The Wilful Eye

Tales from the Tower

by Isobelle Carmody, Nan McNab (Editor), Rosie Borella

A dozen of the most exciting and unique writers for young people have chosen fairytales as starting points for their own original stories, in this surprising and spellbinding two-volume collection Margo Lanagan ( Tender Morsels ), Rosie Borella, Isobelle Carmody, Richard Harland ( Worldshaker ), Margaret Mahy ( The Seven Chinese Brothers), and Martine Murray ( Henrietta There's No One Better ) have taken inspiration from stories that have shaped us all, tales like "Beauty and the Beast," "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," and "The Snow Queen." This collection carries universal themes of envy and desire, deception and abandonment, courage and sacrifice. Characters are enchanted, they transgress, they yearn, they hunger, they hate, and, sometimes, they kill. Some of the stories inhabit a traditional fairytale world, while others are set in the distant future. Some are set in the present and some in an alternative present. The stories offer no prescription for living or moral advice and none belong in a nursery. Open the covers and submit to their enchantment.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Young Adult, Fairy Tales, Retellings, Anthologies, Fiction

302 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Isobelle Carmody began the first novel of her highly acclaimed Obernewtyn Chronicles while she was still in high school. The series has established her at the forefront of fantasy writing in Australia.

In addition to her young-adult novels, such as the Obernewtyn Chronicles and Alyzon Whitestarr, Isobelle's published works include several middle-grade fantasies. Her still-unfinished Gateway Trilogy has been favorably compared to The Wizard of Oz and the Chronicles of Narnia. The Little Fur quartet is an eco-fantasy starring a half-elf, half-troll heroine and is fully illustrated by the author herself.

Isobelle's most recent picture book, Magic Night, is a collaboration with illustrator Declan Lee. Originally published in Australia as The Wrong Thing, the book features an ordinary housecat who stumbles upon something otherworldly. Across all her writing, Isobelle shows a talent for balancing the mundane and the fantastic.

Isobelle was the guest of honor at the 2007 Australian National Science Fiction Convention. She has received numerous honors for her writing, including multiple Aurealis Awards and Children's Book Council of Australia Awards.

She currently divides her time between her home on the Great Ocean Road in Australia and her travels abroad with her partner and daughter.

Librarian's note: Penguin Australia is publishing the Obernewtyn Chronicles in six books, and The Stone Key is book five. In the United States and Canada this series is published by Random House in eight books; this Penguin Australia book is split into two parts and published as Wavesong (Book Five) and The Stone Key (Book Six).

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gathering twelve Australian authors together to rewrite classic fairy and folk stories is an instant draw for me. I really love the places authors can go with fairy story revisionism. However, it doesn't always work. The Wilful Eye does largely due to strong emotional undercurrents throughout the collection; undercurrents that are largely missing from its companion collection, The Wild Wood.


The Wilful Eye is a far superior effort to The Wild Wood. This is mainly because Margo Lanagan's opening short story, Catastrophic Disruption of the Head, is legions above most other short stories alone. Eternity, by relative newcomer Rosie Borella, was also a nice Sydney spin on The Ice Queen tale. One Window by Martine Murray was a beautiful take on The Steadfast Tin Soldier. Meanwhile, Isobelle Carmody's Moth's Tale (Rumpelstiltskin) and Richard Harland's Heart of the Beast (Beauty and the Beast) used the familiar fantasy and traditional styles to retell old tales. The only miss I found in this collection was Wolf Night by Margaret Mahy- it's tone fitted more with the second collection and it felt out of place with the other more emotional and more layered stories.

Still- I enjoyed this collection quite a lot, and definitely more than its companion.

The Wilful Eye: 4/5 stars

[Sarah Mayor Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mmm, I love a good retelling of fairytales - especially with a more adult bent - and who could resist a collection with such a delicious cover!!! I was not disappointed with this collection. The writers chosen are of a very high calibre and the tales they've chosen aren't just the really well known ones. What I loved most about this collection was that because I didn't know all the stories really well, the retellings helped make the whole fairytale genre strange and new again for me. My favourite was the retelling of Rumplestiltskin - the dark King was so evil and cold - shame Alan Rickman is probably too old to play this part now - he would have been perfect. The authors' notes at the end of each tale is great too, as it helps the reader get inside the authors' heads. Looking forward to reading the next collection. And if you're looking for short stories to use in class - this collection would be great.

