Far Out Fairy Tales: Graphic Novel Fairy Tales for Young or Young at Heart Readers

So the Far Out Fairy Tales was released back in February with the four titles listed below. Two more titles will be released in early 2016 and a compendium of several of the tales later in 2016. These are fairy tales with some science fiction inspiration, too.

Ninja-rella: A Graphic Novel (Far Out Fairy Tales) by Joey Comeau (Author), Omar Lozano (Illustrator)

Book description:

Cinderella's stepmother and two stepsisters treat her like dirt. Each and every day, they force her to clean their clothes, cook their meals, and only give her rags to wear and crumbs to eat. But each night, in secret and in shadows, Cinderella trains to be a ninja! More than anything, Cinderella yearns to become the Prince's personal bodyguard. When the opportunity to prove her worth to the Prince finally arrives in the form of an invitation to a royal costume ball, Cinderella's stepmother won't let her go! But this time around, Ninja-rella isn't going to take ""no"" for an answer . . .

Red Riding Hood, Superhero: A Graphic Novel (Far Out Fairy Tales) by Otis Frampton (Author, Illustrator)

Book description:

While taking a tour of Area 54 with her grandmother, the President of the United States, little Ruby Topper discovers a mysterious little alien carrying a red hood. When Ruby dons the crimson cape and cowl, it grants her AMAZING SUPERPOWERS! But will her newfound abilities be enough to save the White House -- and her grandmother -- from the rampaging Big Bad Wolf-Bot?

Snow White and the Seven Robots: A Graphic Novel (Far Out Fairy Tales) by Louise Simonson (Author), Jimena Sanchez S. (Illustrator)

Book description:

Far, far away, on a distant planet called Techworld, a little girl named Snow White is born. Created by the planets smartest minds to be the perfect scientist, Snow immediately shows a knack for working with electronics. The Queen, fearing for her crown, exiles Snow White so she cannot grow up and take the Queens place as the most intelligent person on the planet. However, Snow White's willingness to help those in need -- especially the downtrodden robots of Techworld -- earns her many friends, and they are all quite eager to help her cause.

Super Billy Goats Gruff: A Graphic Novel (Far Out Fairy Tales) by Sean Tulien (Author), Fern Cano (Illustrator)

Book description:

Once upon a time, three billy goats named Gruff were traveling to the hillside to snack on some green grass -- when they suddenly find themselves trapped inside a video game! The good news: the three billy goat brothers become SUPER billy goats! One becomes a Warrior, one becomes a Ninja, and one becomes a Wizard. The bad news: the green field of grass is gone -- and in its place is Hillside Castle, a dangerous dungeon filled with creepy-crawlies and fantastical foes! Can the goats make their way through the castle to get their grass -- or will the toothsome troll named Final Boss feast on them for his lunch?

New Book: The School for Good and Evil #3: The Last Ever After by Soman Chainani

The School for Good and Evil #3: The Last Ever After by Soman Chainani was released in July and I never announced it here. This has been one of the most popular fairy tale series of recent years and one of the best reviewed. This is the third and final book in the trilogy.

Book description:

In the stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling School for Good and Evil trilogy, everything old is new again, as Sophie and Agatha fight the past as well as the present to find the perfect end to their fairy tale.

Former best friends Sophie and Agatha thought their ending was sealed when they went their separate ways, but their storybook is about to be rewritten—and this time theirs isn't the only one. With the girls apart, Evil has taken over and the forces of Good are in deathly peril. Will Agatha and Sophie be able to work together to save them? Will they find their way to being friends again? And will their new ending be the last Ever After they've been searching for?

Soman Chainani delivers action, adventure, laughter, romance, and more twists than ever before in this extraordinary end to his epic series.

Newish Book: Briar Rose by Jana Oliver

Briar Rose by Jana Oliver is a new, not new book, released in the US earlier this year. Confused? Well, the book was released in the UK in 2013 but was just released in the US this past May. So it is a new book for the US, but not the UK. Usually when this happens, the cover gets an update, but as you can see above, that didn't happen this time either.

