First impressions review: Red as Blood and White as Bone, by Theodora Goss & These Deathless Bones, by Cassandra Khaw

 


Both these stories (available on the Tor website) are essentially tales about revenge for cruelty toward animals (and one human, in the latter case).

You might at first think Red as Blood and White as Bone is set in some once-upon-a-time fairytale place, given that the protagonist is an orphan girl working as a kitchen maid who thinks she’s found a lost princess on the manor’s doorstep. But, in fact, she simply lives in some rural Germanic village in the 1920s. When the prince comes, he comes by car, and Klara grows up to be a different kind of hero – even if tricksiness proves as important then as is does in any fairytale. But that doesn’t mean there is no magic in this story!

            Between the title of the story and the fact that the “princess” never claimed that title for herself but only went along with Klara, I immediately suspected that Klara was in a different story than she thought she was. Whatever the “princess” wants with the prince, it would probably NOT be to marry him! From her dress (depicted in the illustration), I at first thought she might be a vampire. But her true mission and identity make for a twist that is both more interesting and much sadder.

 

These Deathless Bones has an interesting take on the “wicked stepmother” trope. Here, too, the expectations change as you read. At first, her stepson the prince just seems like a spoiled brat, but after a while his inner darkness becomes more and more evident. If you read carefully, you will also see how carefully the narrator prepared for their confrontation. You may also start to wonder if the king chose such a second bride precisely because he knew what his son was, and knew that she was better equipped to deal with him that he was!

 

Overall recommendation: If you don’t mind your fairytales dark, these are quite satisfying!


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