My partner and I went through Wrede’s whole Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and after that he started reading this book of short stories to me as well. It’s a fun collection, and since each chapter is different it made for a fun experience reading it aloud.
The stories are pretty diverse, but most of them involve retelling some fairy tale in an unusual or surprising way. There are some that are in funky fantasy lands, and also some set in the modern day and age. Plenty are from a new or untraditional perspective, such as from a sister or someone observing the main action.
There are two stories that intersect with the Enchanted Forest Chronicles of course. One of them is about a unicorn living in the Enchanted Forest itself, so while the characters of the story are new the setting certainly is not. I didn’t realize until I read the afterword, but there are not any unicorns in the main story, and this was written for a collection specifically including unicorns. The other story is the last one, and this is the only story written specifically for this collection. It follows our favorite Queen Cimorene and how she organizes a whole competition just to figure out the warrior meant to wield the Frying Pan of Doom. It is quite fun.
I really liked this collection of stories! Not all of them
are my favorite, but they all bring something new to the table, and the vast
majority have an excellent sense of humor. I would recommend all of Wrede’s
writing, but perhaps if you are unsure this would make for a pretty good place
to start.
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