Swan Sister

Swan Sister edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri WindlingDatlow and Windling are the queens of fairy tales retold, often for adults, though I found this shelved not too inappropriately in children’s. Here are mostly-familiar tales retold by authors such as Jane Yolen, Kathe Koje, and Neil Gaiman (though I must admit that his contribution was disappointingly short.) Bluebeard, a story that gave me nightmares as a child, is told from the point of view of a survivor. The Old Man and the Fish is told from the other side of the lake, with very different characters. There’s a beautiful retelling of Cruel Sister, and two very different versions of Little Red Riding Hood. In the title story, one which seemed to intersect turnberryknkn’s worlds of medicine and magic, a young girl sees her prematurely born sister’s arm as a swan wing. As always, lovers of fairy tales old and new will not be disappointed.