T. Kingfisher: Thornhedge

A fairy tale retelling novella.

Format: Audio

Length: 3 hours 43 minutes

Publisher: TOR

Publication year: 2023

Narrated by:Jennifer Blom

Toadling is a small fairy who guards the castle which is inside a huge nest of throns. She’s just a little fairy with very limited magic so mostly she just watches humans come and go. She’s not sure if she has a soul; the priest said that she doesn’t. But she still prays that nobody will go inside the tower and wake the sleeper. She has been doing it for a long time.

One day, a Saracen knight Halim camps near the thorns. He speaks to the fairy and she answers, startled. She knows that she shouldn’t say anything but she hasn’t spoken to anyone in a very long time and the temptation is too much. The knight has heard a tale about the sleeping maiden in the castle and is determined to break her curse. Toadling is horrified and tries to stop him.

This was a gentle retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. I loved it. As Kingfisher tends to do, she’s put in a couple of twists I didn’t see coming. I won’t spoil them here.

I really enjoyed both Toadling and the Halim. Toadling has been alone for a long time and is desperate for company. At the same time, she’s paying for a mistake in her past and guarding the castle. She’s kind and endearing. Halim is also a kind person. Even though he’s a knight, he’s not brash or arrogant. He wants to learn and is eager to learn even from a small fairy. While lots of fairy tales make a point of describing the characters are beautiful or handsome, here Toadling is plain or even ugly.

However, there are some problems with how Sleeping Beauty is portrayed. Still, it didn’t bother me while I was listening to it.

A wonderful, lush fantasy tale.

 

T. Kingfisher: The Seventh Bride

A stand-alone fantasy book.

Publication year: 2015

Format: Audio

Running time: 6 hours, 47 minutes
Narrator: Kaylin Heath

Rhea is the local miller’s 15-year-old daughter. It was a great surprise to her and her family when Lord Crevan announced that he will marry her. Commoners don’t turn down lords and Rhea knows that if she doesn’t agree, her parents will probably lose the mill. Rhea has no choice but to agree. The Lord says that he’s a sorcerer which scares Rhea but otherwise, she doesn’t know what to think.

The Lord wants Rhea to visit his manor house, which is near enough that she can walk there, but Rhea doesn’t remember seeing a manor nearby. Despite a growing unease, she packs her best dress and starts to walk. The road is very different from what she remembers and more dangerous. On the road, she befriends a hedgehog. It doesn’t talk but otherwise seems far more intelligent than usual. When Rhea finally arrives at the manor, she finds out that the lord has been lying about a lot of things. Such as the fact that he already has six wives, most of them alive.

This was another delightful Kingfisher fantasy. It has a fairy tale feel and is a reimagining of Bluebeard. This also means that the magic isn’t explained at all.

Rhea is a smart, intelligent, and determined girl. She’s used to working hard and has no illusions about her future or place in society. Practical, as is usual for Kingfisher. However, Rhea does rely on the hedgehog a lot. She’s the only POV character. I also liked most of the rest of the cast. A bit surprisingly, Crevan is left more an archetype than a real character.

There’s no rape threat against Rhea which was very nice. Rhea thinks a couple of times if the lord will want a child, but he wants something else from her. There’s also no romance element.

However, the tone shifted quite a lot from the start where Rhea is fighting an evil swan that wants to take her lunch, to a more horror style when she arrives at the manor. Also, some quirky Kingfisher humor is thrown in from time to time.

I enjoyed this story a lot. It has some horror elements, but not too much for my taste. Although the birds which had stones for eyes gave them creeps as well as one scene later in the book.