Untold Tales

Teller of Tales #2

by William J. Brooke

Retells and continues the stories, from a contemporary perspective, of such classic tales as "The Frog Prince," "Snow White," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Sleeping Beauty"

Genres: Fantasy, Short Story Collection, Fairy Tales, Short Stories, Middle Grade, Speculative Fiction, Fiction

164 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

Reviews

[Chandra Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was odd and fun and punny! I will definitely seek out the other book the author has of retold fairytales. Also, I will probably gift the book to one of my nieces!

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years and years ago, and I all remembered was the Beauty and the Beast tale – which I remembered vividly and in a detailed fashion, and yet clean forget everything in the rest of the book. Which… was just as well, because while the Beauty and the Beast gets 5 stars (and such a good 5 stars I’ll give the whole book 5 stars based on that alone) the rest of the book is, well, m’eh.

The first tale is a retelling of The Frog Prince, in which the queen discovers happily ever after with the king is boring compared to the courtship with the frog prince. The obvious ending is a loooong time in coming as the story drags on in making its point about love and communication.

The second is the jewel of the collection, Brooke’s highly original retelling of Beauty and the Beast in which it builds up to a reveal of Beauty being so ugly people can’t look at her, and the Beast being so beautiful people can’t look at him either. The Beast was cursed to be rich and powerful and magical and beautiful – and discovers it truly is a psychological torture of the first order to never be able to trust anything positive said to his face. Beauty comes to enjoy being in a position of finding a true equal, and her mischievous twist at the end of delighting in some material pleasures was a very fun ending.

The third retelling is a mix of Sleeping Beauty with some Snow White and Rapunzel in the background, bringing in some Hansel and Gretel briefly. And then, after all that thrown in with the kitchen sink, the story gets hopelessly meta as the Author shows up and the prince goes on a cyber space adventure. >eye roll<

[Lisa Rathbun]

This was a light reading with some humor, but not as good as some other fairy tale retellings I've read. It was fun to see whythe author kept mentioning a mysterious man in a blue hat! I also liked the twist on the Beauty and the Beast tale (which would never work on video but only in a story!) However, Prince Charming meaning to find Sleeping Beauty but finding Snow White instead, marrying her until she runs off, is SO unromantic that I don't like it! And once the author gets inserted into the story, it just gets a little too weird.



Also, I always get suspicious when fictional characters start questioning their author or wondering if there really is a "happily ever after." Is is just a humorous plot device or is the author trying to say something about God, the Creator?



Young readers may enjoy the way the story circles back on itself at the end, but for me, this is not enjoyable enough to put on my shelf.

[Theresa F.]

The early portion of the book presents some thought provoking twists on classic fairy tale models. However, things get rather surreal after that, with a bizarre side trip into the realm of early 1990s word processing. All in all, this book was kind of a mixed bag.
Did I like it? Somewhat.
Would I reread it? Possibly in part, but I'd skip the end section.
Would I recommend it? The first two stories are definitely worth reading, in my opinion, for the unique new angle that each one applies to a classic tale. As for the rest of the book, the surreal aspects and the dated 1990s computer references might not appeal to everyone.

[Rosalind Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was okay.

[Shell S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

rtf

[Jenni Sauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

You can find the entire review with all it's ranting and rambles, along with the playlist, here: http://ivorypalace.blogspot.com/2017/...

[Becky Eliason]

I am usually a sucker for any fairy tale retelling. I really enjoyed the version of Beauty and the Beast. The other two were ok, but nothing special or unexpected. I liked the twist of (spoiler alert) the author being the man in the blue hat and how it tied in, but the last chapter went on a little longer than necessary. I found myself flipping ahead to see how many pages were left more than once. It was clever to tie in the technological aspect of writing, but it went on too long and got a little far fetched...even for a fairy tale. All in all, a fun and quick read. Still REALLY liked that Beauty and the Beast twist, though ;)

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! This author really knows how to fracture a fairy tale! The versions of "The Frog Prince" and "Beauty and the Beast" were outstanding and unusual. The last story, in which the author interjects himself, was highly inventive and a good read. I wish this book was still in print, because I'd like to have a copy to re-read.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started out really liking this book, but lost interest within the last story or chapter; it took me a couple of months to pick it up again and finish it. I thought it was clever and humorous, and enjoyed the storytelling up to the point where the author inserted himself into it... and then it lost me.

[Kellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting retelling of some very well known fairy tales. Not all of them good, but each interesting and humorous in their own way. However, I didn't care for the "extra" story at the end that included the author. I found it boring and out-of-place and a bit stupid.

[Arlene Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical, original retellings of fairy tales. Brooke has a charming, understated style.

[A. Mickey Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cool stories. The last one got sort of trippy. Still super good.