My life in books

Black Swan, White Raven, ed. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

This is one of a series of collections of contemporary variations of classic fairy tale themes edited by Datlow and Windling, and if you happen to like seeing how differently authors can interpret a similar idea, then there's nothing quite like reading some of your favourite writers take on the fairy tales you've heard since childhood.

Fairy tales are, like other elements of the oral literature tradition, fascinating in this respect - they have no single author, no definitive storyline, no fixed cast of characters, no essential setting, and no entrenched message. At the same time, you can't help but know what fairy tale is being told, if you've heard it before, no matter how many changes have been rung on the basic material. As Datlow and Windling note in their introduction to this volume:

The old tales exist in myriad form, changing and adapting from culture to culture, from generation to generation. Like wizards who roam through enchanted woods, the tales themselves are shapeshifters: elusive, mysterious, mutable, capable of wearing many different forms.

Some of my favourite mutations from this volume are:

"No Bigger Than My Thumb," by Esther Friesner. With the feel of a gloomy Nordic saga, this story is nothing like the charming Hans Anderson or Disney tales of Little Tom Thumb or Thumbelina. It's dark and bloody, but it's worth it.

"Riding the Red," by Nalo Hopkinson. This tale unlocks the sexuality lying not so very far beneath the surface of Little Red Riding Hood, in a way that only Hopkinson could do.

"The Trial of Hansel and Gretel," by Gary Kilworth. Hansel and Gretel as satire on class ans social status - not to be missed.

"The Reverend's Wife," by Midori Snyder. Based on a less well-known folk tale from Africa, this is just plain fun.

"The True Story," by Pat Murphy. Taking another look at Sleeping Beauty, and by extension, all of those stories they tell about the wicked mother or step-mother. Something to make you think.