[Tien · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were 6 stories overall and each accompanied with author's notes on their choice of fairy tale and the reason why they wrote the retelling as they did. The first one really gripped me especially since author's note stated that she pulled inspiration from soldier's PTSD etc. Such a gritty hard core retelling of The Nutcracker. My second favourite would be Beauty and the Beast -though mostly because it's such a familiar tale. The rest of the stories aren't that well known either and by that I meant that they're not the ones popular with retellings. These retellings though are dark and I am continually amazed by authors' extent of inspirations and unique weavings of these stories.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retellings of fairytales (Anderson and Grim type fairy-tales). The explanations for what each author chose and their thought process was cool.

To me European fairytales are done to death and I didn't think they did anything all that new with them. It was all still heteronormative (I don't just mean heterosexual but taking that as a "natural" default) and I can't go back to that view of the world (nor would I wish to).

So...surprisingly conservative but to some extent interesting. I am not sure why Carmody (who usually I have nothing but praise for) was so bitchy in the foreword about other anthologies of short stories and I am not sure what ends up distinguishing this one from those apart from maybe process? Anthologies have pros and cons over novels but for example the love Aussie YA series you get to know some good authors and also those are less conservative.

It was a reminder/motivator to me to finish my "Snow Queen" reinterpretation. Which maybe makes me a hypocrite "European fairytales are done to death" but I want my own queer retelling for me.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was quite a disappointment for me. The Willful Eye has been spending time on by bookshelves for some years now, which unfortunately might have heightened the expectations I had for it...

I expected (based on the synopsis and the beautiful yet creepy cover) six creepy short stories, showing the more dark sides of fairy tales. I got six stories, of which I only kind of liked two, which felt pretty superficial and young to me. It was a struggle to get through...

[Natalie (CuriousReader)]

The Wilful Eye consists of 6 stories, and I'd say I loved two of them, really liked two more, and felt lukewarm towards the remaining two. Of course the risk of reading a short story collection with different authors is that you're bound to like some authors' writing style, and not others - especially since the stories in this collection are fairytale retellings the way the authors interpreted the stories varied and so did my enjoyment of them. My favourites were Moth's Tale by Isobelle Carmody and Heart of the Beast by Richard Harland, by far. I haven't read either original fairytale although I know the gist of them, but now I'm definitely wanting to read the source material. Even for the stories that I didn't absolutely love I still really enjoyed experiencing the fairytales in new ways, so this genre of books is definitely something I want to explore further. I look forward to picking up the second part of "Tales from the Tower".

[Twig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!!! I enjoyed this book so much. I liked all the stories and I`m really excited to read the second book of this amazing short story collection. I think every Neil Gaiman Fan will love this new and dark tales :)

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this again because Isobelle Carmody has a short-story in it. It's not Obernewtyn related, but I still liked it. Also, I really enjoyed all the stories in here. They're all retelling/fairytale esque stories. Enjoyed them all very much.

[St Stephen's C C]

Six writers - Margo Lanagan, Rosie Borella, Isobelle Carmody, Richard Harland, Margaret Mahy and Martine Murray - have taken inspiration from stories that have shaped us all, like 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Steadfast Tin Soldier' and 'The Snow Queen'. This collection carries universal themes of envy and jealousy, deception and abandonment, control and power, courage and sacrifice, violence and deception. Characters are enchanted, they transgress, they yearn, they hunger, they hate and sometimes, they kill. Some of the stories inhabit a traditional fairytale world, while others are set in the distant future. Some are set in the present and some in an alternative present. The stories offer no prescription for living or moral advice and none belong in a nursery. Open the covers and submit to their enchantment.

[Audrey Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only really liked the retelling of Beauty and the Beast....

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ample collection of retold fairy tales

[Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Glad to be finished it.

