 | |
| Author | T. Kingfisher |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
Publication date | 3 Aug 2023 |
| Pages | 128 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 978-1-250-24409-3 |
Thornhedge is a 2023 novella by Ursula Vernon, writing under the pen name T. Kingfisher. The novella is a reimagining of the story of Sleeping Beauty.
Toadling guards a wall of thorns which conceal a sleeping princess in a tower. She hopes that humans will eventually forget the existence of the tower and its occupant.
Hundreds of years later, a knight approaches the hidden tower. Toadling tries to tie elf-knots into his hair to scare him away, but he awakens and discovers her. The knight tells her that his name is Halim and claims to be looking for the lost princess.
Toadling narrates her story to Halim. She was born a human princess and switched with a changeling at birth. She was raised in Faerie by frog-like creatures called greenteeth. Because time passes differently in Faerie, she was able to return to the human world and stand as the fairy godmother for the christening of the changeling, Fayette. The Faerie hare goddess instructed Toadling to give Fayette a gift: “she will do no harm to those around her.” Toadling messed up the words of the spell, rendering it ineffective. As Fayette grew, she became increasingly violent and unpredictable. At first she tortured animals. Later, her nurse fell down the stairs and died; Fayette puppeted the corpse around the palace. Toadling could not bring herself to kill Fayette and so decided to place her in an enchanted sleep. She grew the hedge of thorns around the keep for the protection of the outside world.
Halim and Toadling enter the tower and accidentally wake Fayette. Fayette tries to strangle Toadling; Halim pushes her out of the tower and kills her. The hare goddess returns to Toadling and reveals that the initial gift of “doing no harm” would have killed Fayette anyway, as the dead cannot harm anyone. The goddess brings Toadling back to Faerie, where she reunites with her family of greenteeth. She returns to the mortal world to journey with Halim, but plans to return home to Faerie someday.
Gary K. Wolfe writes that the novella exists in "that liminal space ... between fairytale lore and actual medieval history". The opening chapter "serves as a remarkable evocation of loneliness" as Toadling watches the centuries pass around her. Later, Halim's "references to the Pope, the Byzantine-Seljuk wars, and his own Muslim background" place the story more firmly in a historical context. [1]
Thornhedge is a finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novella. [2]
Publishers Weekly gave the novella a starred review, writing that "Kingfisher’s trademark wit and compassion transforms “Sleeping Beauty” into a moving meditation on guilt, grief, and duty, as well as a surprisingly sweet romance between outsiders." [3] Fiona Denton of Grimdark Magazine gave the novella five out of five stars, calling it "an exceptionally written, bitesize piece of escapism". [4]
Writing for the New York Times, author Amal El-Mohtar stated that the novella has a "particularly fine flexibility of tone that bends from sweet and shy to tragic and frightening". [5] In Paste , Lacy Baugher Milas wrote that the novel is different from modern fairy tales, which are often seen as "colorful, romantic stories of princesses in magical castles, dashing princes, and first kisses". Instead, the novel hearkens to the stories of the Brothers Grimm, which are "sharp, dark things, often uncomfortable, always complicated." Milas also wrote that "no one is doing more with less in the fantasy space than Kingfisher. Not a single word is wasted—even the punctuation feels insanely purposeful—and its delicate descriptors, mournful tone, and carefully crafted dialogue all feel deliberately arranged for maximum emotional and narrative impact." [6]
Adrienne Martini of Locus'' wrote that the work is "both kind and brutal as it shows how narrow the power of love is". She also praised the novella's short length as "exactly as long as it should be – and we’re fortunate to have so many publishers willing to give these longer short works a chance to delight an audience." [7] Also writing for Locus, Gary K. Wolfe called the novella a "strikingly original" take on the Sleeping Beauty tale, based on a "central reversal". He also wrote that Thornhedge is "a masterful demonstration of what novellas do best" and that "Toadling is one of the more endearing and memorable characters I’ve encountered this year, and pretty much the same can be said for her tale." [1] Martin Cahill of Tor.com called the book "atmospheric and engrossing", particularly praising the protagonist Toadling as "a protagonist I would gladly read about for many years to come." [8]
"Sleeping Beauty", also titled in English as The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, is a fairy tale about a princess cursed by an evil fairy to sleep for a hundred years before being awakened by a handsome prince. A good fairy, knowing the princess would be frightened if alone when she wakes, uses her wand to put every living person and animal in the palace and forest asleep, to awaken when the princess does.
