Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold

A collection of mostly mediocre fairy tale retellings. The contributions by authors like Nina Kiriki Hoffman and Neil Gaiman whose writings I usually enjoy, aren't very good. In fact, the only story worth mentioning is by an author I don't know at all, Katherine Vaz, whose story, the nearly eponymous story "My Swan Sister", is a touching retelling of H. C. Andersens The Wild Swans. A unsentimental story about a child born with genetic defects, and her brief time on earth.

Sorry, I don't know how to review collections unless there are stories that stand out as wonderful or terrible. These were all worth reading, but none were so memorable I feel compelled to say anything to you about them. Um, my favorite was The Fish's Story. Neil Gaiman's effort wasn't his best, or the book's best. Christopher Rowe's contribution prompts me to see if I can find more by him.

Oh, I guess I could say that, overall, while this is 'clean' enough to be read by children as young as 8 or 9, I don't think they'll get nearly as much out of it as adults would. It's not just a matter of the selections being better suited to more experienced readers, it's also a matter of many of them being written from the parent's or the witch's show more point-of-view. I'm not sure how many children are ready to read something subtle, something allegorical, that isn't even directed at them. Honestly, I don't think I'd have been fully ready for these until I was in my 40s. show less

The companion volume to A Wolf at the Door edited by the wonderful Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. The stories in this collection are re-tellings of older tales. It combines a mixture of fairy tales, folk tales and folk ballads including two tales from Arabian Nights and come Celtic stories.

Green Kid - Jane Yolen
A tale of Jack O' The Green in modern times. The story centres around a trickster child found one day in the woods.

Golden Fur - Midori Snyder
Based on illustrations from Arabian Nights, Prince Kahn must pass three tests to rescue a beautiful Princess with the help of a small golden creature named Golden Fur.

Chambers of the Heart - Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Sara lives next door to Bluebeard and eventually becomes one of his wives to show more save her family from poverty. After discovering his chocking secret, her brothers arrive just in time to save her life and kill her murderous husband.

Little Red and the Big Bad - Will Shetterly
An excellent dark, modern re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood minus the happy ending...

The Fish's Story - Pat York
The fisherman and his wife are not the only ones to catch a magic fish one day. Mira does as well and uses her wishese unselfishly, eventually revealing the true identity of the fish.

The Children of Tilford Fortune - Christopher Rowe
When Tilford Fortune dies he leaves his children (Sally, Toby and Molly) a rooster, sythe and tabby cat to make their way in the world.

The Girl in the Attic - Lois Metzger
Based loosley on Rapunzel, a sad and lonley girl is trapped inside herself. Only by letting down her hair can she be free.

The Harp that Sang - Gregory Frost
Based on the folk song "Cruel Sister" where the younger sister murders her elder sister for a gold bangle. At her wedding night a gypsy plays a harp made of bone with hair strings whcih sings the truth.

A Life in Miniature - Bruce Coville
A re-telling of Tom Thumb where he is engineered in a lab by combining his genes with mouse genes. He has some mouse like qualities as a result.

Lupe - Kathe Koja
Another look at Little Red Riding Hood. When Lupe's youngest brother dies her mother sends her into the woods to consult Blanca the local bruja (witch). She learns more about herself than she bargained for.

Awake - Tannith Lee
Every night Rosia (Sleeping Beauty) wakes up and spends it with the 13 fey who attended her christening. When she was born the Queen of the Fey gave her the gift of 100 years of freedom before having to settle down into an arranged marriage and do her parents bidding. Every night though all Rosia wants is to go back to her own life.

Inventing Aladdin - Neil Gaiman
Scheharazade tells her sister the story of Aladdin, saving her life a day at a time.

My Swan Sister - Katherine Vaz
Jessica's sister Rachel is born wrong with not long to live. Jessica struggles to knit her a jacket and they take her out to see New York at least once in her short life. Loosley based on The Wild Swans and Katherine's own experiences.

I preferred this collection to A Wolf at the Door simply because I liked the group of tales used as source material better. It's always good to read less popular stories rather than the same ones retold again and again. My favourites were Green Kid, Golden Fur, Chambers of the Heart, Little Red and the Big Bad, The Harp that Sang, Awake, Inventing Aladdin and My Swan Sister which was beautiful and very very moving. Recommended to all lovers of fairy tales. show less

"Swan Sister" is another fantastic anthology of retold fairy tales from my favorite editors! Meant for younger readers, the collection contains imaginative retellings, including contemporary tales, from masters of fantasy. I enjoyed all the stories, but standouts for me include "Little Red and the Big Bad" by Will Shetterly, "Chambers of the Heart" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, "The Fish's Story" by Pat York, "Lupe" by Kathe Koja, "My Swan Sister" by Katherine Vaz, and of course "Inventing Aladdin" by Neil Gaiman.

