Thrice Upon A Time

by Alfie Dog Fiction, Sheila Crosby, Margaret Pearce

Thrice Upon a Time is a collection of 18 modern fairy tales for adults. Some retell stories written long ago from a different perspective, while others are completely new. Read what happens when a late night walk leads to a game of poker with the farm animals and learn the Queen's side of the story in what it is really like to live with Snow White. Who is the cobbler who turns up in the village? And exactly how many frogs does one princess have to kiss?

180 pages, Paperback

First published August 5, 2014

Reviews

[Julie Lees · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Thrice Upon A Time’ is not only the title of this compilation of eighteen fairy tales specially reimagined for adults, but the first story in this collection. Published by Alfie Dog Fiction and featuring an eclectic group of authors, the stories are woven to cleverly introduce more contemporary, and often humorous, elements. These take the darker side of human nature a step further and usually without the expected happy ending.

Most were easily recognisable as traditional bedtime tales, and those particular ones resonated with me more than the other lesser-known and newly created narratives. I also felt some stood out as more skilfully crafted than others, with a couple becoming quite onerous to read and sadly lacking in the moral message department.

Despite this, I enjoyed escaping into this fantasy world and will, no doubt, return to re-read and dabble in it once again in the not too distant future.

[Lorraine Swoboda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traditional fairy stories all end happily ever after, with the triumph of good over evil. Or do they? What about the rats that are turned into horses to pull Cinderella’s coach; did anyone ask their opinion on the matter?
In this varied collection some of the old tales are given a different slant. Isn’t it a little odd that 15 year-old Snow White should be living with seven elderly miners, and should Social Services step in? Is Prince Charming a bigamist? Are wicked stepmothers victims of bad publicity? Are the stepchildren always angels? It depends on who tells the story.
In these pages, Rumpelstiltzkin gets his dark revenge, and the Pied Piper plays a different tune when baulked of payment by a greedy mayor. As for changelings, maybe there’s a good reason why fairies like to make the switch.
Even in the world of satnavs and mobile phones, if you need them enough, fairies will hear and wishes may be granted. Perhaps we should be careful…

[Derek McMillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many people the idea of reinterpreting fairy stories for a new audience began with Shrek. However it has been going on for a long time. This book gives a variety of examples of how the old tales can be invigorated and turned into new and unexpected directions.
The advantage of the short story format is that this is a very easy book to pick up at odd moments in a busy schedule. You will not feel that any of your time has been wasted.
I thought the fact this was available on Kindle was very useful and the Author Biographies were a really good idea

I notice that there are three books on Amazon with the same title which could cause some confusion.

#mirrorofeternity

[Maggie Currie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although well written I found these stories quite difficult to get into. They didn't hold my attention. Perhaps they were just not for me.