A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore. A changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being on kidnapping a human being. Sometimes the changeling was a 'stock', more often the changeling was a supernatural being made magically to look like the kidnapped human. Supernatural beings blamed for stealing children included fairies, demons, trolls, nereids and many others. Usually, the kidnapped human was a child; but there were cases, particularly in Scandinavia and Ireland, where adults were taken.
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's Cinderella, he concludes the tale with the moral that no personal advantages will suffice without proper connections.
Terri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award.
Holly Black is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the New York Times bestselling young adult Folk of the Air series. She is also well known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and her debut trilogy of young adult novels officially called the Modern Faerie Tales. Black has won an Eisner Award, a Lodestar Award, a Nebula Award, and a Newbery Honor.
Faerie Tale Theatre is an American award-winning live-action fairytale fantasy drama anthology television series of 27 episodes, that originally broadcast nationally on Showtime from September 11, 1982, until November 14, 1987. It is a retelling of 25 classic fairy tales, particularly those written by The Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault and Hans Christian Andersen. Episode 18 was not based on a fairy tale, but rather on the poem, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin".
Alethea Kontis is an American writer of Teen & Young Adult Books, picture books and speculative fiction, primarily for children, as well as an essayist and storyteller. She is represented by Moe Ferrara at Bookends Literary Agency.
Snow White, Blood Red is the first book in a series of collections of re-told fairy tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.
Genevieve Valentine is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her first novel, Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, won the Crawford Award for a first fantasy novel, and was shortlisted for the Nebula.
Amal El-Mohtar is a Canadian poet and writer of speculative fiction. She has published short fiction, poetry, essays and reviews, and has edited the fantastic poetry quarterly magazine Goblin Fruit since 2006.
"Seasons of Glass and Iron" is a 2016 fantasy story by Canadian writer Amal El-Mohtar. It was first published in the anthology The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales.
Wonders of the Invisible World is a collection of fantasy short stories by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Tachyon Publications in October 2012. The title of both the collection and the first story in it derive from the 1693 book of the same title by Cotton Mather.
The Tea Master and the Detective is a 2018 science fiction novella by Aliette de Bodard. It is a standalone tale set in the author's Xuya Universe. The novella won the 2018 Nebula Award for Best Novella and was a finalist for the 2019 Locus Award for Best Novella.
The Golden Enclaves is a 2022 fantasy novel written by American author Naomi Novik following Galadriel "El" Higgins, a half-Welsh, half-Indian sorceress, who must survive to graduation while controlling her destructive abilities at the fabled school of black magic, named for the legendary Scholomance. It was published by Del Rey on September 27, 2022 and is the third book of The Scholomance Trilogy.
The Bruising of Qilwa is a 2022 fantasy novella by Naseem Jamnia, the author's debut work. The plot centers on a non-binary refugee healer who practices blood magic and discovers a mysterious illness in their new city. The work was a finalist for the 2023 Locus Award for Best First Novel.
Fractured Fables is a series of fantasy novellas written by Alix E. Harrow. The series currently comprises two novellas: A Spindle Splintered (2021) and A Mirror Mended (2022). The series explores fairy tales from a modernist and feminist perspective. Both novellas have received critical acclaim.
Nettle & Bone is a 2022 fantasy novel by Ursula Vernon, writing as T. Kingfisher. The novel has been described as a dark fairy tale. It won the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novel and was nominated for the 2023 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, and the Nebula Award for Best Novel of 2022.
A House with Good Bones is a 2023 Southern Gothic horror novel by Ursula Vernon, writing under the pen name T. Kingfisher. The novel centers on Samantha Montgomery, a woman who experiences strange events when she returns to her ancestral North Carolina home.
What Moves the Dead is a 2022 horror novella by Ursula Vernon, writing under the pen name T. Kingfisher. It is based on the short story The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe. The novella received critical acclaim, including a win for the 2023 Locus Award for Best Horror Novel and a nomination for the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
Into the Riverlands is a 2022 fantasy novella by Nghi Vo. It is the third published entry in the Singing Hills Cycle. Each novella can serve as an entry point to the series or as a standalone tale.