Happily Ever After [Paperback]

John Klima (Editor), Bill Willingham (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2011

Happily Ever After is a star-studded book of fairy tales, featuring an introduction by Bill Willingham (Fables) and stories by Gregory Maguire, Susanna Clarke, Karen Joy Fowler, Charles de Lint, Holly Black, Garth Nix, Kelly Link, Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Briggs, and many other fantasy luminaries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 477 pages
• Publisher: Night Shade Books; 1st edition (May 24, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597802204
• ISBN-13: 978-1597802208
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #839,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Collection June 27, 2011

By Heidi Anne Heiner VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

Yes, most of the tales here were originally published in other sources, but many of those are out of print. The following is a table of contents of the stories with their original publication sources followed in parentheses. Most of these have not been available before in ebook format either, so that is a bonus for those who prefer ereaders. This is a collection of fine tales from some of the top names in the fantasy genre with a fairy tale theme.

Bill Willingham - Introduction
Gregory Maguire - The Seven Stage a Comeback (A Wolf At the Door: And Other Retold Fairy Tales)
Genevieve Valentine - And In Their Glad Rags (Straying from the Path)
Howard Waldrop - The Sawing Boys (Black Thorn, White Rose)
Michael Cadnum - Bear It Away (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
Susanna Clarke - Mr. Simonelli or the Fairy Widower (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
Karen Joy Fowler - The Black Fairy's Curse (Black Swan, White Raven)
Charles de Lint - My Life As A Bird (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
Holly Black - The Night Market (The Faery Reel)
Theodora Goss - The Rose in Twelve Petals (from chapbook The Rose in Twelve Petals & Other Stories and Realms of Fantasy, April 2002. The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixteenth Annual Collection, 2003. In the Forest of Forgetting, 2006. Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology, 2006.)
Jim C. Hines - The Red Path (Terribly Twisted Tales)
Alethea Kontis - Blood and Water (Intergalactic Medicine Show)
Garth Nix - Hansel's Eyes (A Wolf At the Door: And Other Retold Fairy Tales)
Wil McCarthy - He Died That Day, In Thirty Years (Once Upon a Galaxy)
Jane Yolen - Snow In Summer (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
Michelle West - The Rose Garden (Little Red Riding Hood in the Big Bad City)
Bruce Sterling - The Little Magic Shop (Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology)
K. Tempest Bradford - Black Feather (Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing)
Alan Rodgers - Fifi's Tail (Twice Upon a Time)
Kelly Link - The Faery Handbag (The Faery Reel)
Peter Straub - Ashputtle (Black Thorn, White Rose)
Leslie What - The Emperor's New (And Improved) Clothes (Twice Upon a Time)
Robert J. Howe - Pinocchio's Diary (original to the collection)
Wendy Wheeler - Little Red (Snow White, Blood Red)
Neil Gaiman - The Troll Bridge (Snow White, Blood Red)
Patricia Briggs - The Price (Silver Birch, Blood Moon)
Paul Di Filippo - Ailoura (Once Upon a Galaxy)
Jeff VanderMeer - The Farmer's Cat (The Surgeon's Tale and Fantasy: The Very Best of 2005)
Gregory Frost - The Root of The Matter (Snow White, Blood Red)
Susan Wade - Like a Red, Red Rose (Snow White, Blood Red)
Josh Rountree - Chasing America (Polyphony 6)
Nancy Kress - Stalking Beans (Snow White, Blood Red)
Esther Friesner - Big Hair (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
Robert Coover - The Return of the Dark Children (A Child Again)

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars This is an anthology of previously published material May 20, 2011

By A. J Terry VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Happily Ever After" contains an excellent selection of retold fairly tales by masters in the genre. However, almost all of them are reprinted from the series of retold fairy tale anthologies edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. The stories that are not, are reprinted from other sources likely familiar to the aficionado. The only new story is the introduction, which is fun, but not worth buying the book for. Therefore, I can only recommend this book to those who are either new to the genre, or who have somehow missed all the books in the Datlow and Windling series (which I highly recommend).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The nice thing about an anthology... September 30, 2011

By willofthewisp

Format:Paperback

...is that you can pick and choose what you like and don't like. After a spirited and original introduction that really gets you in the mood for some fairy tales, you do have a great selection of authors from which to choose. Most of the stories are exactly at the right length and are pretty memorable. I was unfamiliar with Genevieve Valentine and found her story engaging. Jane Yolen offers a different take on the Snow White story that was enjoyable, too. To its credit, this anthology uses fairy tales that don't necessarily scream "fan fiction," namely Neil Gaiman's "The Troll Bridge." However, there are a few that I didn't really care for. One of the reasons I bought the book was because Peter Straub's name was attached to it. His short story isn't really bad on its own, but it's really a stretch to tie it into the overall theme. It could have been a good short story on its own, but the fairytale references seemed thrown in and were, honestly, reaching. Like most books of this type, it's fun to read the different takes on beloved stories we all grew up with, and, with the exception of a few, it's not as "adult" as "Black Swan, White Raven," so a younger audience might be able to enjoy some of the stories. The dark "Grimm" element is thankfully still intact, though. Satisfying read.