A review by roshreviews
Upon a Twice Time by Todd Sanders
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
3.5
Β Having enjoyed the first anthology in this series (Upon a Once Time), I was really looking forward to this second installment of fairy tale and folklore retellings. But unlike the first book, this one satisfied me to a lesser degree than I had wanted.
The anthology contains 21 fairy-tale/folklore mashups. Just as in the first edition, each story is a refurbished version of two fairy tales. The collections covers a nice variety of genres, though most of the tales are from SFF.
I didn't know the original tale in a few cases. That hindered the enjoyment of a few of the retellings as the lack of context created a vacuum in the understanding. (This didnβt happen in the first volume of this series.) In most cases where I was aware of the original tale, my admiration of the retelling was far greater as I could appreciate the nuanced changes incorporated by the author.
The one thing in common to all these stories is that they are creative. Try writing a double fairy tale mashup and you'll understand the difficulty of the task. But as happens with every anthology, some stories shine brighter than the others. My favourites from this collection were the following:
Arzadu and the Sea - Alex Hernandez β Fantasy - πππππ«
A Dance of Birds and Men - Jenni Meade - Dark Fantasy - πππππ (What a dark twist to two of my favourite stories! This was mind-blowing!)
The Swan and Bellerophon - Leo Otherland - High Fantasy - ππππ (This would easily have been a five star if the writing were a bit tighter. It was too drawn-out for my liking.)
The Fisherwoman, Her Husband, and the Never-Dead Nymph - Havi Navarro - Dark Fantasy - πππππ«
Traveling Songs for Star-Warriors Taylor Rae - Science Fantasy - ππππ
The Red Princess Who Was Hidden Underground - L. P. Melling - Magical Realism - ππππ
Restless Treasure - Kayla J. Espinoza - Urban Fantasy - ππππ
The Selfish Jeeant and the Twelve Dancing Robots - Evergreen Lee - Science Fiction - ππππ
Twice in the Telling - Carina Bissett - Dark Fantasy - ππππ
Bathed in Silver - Lex T. Lindsay - Dark Fantasy - πππππ«
When Apple Woke - Sarah Lyn Eaton - Science Fiction - ππππ
Sweet as Honey - Henry Herz β Fantasy - πππππ
Other decent ones were:
The Queen of Hearts Interrogates Pinocchio - Gabriel Ertsgaard - Crime fiction - πππ
Through the Bitter Glass, Enticingly - Sam Muller β Fantasy - πππ
The Golden Feather - Alexandra Seidel β Epistolary - ππππ«
Rule of Threes - Rebecca Hardy - Dystopian fiction - πππ
The Legend of Moon and Ship - Bettina Juszak - Science Fiction - ππππ«
17 out of 21 stories is not at all a bad deal for an anthology. This book would certainly be a nice read for SFF fans.
Thank you, NetGalley and Air and Nothingness Press, for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.Β
The anthology contains 21 fairy-tale/folklore mashups. Just as in the first edition, each story is a refurbished version of two fairy tales. The collections covers a nice variety of genres, though most of the tales are from SFF.
I didn't know the original tale in a few cases. That hindered the enjoyment of a few of the retellings as the lack of context created a vacuum in the understanding. (This didnβt happen in the first volume of this series.) In most cases where I was aware of the original tale, my admiration of the retelling was far greater as I could appreciate the nuanced changes incorporated by the author.
The one thing in common to all these stories is that they are creative. Try writing a double fairy tale mashup and you'll understand the difficulty of the task. But as happens with every anthology, some stories shine brighter than the others. My favourites from this collection were the following:
Arzadu and the Sea - Alex Hernandez β Fantasy - πππππ«
A Dance of Birds and Men - Jenni Meade - Dark Fantasy - πππππ (What a dark twist to two of my favourite stories! This was mind-blowing!)
The Swan and Bellerophon - Leo Otherland - High Fantasy - ππππ (This would easily have been a five star if the writing were a bit tighter. It was too drawn-out for my liking.)
The Fisherwoman, Her Husband, and the Never-Dead Nymph - Havi Navarro - Dark Fantasy - πππππ«
Traveling Songs for Star-Warriors Taylor Rae - Science Fantasy - ππππ
The Red Princess Who Was Hidden Underground - L. P. Melling - Magical Realism - ππππ
Restless Treasure - Kayla J. Espinoza - Urban Fantasy - ππππ
The Selfish Jeeant and the Twelve Dancing Robots - Evergreen Lee - Science Fiction - ππππ
Twice in the Telling - Carina Bissett - Dark Fantasy - ππππ
Bathed in Silver - Lex T. Lindsay - Dark Fantasy - πππππ«
When Apple Woke - Sarah Lyn Eaton - Science Fiction - ππππ
Sweet as Honey - Henry Herz β Fantasy - πππππ
Other decent ones were:
The Queen of Hearts Interrogates Pinocchio - Gabriel Ertsgaard - Crime fiction - πππ
Through the Bitter Glass, Enticingly - Sam Muller β Fantasy - πππ
The Golden Feather - Alexandra Seidel β Epistolary - ππππ«
Rule of Threes - Rebecca Hardy - Dystopian fiction - πππ
The Legend of Moon and Ship - Bettina Juszak - Science Fiction - ππππ«
17 out of 21 stories is not at all a bad deal for an anthology. This book would certainly be a nice read for SFF fans.
Thank you, NetGalley and Air and Nothingness Press, for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.Β