From Publishers Weekly
Datlow and Windling (Snow White, Blood Red), winners of the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology, have compiled a second volume of "fairy tales for adults"-an enchanting, witty collection of 18 original stories that in general achieve relevance without losing their patina of magic. A case in point is Jane Yolen's brilliant retelling of Rumpelstiltskin story, in which the "imp" is a Jewish moneylender caught in a pogrom because he helped the wrong princess. Equally impressive is Midori Snyder's subtly feminist story about how to keep love alive after "happily ever after" has been going on for a while. Several comic entries include Michael Cadnum's hip retelling of the Gingerbread Man story, Howard Waldrop's entry about about Prohibition gangsters at a music festival. The anthology's many powerful themes (e.g., the tyranny of beauty, the sanctity of life) are taken up as suitably by the traditional fantasy voices of Patricia C. Wrede and Nancy Kress as they are in Roger Zelazny's more experimental entry. Even more than its predecessor, this superior volume proves that the notion of modern-day Grimms, Andersens and Wildes isn't just a fairy tale.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
The editors of the annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror concoct a potent brew of fairy tales spiked with feminism. These intoxicating delights are not meant for children or the timid. Storm Constantine retells the princess and the pea through the voice of the widowed queen of Gordania, a narrator so wickedly charming, sinister, and intimate with the use of poisons that she brings to mind ancient Rome's Livia. In Nancy Kress's version of Rumpelstiltskin, an enchanted young woman surrenders her talent to spin gold, and ultimately her own life, to save her only son. Susan Wade presents overweight princess Ylianna who, to gain the love of a prince, uses a toxic powder to metamorphose into a raven-haired beauty. Life as a mortal is so unbearable after his rejection that Ylianna transforms her wounded spirit into the magnificent black swan. Death gains a face--and a godson--in Roger Zelazny's witty story about the grim reaper who, despite his power of death-over- life, cannot resist sparing his favorite football players. No matter which tour you take through this frightening and dark enchanted wood, Datlow and Windling again prove themselves the best guides. --
Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
by Ellen Datlow
by Ellen Datlow
