Customer Reviews

Black Swan, White Raven

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The team of Datlow & Windling have put in their 4th collection of adult retellings of classic fairy tales, and this is the best yet. Strong, haunting tales that are truly not the Disney fluff we grew up on are what this collection is made of. Stories are drawn from many different cultures, not just the familiar Brothers' Grimm type; they also end up in many times/places, not just the dragons and castles type. The entire series is well worth your time.

Black Swan, White Raven is an excellent anthology of new fairy tales based on the traditional stories. In this series, all the stories are dark, based on the fact that fairy tales were originally written/told for adults, and their relegation to the the nursery occurred with the Victorian era. Particularly strong and memorable stories are the Rapunzel one by Anne Bishop, the Snow White one by Pat Murphy, and the Tin Soldier one by Nancy Kress.

Why is this fairy tale anthology out of print? It's got a great collection of stories! I liked practically everything that was in here. SNOW WHITE, BLOOD RED may have been the first volume in editors Datlow and Windling's series of such books, but this fourth one is hands-down more gripping... the stories are better written, in my opinion.

Among my favorite selections from this volume are:
SNOW IN DIRT by Michael Blumlein
SPARKS by Gregory Frost
THE REVEREND's WIFE by Midori Snyder
THE TRUE STORY by Pat Murphy, and
GODMOTHER DEATH by Jane Yolen

I hope BLACK SWAN, WHITE RAVEN is published once more so I can grab my own copy. I have the first three anthologies and haven't read number 2 and number 3 yet, but that was only because I had to finish this one in time to return it to the library. Thank goodness they have it!

If you like this series, then I definitely recommend getting your hands on this one.

I receieved this book from the seller, in timely fashion and it was well worth the wait. The book was beyond anyone's expectations. I had thought that this book would be boring. Who would have thought to write a story of what happened to Rumpelstiltskin after he was offically defeated by the mom? I've always wondered if anyone had made any strange but oddly fascinating twists to stories that we've heard in our childhood.
Lo and behold - we have a book full of stories such as that! I would strongly recommend anyone who has a twisted but adult version of how stories actually would've been with choldhood stories.
Like I said, athe seller mailed this book out on time, and was true to word when the book was actually used. Some yellowing but that is to be expected of an old, used book but still readable!
I would recommend the book, AND the seller!

This is the first book that I have read in the series. Outstanding collection of short stories! These stories bring to light different aspects of the fairy tales we all grew up with. I highly recommend it.