Written by: Neil Gaiman
Release Date: October 23rd 2014
Pages: 69, Hardback
Series: Standalone
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A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell – weaving together a sort-of Snow White and an almost Sleeping Beauty with a thread of dark magic, which will hold readers spellbound from start to finish.
On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future – and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.
Lavishly produced, packed with glorious Chris Riddell illustrations enhanced with metallic ink, this is a spectacular and magical gift.
So the only real reason I’m writing a review for this book is because I did it via audiobook, and the audiobook for this book was absolutely amazing. I got the audiobook from my library on a whim, I also wound up snagging the physical book since I knew it had a lot of art in it and I’m a bit of an art junkie. But I decided to try out the CD on the way home and I am so thrilled that I did!
The audiobook has a full cast, complete sounds, everything that becomes immersive to a story. It felt like it was coming alive around me in the car. The audiobook was only an hour long, but I just couldn’t get enough of it. I did come home and look at the art, but honestly? I feel like I got more from the audiobook than I would’ve gotten from reading the book. Which is really saying something.
I will say this about the actual book, the plot was absolutely fantastic. I thought it was going to go one way, and it went about five million other ways. It completely surprised me, which in a 60 page book? That’s saying something.
But if you’re gonna pick this one up, seriously, try and see if you can get it via audio, it was such an alive production.