Review by: Samantha

Tough Topics: Abuse, Killing
Swan Sister, the book I am reading, is a Twisted Fairy Tale. In each chapter, it either takes a well-known fairy tale and twists it or makes up a story all of its own.
One story was named “Golden Fur”. It was about a prince who found an abandoned castle in the desert, and in it he met a mouse named Golden Fur. Golden Fur warned the prince of 3 tasks to complete from the ogres, but he could only go onto the next task if he passed the previous. She advised him to be wise in the head, and noble in the heart.
My favorite part of this book was quite a few chapters, like “Golden Fur.” Most of them were famous fairy tales, but you could barely tell until you really got into the story.
My show more least favorite part of this book was a chapter called “A Life in Miniature”. It was disappointing how boring it was compared to the rest of the book. It didn’t have the adventure, enchantment and excitement like the others.
I think people who like basic Fairy Tales with a mystery and Twist of unexpectancy to it should read this book. Any age would work, for everybody has a little kid inside them.
I give this book a definite 5. I absolutely loved the book because of its descriptive details and crispness of how magical the book can clearly be. show less

Excellent short-story anthology of retold fairytales.
This is the companion volume to 'A Wolf At the Door', but I think, overall, it was better.

1 · Greenkid · Jane Yolen ·
Well done, very short piece with a modern setting, but an atmosphere completely based in classic fairy tales. A new boy in town is trying to impress a pretty neighbor before school starts - when he discovers a seemingly lost infant... and insists on 'rescuing' it, against his neighbor's warning...

13 · Golden Fur · Midori Snyder ·
Inspired by the Arabian Nights, a prince must take the advice of a golden-furred creature to rescue a princess from an enchanted castle of ogres...

30 · Chambers of the Heart · Nina Kiriki Hoffman ·
Bluebeard has killed many wives... but show more when he coerces the poor but beautiful neighbor into marrying him, he may have met his match in her family..

49 · Little Red and the Big Bad · Will Shetterly ·
I love Will Shetterly, but I didn't think this effort to transpose Little Red Riding Hood into 'the Hood' worked very well.

55 · The Fish's Story · Pat York ·
A retelling of the story of the magic fish who agrees to grant wishes in order to save its life. In this one, the familiar woman who insists on mansions is across the lake - and a poor orphaned fishergirl deals with her aunt's selfish demands and her grief over her mother's loss..

69 · The Children of the Tilford Fortune · Christopher Rowe ·
Two children, left a not-very-valuable inheritance, set out to analyze supply an demand and trade their things where they are most wanted - and decide what it is they really want.

82 · The Girl in the Attic · Lois Metzger ·
A girl, after her father's death, refuses to speak to her stepmother. But a magic bird helps both the girl and the woman to understand each other.

93 · The Harp That Sang · Gregory Frost ·
A well-done retelling of the story of the gypsy harp whose strings sing out the truth - that the woman from whose hair and bones the harp was made was murdered, and she accuses her murderer - her own sister - from beyond the grave.

106 · A Life in Miniature · Bruce Coville ·
Tom Thumb, in this absurdist story, is the product of a genetics lab's illicit experiment.

121 · Lupe · Kathe Koja ·
After the death of a baby, a grief-stricken mother sends her daughter out to the forest to ask help of a feared witch... but all ends up even better than one might have hoped in this Spanish-flavored story. Good, but I really wish Koja would go back to adult horror!

134 · Awake · Tanith Lee ·
What if, for that hundred years, Sleeping Beauty wasn't really asleep? What if time was stopped, and she was spending all that time adventuring and learning from the fairies..?

148 · Inventing Aladdin · Neil Gaiman ·
a poem, as usual, from Gaiman.

153 · My Swan Sister · Katherine Vaz
Not really a fairy tale, but an incredibly touching, true story of the author's sister, who died as an infant. show less

Some interesting new takes on fairy tales and legends, and I absolutely loved "Little Red and the Bid Bad" by Will Shetterly.