Reviews
The Beasts Who Fought for Fairyland Until the Very End and Further Still, by Catherynne M. Valente
settingshadow's review
4.0
This tiny short story is a cute little parable about how to respond to 2016 devastating election result. It's written in Valente's distinctive Fairyland voice, but the metaphor is pretty thinly veiled. Say "no" to tyranny and "yes" to community, she concludes.
wanderlustlover's review
5.0
This piece is gorgeous. This was Valente's reaction to people telling her "stop talking about politics and go back to writing about you Fairyland." This is gorgeous, chilling, heart-breaking and heart-mending. It's about hope and strength, about being defeated and not-defeated-at-all. It's about holding on and fighting back, how fighting changes depending on what board, and how to never let go while waiting and acting.
No spoilers. This is a free internet Valente read and one of those exact reasons I'll read Valente until I die.
No spoilers. This is a free internet Valente read and one of those exact reasons I'll read Valente until I die.
blackmetalblackheart's review
5.0
I love Valente's writing style. It is filled with poetry and magic; the words placed on the page with such elegance and craft. This is a short story set in the world of Fairyland. It is poignant and political in the best of ways. It is more of a response to the 2016 elections than an intricate part of the Fairyland story, but that does not make it any less of an excellent read.
trish204's review
5.0
Bloody hell. Literally.
You know what has happened to 99.9% of people ever since a certain orange man was elected to the most powerful office on this planet. Well, I'm not usually one to discuss this as a rational discussion often isn't happening anymore since both sides prefer to just hurl insults at one another and be unreasonable. However, there is no denying that the orange man is a bad person. If he turns out to be a bad ruler, remains to be seen. Thus, it is only natural that certain people, the most colourful and glittery especially, have reacted with fear after that fateful November and had reason to as well if we look at the incidents that the orange man has provoked within some of the most dreadful people that could live on this planet. I don't agree with all points on either side, I'm somewhere in the middle; I don't agree with the panic for example. But I understand why people, who see themselves walking through a dark and scary forest, need a fairy light to shine them the way.
Valente is an author. Valente is a woman. Valente has been told to shut up because "her kind has lost". That is a direct quote and is there anything more stupid or uncreative one could have said?! But Valente is also one to NOT shut up because she has understood something: silence can only make it worse.
Thus, she took the advise of some quite abusive trolls on Twitter and literally went back to Fairyland. They wanted it, they got it.
This is the result.
This is the story of the fight for Fairyland when the Marquess took over. It features three old friends (one of which I did not expect here, to be perfectly honest). It is an explanation of what has happened and why and it offers comfort as any fairy light guiding you through a dark forest should.
Her solution might be a bit too simplistic as political matters are never simple (saying No, being defiant, is the right thing to do when faced with injustice, but you also need to be careful what you are saying Yes to in turn), but her heart is definitely in the right spot and this woman knows how to write!
I am a fan. A critical fan, but nevertheless a fan. Her words are radiant, her message important, the world she has created seems to have no boundaries. This is an important though very short piece and yes, I've had tears in my eyes.
A little less hate and a little more magic. That's what we all need in our lives. And don't be afraid of the magic, it always only does what you tell it to do. You have the spoon. Use it wisely and compassionately.
You know what has happened to 99.9% of people ever since a certain orange man was elected to the most powerful office on this planet. Well, I'm not usually one to discuss this as a rational discussion often isn't happening anymore since both sides prefer to just hurl insults at one another and be unreasonable. However, there is no denying that the orange man is a bad person. If he turns out to be a bad ruler, remains to be seen. Thus, it is only natural that certain people, the most colourful and glittery especially, have reacted with fear after that fateful November and had reason to as well if we look at the incidents that the orange man has provoked within some of the most dreadful people that could live on this planet. I don't agree with all points on either side, I'm somewhere in the middle; I don't agree with the panic for example. But I understand why people, who see themselves walking through a dark and scary forest, need a fairy light to shine them the way.
Valente is an author. Valente is a woman. Valente has been told to shut up because "her kind has lost". That is a direct quote and is there anything more stupid or uncreative one could have said?! But Valente is also one to NOT shut up because she has understood something: silence can only make it worse.
