I think I made a record of reading anthologies this year. As I have noted many times, short stories (and therefore anthologies) are not usually my favorite. However, I puck them up when I want to find short stories by authors that I love. Since several authors I love contributed to this anthology AND its prompt was to reimagine other stories (especially fairytales), I read the whole anthology.

My favorites were “The Sleeper and the Spindle” by Neil Gaiman, “Awakened” by Melissa Marr, and “The Soul Collector” by Kami Garcia. I particularly appreciated how many of these stories point out the problematical scripts fairytales often uphold.

3 1/2 stars:
4 stars for the stories I really liked (pretty much the first half of the book) and 3 stars for the ones I didn't (the second half of the book)

I'm going to be looking for a lot more short story collections because every one that I have read recently I have loved.
This collection was fantastic! Despite being retellings of or inspired by classic tales every story was original and interesting. I was introduced to many new stories I have never heard of that I will definitely be looking into. I at least liked every story in the collection and I loved a majority of them. Not a single one was a disappointment. With such big names contributing, I would be surprised to have found it lacking. I think this collection is perfect for people who don't have a lot of time to read but want to read something with some depth to it

I've had this on my to-read list for a while, so I picked it up for my recent trip and read it when I got back. Dark and twisted fairy tales are right up my alley, so I was looking forward to this anthology and it did not disappoint. While not all stories were twists on fairy tales, they all were based on a fairy tale, legend, short story, or other fiction and then changed in some way to bring them to a new audience.

My favorite, hands down, was Neil Gaiman's "The Sleeper and the Spindle" which was a BRILLIANT retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story. I found the ending to be quite excellent as well, once the story was over. The selkie-based story "Awakened" by Melissa Marr was also striking as it told the story of a captured selkie woman from her own perspective, as she struggles to not lose sight of herself and find some happiness in a truly frightening environment. The commentary on domestic abuse was also intriguing especially given the current rash of public cases in the NFL. I found "When First We Were Gods" by Rick Yancey to be an interesting look at the possible future where death is not a danger, combined with a bit of post-apocalyptic feel with the unenlightened masses who don't have access to such technology, although I would've liked to have seen a bit more about the "have-nots" in this story to round it out further. Finally, Carrie Ryan's "That The Machine May Progress Eternally" was amazing and fascinating, with the character changing his very being across the time of the story.

The other stories weren't bad, and I appreciated the writing and tale each had to tell, but I didn't find that they grabbed me as the ones listed above did. Overall this is a great anthology of interesting short stories, and there's pretty much something for everyone - though I'm not sure it's really a book for teens, despite the cover copy. I had only read or heard of about half of the source materials used, but that did not diminish my enjoyment of any of the stories.

Of course I picked up Rags and Bones because it had the name Neil Gaiman on the cover. That is a definite magnet for me! He was but one of the authors in this collection of well-known tales where each author has given a tale a twist to bring out new nuances in the stories. In some cases, it helped to know the original. In other cases, it didn't matter. I did not know all the original stories, but I am slightly tempted to seek them out and read them now.

I will list some of the tales (for my own reference/memory later on) and a few thoughts about them.

"That the Machine May Progress Eternally" By Carrie Ryan reminded me of that cartoon movie where people fled the planet because Earth was no longer safe to live on. They lived on a spaceship that catered for their needs so well that they all became blobs so to speak. Helpless blobs. Blobs who took for granted that the only life that existed was the one they had at that moment. They stopped questioning their situation and put their faith in something that they didn't realize could be fallible. It's an nicely done little story.

“Losing Her Divinity” by Garth Nix was a very well done take on "The Man Who Would Be King". I enjoyed the one-sided monologue, which I think was well done.

"The Sleeper and the Spindle" by Neil Gaiman. This was a most enjoyable take on "Sleeping Beauty". I was going to make a seemingly innocent statement, but I realized it could be a spoiler, so I won't!

