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Robin Mckinley retelling of fairy tales

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nona
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Robin Mckinley retelling of fairy tales

Post by nona » Fri July 24th, 2009, 4:09 pm

I have never read Robin McKinley but purchased a few of her books recently. She writes fantasy and childerns fairy tales retold for young adults and adults alike. Has anyone read her work? If so what are your thoughts on them.

Ash
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Post by Ash » Fri July 24th, 2009, 4:37 pm

I've not read her, but I have read several books that were either takes on fairy tales, or completely new fairy tales. Probably the two most interesting ones were Book of Lost Things by John Connely, and Kissing the Witch by Emma Donague. Warning - both of these are quite dark with some disturbing scenes in them, and I would be cautious about recommending them to YA; they are definitley not for kids. But for open minded adults and mature young adults, they are very interesting and well written, and rather funny in some parts.

Another author is Gregory Maguire, who wrote Wicked, the take on Wizard of Oz. He also wrote Confessions of the Ugly Stepsister, a take on Cinderella; and Mirror Mirror, a take on Snow White (with Lucrezia Borgia as the wicked step mother!). A.S. Byatt (of Possession fame) wrote The DJinn in the Nightingale's Eye, a collection of five 'new' fairytales written in the same style as the traditional ones.

Now I will have to check out McKinley!

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nona
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Post by nona » Fri July 24th, 2009, 5:22 pm

haven't read her yet but waiting for Beauty: the retelling of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley to come in the mail, I ordered it from amazon today.


At amazon you can read a few pages on the look inside part, I read four or five pages and it's not like the kids fairy tell version from what i read but Robins version looked to be very promising. Once I read it I'll post a review here.

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Anna Elliott
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Post by Anna Elliott » Fri July 24th, 2009, 5:55 pm

I absolutely love Robin McKinley's fairy tale retellings! I've read all her books and she's just a wonderful writer. Alternately humorous and lyrical and I love her characters. My favorites are The Blue Sword (though that's not based on a fairy tale) and Beauty, her first retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Hope you enjoy the books you've ordered!

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nona
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Post by nona » Fri July 24th, 2009, 6:41 pm

how weird I bought Beauty and Blue Sword today, those seem to be favorites among her readers so bought them totest the waters you might say.

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Anna Elliott
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Post by Anna Elliott » Sun July 26th, 2009, 1:52 am

Spindle's End (based on Sleeping Beauty) is also fun, and Deerskin is very gripping, though very dark. I quite liked her latest, Chalice, too--it has a lovely "Mary Stewart's later books" kind of feel--like Rose Cottage or Thornyhold, if you've read those. But The Blue Sword and Beauty are definitely the ones to start with!

Author of the Twilight of Avalon trilogy
new book: Dark Moon of Avalon, coming Sept 14 from Simon &Schuster (Touchstone)

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diamondlil
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Post by diamondlil » Sun July 26th, 2009, 4:21 am

Another interesting fairy tale retelling is Briar Rose by Jane Yolen. It is Sleeping Beauty told against the background of WWII in Poland.
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nona
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Post by nona » Sun July 26th, 2009, 12:47 pm

Jane yolen, I believe I've read a book of hers but it was a composite of unicorn poems, short stories and pictures. She a wonderful writer.

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ejays17
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Post by ejays17 » Thu September 17th, 2009, 2:41 pm

Beauty is my favourite of Robin McKinley's books, it was also the first of hers I read.

I also really enjoyed Sunshine, which is her take on the Vampire-obsession going round at the moment.

Haven't read Chalice yet, am waiting for it to be published in pb here.


Oh, and I second the recommendation of Briar Rose by Jane Yolen - it was written as part of the "Fairy Tales" series overseen by Terri Windling, and there's about another 6-7 books by various authors about various fairy-tales.

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Sintra
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Post by Sintra » Tue March 22nd, 2011, 4:13 pm

I only read "Beauty" but i loved it and i'm looking forward to reading more of her fantasy books and retellings. (I heard that Deerskin is great).

Has anyone read The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale? I thought it was really wonderful and magical.

But i have to say that my favourte book with fairy tale elements in it is Alex Bell's Jasmyn. It's actually more like a detective with The Swan Knight elements and the story flows really well. Read it in a day :)

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