Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears

Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite
Review: I didn't like this as much as _Black Thorn, White Rose_ or _Black Heart, Ivory Bones_, but it wasn't bad. Add a couple of stars for the stunning novella "The Fox Wife", set in Japan, and for the lush and horrible "The Beast," the dark tale of a beautiful man who is not what he seems. Subtract a few for a pair of stories I heartily disliked--"The Match Girl" which seemed an endless litany of pain and torture, and "The Masterpiece", which is well-written but will forever haunt me. I can't believe the heroine could have made the choice she did at the end of this take on "Rumplestiltskin." Yes, that's probably the point, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Rating:
Summary: Unnecessarily cruel
Review: I had read the book Black Thorn White rose before picking up this anthology and had a lot of hopes for this book. I love the retelling of fairy tales even with a dark twist to them. However, some of the stories in this book are absolutely horrific. The Match Girl, in my opinion, does not belong in a collection of fantasy but instead perhaps in one of horror. Its been a week since I read this book and I still have a bad taste left from it!

Rating:
Summary: Unnecessarily cruel
Review: I love the whole Windling/Datlow edited series of fairy tale short stories. This particular book is by far the best one I have read (and I've read them all, to date, Jan 2004). Ellen Steiber's "The Fox Wife" is the best short story I've read in awhile - well worth repeated readings, and even led me to seek out more oriental "fox" tales. Joyce Carol Oates, Neil Gaiman, and Jane Yolen are here, and the editors, for this one collection, have abandoned their informal trademark touch of including that one truly odious story. ALL the stories are of high quality, and if you are a devotee of this genre, you MUST read this one. It's really the best of the bunch! Five stars!

Rating:
Summary: the best, so far
Review: I love the whole Windling/Datlow edited series of fairy tale short stories. This particular book is by far the best one I have read (and I've read them all, to date, Jan 2004). Ellen Steiber's "The Fox Wife" is the best short story I've read in awhile - well worth repeated readings, and even led me to seek out more oriental "fox" tales. Joyce Carol Oates, Neil Gaiman, and Jane Yolen are here, and the editors, for this one collection, have abandoned their informal trademark touch of including that one truly odious story. ALL the stories are of high quality, and if you are a devotee of this genre, you MUST read this one. It's really the best of the bunch! Five stars!

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous writing in the Angela Carter tradition
Review: I read two of the series before I read this one and it lives up to the standards of the others. As in the other books, the stories range from dark to humorous. Many modern authors give their own unique and wonderful spin on classic fairy tales. There were a few that stood out in my mind for different reasons. There was "Roach in Loafers," which was a play on "Puss in Boots," that struck me as a wonderful, funny, and modern spin on an old classic. "Billy Fearless" added a humorous southern twist to "A Tale About a Boy Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was." "The Fox Wife" while long (over seventy pages) was still interesting. And lastly, Anne Bishop's "Match Girl" was a dark, disturbing tale involving different instruments of torture. On a side note, if you liked "Match Girl" then you most likely will love Bishop's trilogy "The Black Jewels." These stories are definitely adult, and if you like Tanith Lee, Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates and others, you should pick up any of the Datlow and Windling anthologies.

Rating:
Summary: As Good As The Ones Before It
Review: I read two of the series before I read this one and it lives up to the standards of the others. As in the other books, the stories range from dark to humorous. Many modern authors give their own unique and wonderful spin on classic fairy tales. There were a few that stood out in my mind for different reasons. There was "Roach in Loafers," which was a play on "Puss in Boots," that struck me as a wonderful, funny, and modern spin on an old classic. "Billy Fearless" added a humorous southern twist to "A Tale About a Boy Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was." "The Fox Wife" while long (over seventy pages) was still interesting. And lastly, Anne Bishop's "Match Girl" was a dark, disturbing tale involving different instruments of torture. On a side note, if you liked "Match Girl" then you most likely will love Bishop's trilogy "The Black Jewels." These stories are definitely adult, and if you like Tanith Lee, Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates and others, you should pick up any of the Datlow and Windling anthologies.

Rating:
Summary: Better then Black Thorn...
Review: This is the third book released from these editors. I truly adored the first one, particuarly the story from Neil Gaiman (who wasn't very popular at the time). I thought that the second book was weak, but this book definitly makes up for what the last one lacks. If you loved fairytales as a child, you should try the fairy tales that are for a more mature level.

Rating:
Summary: Better then Black Thorn...
Review: This is the third book released from these editors. I truly adored the first one, particuarly the story from Neil Gaiman (who wasn't very popular at the time). I thought that the second book was weak, but this book definitly makes up for what the last one lacks. If you loved fairytales as a child, you should try the fairy tales that are for a more mature level.