Tales of Wonder
by Jane Yolen
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A breathtaking collection of literary fairy stories from an award-winning fantasist. Author Jane Yolen speaks to the ancient magic within us all in this anthology of 30 grown-up fairy stories - lovely, lyrical, poignant, sometimes frightening tales of transformations and transfigurations, magical destinies and dangerous quests, strange visions, reawakenings, and just desserts. A past winner of the Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, and numerous other honors, Yolen takes her rightful place show more alongside the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, combining innovative literary style with fables that reimagine the myths of old and some of her legendary predecessors' most cherished characters: Cinderella, simple Jack, Guinevere, Icarus, and the Frog Prince. Step into Yolen's wondrous realm of magic and dreams, where a curious young woman's desire to read the future leads her to the weaver of tomorrow; a farm boy with the voice of an angel seeks out Lady Death to sing for the life of his mother; and a sow, a cow, and a mare set out together to see the world. These timeless stories tell of an eager girl's entrance into the Hall of Grief and a sunless prince who fears the vengeance of a jealous star. A tree-bound young dryad longs to dance in the spring, and a grumpy old potter pours his heart and soul into his greatest work. Yolen's stories are unforgettable tales of the heart and the spirit; they are truly tales of wonder. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Having not particularly enjooyed any of Yolen's work previously, I picked up this volume with some doubt, but in fact found her short fiction works a lot better than her novels.
In this collection there are a large number of stories, some inspired by traditional tales, folktales or fairy tales, such as Cinderella or Pinnocchio, and others perhaps based on less well known international tales but a lot with beginnings like 'Not so very long ago, a sow, a mare and a cow were friends' or 'In a time when the rivers ran crystal clear all the way down to the sea ....' Others are extracts from what became her novels 'Cards of Grief' or the second in the White Jenna series - that story is recognisably a sequence from near the end of the second show more book but has changes (even without going back to the novel to check) such as the chief villain being present in the dungeon scene instead of one of his henchmen. Still others are longer stories which could be material for a novel, such as the one about the boy who steals and rears a baby dragon on a planet where dragons are used to fight in an arena and can win freedom for their owners.
With such a varied collection there should be some which please the reader - some were dark, some I wasn't so keen on, but the collection as a whole balanced out into a solid 3 star read. show less
In this collection there are a large number of stories, some inspired by traditional tales, folktales or fairy tales, such as Cinderella or Pinnocchio, and others perhaps based on less well known international tales but a lot with beginnings like 'Not so very long ago, a sow, a mare and a cow were friends' or 'In a time when the rivers ran crystal clear all the way down to the sea ....' Others are extracts from what became her novels 'Cards of Grief' or the second in the White Jenna series - that story is recognisably a sequence from near the end of the second show more book but has changes (even without going back to the novel to check) such as the chief villain being present in the dungeon scene instead of one of his henchmen. Still others are longer stories which could be material for a novel, such as the one about the boy who steals and rears a baby dragon on a planet where dragons are used to fight in an arena and can win freedom for their owners.
With such a varied collection there should be some which please the reader - some were dark, some I wasn't so keen on, but the collection as a whole balanced out into a solid 3 star read. show less
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655+ Works 103,851 Members
Jane Yolen was born February 11, 1939 in New York City. She received a bachelor's degree from Smith College in 1960 and a master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts in 1976. After college, she became an editor in New York City and wrote during her lunch break. She sold her first children's book, Pirates in Petticoats, at the show more age of 22. Since then, she has written over 300 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her other works include the Emperor and the Kite, Owl Moon, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and The Devil's Arithmetic. She has won numerous awards including the Kerlan Award, the Regina Medal, the Keene State Children's Literature Award, the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, the World Fantasy Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1983 (Collection) (Collection); 1971 (the Bird of Time) (the Bird of Time); 1982 (Boris Chernevsky's Hands) (Boris Chernevsky's Hands); 1974 (The Boy Who Had Wings) (The Boy Who Had Wings); 1979 (The Boy Who Sang For Death) (The Boy Who Sang For Death); 1983 (Brother Kenan's Bell) (Brother Kenan's Bell) (show all 31); 1981 (Brothers of the Wind) (Brothers of the Wind); 1983 (Cards of Grief) (Cards of Grief); 1980 (Cockfight) (Cockfight); 1972 (The Girl Who Loved the Wind) (The Girl Who Loved the Wind); 1983 (The Golden Balls) (The Golden Balls); 1983 (The Gwynhfar) (The Gwynhfar); 1982 (In the Hall of Grief) (In the Hall of Grief); 1978 (Johanna) (Johanna); 1976 (Lady and the Merman) (Lady and the Merman); 1976 (The Moon Ribbon) (The Moon Ribbon); 1983 (Names) (Names); 1983 (Old Herald) (Old Herald); 1982 (One Old Man, With Seals) (One Old Man, With Seals); 1978 (The Pot Child) (The Pot Child); 1976 (Sans Soleil) (Sans Soleil); 1970 (The Seventh Manarin) (The Seventh Manarin); 1983 (Sister Light, Sister Dark) (Sister Light, Sister Dark); 1980 (The Sleep of Trees) (The Sleep of Trees); 1983 (The Soul Fisher) (The Soul Fisher); 1983 (The Sow, The Mare, and the Cow) (The Sow, The Mare, and the Cow); 1982 (Sule Skerry) (Sule Skerry); 1982 (Sun/Flight) (Sun/Flight); 1974 (The Weaver of Tomorrow) (The Weaver of Tomorrow); 1977 (The White Seal Maid) (The White Seal Maid); 1974 (Wild Goose and Gander) (Wild Goose and Gander)
- Blurbers
- Wolfe, Gene
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- English
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- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
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