Fifteen short stories that reimagine fairy tales in fantasy and science fiction settings.
Publisher: Zombies Need Brains LLC
Publishing year: 2022
Format: ebook
Wordcount from GoodReads: 324
Marie Brennan: Two for the Path: The main character, a former queen, finds a message in a bottle that asks for help. Even though the message is from her stepdaughter who lives with cruel men in a forest, the main character is determined to help her. This was a wonderfully strange take on Snow White.
Lucia Iglesias: A Bracelet of Blood and Hair: The main character is an exceptional sorceress and she makes dresses and suits for her siblings. When the Queen announces that her son has to marry, the MC walks to the Queenwood for inspiration for a gown that will dazzle the Prince. She gets that but she also sees the Prince dancing with a strange woman by lake. The next day, that woman is betrothed to the Prince. However, the woman is far from happy and the main character is moved to help her.
Alyse Winters: Not the Youngest, Nor the Prettiest, But Someone Else: Else is the middle girl out of three; her elder sister is the practical one and her younger sister is the prettiest. When a white bear, who is of course an enchanted prince, comes to court Else's youngest sister, the family is aghast. But they're also poor.
Rebecca A. Demarest: #BeYourSelfie: Leigh has taken care of her sister ever since their parents died. Hannah is scatterbrained but kind. However, Leigh is almost out of money, so when the owner of the OmniFairest makes an offer of employment, she can't refuse. And the owner wants to send her new tech mirror/app to Leigh and Hannah to experiment. And the owner won't take no for an answer.
R.J. Blain: The Twenty-fifth Bean: Jack has done twenty-four missions for a giant. The missions have ranged from dangerous to life-threatening. However, the giant has kept his part of the bargain and Jack and his parents are now very wealthy. But now it's time for the last, twenty-fifth mission. Jack plants the bean, watches it grow, and hopes he will survive. The story has a great whimsical tone.
Miyuki Jane Pinckard: The Crane: The main character's natural form is a crane but she can turn into a human. She's caught in a net and captured by a round-eyed man who steals her feathered cloak so that she can't turn into a crane again. She offers to make him a cloak that will be just as beautiful if he lets her go. He agrees but after she makes the cloak, he keeps her in captivity, weaving more cloaks out of her feathers and blood.
Rachel Swirsky: Time is a Secret Door: The main character sits underneath the Space Needle. An older, blind man tells him a story about his days working in the Needle. The older man found a secret door.
Angela Rega: Harvest: A couple of months ago, Hedda found a magic wand. Her pension is small, so she started to use it to grant other people's wishes. She can't grant her own wishes. However, now the fairy godmother has found her and wants her wand back. But Hedda gets one chance: if she can make magic without the wand, she doesn't need to go to prison. Hedda has no choice but to try to change the life of a young woman who lives on the nearby farm, taking care of her mother. This was a wonderfully humorus tale.
Alethea Kontis: Dear Auntie Star: Star manages to escape the clutches of an evil wizard and takes with her his teleporting ring and a raven who is an enchanted princess. Star starts two missions: she frees other prisoners with the ring and also answers letters from people who are in trouble. The letters come from various fairy tale characters.
Y.M. Pang: Bride of the Blue Manor: Lady Asha is the new bride of Lord Regeus. She wanted to be the leader of her house and trained for it, too, but the birth of a younger brother took that away from her. Now, she wants to find out what happened to Lord Regeus's previous three wives. On her wedding night, he attacks her but she manages to defend herself. He overpowers her but offers a bargain: she will pretend to be his wife in public and she will live. Reluctantly, she agrees but only to find out everything she can about her new husband who doesn't seem to be human.
Patricia Bray: The Goblin King: Hypatia and Tom Miller want to expand their bakery. The only one who agrees to invest in them is the narcissistic and eccentric billionaire Jasper King. However, King wants not just a share in the bakery but also Hypatia's services as his social media manager. Tom is elated but Hypatia is suspicious: King is known as a shark and not interested in socially conscious companies, such as the bakery. She's right: he changes the contract after signing.
Cat Rambo: The Six of Them: Anise was one of the best pattern trackers in the army. Now, she has been sacked and she's destitute. Her best chance is to challenge their grace the king. But she can't do it alone.
Rhondi Salsitz: The Seven Princesses and Two Dukes: King Abbott's wife, a war general, has been held prisoner for years. He and his seven daughters have been paying the ransom in installments and are nearly destitute. Then the Fairy offer him a deal: they won't attack and will even give a lot of money in exchange for the princesses in marriage. The king wants to refuse but his daughters have plans of their own.
R.Z. Held: Ashes of Cinnamon Fire: Cordelia is the youngest of three sisters: her eldest sister Honor is a fighter, while Grace learns from books. Cordelia has excellent skills at running a household but nobody acknowledges that. When their father has a competition between them to see who should inherit the kingdom, Cordelia decides to win it to show them that she shouldn't be just dismissed.
José Pablo Iriarte: The Tale of Jordan and Atheny: Jordan has been sent to a faraway monastery in the hope that the monks can cure his strange affliction. His twin sister Atheny goes with him. But when they return to their home, a witch has taken over the king and everything is strange.
These were delightful tales. I didn't recognize all of the original tales but that didn't diminish my enjoyment. My favorites were Dear Auntie Star, Not the Youngest, not the Fairest but Somebody Else, and Seven Princesses and Two Dukes.
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