YA
Some books are better when they’re a bit slippery. Mary Norton’s Are all the giants dead? has that fairy-tale oddness where you’re never entirely sure what rule you’re meant to be following, and I mean that as praise.
It’s the sort of fantasy that doesn’t bother explaining itself to death. James turns up in a land full of fairy tale characters, Princess Dulcibel has her own problem, and the whole thing feels delightfully unbothered by modern neatness. Which is probably why it stuck with me.
It’s the sort of fantasy that doesn’t bother explaining itself to death. James turns up in a land full of fairy tale characters, Princess Dulcibel has her own problem, and the whole thing feels delightfully unbothered by modern neatness. Which is probably why it stuck with me.
That kind of fairy-tale logic can be a relief, honestly. Too many modern fantasies feel the need to explain every oddity before they’ll let it breathe.
I’ve not read this one yet, but the premise sounds like it’s happy to be strange in the old way, where the rules are half-seen and that’s part of the charm. If it starts over-explaining, it would lose half its point.
I’ve not read this one yet, but the premise sounds like it’s happy to be strange in the old way, where the rules are half-seen and that’s part of the charm. If it starts over-explaining, it would lose half its point.
That kind of fairy-tale slipperiness is usually what makes me stay with a book, provided the voice has enough bite to hold it together. I’m fond of stories that don’t stop to translate their own logic for you.
This one is on my want-to-read shelf for exactly that reason. The title alone feels faintly mischievous, which helps.
This one is on my want-to-read shelf for exactly that reason. The title alone feels faintly mischievous, which helps.