The Tinder Box

by Kate Elliott

“One spark. Two sparks. Three. This is what it takes to ignite a revolution.”

A reimagining of Hans Christian Anderson’s original fairytale, “The Tinder Box” tells the story of a witch at the heart of an incipient rebellion—and all of those to come.


At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, LGBT, Fiction, Queer, Retellings, Fairy Tales

26 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2021

About the author

As a child in rural Oregon, Kate Elliott made up stories because she longed to escape to a world of lurid adventure fiction. She now writes fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction, often with a romantic edge. She currently lives in Hawaii, where she paddles outrigger canoes and spoils her schnauzer.

Reviews

[Lex Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.50 Stars. I’ve wanted to read Kate Elliot for a while now and since I’m a sucker for retellings, I thought this would be a perfect fit. While I know of “the Tinder Box” I could not remember the tale and I was hoping this story would jog my memory. Unfortunately, it didn’t and I have to wonder if me not knowing, or remembering, the original story affected my enjoyment. I did like this but something in the story was missing for me. What I can say is that Kate can absolutely write and that some parts were beautifully written. Even though I didn’t love this, because of the writing quality I’m excited to read more by Kate.

While this is a short story, it feels almost more novella-ish as it is a good weight for a short. You can buy this on Amazon Kindle for 0.99 (US) or read it for free on Tor’s website. The link is on the goodreads book page.

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!

this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.

this is the SIXTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2020 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.

GR has deleted the pages for several of the stories i've read in previous years without warning, leaving me with a bunch of missing reviews and broken links, which makes me feel shitty. i have tried to restore the ones i could, but my to-do list is already a ball of nightmares, so that's still a work-in-progress. however, because i don't have a lot of time to waste, i'm not going to bother writing much in the way of reviews for these, in case GR decides to scrap 'em again.

i am doing my best.
merry merry.

DECEMBER 4: THE TINDER BOX - KATE ELLIOTT

The king had grown somewhat stout from the soldier I had met thirty-three years ago. He had the expression of a man who will speak politely to your face and then lop off your head the instant you don’t answer questions whose answers he has no right to know. He looked me up and down with the measuring eye of a man who loves his pleasures, but his look held no tremor of recognition. How could it, when he had last seen me in the guise of an old hag? He was the sort of man who knew for certain that witches took to witchcraft only because they couldn’t interest a man like him.

this story is like a snuggie® wrapped around hans xtian andersen's The Tinder Box; a fairytale i always forget about until i get to that detail about the guard dogs with the various-sized eyes, and it gives me glad-goosebumps. those doggies deserve their own show.

if you're wondering why social progress, in our world, is slow, and justice is delayed, it's probably because the immortal beings who are for whatever reason invested in our struggles can afford to take their time fomenting revolution through elaborate, multistage plots; a skull waiting "for the right heart to pass by" for years while we mortals live and suffer and die pawnishly. sure hope that right heart passes by soon, yeah?

still, it's nice that they want to intervene and help us save ourselves, even when they get all corny about it.

Those who fight for justice will die or they will live. Fate is beyond my power. But I will prick their hearts until they either choke on their own blood or are forced to swim in the river of truth.

i'm being glib because i woke up in a MOOD, but i enjoyed the story and maybe YOU WILL, TOO!



read it for free here

THE STORIES:

DECEMBER 1: NIGHT STAND - DANIEL WOODRELL
DECEMBER 2: MR. DEATH - ALIX HARROW
DECEMBER 3: THE FRUIT OF MY WOMAN - HAN KANG
DECEMBER 5: BABYCAKES - NEIL GAIMAN
DECEMBER 6: HIS MIDDLE NAME WAS NOT JESUS - NOVIOLET BULAWYO
DECEMBER 7: SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE - LILLI CARRÉ
DECEMBER 8: DARK TIDE - MARK LAWRENCE
DECEMBER 9: DARKER TIDE - MARK LAWRENCE
DECEMBER 10: BREAK - MISHELL BAKER
DECEMBER 11: A RUMOR OF ANGELS - DALE BAILEY
DECEMBER 12: THE ENGLISHMAN - DOUGLAS STUART
DECEMBER 13: IT CAME FROM CRUDEN FARM - MAX BARRY
DECEMBER 14: NO MOON AND FLAT CALM - ELIZABETH BEAR
DECEMBER 15: A STUDY IN SHADOWS - BENJAMIN PERCY
DECEMBER 16: ART APPRECIATION - FIONA MCFARLANE
DECEMBER 17: THE SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS - SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA
DECEMBER 18: WE HAVEN'T GOT THERE YET - HARRY TURTLEDOVE
DECEMBER 19: THE DUNE - STEPHEN KING
DECEMBER 20: THE WORTHINGTON - EMILY CARROLL
DECEMBER 21: SUNBLEACHED - NATHAN BALLINGRUD
DECEMBER 22: BLOOD DAUGHTER - MATTHEW LYONS
DECEMBER 23: THE LINE - AMOR TOWLES
DECEMBER 24: PIGEONS - NIBEDITA SEN
DECEMBER 25: WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED, WHAT WE WILL FORGET, WHAT WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FORGET - EUGENE LIM
DECEMBER 26: ONE/ZERO - KATHLEEN ANN GOONAN
DECEMBER 27: MATINEE - ROBERT COOVER
DECEMBER 28: ACCESS - ANDY WEIR
DECEMBER 29: UNNECESSARY THINGS - TATYANA TOLSTAYA
DECEMBER 30: HOOK - DANIELLE MCLAUGHLIN
DECEMBER 31: HE'S VERY WELL READ - CATHERINE LACEY

previous years' advent calendars (what's left of 'em):