Book description for US edition:

Happily ever after might not be possible in this dark and sexy retelling of a modern day Sleeping Beauty

Briar Rose believes in fairy tales . . . and now, because of a family curse, she’s living one. Doomed to fall asleep for 100 years on her 16th birthday, Briar has woken up in the darkest, most twisted fairy tale she could ever have dreamed of, miles away from the safe, boring small-town life that she has left behind. Briar must fight her way out of the story, but she can’t do it alone. She always believed in handsome princes, and now that she’s met one, her only chance is to put her life in his hands, or there will be no happy ever after and no waking up.

New Book: Cinderella Six Feet Under (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance

Cinderella Six Feet Under (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance was released earlier this month. This is the second in the cozy mystery series that started with last year's release of Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) and will continue in February of next year with the release of Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery).

Maia shared a guest post last year when the series was launched. Read the SurLaLune post at Guest Post: Maia Chance, Author of Snow White Red-Handed and the book announcement at Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance.

Book description:

This Cinderella goes from ashes to ashes in the new Victorian-era Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery by the author of Snow White Red-Handed . . .

Variety hall actress Ophelia Flax’s plan to reunite her friend Prue with her estranged—and allegedly wealthy—mother, Henrietta, is met with a grim surprise. Not only is the marquise’s Paris mansion a mouse-infested ruin, but Henrietta has inexplicably vanished, leaving behind an evasive husband, two sinister stepsisters, and a bullet-riddled corpse in the pumpkin patch decked out in a ball gown and one glass slipper—a corpse that also happens to be a dead ringer for Prue.

Strangely, no one at 15 rue Garenne seems concerned about who plugged this luckless Cinderella or why, so the investigation is left to Ophelia and Prue. It takes them through the labyrinthine maze of the Paris Opera, down the trail of a legendary fairy tale relic, into the confidence of a wily prince charmless, and makes them vulnerable to the secrets of a mysterious couturière with designs of her own on Prue’s ever-twisting family history.

New Book: Spelled (The Storymakers) by Betsy Schow

Spelled (The Storymakers) by Betsy Schow was released earlier this year but I just discovered it over the weekend as I started generating book lists for the rest of this year and for 2016. Good news! There are LOTS of new fairy tale related books queued for publication in the next year.

Anyway, this one is a little more unsual--it's primary inspiration is Wizard of Oz but it throws in several fairy tale mash-ups beyond the Oz stuff. Even that cover invokes Cinderella more than Oz, but once you know the premise, it is a mash-up of both. Overall, the reviews average four out of five stars--the biggest criticism is that it gets confusing at times but that may be part of its quirky charm that other readers love about it.

Book description:

Fairy Tale Survival Rule #32: If you find yourself at the mercy of a wicked witch, sing a romantic ballad and wait for your Prince Charming to save the day.

Yeah, no thanks. Dorthea is completely princed out. Sure being the crown princess of Emerald has its perks―like Glenda Original ball gowns and Hans Christian Louboutin heels. But a forced marriage to the not-so-charming prince Kato is so not what Dorthea had in mind for her enchanted future.

Talk about unhappily ever after.

Trying to fix her prince problem by wishing on a (cursed) star royally backfires, leaving the kingdom in chaos and her parents stuck in some place called "Kansas." Now it's up to Dorthea and her pixed off prince to find the mysterious Wizard of Oz and undo the curse...before it releases the wickedest witch of all and spells The End for the world of Story.

Bargain Ebook Anthology: Happily Ever After Edited by John Klima

Happily Ever After by John Klima (Author, Editor), Bill Willingham (Introduction) is on sale for the first time in ebook format for $1.99. It was $9.99 before this drop to the sale price.

Most of the work in this collection is not original to the publication, only one short story and the introduction are brand new. However, the collection pulls from many anthologies--at least 16--and nice person that I am, I included many of the original sources in the table of contents below.

Book Description:

Once Upon A Time...

