Jim C. Hines: The Stepsister Scheme, The Mermaid's Madness & Red Hood's Revenge
These are the first three in what I believe is a projected 4 book series in which Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White are the secret service of Queen Beatrice, the mother of Cinderella’s Prince Charming. While the setting itself is a fairly common Medieval-lite world, Hines uses the older, darker versions of the fairy tales-heals and toes get lopped off, huntsmen are sent to cut out hearts, princesses wake up from 100-year-long comas due to labor pains. Etc.
Danielle (Cinderella) is the new princess and becomes a secret agent mostly out of necessity, Talia (Sleepy Beauty) is one of the world’s deadliest fighters thanks to her fairy blessings, but is also cold and distant due to the consequences of her enchanted sleep, and Snow (White) is a promiscuous sorceress and major bookworm.
The books are largely a blast, with The Stepsister Scheme focusing mainly on the Cinderella and Snow White fables, The Mermaid’s Madness on The Little Mermaid, and Red Hood’s Revenge on Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty, though I think the first is the strongest, even if the second had the most interesting plot for me. Based on these books, I think Hines works best with one main POV, and not quite as well with multiple POVs, though he’s still good that way. Book one is primarily from Danielle’s POV, with the other two adding other POVs. While I actually prefer Talia and Snow as characters, Danielle’s POV is the strongest, I think.
Hines is definitely aware of the problems of the genre and attempting to address them in the books, and largely with success, though he does end up unintentionally slipping into other problems a bit in the process. For example, the basic concept takes three heroines mostly notable in their tales for virtue and (mostly forced) passivity and gives them action and agency and purpose, but when Red Riding Hood, who is the more active heroine in many versions of her tale, is introduced she’s a darker, ruthless character shown in a somewhat villainous light. (I haven’t read reviews of Red Hood’s Revenge yet, but I do know most seem to enjoy it less than the previous installments, and I wonder if that may factor in?) Then there’s Talia. [spoilers] On the one hand, a black woman is the Most Beautiful In The World (with it addressed that tastes and standards change like to flat hair and skinny bodies and black women‘s skin mysteriously becoming way lighter between series) and is the best fighter with the focus on her being good, not on her being a fetishized Warrior Woman badass. On the other, she‘s also the detached rape victim who has difficulty making connections and unrequited love for her heterosexual best friend. That said, I‘m very glad that Red Hood‘s Revenge clarified that she is lesbian, as opposed to asexual except for Snow, who she had years of non-threatening exposure to, which was the impression I got in The Mermaid‘s Madness. Which would have made perfect sense given her history, but also has the “rape kills a woman‘s sexuality” undertone.
I think, though, that Hines still ends up far on the positive side, and am not sure the negatives could be avoided with the subjects he’s tackling, given the cultural baggage that comes with a lot of it. The books are a lot of fun, and I’m eager for the next, which I think is Hines’s take on The Snow Queen, which is basically my favorite fairy tale. Has anyone read his Goblin books?
Danielle (Cinderella) is the new princess and becomes a secret agent mostly out of necessity, Talia (Sleepy Beauty) is one of the world’s deadliest fighters thanks to her fairy blessings, but is also cold and distant due to the consequences of her enchanted sleep, and Snow (White) is a promiscuous sorceress and major bookworm.
The books are largely a blast, with The Stepsister Scheme focusing mainly on the Cinderella and Snow White fables, The Mermaid’s Madness on The Little Mermaid, and Red Hood’s Revenge on Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty, though I think the first is the strongest, even if the second had the most interesting plot for me. Based on these books, I think Hines works best with one main POV, and not quite as well with multiple POVs, though he’s still good that way. Book one is primarily from Danielle’s POV, with the other two adding other POVs. While I actually prefer Talia and Snow as characters, Danielle’s POV is the strongest, I think.
Hines is definitely aware of the problems of the genre and attempting to address them in the books, and largely with success, though he does end up unintentionally slipping into other problems a bit in the process. For example, the basic concept takes three heroines mostly notable in their tales for virtue and (mostly forced) passivity and gives them action and agency and purpose, but when Red Riding Hood, who is the more active heroine in many versions of her tale, is introduced she’s a darker, ruthless character shown in a somewhat villainous light. (I haven’t read reviews of Red Hood’s Revenge yet, but I do know most seem to enjoy it less than the previous installments, and I wonder if that may factor in?) Then there’s Talia. [spoilers] On the one hand, a black woman is the Most Beautiful In The World (with it addressed that tastes and standards change like to flat hair and skinny bodies and black women‘s skin mysteriously becoming way lighter between series) and is the best fighter with the focus on her being good, not on her being a fetishized Warrior Woman badass. On the other, she‘s also the detached rape victim who has difficulty making connections and unrequited love for her heterosexual best friend. That said, I‘m very glad that Red Hood‘s Revenge clarified that she is lesbian, as opposed to asexual except for Snow, who she had years of non-threatening exposure to, which was the impression I got in The Mermaid‘s Madness. Which would have made perfect sense given her history, but also has the “rape kills a woman‘s sexuality” undertone.
I think, though, that Hines still ends up far on the positive side, and am not sure the negatives could be avoided with the subjects he’s tackling, given the cultural baggage that comes with a lot of it. The books are a lot of fun, and I’m eager for the next, which I think is Hines’s take on The Snow Queen, which is basically my favorite fairy tale. Has anyone read his Goblin books?