33. Starry River of the Sky, & The Little House in the Fairy Wood

[osprey_archer]

Subtitle for this post: Books That Will Probably Be of Particular Interest to asakiyume.

First, Grace Lin’s Starry River of the Sky, which did not blow me away quite like Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, purely because I had already read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and therefore had a pretty good idea what to expect: charming retellings and remixes of Chinese fairy tales, which at first seem unrelated but eventually interlace with the overarching plot.

It reminds me a bit of Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen’s Thief book in that way, if the Queen’s Thief books had illustrations. Which, I think we can all agree, would be amazing. Perhaps they could be stylized like ancient Greek pottery...

Anyway, it’s very much “second verse, same as the first.” As I liked the first very much I enjoyed the book, but I hope for a little more branching out in the future.

And second, another book by Ethel Cook Eliot, who wrote The Wind Boy: The Little House in the Fairy Wood, which is even more like unto The House without Windows than The Wind Boy, and not just because both books reference houses in their titles. Like The House without Windows, The Little House in the Fairy Wood features a child - a downtrodden orphan boy who works in a cannery, in this case - who runs away from home to live in a magical wood, where he meets the magical fairy creatures who live in the woods.

And as in The House without Windows, there’s a restless yearning after freedom: there is, for instance, a Beautiful Wicked Witch who expresses her wickedness by keeping creatures in cages. Both books also feature climatic journeys to the seaside, as a sort of ultimate symbol of freedom.

I particularly liked the half-fairy child Ivra, who is the only one brave enough to dance with the snow witches, and hates to go into town because so many people see her - because of her human side - but, because of her fairy half, don’t believe in her, which is in a way worse than not being seen at all.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Oh, I must get (or at least read) The Little House in the Fairy Wood!

And while I have not quite finished Starry River of the Sky, yes: I can see how, somehow, these stories we're being told will weave together the way they did in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and with the same overall goodwill. Is Madam Chang the moon? (You can tell me--I don't mind spoilers!)

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

The LIttle House in the Fairy Wood is free on Gutenberg!

And yes, you've guessed correctly: Madame Chang is the moon (more or less).

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Excellent--I will go bookmark it, and read it after I finish Starry River of the Sky