Fairy Tales for grown-ups
Spinning Silver- Naomi Novik
Readers said:
"fairy-tale style", "magical & imaginative", "mankind’s battle with winter", "an old-fashioned tale"
With the Nebula Award-winning Uprooted, Naomi Novik opened a brilliant new chapter in an already acclaimed career, delving into the magic of fairy tales to craft a love story that was both timeless and utterly of the now. Spinning Silver draws readers deeper into this glittering realm of fantasy, where the boundary between wonder and terror is thinner than a breath, and safety can be stolen as quickly as a kiss.
Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father's inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty-until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a ...Read More
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The Bear and the Nightingale- Katherine Arden
Readers said:
"evocative and atmospheric", "a russian folktale", "evocative and beautiful", "dark, lyrical, mystic"
Katherine Arden's bestselling debut novel spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent with a gorgeous voice.
"A beautiful deep-winter story, full of magic and monsters and the sharp edges of growing up."-Naomi Novik, bestselling author of Uprooted
Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse's fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.
Then Vasya's widowed father bring ...Read More
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Uprooted- Naomi Novik
Readers said:
"dark fairy tale", "coming of age story", "engaging and clever", "fantasy fairy tale"
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows-everyone knows-that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn't, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no wa ...Read More
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Stardust- Neil Gaiman
Readers said:
"a fairytale", "fantasy prose", "a lovely faerie tale", "the story is wonderful and charming"
Now a major motion picture-this charming fairy tale by the #1 New York Times bestselling author, weaves a magical story set long ago in the tiny English village of Wall, a place where things are not quite what they seem.
Go and catch a falling star . . .
Tristran Thorn promises to bring back a fallen star for his beloved, the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester-and crosses the wall that divides his English country town from another, more dangerous world of lords and witches, all of them in search of the star. Rich with adventure and magic, Stardust is one of master storyteller Neil Gaiman's most beloved tales.
"Eminently readable-a charming piece of work."
-Washin ...Read More
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The Bloody Chamber- Angela Carter
Readers said:
"beautiful, detailed description", "beautiful, elaborate, highly perfumed", "dark and sensual", "classic carter style"
Angela Carter was a storytelling sorceress, the literary godmother of Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, Audrey Niffenegger, J. K. Rowling, Kelly Link, and other contemporary masters of supernatural fiction. In her masterpiece, The Bloody Chamber-which includes the story that is the basis of Neil Jordan's 1984 movie The Company of Wolves-she spins subversively dark and sensual versions of familiar fairy tales and legends like "Little Red Riding Hood," "Bluebeard," "Puss in Boots," and "Beauty and the Beast," giving them exhilarating new life in a style steeped in the romantic trappings of the gothic tradition. ...Read More
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Cinder- Marissa Meyer
Readers said:
"simple, clean writing", "her character was good", "suspenseful, engaging, and emotional", "a cutsie tale"
The first book in the #1 New York Times- and USA Today-Bestselling Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer like you've never seen it before, now with new cover art! See where the futuristic YA fairytale saga all began, with the tale of a teenage cyborg who must fight for Earth's survival against villains from outer space.
"An interesting mash up of fairy tales and science fiction . . . a cross between Cinderella, Terminator, and Star Wars." -Entertainment Weekly
"Prince Charming among the cyborgs." -The Wall Street Journal
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to ...Read More
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Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast- Robin McKinley
Readers said:
"short & sweet", "friendship and love", "deeper and more complex", "thoughtful, and elegant"
Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in appearance, she can perhaps make up for in courage.
When her father comes home with a tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must travel to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father insists that he will not let her go, but she responds, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"
Newbery Medalist Robin McKinley's beloved and acclaimed novel has been delighting readers for more than forty years. ALA Booklist called Beauty "A captivating novel."
"A reader f ...Read More
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The Goose Girl- Shannon Hale
Readers said:
"fantasy and utopia", "simple and poetic language", "a series of books", "gentle, lyrical voice"
'Hale's writing is beautiful, with a vivid eye for detail' Daily Telegraph
Anidora-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kilindree, spent the first years of her life listening to her aunt's incredible stories, and learning the language of the birds. Little knowing how valuable her aunt's strange knowledge would prove to be when she grew older.
From the Grimm's fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become a queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original and magical tale of a girl who must understand her own incredible talents before she can overcome those who wish her harm.
Shannon Hale has drawn on her incredible gift for storytelling ...Read More
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Deerskin- Robin McKinley
Readers said:
"heart-breaking and heart-repairing", "poem in prose", "a difficult tale", "very gruesome"
"A fierce and beautiful story of rage and compassion, betrayal and loyalty, damage and love…A fairy tale for adults, one you'll never forget."-Alice Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic
The only daughter of a beloved king and queen, Princess Lissar has grown up in the shadow of her parent's infinite adoration for each other-an infatuation so great that it could only be broken by the queen's unexpected passing. As Lissar reaches womanhood, it becomes clear to everyone in the kingdom that she has inherited her late mother's breathtaking beauty. But on the eve of her seventeenth birthday, Lissar's exquisite looks become a curse…
Betrayed and abused, Lissar ...Read More
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The Snow Child- Eowyn Ivey
Readers said:
"lyrical and eloquent", "lyrical and evocative", "spare but poetic language", "tender and harsh"
In this magical debut, a couple's lives are changed forever by the arrival of a little girl, wild and secretive, on their snowy doorstep.
Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart - he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone - but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.
This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side ...Read More
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