...in the faraway land of Story, a Hugo-winning Editor realized that no one had collected together the fairy tales of the age, and that doorstop-thick anthologies of modern fairy tales were sorely lacking...

And so the Editor ventured forth, wandering the land of Story from shore to shore, climbing massive mountains of books and delving deep into lush, literary forests, gathering together thirty-three of the best re-tellings of fairy tales he could find. Not just any fairy tales, mind you, but tantalizing tales from some of the biggest names in today's fantastic fiction, authors like Gregory Maguire, Susanna Clarke, Charles de Lint, Holly Black, Aletha Kontis, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Briggs, Paul Di Filippo, Gregory Frost, and Nancy Kress. But these stories alone weren't enough to satisfy the Editor, so the Editor ventured further, into the dangerous cave of the fearsome Bill Willingham, and emerged intact with a magnificent introduction, to tie the collection together.

And the inhabitants of Story, from the Kings and Queens relaxing in their castles to the peasants toiling in the fields; from to the fey folk flitting about the forests to the trolls lurking under bridges and the giants in the hills, read the anthology, and enjoyed it. And they all lived...

...Happily Ever After.

Table of Contents:

• Bill Willingham - Introduction
• Gregory Maguire - The Seven Stage a Comeback (A Wolf At the Door: And Other Retold Fairy Tales)
• Genevieve Valentine - And In Their Glad Rags (Straying from the Path)
• Howard Waldrop - The Sawing Boys (Black Thorn, White Rose)
• Michael Cadnum - Bear It Away (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
• Susanna Clarke - Mr. Simonelli or the Fairy Widower (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
• Karen Joy Fowler - The Black Fairy's Curse (Black Swan, White Raven)
• Charles de Lint - My Life As A Bird (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
• Holly Black - The Night Market (The Faery Reel)
• Theodora Goss - The Rose in Twelve Petals (from chapbook The Rose in Twelve Petals & Other Stories and Realms of Fantasy, April 2002. The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixteenth Annual Collection, 2003. In the Forest of Forgetting, 2006. Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology, 2006.)
• Jim C. Hines - The Red Path (Terribly Twisted Tales)
• Alethea Kontis - Blood and Water (Intergalactic Medicine Show)
• Garth Nix - Hansel's Eyes (A Wolf At the Door: And Other Retold Fairy Tales)
• Wil McCarthy - He Died That Day, In Thirty Years (Once Upon a Galaxy)
• Jane Yolen - Snow In Summer (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
• Michelle West - The Rose Garden (Little Red Riding Hood in the Big Bad City)
• Bruce Sterling - The Little Magic Shop (Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology)
• K. Tempest Bradford - Black Feather (Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing)
• Alan Rodgers - Fifi's Tail (Twice Upon a Time)
• Kelly Link - The Faery Handbag (The Faery Reel)
• Peter Straub - Ashputtle (Black Thorn, White Rose)
• Leslie What - The Emperor's New (And Improved) Clothes (Twice Upon a Time)
• Robert J. Howe - Pinocchio's Diary (original to the collection)
• Wendy Wheeler - Little Red (Snow White, Blood Red)
• Neil Gaiman - The Troll Bridge (Snow White, Blood Red)
• Patricia Briggs - The Price (Silver Birch, Blood Moon)
• Paul Di Filippo - Ailoura (Once Upon a Galaxy)
• Jeff VanderMeer - The Farmer's Cat (The Surgeon's Tale and Fantasy: The Very Best of 2005)
• Gregory Frost - The Root of The Matter (Snow White, Blood Red)
• Susan Wade - Like a Red, Red Rose (Snow White, Blood Red)
• Josh Rountree - Chasing America (Polyphony 6)
• Nancy Kress - Stalking Beans (Snow White, Blood Red)
• Esther Friesner - Big Hair (Black Heart, Ivory Bones)
• Robert Coover - The Return of the Dark Children (A Child Again)

New Book: Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell, a Steampunk Cinderella

(Amazon US/UK Links)

Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell was released a few weeks ago. It is simply put a Steampunk Cinderella story. The cover is quite lovely. It is also available in the UK at Mechanica. The reviews are strong and there is fae magic, too, so if any of these things are your catnip, this book should be a treat for you.