2016
2017
2018
2019
2020

come to my blog!

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Those who rule with an iron grip and attention to detail know how to crush each least spark of rebellion, how to behead any small cry for freedom.

A beautiful woman gets saved by a soldier returning from war. He brings only a sword and an empty knapsack with him. He is returning home but he worries that no one at home would want him as he's an extra mouth to feed. Until that beautiful woman comes up with a way to get him copper, silver, and gold coins in exchange for buying an inn and welcoming returning soldiers there. She claims that her brother is also a soldier and wants to ascertain whether he is among the living or dead. She also wants to live at the inn but her true goal is to get to the royal family and get the tinder box.

A witch knows how to nurture a seed until it blooms into the weapon that is needed.

I have not read Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairytale, The Tinder Box which it is based on or is a retelling of so maybe that's why I couldn't enjoy this. The writing is beautiful, the concept was full of intrigue but the story made no sense to me. Yes, the beautiful woman/witch wants to get her hands on the the tinder box but I failed to get its significance.

2 stars

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tinder Box by Kate Elliott - 4/5★

A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Tinder Box, but this time with a much cleverer witch and a revolution.

The short story is found in Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2021 Edition and can also be read on Tor.com.

[charlotte, · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rep: sapphic mc, lesbian side character

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Losing my head was a small price to pay for my ultimate object, the overthrow of the king and the uncommonly clever queen.

A twisted retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. Oh, sweet, sweet vengeance!

[Nore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardly a reimagining, as it's an extension and sequel of the tale, but it was quick and fun to read.

[Andria Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautiful and captivating. 5 ⭐. Kate Elliott continues to be one of my most favorite authors!

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful colors on the gorgeous cover of this tor.com retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen classic fairy tale. Kate Elliott does a wonderful job here, but I felt the ending was rushed. Or perhaps, I didn't want it to end?

[Chi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read on Tor's website, "The Tinder Box" was about what happened after Hans Christian Andersen's tale, and included little bits of detail that I had forgotten about from the original.

It was quite interesting to read how Kate Elliott added new elements, but the ending came a bit too fast. Sure, the narrator sowed discontent amongst various people, but what's to happen to this place now there was no longer a leader?

Still, it was an intriguing premise, and I rather enjoyed it.

[MollyK · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.tor.com/2021/12/01/the-ti...

Interesting.

[Remy · Rating 2 out of 5]

In time I will grow old again. All things do. New rulers will build power on the ruins of promise, and they will become corrupt again and kill me.

The Tinderbox fairytale, but told from the perspective of the beheaded witch at the start after she tells the soldier how to obtain the titular Tinderbox— which seems impossible, seeing as the story clearly opens with her meeting her familiar fate, but then she waits years and years for the right moment, shapeshifts into a beautiful young woman, and starts a lengthy journey to get the Tinderbox back, including becoming a serving wench and kissing a princess.

Despite what my description of it above may suggest, this isn't a story about revenge. The witch just gets the Princess to steal the Tinderbox back for her. Later on the foreshadowing of impoverished, angry soldiers start a revolution that kill the original soldier and his now royal family, but at the end the witch simply returns the Tinderbox to the hollow of the tree. This all also isn't very lengthy in itself, the pacing's just good, and again, I thought the little tidbits of the soldiers and innkeeper ranting about the royals later blossom into the uprising against them.

But here's the thing: I'm not sure if this truly classifies as a retelling, seeing how this actually takes place after the events of the original tale. I definitely like the angle it takes and the stylistic choices used, but truthfully this doesn't stand out to me all that much. However I must say that I don't regret reading this; I'm glad it was written, and I look forward to reading more explorations of fairytales this year.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting follow-up to the fairy tale, "The Tinder Box" by Hans Christian Andersen. In this story, the beheaded witch from the original tale still lives and recruits others to her cause of disposing of the original soldier who took her tinderbox, who is now the King.

What is interesting in this follow-up story is that the witch was playing the long-game over the tinderbox, for what she wants is freedom for both her kind and for the people of the kingdom. The tinderbox (and her beheading) was a means to that end.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half kept me interested. Then the princess had entered the scene.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

y'know sometimes you just need a good short story.

Linkies: https://www.tor.com/2021/12/01/the-ti...

[Susana · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://www.tor.com/2021/12/01/the-ti...

