Thornhedge
T. Kingfisher
Tor
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess trapped in a cursed sleep, high in a tower hidden by an impenetrable tangle of vines and thorns... but were the brambles there to keep brave knightly rescuers out, or something else in?
Toadling - once a human child until snatched by fairies, raised in their world, and returned irrevocably changed by her experiences - lives in the hedge, protecting the secret within as she was bound to do many mortal lifetimes ago. As time passes, it seems that people have finally forgotten all about the tower, to her relief... until a curious knight turns up, determined to unravel the mystery of the hedge, the tower, the princess, the curse - and Toadling herself.
REVIEW: Thornhedge puts an interesting spin on the Sleeping Beauty story, weaving in elements of fae lore and changelings. It starts out a little slow, playing it cagey about what's going on and why a young woman with fairy powers - raised by marsh-dwellers known as greenteeth in the fairy realm, she learned small magics over water, as well as how to talk to animals and turn into a toad - is hiding out in Sleeping Beauty's hedge. Watching as time passes and a road is built past the hidden tower, Toadling reveals mixed feelings about humans, fearing them and longing for their company at the same time, while ultimately burdened by the task/curse that shackles her to the forgotten tower on the forgotten hill. Time meanders past, centuries drifting by, before the knight shows up and kicks off the story proper. As she tries to discourage him from his explorations of the hedge, her backstory is revealed, as well as what really happened in the lost kingdom of the tower, from the fateful christening to the day the thorns grew - not at all the story one knows from popular fairy tales. After the initial meandering, the tale picks up very nicely, developing into a dark retelling that highlights the casual cruelty of both fate and the fairies, how beauty and virtue are not always bedfellows, how misplaced love and loyalty can do great damage, and how family can be found in the most unexpected places and people. It all wraps up with a strong finish, though that earlier dithering just barely held it down to four stars.
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