Book description:

Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have pushed her into a life of dreary servitude. When she discovers a secret workshop in the cellar on her sixteenth birthday—and befriends Jules, a tiny magical metal horse—Nicolette starts to imagine a new life for herself. And the timing may be perfect: There’s a technological exposition and a royal ball on the horizon. Determined to invent her own happily-ever-after, Mechanica seeks to wow the prince and eager entrepreneurs alike.

Newish Book: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

(Amazon US/UK Links)

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh was released in May of this year. Last night at my nephew's birthday party, my sister raved about this one, saying it was her favorite book in a while. And somehow I hadn't even heard of it. But when we have Scheherazade, a superhero in the fairy tale/folklore pantheon, well, I am usually on board with just that. It is also available in the UK at The Wrath and the Dawn.

Book description:

A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

Bargain Ebook: The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde for $1.99

The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam, Book 1 by Jasper Fforde is on sale for $1.99 in ebook format.

Book description:

In the good old days, magic was indispensable—it could both save a kingdom and clear a clogged drain. But now magic is fading: drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and magic carpets are used for pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for magicians—but it’s hard to stay in business when magic is drying up. And then the visions start, predicting the death of the world’s last dragon at the hands of an unnamed Dragonslayer. If the visions are true, everything will change for Kazam—and for Jennifer. Because something is coming. Something known as . . . Big Magic.

New Book: Science in Wonderland: The scientific fairy tales of Victorian Britain by Melanie Keene

(US/UK Amazon Links)

Science in Wonderland: The scientific fairy tales of Victorian Britain by Melanie Keene was released earlier this year in both the US and the UK.

Book description:

• Presents a new perspective on Victorian scientific discoveries and inventions
• Includes a range of Victorian scientific fairy-tales and stories
• Looks at why fairies and their tales were chosen as an appropriate new form for capturing and presenting scientific and technological knowledge to young audiences
• Examines a range of scientific subjects, from palaeontology to entomology to astronomy

In Victorian Britain an array of writers captured the excitement of new scientific discoveries, and enticed young readers and listeners into learning their secrets, by converting introductory explanations into quirky, charming, and imaginative fairy-tales; forces could be fairies, dinosaurs could be dragons, and looking closely at a drop of water revealed a soup of monsters.

Science in Wonderland explores how these stories were presented and read. Melanie Keene introduces and analyses a range of Victorian scientific fairy-tales, from nursery classics such as The Water-Babies to the little-known Wonderland of Evolution, or the story of insect lecturer Fairy Know-a-Bit. In exploring the ways in which authors and translators - from Hans Christian Andersen and Edith Nesbit to the pseudonymous 'A.L.O.E.' and 'Acheta Domestica' - reconciled the differing demands of factual accuracy and fantastical narratives, Keene asks why the fairies and their tales were chosen as an appropriate new form for capturing and presenting scientific and technological knowledge to young audiences. Such stories, she argues, were an important way in which authors and audiences criticised, communicated, and celebrated contemporary scientific ideas, practices, and objects.

Readership: Readers of the history of science, popular science, Victoriana, and the history of children's literature. It will also be of interest for historians of science and cultural historians.

Melanie Keene, Graduate Tutor and Research Fellow, Homerton College, Cambridge

Melanie Keene is a historian of science for children, based at Homerton College, Cambridge. She has published several academic and popular articles on scientific books and objects from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, on topics from candles, pebbles, or cups of tea, to board games, toy sets, and model dinosaurs.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Nothing But Facts?
1: Once Upon a Time
2: Real Fairy Folk
3: Domestic Fairylands
4: Wonderlands of Evolution
5: Through Magic Glasses
6: Technological Marvels
Conclusion: Stranger Than Fiction
Notes
References
Index