"The Cold Corner" by Tim Pratt. This is based on Henry James story so you know it will get into your head and play tricks on you. Interesting, in a creepy sort of way. :)

"Millcara" by Holly Black. This is a bit of vampire tale. I am no expert on vampires, but I thought it was rather nicely done. I'm not familiar with the source.

"When First We Were Gods" by Rick Yancey. This was closer to a sci-fi tale. What if we could be immortal? And what if only the privileged could be immortal? What would be the perception of immortality to those who couldn't have it, and what would the immortals do with all that eternity on their hands?

"Sirocco" by Margaret Stohl. Another Gothic tale that had a steady build-up of suspension in a nice little package.

"Awakened" by Melissa Marr. This was a well-done, creepy tale about a selchie (that’s how she spelled it - I’m used to selky). The creepiness had me a bit on the edge of my seat with concern for the main character, a selchie who becomes trapped by a man.

"New Chicago" by Kelley Armstrong. A well-done horror tale where the actual ending is left up to you. Be very careful what you wish for!

“The Soul Collector" by Kami Garcia. Brings back the true horror aspect of Rumpelstiltskin in a nicely done tale.

"Uncaged" by Gene Wolfe. I thought this story was not that well polished. The narrator goes into a very remote part of the country to find a woman who is supposedly caged because she has thought to be possessed by a leopard spirit. In the next paragraph, the narrator and the woman are married! I don't believe the narrator is as naïve as he makes himself out to be as he tells the tale. The author said this is based on a rather unknown tale, "The Caged White Werewolf Of the Saraban" By William B. Seabrook. Perhaps reading that tale would shed light on what is happening here.

The drawings scattered throughout the book by Charles Vess were more like historical statements about different illustrators. They were interesting as such, but no more. I confess I didn't "get" Saladin Ahmed’s otherwise beautifully written tale "Without Faith, without Law, without Joy" and I feel it's due to not having read "The Fairie Queen". I could guess at what the author was trying to say, but I wasn't sure.

All in all, I rather enjoyed this book. I enjoy anthologies for those moments where you're not quite in the mood for a complete novel, and yet you want to escape into some real literature. I never considered myself a horror or a Gothic fan, but I did enjoy the appetizers given in some of these stories. What I also enjoyed was watching authors take a story and upcycle it, recycle it, shuffle some concepts around, and re-craft the words into their own creation.

I loved this anthology of classic tales reimagined by contemporary authors. Excellent introduction to each author and the tales each chose to recreate.

I'd like to consider myself basically aware of "timeless tales," but had to look up over half the stories built upon here. The truly timeless ones were pretty enjoyable! My fav was the Sleeping Beauty/Snow White mashup.

I was only familiar with a few of the stories/novels that served as the inspiration, but now I want to go back and read all of them. There was only one story in this book I didn't care for at all, but it was more of a stylistic issue on my part (I'm sure I'll have similar issues with the source material).

Like a lot of readers, I was expecting faery tale re-interpretations. One can never be sure what they are going to get with an anthology, this one was no different. It was a mix of faery tale and "classic" stories re-imagined from many well known authors. I sadly found that I knew very few of the original stories, or had only heard of the stories, or only knew whom the author of the original was. I clearly need to read more classics and otherwise older fiction. As to the stories themselves, I found some very engaging. When we were Gods was one of my favorites, and I found myself wanting more of the world in the story, except for the elite class of citizens it reminded me of Ghost in the Shell in terms of souls and vessels. Awakened also kept me hooked even though I was sure I knew how it would end. The villain in that one was a smidge too kind to be evil enough for the other endings I imagined... but only a bare smidge. New Chicago was a great take on the whole zombie dystopian genre, and I'm pretty sure I saw the same movie/tv show that inspired the author. There were of course a few more I enjoyed, and a few that I had to give up after a few pages. I think that's to be expected with any anthology though.

A really great collection of short stories from some amazing authors.

Read my full review here.