Paid Piper

Cleci is fourteen, the daughter of a washerwoman, living in the village of Lime Tree. A wealthy village overall, and they all believe this is due to the god they worship, Raur, the rat god. As a festival in Raur’s honor is about to begin, a strange person, a piper with ancient-looking eyes but a young face and a younger smile, came along playing his pipe. Listening to his music everyone agreed he should be the one to lead the ceremony — and nothing was ever the same since.

According to the wiki, this is a retelling of The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Unfortunately, this is one of the tales I have never heard of before, so I have to idea how it matches to the original. All I can say is that I was “wow”-ed. This is my first Tanith Lee book and, as such, I loved discovering her writing style: seemingly simple and yet filled with beautiful similes and metaphors. Were I to quote the parts I liked I would probably quote half the story.

But most of all I fell in love with the very idea. The people, so petty and so blind to anything greater than their own ambitions. Too afraid to see the fact that there’s something greater out there, instead clinging to their traditions and their marble god. The piper, trying to make them see how things should really be, how beautiful life can be if one lets oneself enjoy it. A god himself, reminding me of Gaiman’s American Gods (“I was born on the day the first men thought of me. I shall die on the last day, when the last man forgets.“). A god of love, trying to get people to believe in him, for their own sake (thus to obtain a life free of petty ambition, a life full of enjoying beauty) as well as his (so he can live on). A god of love, yet slowly getting tainted by his prolonged contact with mankind.

I should probably stop now since I seem to have written quite a lot for a single story, and there’s eight more to come. Just one more mention: having read about the actual Pied Piper legend, I find quite interesting the way the author has chosen to adapt it. show spoiler

Red as Blood

A new take on the story of Snow White: Bianca is only thirteen when her step mother, the Witch Queen, arranges to have her killed. That’s because Bianca is in truth a vampire and her people aren’t safe with her around. Forced to leave home, she finds shelter in a cave, together with seven dwarf trees she brought to life. Until one day when an old crone comes and gifts her with an apple that secretly contained a piece of Eucharist — so Bianca, the vampire, choked with it and fainted.

This version, where Snow White’s (Bianca is the female form of white in Italian) mother is actually the good character, wanting to rid her people of the pest that Snow White, a vampire, is, was nothing new to me, as I have met it before in a short story by Neil Gaiman (Snow, Glass, Apples). I find it quite fascinating actually how two people thought of the same thing, to make Snow White a vampire (I’m guessing it’s because of her red lips), as I am very certain that they each wrote their version independently. The two versions differ though when it comes to the ending (and both differ from that of the fairytale) and, while Mr. Gaiman is by far the most realistic one, I think I like Mrs. Lee’s better: show spoiler

Thorns

“There is a thing there I would rather were left alone,” said a strange lady, dressed in black, to the travelling prince. She promised him gold, and glory, so as he will not pass by her, but his curiosity was stronger so he moved on, searching for the thing. He arrived in a strange village, where people has fur clothes and tools made out of stone. No sharp thing was in sight and, when asked why, the people sent him to the Oldest Man. The prince went on, to look for him, and found him at the base of a hill where thorns grew. Not ordinary thorns, but “A vast, rearing stronghold of thorns, taller than tall trees, black as night, thick stems interwoven and sharp with blades. A tangle of daggers dripping the diamond rain.“.

The original story is, of course, The Sleeping Beauty. Predictable enough, with a different ending. Unfortunately for me, an ending that I didn’t very much get. I did feel though its sadness and the loss those people suffered, a hundred years having fled by without their knowledge. I wonder at the lack of hope the ending seemed to have, and I keep shaking it off thinking it’s probably just me. I would definitely like to know what the author actually planned the ending to mean, as all my theories seem lacking :(

When The Clock Strikes

The Duke ruling the city has obtain his position treacherously, by killing everyone who stood between him and his purpose. Only one person has remained alive in the whole rival family, a woman. A bitter woman that has sworn revenge. To obtain it she has made a pact with the devil, and has taught witchery to her daughter too. The woman died, and her husband remarried a widow with two daughters of her own. And yet her daughter never gave up her plans for revenge, spending all her time covered in ashes, in order to be ignored, in order to be considered harmless.

Obviously a retelling of Cinderella. Like in Snow White’s case the tables are turned, and nothing is like in the original story. This Cinderella (who actually calls herself Ashella) spends her days in ashes because she has chosen so. There is no fairy godmother, there’s only the powers of evil. The step mother is the very epitome of generosity and the sisters are nice people too. Not to mention that what happens when the clock strikes twelve is also different than what originally happened. A truly twisted fairytale. And, as I am getting used by now (after all this is the fourth story already), it is perhaps worth mentioning that the implications of the ending are a bit more than the reader would expect. :)

The Golden Rope

The story opens with a witch paying a man well in exchange for his then not-yet-born daughter. The girl, named Jaspre, was then raised in solitude, not getting to see any other human being but the witch. When Jaspre is thirteen, she is introduced to a handsome statue, and told that it represents a god, an angel, a prince of darkness, and serving him was the very reason why she was brought into the world. So Jaspre serves him for a while, as best she can. She even falls in love with him, so deeply that when asked if she would give away her blood for him she welcomes the idea.

