Hardcover, 69 pages
Published April 8, 2014 by Bloomsbury, imusti.
A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell - weaving together a sort-of Snow White and an almost Sleeping Beauty with a thread of dark magic, which will hold readers spellbound from start to finish.
On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future - and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.
A fantastic retelling, with Gaiman's usual bit of humour and darkness tossed in. The illustrations by Chris Riddell are also superb, and add significantly to the narrative.
A fantastic retelling, with Gaiman's usual bit of humour and darkness tossed in. The illustrations by Chris Riddell are also superb, and add significantly to the narrative.
Glooooorious.
Gaiman + Riddell FTW.
Raiding Dipali's library always results in gold.
Gaiman + Riddell FTW.
Raiding Dipali's library always results in gold.
Echoing a lot of reviewers here, this is a 2.75-3 for the writing and a 5 for the illustrations. Was hoping for more here, but the edition is so lovely to hold and read that it ends up around a 4.
My first exposure to this book was a flurry of news articles, waxing philosophical left and right about the meaning of 'two princesses kissing each other.' How 'ground-breaking!' How 'Profound!' How 'Daring!'
What nonsense.
This book is a delightful masterpiece, a patchwork of two well-known fairytales with twists and turns worthy of the originals. The kiss is nothing more than the fulfillment of the parameters of those stories. Nothing more. Nothing less. --Somebody-- has to kiss the princess. Tradition demands it!
But at the same point this entire narrative is about subverting the narratives, about looking underneath the stories to see what lies unread and unsaid. And to take those unspoken consequences that arise from those hidden mysteries and make them very, very relevant.
This is a wonderful book and one I would recommend to any young adult on up to the oldest reader.
My first exposure to this book was a flurry of news articles, waxing philosophical left and right about the meaning of 'two princesses kissing each other.' How 'ground-breaking!' How 'Profound!' How 'Daring!'
What nonsense.
This book is a delightful masterpiece, a patchwork of two well-known fairytales with twists and turns worthy of the originals. The kiss is nothing more than the fulfillment of the parameters of those stories. Nothing more. Nothing less. --Somebody-- has to kiss the princess. Tradition demands it!
But at the same point this entire narrative is about subverting the narratives, about looking underneath the stories to see what lies unread and unsaid. And to take those unspoken consequences that arise from those hidden mysteries and make them very, very relevant.
This is a wonderful book and one I would recommend to any young adult on up to the oldest reader.
I went into this knowing three things: it was written by Neil Gaiman whom I would follow to the ends of the earth, it was illustrated by Chris Riddell whose art is familiar to me from the Edge Chronicles which I may now have to read, and it was a Sleeping Beauty retelling.
I was not expecting - okay, maybe I was a little bit hoping - to be so absolutely blown away by how beautiful, elegant, and stunning every facet of the work was from the story and the telling of it to the art and the gold accents. I now have to decide which book to remove from my top three of the year to add this gorgeous book.
Note, I've heard it most often referred to as a graphic novel and I think a much more apt description would be a picture book.
I went into this knowing three things: it was written by Neil Gaiman whom I would follow to the ends of the earth, it was illustrated by Chris Riddell whose art is familiar to me from the Edge Chronicles which I may now have to read, and it was a Sleeping Beauty retelling.
I was not expecting - okay, maybe I was a little bit hoping - to be so absolutely blown away by how beautiful, elegant, and stunning every facet of the work was from the story and the telling of it to the art and the gold accents. I now have to decide which book to remove from my top three of the year to add this gorgeous book.
Note, I've heard it most often referred to as a graphic novel and I think a much more apt description would be a picture book.