[Alexis Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are the real fairytales, in all their macabre beauty. No HEAs and prince charmings, not without your suffering, first, anyway. The stories are gritty, unflinching, beautifully sensual. My especial favorites:

'The Distribution Of The Head', (an adaptation of The Tinderbox) - this one really stood out to me because of the gruesomeness and the character building. You'll understand when you read it.

'Eternity' (an adaptation of The Snow Queen) - the premise behind this one was particularly interesting, and the author's afterword reveals many of the subtle meanings behind her story.

'Heart Of The Beast' (of course, Beauty And The Beast) - Again, the author's note reveals many of the intricacies that made this story special. The ending is particularly good.

I've always loved adaptations of fairytales, be it ones that have their romantic elements preserved, or ones that have been twisted to become more like the original Grim's fairytales. The Willful Eye and its sequel don't disappoint.

[Al]

Six of the world's most exciting and best - loved writers have chosen fairytales as inspiration for this spellbinding and subversive short - story collection. Six writers - Margo Lanagan, Rosie Borella, Isobelle Carmody, Richard Harland, Margaret Mahy and Martine Murray - have taken inspiration from stories that have shaped us all, tales like 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Steadfast Tin Soldier' and 'The Snow Queen'. This collection carries universal themes of envy and desire, deception and abandonment, courage and sacrifice.Characters are enchanted, they transgress, they yearn, they hunger, they hate and, sometimes, they kill.Some of the stories inhabit a traditional fairytale world, while others are set in the distant future. Some are set in the present and some in an alternative present. The stories offer no prescription for living or moral advice and none belong in a nursery.Open the covers and submit to their enchantment.

[Dami (Damiellar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed a good re-imagining (and I've read many a bad one in my search) of a fairytale and on the whole this is collection contains a good variety.

Not that they are all fantastic, edge of the seat stuff but there are definitely a few of them that I truly enjoy reading. The underlying themes are definitely not for the younger set

My top one from my read today:

Eternity - Rosie Borella:
this is a re-telling of the Snow Queen linking it to drug use which works really well to realise a mirror which makes the ugly look beautiful. There is still a bit of magic in the pages, just enough to retain the fantastic element.

I don't particularly know why this is the one that speaks to me but there's just something about the phrasing (maybe it's just due to exposure to Frozen and wanting a less sanitized versoin)

[scarlettraces · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleverly reworked fairytales from Australian (and one NZ) writers. Highlighted a theme I've been noticing in fairytale rescensioning circles recently, which is the inclusion of Hans Christian Andersen. I think of him as a writer of original stories, rather than a gatherer and reteller of the collective unconscious in the form of fairytales. So for me it feels a bit weird that the Tinder Box, the Snow Queen, and the Brave Tin Soldier keep company with Rumpelstiltskin, Beauty and the Beast, and the Babes in the Wood. I will note that the retellings of the Tinder Box and the Brave Tin Soldier were the best, for what that's worth. I liked the Babes in the Wood one the least, which makes me sad (late period Mahy can be a bit hit and miss), although it's a nice portrait of Christchurch just pre-earthquake.

[Barrita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seis cuentos de hadas reimaginados. En el pasado, en el futuro, algo oscuros y viscerales. Se ha hecho antes, pero me gustó mucho como encajan todos juntos y las perspectivas interesantes que tomaron los autores. También me gustó que solo sean seis historias, lo que permite extenderlas y darles mas profundidad que en otras antologías.

Algunas de las historias originales no me son tan familiares (Babes in he Woods o The Tinderbox), pero en el fondo todas las historias lograron mantener una atmósfera de cuento, independientemente de cómo desarrollaban el tema.

Me quedaron muchas ganas de leer The Wicked Wood, la segunda parte.

[Samantha-Ellen Bound · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted this book from the moment I heard about it – the concept of it is just fantastic, it had some of my favourite Australian authors rewriting fairytales, and it was described as dark and lush and bewitching and sensuous. I couldn’t wait to read it. The Wilful Eye doesn’t disappoint.
The six rewritten fairytales in this book are The Tinderbox; Rumpelstiltskin; The Ice Queen; Beauty and the Beast; Babes in the Wood and The Steadfast Tin Soldier. There are six more to come in the next book – if they are as lovely and clever and provocative as these six, then readers are really in for a treat.

