliant at what he does.

I always find Gregory Maguire a little difficult to plough through. I managed Wicked and didn't mind it, but really struggled with one of the others. It was either Lost of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.

>7 avatiakh:. It depends which version of Cinderella you mean. In the Grimm version, she commands birds to peck out the eyes of the stepsisters, and that seems strong-willed to me!

>9 generalkala: I'll have to re-read the Grimm version--I had forgotten that part! I think my impressions of Cinderella have been heavily influenced by Disney, where she's not strong but good--at least somehow deserving of being elevated from her low station.

>7 avatiakh: Kerry, I don't remember that discussion on your thread (maybe it was over the summer while I was away?), but I'll have to dig it out.

Overall, I can't say I've come away from this conversation expecting that I'll enjoy the rest of the book any more than the beginning, and yet I do want to finish it because the conversation is so interesting! Thanks for starting this challenge, Hanna.

Off hand, aside from Wicked which I loved, my favorite fairy tale is Gossamer by Lois Lowry about fairies who bring dreams. What a wonderful, touching book.

>11 Citizenjoyce: I'll have to give Gossamer a try. I've found that Lois Lowry is sort of hit-and-miss, but the ones I've loved, I've really loved.

>10 _Zoe_:. Finish it, you may as well! At least it's short and easy to read. If it wasn't I'd have given up not very far in at all.

I finished The Fire Rose a few minutes ago, and loved it.

Rose enters the household of a mysterious stranger in order to help him with his magical studies by reading to him through a speaking tube every evening. Eventually she comes to love him, but then finds out what he truly is.

It's a Beauty and the Beast retelling, so obviously it's fairly predictable, but you can't really have a fairytale retelling that isn't!

I do love her books though.

>13 generalkala: Yeah, you're right. I won't read it continuously, but I should be done by the end of the month.

Also, the Cinderella discussion in Kerry's thread should be mandatory reading for everyone here, though I suspect that I'm the only one who missed it the first time around.

I've been wanting to read Lois Lowry's Gossamer for about two years now, on and off, but I get distracted by other books I want to read!

I did a great deal of searching when I saw this challenge. I've acquired Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

I wasn't actually sure what it was retelling until just this very moment when I looked again. Apparently it is retelling Cinderella. Odd, based on the little background I've glimpsed of it.

Oh, right - that was one of the suggestions I was going to make, someday, at some point, if I ever remembered: Might be a good idea to include the original source material in there somewhere. On the Wiki. As in:

Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine - MikeBriggs (Cinderella)

I haven't read many fairy tale retellings but the conversations on here have certainly helped me add to my wishlist!

I nabbed a copy of Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip off bookmooch last month which is a retelling of Tam Lin.

#17 I think that's a good idea Mike. I've updated the wiki for Winter Rose to show Tam Lin

I've never heard of Tam Lin, I have to admit.

I've just added and finished Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix as well. Another Cinderella retelling about after the ball, when she's cooped up in a gloomy castle with a Prince she abhors.

Not amazing, but readable. And there's no lesbian hunting mistresses, which is always a bonus in Cinderella tales!

Is it me, or are there more Cinderella retellings than any other?

And there's no lesbian hunting mistresses, which is always a bonus in Cinderella tales!

Is this a frequent feature of Cinderella tales? 'Cause I've got to say I've never across a single one.

(I'm not going to ask how it's a bonus: I'm not sure I'm old enough for the answer.)

>20 Eat_Read_Knit:. Ah, you've never read Ash then!

Instead of falling for the Prince (does she ever actually meet him?), she loves the hunting mistress instead. As you do.

I read The Rose and the Beast today. It's short stories retelling various fairy tales- Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, etc. - with a modern/urban twist. All in all, a little dark and depressing for me, though I liked "Glass," the retelling of Cinderella, quite a bit.

I'm hoping to read my book, Baba yaga laid an egg, before the end of the month especially as flissp has read it, I've been busy and haven't had so much reading time this past week. Anyway I want to post this blog link - it's Katherine Langrish's blog and she is hosting different fantasy writers each Friday doing a Fairytale Reflection: #1 Katherine on the Juniper Tree, #2 Adele Geras reflecting on Hansel & Gretel.

I'm likely to abandon Ash, since I haven't picked it up in weeks and really have no interest in the story. Oh well.