​THE FORGOTTEN AND THE FANTASTICAL 5 REVIEW EDITED BY TEIKA BELLAMY: BOOK REVIEW

 
 
Like the subtitle says this is a selection of new takes on fairy tales and modern fables. One theme that runs through most of the collection is that of a woman’s viewpoint and mainly a wronged woman.

In Pelt we learn how the grandmother from Little Red Riding Hood is coping after escaping the big bad wolf’s stomach. This tale could have easily focused solely on the grandmother probably in a counselling session but instead the grandmother has developed a new no nonsense look on life instead. She derides how Little Red is smitten with the huntsman and how she is treated as senile. This is just one example of how a fairy tale is spun on its head and how the narrative tone in this volume is different to the mainstream. In anthologies you will always have tiny stories (5 pages or less) and because of the brevity of these it’s hard to become engrossed in them. Most of the tiny tales in this collection breaks this mould.

In People Will Talk not only is there a great futuristic setting, there’s also an amusing twist ending. With fewer words the use of language in a short story comes more to the front and my favourite example of this is in Princess, Star, Brilliant. In this tale each of the sisters is named after a jewel and all the metaphors, similes, even the dialogue focus on the theme of privilege. This contrasts strongly with the subject matter which is why this is probably my favourite in this collection as it has a strong narrative voice and takes a sadly familiar topic but finds a new way to tell it.  

​Another of the highlights is The Fox’s Wedding with its tragic character shunned for her honesty and magical ability but in her medieval fantasy town she has the chance to save the day. This story feels like it could have been one of the Brother Grimm’s with its setting, characters and the moral of the story- be careful how you treat those different from yourself. As with most anthologies there were a handful of tales that didn’t hit the mark for me but overall this was an enjoyable selection of sci-fi, fantasy and fairy tales. The strength of this book is the unique viewpoint of many of the stories- a wronged woman and the different ways they handle the poor hand they have been dealt.

David Jenkins writes short stories, novels, comics, anything really in the sci-fi, horror and fantasy genres.  A variety of his articles and reviews have appeared on numerous sites including Mass Movement and Attack on Planet B among others.  You can find him at https://www.facebook.com/davidjenkinswriter. Gardens, Galaxies and Goosebumps is his first short story collection and can be found here- https://tinyurl.com/yyrjbnkk

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