A fairy tale retelling novella.
Format: Audio Length: 3 hours 43 minutes
Publisher: TOR
Publication year: 2023
Narrated by:Jennifer Blom
Toadling is a small fairy who guards the castle which is inside a huge nest of throns. She's just a little fairy with very limited magic so mostly she just watches humans come and go. She's not sure if she has a soul; the priest said that she doesn't. But she still prays that nobody will go inside the tower and wake the sleeper. She has been doing it for a long time.
One day, a Saracen knight Halim camps near the thorns. He speaks to the fairy and she answers, startled. She knows that she shouldn't say anything but she hasn't spoken to anyone in a very long time and the temptation is too much. The knight has heard a tale about the sleeping maiden in the castle and is determined to break her curse. Toadling is horrified and tries to stop him.
This was a gentle retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. I loved it. As Kingfisher tends to do, she's put in a couple of twists I didn't see coming. I won't spoil them here.
I really enjoyed both Toadling and the Halim. Toadling has been alone for a long time and is desperate for company. At the same time, she's paying for a mistake in her past and guarding the castle. She's kind and endearing. Halim is also a kind person. Even though he's a knight, he's not brash or arrogant. He wants to learn and is eager to learn even from a small fairy. While lots of fairy tales make a point of describing the characters are beautiful or handsome, here Toadling is plain or even ugly.
However, there are some problems with how Sleeping Beauty is portrayed. Still, it didn't bother me while I was listening to it.
A wonderful, lush fantasy tale.
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