[Avery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I am missing something since I didn't know anything about the retelling. I feel like I don't really understand the purpose of this short story, it felt like it wondered a little.

I did enjoy the writing though.

[Vendea · Rating 2 out of 5]

No

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“One spark. Two sparks. Three. This is what it takes to ignite a revolution.”

Kate Elliot’s reimagining of Hans Christian Anderson’s original fairytale, The Tinder Box tells the story of a witch at the heart of an incipient rebellion—and all of those to come.

“Let me show you my city,” I said. “If you’re brave enough to open your eyes to the truth. If you’re bold enough to wish to know the source of the royal wealth. If you’re honest enough to see what power is and how it might be harnessed for justice.”

“I can be brave, and bold, and honest,” she breathed. Her gaze upon me was like a poet’s upon starlight, with its distant promise of what they have long yearned for.

I did not kiss her then but by the end of the night I kissed her once and then twice, and the third time just because I wanted to. A witch knows how to nurture a seed until it blooms into the weapon that is needed.

Loved it! Brilliant and beautifully written.

You can read it for free on the Tor.com site https://www.tor.com/2021/12/01/the-ti...

Themes: three dogs, one with eyes as big as teacups, one with eyes as big as mill wheels, and the largest with eyes as big as a royal tower.

4 Stars

[Shiva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Surprise! This is a contemporary version of a tale I read when I was just a child. The dogs in the hollow tree guarding treasure chests took me right back to that old story from my childhood. What gave it away? The dogs’s eyes and how the author describes first dog’s eyes as big as “teacups” and the other two s big as “mill wheels” and “royal towers”. Exactly as the old story!

And then the author inserts some modern day politics and revolutions in, and creates a “non-binary” princess who opens up a bookstore at the end!

The eras are all intertwined and feel like bits and pieces being put together with no plan. I just wish she had either stuck with either the modern setting or just retelling of the old tale.

2 stars
⭐️⭐️

[Jassmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always hated Andersen's Tinder Box - for what seems to the same reason as Kate Elliott writes this short story. And for that I adore this, it calls out Andresen's... aestheticism? Either way, I loved the premise, I love that the witch was made the protagonist and the main agent of the story. That said the story itself... felt a little bit flat, like we are watching it from the outside instead of being part of the flow. The ending felt a bit abrupt and nonchalant about... certain stuff that I felt is more complicated. Still a very interesting and worthwhile read.

https://www.tor.com/2021/12/01/the-ti...

[Hanneleele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have forgotten the original so whatever it's referencing is a mystery but as a story it had an intriguing premise - a spirit of revolution so to speak who goes around starting revolutions to throne new kings, queens and governments only to then start revolutions to dethrone them - but I did not really feel the story or find much interesting happening in here.

I love how reading more stand-alone stories makes me reconsider other ones. Like in light of the lukewarm liking I feel for this, the kinda sickening power of the previous one would perhaps deserve a higher rating.

[Anna Nesterovich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the allusions to tinder boxes and certain dogs, it's not a retelling of The Tinder Box. Not in the slightest. This story somehow assumes I'm convinced that revolutions with rivers of blood and thousands of dead are the best way to fight injustice. I am not. The whole concept just made me cringe. It was clearly written by someone who only read of such things.

[Allie Garboczi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a lovely, eerie tale! I always loved the odd, bizarrely brutal story of the Tinder Box, wayward soldier, and dogs with dinner plate eyes as a child. I had a massive illustrated book from the 50s my parents would read to me in Maine, that had belonged to my grandparents. Kate Elliot served a wickedly smart, enchanting, feminist retelling - "Camellia" the witch was the most lovely, biting, wizened character, I loved the honest innkeeper/soldier, lesbian princess, and magic system. The city felt alive and reminded me of revolutionary France! Need to read more by Ms. Elliot.

[Zhelana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm really not sure what to think of this short story. it started out not making much sense, because I wasn't sure if the main character was a flower or a person, and how they came back to life after being beheaded, but eventually it was explained that she was a witch. At any rate, the source of her anger at the royal family was never really explained, and I don't know. I feel like this could have been twice as long and it would have been better.

[Alex Sarll]

Insurrectionary Hans Christian Andersen riff, beautifully written and with a nice line in cynicism, but heavily reliant on heavy-handed and over-familiar stuff about the officers living it up while the troops starve and freeze. Still, for all the clichés in that thread, it retains the sense to catch the way that revolutions mostly just make things even worse.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Elliott‘s retelling is more like a sequel to Andersen‘s fairy tale. As such, it is very clever as it exposes human greed for money and power at the expense of others. But those others need the spark of rebellion, ideas to see that there are different ways of living and government. This spark comes from women — women who dare to be different.

[Heather Romanowski Book Realm Revisions, LLC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not familiar with this Fairy Tale but I love this version!

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, lovely! Thank you Karen for your short-story Advent Calendar that brought me to this gem.

[Emy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think fairy tale retellings will ever not have their own special place in my heart...