Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
Feb. 1st, 2009 08:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bonny_kateBeing a book review with spoilers, but all minor if you've read the fairy tale
I'm always looking out for fairy tale retellings. But, I must admit that I'm generally underwhelmed. In fact, the last fairy tale retelling that I liked that wasn't a McKinley was . . . well, I can't actually think of any. So I started Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow with no great expectations. It's a YARG retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, with perhaps a bit more Beauty and the Beast than is usual. I liked the first bit. It was decently written, engaging, and the bit about the magical white reindeer was just about perfect. But then it just didn't really go anywhere. There are fauns, gargoyles, and all sorts of strange creatures that don't seem to belong. The portrayal of the winds didn't seem to gain anything to me. I've never found it that awkward that the girl sleeps in a bed with a strange man, because in the fairy tale it isn't awkward, it's just how things are (and it echoes Cupid and Psyche in interesting ways). But this novel made it all extremely awkward, although nothing actually happens. In short, the novel gains very little (the white reindeer that grants wishes), and loses much that is enchanting from the original tale. It never sinks to the level of abysmal, but it never really realizes it's potential. This is, I think, the reason I feel compelled to write fairy tale retellings; nobody is telling them the way I think they ought.
I'm always looking out for fairy tale retellings. But, I must admit that I'm generally underwhelmed. In fact, the last fairy tale retelling that I liked that wasn't a McKinley was . . . well, I can't actually think of any. So I started Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow with no great expectations. It's a YARG retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, with perhaps a bit more Beauty and the Beast than is usual. I liked the first bit. It was decently written, engaging, and the bit about the magical white reindeer was just about perfect. But then it just didn't really go anywhere. There are fauns, gargoyles, and all sorts of strange creatures that don't seem to belong. The portrayal of the winds didn't seem to gain anything to me. I've never found it that awkward that the girl sleeps in a bed with a strange man, because in the fairy tale it isn't awkward, it's just how things are (and it echoes Cupid and Psyche in interesting ways). But this novel made it all extremely awkward, although nothing actually happens. In short, the novel gains very little (the white reindeer that grants wishes), and loses much that is enchanting from the original tale. It never sinks to the level of abysmal, but it never really realizes it's potential. This is, I think, the reason I feel compelled to write fairy tale retellings; nobody is telling them the way I think they ought.