Silver Birch, Blood Moon

My goal for the last year has been to work through the books on my shelves, so my library visits have become rather infrequent. Last month, we stopped into the public library since we happened to be in the neighborhood. And since I can't go to the library without checking something out, I came home with [Silver Birch, Blood Moon], which caught my eye from where it was on display.

[Silver Birch, Blood Moon] is another anthology of short stories, edited by [[Ellen Datlow]] and [[Terri Windling]]. This is apparently fifth in a series inspired by fairy tales. As usual, not all of the contributions were to my taste, but I found many to be quite delightful. I also greatly appreciated the introduction by the editors and the forward to each show more item giving a little background. As a whole, I thought this was quite well done, and I am contemplating searching for the earlier anthologies. I had a hard time completing the book because my querido kept stealing it from me (some of his favorite authors were represented). So the other books might also be a struggle. What I found most surprising was that I was completely unfamiliar with some of the inspirational tales.

As a child, fairy tales were among my favorite reading material, so this collection resonates with me. Moreover, the series has been interpreted as feminist reworkings of classic stories, which makes my skin thrum with sympathetic vibrations even more. Given largely misogynistic societies, the heroine marrying the prince is very unlikely to live happily ever after, as amply demonstrated by many of these tales. Yet the villain isn't always a man--as these stories also vividly illustrate. Exploring the dark mirror of exploitation, violence, suffering, and sacrifice brings to light so many truths hidden by silence and the averted gaze and the putative happy ending of cultural tropes purveyed to our children. That doesn't mean that all of these stories are grim and humorless and without a satisfactory resolution. Indeed, they are written with wit, verve, charm, humor, and stronger, more realistic characters and outcomes that acknowledge human nature, both good and bad.

The volume was quite inclusive. Many of the stories obviously came from European tales, and thus the characters are American or European, but this doesn't always translate into white characters. And several of the stories come from other cultural sources. So there's some racial and ethnic diversity. And while many of the characters appear to be straight, there's at least one story that includes more. And some characters come from privileged upper classes, while others represent some of the most marginalized and vulnerable populations. The writing styles also represented a spectrum: poetry, comedy, horror, fantasy, contemporary fiction.

Stories inspired by the Frog Prince:
"Kiss, Kiss" by [[Tanith Lee]] was one of my favorites in this volume, after a cold start. "The Frog Chauffer" by [[Garry Kilworth]] was amusing enough, and the science geek in me approves of the premise. "Toad" by [[Patricia McKillip]]--she's one of my favorite authors, but I found this disppointing.

Stories inspired by Rumpelstilsken:
"The Price" by [[Patricia Briggs]] was a wonderful alternate version from a favorite author, definitely one of my favorites in this book.
"Marsh-Magic" by Robin McKinley was more loosely based on Rumpelstilsken and featured more original world-building, but the writing wasn't as engaging (far too much exposition), and I didn't care for it much, despite this being another beloved author.

Stories inspired by the Sleeping Princess:
"Glass Coffin" by [[Caitlin R Kiernan]] was quite well done and out of the ordinary. However, it was ugly, and I could not like it. I feel much the same way about [The Yiddish Policeman's Union] by [[Michael Chabon]]--the writing was excellent, yet the imagery so ugly.

Stories inspired by The Fairy Gifts:
[[Nalo Hopkinson]] is a wonderful writer, and "Precious" is no exception. "Toad-Rich" by [[Michael Cadnum]] is another fine, but very different take on

Tales derived from Sleeping Beauty:
"Carabosse" by [[Delia Sherman]] was a pleasant enough poem, and I liked the alternate spin on the "bad fairy's" motivation. "The Wild Heart" by [[Anne Bishop]] was good, but didn't quite do it for me. I liked the themes, but the writing didn't engage. I thought that "You Wandered Off Like a Foolish Child to Break Your Heart and Mine" by [[Pat York]] was another brilliant reinterpretation.

Inspired by [[Hans Christian Anderson]]:
"The Vanishing Virgin" by [[Harvey Jacobs]] was in the ultracomedic and farcical vein. I did not care for it. The source material was "The Flea and the Professor." In contrast, "Ivory Bones" was super-creepy. [[Susan Waden]] modeled it on "Thumbelina." I thought "Clad in Gossamer" by [[Nancy Kress]] was brilliant. This was derived from "The Emperor's New Clothes." [[Melissa Lee Shaw]] interpreted "The Little Mermaid" from the Sea Hag's perspective to address how older women are vilified in patriarchal society.

Inspired by miscellaneous tales:
Neil Gaiman's poem "Locks" plays on fatherhood and Goldilocks. Meh. "The Wilful Child, the Black Dog, and the Beanstalk" by [[Melanie Tam]] is a modern tragedy that draws from multiple tales, but isn't a retelling. "Skin So Green and Fine" by Wendy Wheeler, is one of my top three from this volume, for many reasons. Beauty and the Beast was the story that I loved most as a child. I also appreciated the setting on the island of Hispaniola, and the marriage of Haitian and Dominican cultures, Latino and Afro-Caribbean. Plus the writing was superb. Second is "Arabian Phoenix" by India Edghill. Again, Scheherezade and the Arabian tales are a personal favorite. Again, the writing was excellent, and I appreciated the setting. Finally, to complete the hat trick is "The Shellbox" by Karawynn Long. I have always loved selkies. The writing is wonderful, and the themes universal. A close fourth would be "The Dybbuk in the Bottle," a delightful Jewish morality tale by [[Russell William Asplund]].

That's all 21 contributions, nicely divided up and rated. As much as schmaltzy, saccharine happy endings stimulate my gag reflex (warning! cannot swallow this insult to my system!), I didn't enjoy the tales with truly unhappy endings. So I do like for the protagonist to come out ahead, but with some real trial and tribulation and growth, it seems. Definitely worth reading this thought-provoking collection that challenges our ideas about reward and punishment. show less

Silver Birch, Blood Moon is an anthology of re-written fairy tales, with new spins on everything from Shahrazed to the dybbuk of Jewish folklore to several versions of Sleeping Beauty and the Frog Prince. As with any anthology, there is some range in quality of the stories, but overall it's very good.

My favorite stories were Marsh Magic by Robin McKinley (very loosely based on Rumpelstiltskin), Skin So Green And Fine by Wendy Wheeler (a Beauty and the Beast tale), The Wild Heart by Anne Bishop (Sleeping Beauty), The Shell Box by Karawynn Long (The Little Mermaid...sort of) - I'll stop there.

Suffice it to say that I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reimagined fairy tales.

This is one of the few short story collections that I have read that I wish would never end. It is a brilliant collection of fairy tale retellings. Thankfully, I have not yet read the other books in this ongoing series and have many more stories to look forward to.

This is one of the few short story collections that I have read that I wish would never end. It is a brilliant collection of fairy tale retellings. Thankfully, I have not yet read the other books in this ongoing series and have many more stories to look forward to.

This is one of the few short story collections that I have read that I wish would never end. It is a brilliant collection of fairy tale retellings. Thankfully, I have not yet read the other books in this ongoing series and have many more stories to look forward to.

I didn't like all of the stories in this anthology but I did like most, and liked them well enough that overall I highly recommend this one. I particularly enjoy fairy tale retellings, and several of these were very inventive twists on old tales.

Entertaining variations

There are several Princess and the Frog variants along with other remodelled fairy tales. Nice , light reading for bedtime.