Inspired from Rapunzel. I loved the fact that, like in Paid Piper, a lot of literal things in the original fairytale were turned to their allegorical versions: the tower doesn’t actually exist, nor is Jaspre’s hair as long as to touch the ground. Not even the prince is an actual prince. The ending is lovely though, although predictable. Oh, and I had fun noticing the name the author has chosen for this particular heroine: Jaspre, because the witch gave Jaspre’s mother jaspre while pregnant, to strengthen her; just as Rapunzel in the original story was named Rapunzel because the witch gave the mother, while pregnant, a rapunzel plant.

The Princess And Her Future

The princess in the title is Jarasmi, a young girl who one day, at the market, was given a gift by a strange man with yellow eyes. He gave her a golden glass ball and told her that, when broken, the ball will show her future. Curious, like every other girl her age, about what the future holds her, Jarasmi hid in a corner of the garden, near a hidden temple, although her nurse had warned her not to ever go there.
Once she was certain she was all alone, she threw the ball to the ground. A small gesture, but with important consequences for Jarami, as because of it she got to meet the man she will soon marry.

Wikipedia says that this is a retelling of The Frog Princess, but I fail to see any connection between the two. Perhaps this is because this story is quite short and very few things happen throughout it, perhaps the wiki got it wrong, or perhaps I wasn’t paying enough attention. At least both versions have a ruler of land wanting to find a suitable spouse for his child. This is the only common ground I could find.

Wolfland

Lisel had to visit her grandmother, so, although she didn’t look forward to it, she donned her new scarlet cloak, climbed her sled, and away she went. Reaching her grandmother’s castle has proven to be a fearsome adventure for her, as Lisel and her escort had to go through a forest inhabited by wolves, but all is well when it ends well, so Lisel was happy to found herself in the old lady’s salon, surrounded by all the riches that she knew one day will belong to her. And yet, at night, a wolf came again, frightening Lisel so much that she wanted to leave for her home at once. But, of course, in the morning everything seemed alright again… or not?

An Little Red Riding Hood adaptation if there ever was one. Although somewhat predictable, I very much loved the author’s idea (especially when considered side by side with the original tale). Once again the literal elements gave way to metaphors, such as, the most obvious case, the part where the wolf eats first the grandmother and then Little Red Riding Hood herself. This moment appears in the short story too, although in quite a different way, and I liked that. We even get to know a few tidbits of granny’s youth (although they are bound to be different from what may have been in the youth of the granny in the fairytale, since that was was a poor woman and the one in the story is noble and rich), and I also liked that, because it added depth. What’s the deal with Beautiful though?

Black As Ink

Viktor is twenty and very bored, as his mother insists on him spending his summer at the family estate. One night he sees a beautiful girl swimming naked into the pond, and his curiosity is aroused. He discovers she lives on a small island together with her uncle, and he hopelessly falls in love with her after talking to her just once.

A story of irresistible attraction. I really felt sorry for Viktor while reading, as it was clear to me that, where the girl was involved, his fate was completely out of his hands. A sad story with (surprisingly enough) no supernatural elements involved. The wiki says it’s a retelling of The White Duck but once again there is very little that I find the two to have in common.

Beauty

Levin’s youngest daughter asked him for a rose as a present. Ironically enough, Levin received, on his journey, a rose, a special kind of rose: a rose that in their day and age meant that one of his children had to go and live with the aliens that have conquered the Earth. Levin chose to give away his youngest, Estár, the only natural born child.

I was surprised to discover this to be set in the future (unlike the others, set into a more or less distant past). I was also quite amused at the whole “bring me a rose”/”you’ll have to go away ’cause of the rose” part, because it strongly reminded me of the beginning of The Beauty and the Beast (not to mention the fact that the aliens were thought of as very ugly *hint hint*). I found it to be the most intense story of them all, and I read through it breathlessly, hurrying to find out whether the ending matches the fairytale as well as the beginning did.

What I liked most: Predictably somehow, my favorite stories were those where I could readily identify the elements from the original fairy tales. Sure, most of the time when they were present they were twisted somehow — exactly what I expected and the very thing I love. It’s like in these cases I get to appreciate most the magic of what the author has done, because I know the “rough material” she got to work with, and, seeing what she managed to make of it, am all the more impressed. If that makes any sense.

In terms of a favorite story I’d definitely chose “Paid Piper” (probably the fact that it was the first one very much counted because it was the story that acquainted me with the author’s writing style — but I very much like some of the ideas too). Also, “Beauty”, because of the intensity, because it was well told.

What I liked least: I was a bit disappointed whenever I couldn’t trace any of the original fairytale elements in the story because it made the story less of a retelling. Sure, the stories are good enough to stand on their own, without needing the backing of old fairytales — and yet, since I expected to read a book of retellings I was a bit disappointed when that didn’t seem to be the case (actually, these may turn out to be my favorite stories of them all, because who’s to say the similitudes aren’t there, but very subtle and hidden? And, as I love subtlety and a good challenge… ).

Recommend it to? Everyone. I simply loved the writing style, seemingly simple and yet beautifully worded (reminding me somehow of Cornelia Funke).


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