Thus, she took the advise of some quite abusive trolls on Twitter and literally went back to Fairyland. They wanted it, they got it.
This is the result.
This is the story of the fight for Fairyland when the Marquess took over. It features three old friends (one of which I did not expect here, to be perfectly honest). It is an explanation of what has happened and why and it offers comfort as any fairy light guiding you through a dark forest should.
Her solution might be a bit too simplistic as political matters are never simple (saying No, being defiant, is the right thing to do when faced with injustice, but you also need to be careful what you are saying Yes to in turn), but her heart is definitely in the right spot and this woman knows how to write!
I am a fan. A critical fan, but nevertheless a fan. Her words are radiant, her message important, the world she has created seems to have no boundaries. This is an important though very short piece and yes, I've had tears in my eyes.
A little less hate and a little more magic. That's what we all need in our lives. And don't be afraid of the magic, it always only does what you tell it to do. You have the spoon. Use it wisely and compassionately.
anyaworley's review
5.0
“The first magic anyone learns is saying No,” purred the Leopard of Little Breezes. “It’s how you know a baby is starting to turn into a person. They run around saying no all day, throwing their magic at everything to see what it’ll stick to. And if they say No loud enough, and often enough, and to the right person, strange things will happen. The nasty supper is taken away. The light is left on at night instead of turned out. The toy comes out of the shop window. It is such old magic, such basic magic, that most folk don’t even know it’s magic anymore.” The Leopard of Little Breezes rubbed her paw over her ear. “You can say No to that story. You can say No to the spell, to the Marquess, to the lions, to all of it. And if you say it loud enough, and often enough, strange things will begin to happen.”
“But that’s easy. I can say No all day long!”
The Leopard growled. “It’s very much harder to say No to a tyrant than to say No to a plate of beans or a dark bedroom. Harder still to do it while your wings are tied down and blistered. And you cannot stop saying it, even if it would feel so marvelous, so easy, so much less work to just be silent and hope it all comes out right somehow.”
Cat Valente wrote this short story the day Trump was elected the President of The United States of America in response to people telling her to shut up and stop talking about politics. I don't think I have ever encountered a metaphorical story so potent that my eyes were stinging with unshed tears by the time I was done reading. And just like the Leopard of Little Breezes said, we must say Yes to each other. We must say Yes to the needful, to the suffering, to the lonely, to those the Marquess punishes for saying No to her. Because when our world is ruled by a tyrant drunk on hate, Defiance is the only magic we need.
“But that’s easy. I can say No all day long!”
The Leopard growled. “It’s very much harder to say No to a tyrant than to say No to a plate of beans or a dark bedroom. Harder still to do it while your wings are tied down and blistered. And you cannot stop saying it, even if it would feel so marvelous, so easy, so much less work to just be silent and hope it all comes out right somehow.”
Cat Valente wrote this short story the day Trump was elected the President of The United States of America in response to people telling her to shut up and stop talking about politics. I don't think I have ever encountered a metaphorical story so potent that my eyes were stinging with unshed tears by the time I was done reading. And just like the Leopard of Little Breezes said, we must say Yes to each other. We must say Yes to the needful, to the suffering, to the lonely, to those the Marquess punishes for saying No to her. Because when our world is ruled by a tyrant drunk on hate, Defiance is the only magic we need.
balancinghistorybooks's review
5.0
It's okay. Trump's (I will never call him 'President') term will finish in a few years. Hold tight. For now, just read this fantastic - and very anti-Trump - Valente story, which will give you hope that order will be restored. It contains gems like the following:
'But haven't we had tyrants and fools and hobgoblins on the throne before? Haven't we had rather a lot of hobgoblins?... And haven't we always patched up their mischief and gotten back to more or less living how we want to live and loving who we want to love and making what we want to make and being who we want to be?'
'But haven't we had tyrants and fools and hobgoblins on the throne before? Haven't we had rather a lot of hobgoblins?... And haven't we always patched up their mischief and gotten back to more or less living how we want to live and loving who we want to love and making what we want to make and being who we want to be?'
ihuntsnarks's review
5.0
I recently found this quote from Valente "when something pisses me off badly enough, I throw art in its face." It fits.