Now, I listened to the full-cast audiobook version. I don’t have a lot of patience for stories in which women are rescued by men. But all threaded together into a unique spool of yarn. ) As with all fairy tales, this one is built upon lust for beauty, power, youth, and freedom. Why didn’t any of the previous heroes who arrived at Sleeping Beauty castle set fire to the roses? They just decided to climb over them? Silliness in retrospect. There are some hilarious moments of common sense being applied to problem-solving in fairy tales ( I mean, he has a point. There are a handful of fascinating gradual reveals. As it to be expected, albeit unpredictable, Gaiman takes everything stereotypical the reader might know about traditional fairy tales and twists them slightly. “There are always choices.”Īs with many of Gaiman’s tales, our story in intriguing from the start and slow to develop. “There are choices,” she thought, when she had say long enough. But they are just rumors, and the Queen cannot let her kingdom be threatened. Rumors tell of witches and dark magic putting the princess to sleep over 60 years ago. Setting aside her plans, the Queen and her dwarven friends embark on a journey to stop the sickness. Our Queen is reluctant to get married but on her wedding day, her Dwarf friends arrive with a wedding present and some bad news: The sleeping sickness from the kingdom on the other side of the mountains is spreading into the Queen’s kingdom. Part Sleeping Beauty, part Snow White, 100% Neil Gaiman dark fantasy filled with twists. The Sleeper and the Spindle is a retelling of sorts. I was not prepared for my first full-cast audiobook. I was prepared for spellbinding storytelling.

Pretty cover art? Written by Neil Gaiman?! Sold. Recently, I needed some audiobooks for a trip (sense a theme when it comes to randomly acquired books? They are all audiobooks!), and I ran across The Sleeper and the Spindle.

Chris riddell sleeper and the spindle