Hardcover, 69 pages
Published April 8, 2014 by Bloomsbury, imusti.
A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell - weaving together a sort-of Snow White and an almost Sleeping Beauty with a thread of dark magic, which will hold readers spellbound from start to finish.
On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future - and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.
Short and sweet, Gaiman puts his skills to great use weaving this fairy tale. Artwork is wonderful as well!
Gaiman + Riddell FTW.
Raiding Dipali's library always results in gold.
Echoing a lot of reviewers here, this is a 2.75-3 for the writing and a 5 for the illustrations. Was hoping for more here, but the edition is so lovely to hold and read that it ends up around a 4.
My first exposure to this book was a flurry of news articles, waxing philosophical left and right about the meaning of 'two princesses kissing each other.' How 'ground-breaking!' How 'Profound!' How 'Daring!'
What nonsense.
This book is a delightful masterpiece, a patchwork of two well-known fairytales with twists and turns worthy of the originals. The kiss is nothing more than the fulfillment of the parameters of those stories. Nothing more. Nothing less. --Somebody-- has to kiss the princess. Tradition demands it!
But at the same point this entire narrative is about subverting the narratives, about looking underneath the stories to see what lies unread and unsaid. And to take those unspoken consequences that arise from those hidden mysteries and make them very, very relevant.
This is a wonderful book and one I would recommend to any young adult on up to the oldest reader.
