Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer


Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer is a short story collection of dark fantasy retellings of popular fairytales by British author Tanith Lee. Contrary to what the title may suggest, it not only includes retellings of fairytales by the Brothers Grimm, but also by Charles Perrault, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve or Alexander Afanasyev. The title story was nominated for a Nebula Award.

Contents

Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer contains the following tales:
  1. "Paid Piper" – Asia: 1st century BC
  2. "Red as Blood" – Europe: 14th century
  3. "Thorns" – Eurasia: 15th century
  4. "When The Clock Strikes" – Europe: 16th century
  5. "The Golden Rope" – Europe: 17th century
  6. "The Princess And Her Future" – Asia: 18th century
  7. "Wolfland" – Scandinavia: 19th century
  8. "Black As Ink" – Scandinavia: 20th century
  9. "Beauty" – Earth: The future
In 2014, the book was released as an expanded edition including a new story, "The Waters of Sorrow", which had been previously published in 2011 in Weird Tales.

Reception

Dave Langford reviewed Red as Blood for White Dwarf #48, and stated that "Fun: but these inversions can become repetitious, while Lee's SF 'Beauty and the Beast' founders in a morass of soggy pseudoscience."

Reviews