Full review at:

http://bookgrotto.blogspot.com/search...

[Pip Tlaskal]

Loved this. I have read three of the stories so far. My favourite was a retelling of 'The Ice Queen' by Rosie Borella called 'Eternity' and in the classic Hans and Gerda story, Hans becomes an Ice addict which is why he no longer can see Gerda in the same way. The Margo Lanagan story is an adaptation of a lesser known fairytale about these great danes with massive saucer eyes which I vaguely remember reading and it is probably the most experimental of the collection; shows how far you can go in pushing a fairytale to its limit.

There is comfort and danger in reading a well-known childhood favourite that has morphed into a weird hybrid of the original. Great stuff.

[Shelly_lr · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book of retold fairy tales. I normally love this sort of thing, but these bored me to tears. Honestly, I felt as if the task was to take vibrant tales that have entranced readers for ages and make them dull and/or less accessible. I gave the authors two stars for trying, but I wish they would have taken this in a different direction.

Anthologies I like where something similar was done: anything Terri Windling is associated with, Donna Jo Napoli's books, Robin McKinley, Pamela Dean, Tanith Lee, etc.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed with this collection of fairytales, retold by Australian authors. The first one in the collection, Catastrophic Disruption of the Head by Margo Lanagan, was fantastic. It retells the story of The Tinderbox by Hans Christian Andersen, setting it in modern, war-torn country. Unfortunately, the other stories paled in comparison. Moth's Tale by Isobelle Carmody was a reasonably solid tale, but the others didn't appeal to me at all.

[Sue Bursztynski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable collection, especially, for me, the Richard Harland Beauty and the Beast tale. I've read quite a few collections of fairy tale adaptations over the years and this one stands up well. It's certainly a LOT better than one I borrowed from the library recently, about the "bad girls" of fairy tales, which could have been very good indeed if it had the right stories by the right authors and with decent editing. I'll be interested to see the next volume.

[Astrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because this is a collection of short stories, there are going to be stories that aren't quite as stellar as the others. However, they were all at least 3.5 star quality, and most of them were 5 stars.

The arrangement of the stories was the best part - alternating between a traditional retelling of a fairytale, with a completely modern set (Australian cities) retelling of a fairytale.

I now can't wait to get to the second volume!

[Mella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Isobelle Carmody and I adore fairytales - so I really couldn't even imagine turning this book down. But wow. I enjoyed all of the tales but my favourite hands down Eternity by Rosie Borella. It blew me away. The premise was so utterly riveting and it was so well written and it had me glued to the page the entire time - I was devastated at the end. The rest of the tales were fantastic and definitely worth reading if you enjoy fairytales.

[Miffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fabulous collection of re-tellings, The Wilful Eye is clever story-telling, and is also a veritable who's who of speculative writing from Australia and New Zealand. While some stories are more successfully re-told than others, the writing is uniformly good - my particular favorite is Eternity by Rosie Borella - a chilling re- working of The Snow/Ice Queen. Recommended!

[Christine Bongers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This chocolate box selection of refracted fairy tales appeals to more grown-up tastes. I devoured favourites like Isobelle Carmody, Richard Harland and of course, Margo Lanagan, and discovered the delicious Rosie Borella who I hadn't come across before. The others were a bit like coffee creams - sorry, not for me - so three-and-a-half stars overall.

[Katharine (Ventureadlaxre) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katharine is a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This review is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.

To be safe, I won't be recording my review here until after the AA are over.

A retelling the fairytales, done nicely and capture your attention.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retold fairy tales for adults, written by very skilled authors. Some contemporary settings, some purely fantasy. Note: Don't be fooled by the fact that these authors are known in the YA genre - this is a book for adults, as the first story will demonstrate. (The book was shelved in "Teen" at my local library.)

[Clodagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a really good collection. my favourite is the one about the ice queen. i realised straight what that one was, most of the others took my a while to figure it out - i didn't even know what the last one was until i read the author's note on it.

[Michael Earp · Rating 4 out of 5]