So Many Series of Retellings!

Have you ever noticed a certain phenomenon? The phenomenon in question is when authors write series where each book in the series is a retelling of a different fairy tale or story. In recent years this seems to be a trend!

One popular example of this phenomenon is The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. This series is comprised of a number of books that are each based on a different fairy tale. The first in the series is Cinder, and based on the title can you guess which fairy tale it retells? The remaining books in the series are each based on other fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and Rapunzel. The storylines throughout the series build upon each other, in so doing triggering many fascinating changes to the original versions. We see characters from different books working together and mingling in ways that the characters in the original fairy tales never do.

The same is true for K.M. Shea’s Timeless Fairy Tales series, which happens to be my personal favorite! While each retelling in the series can be read individually, when reading the entire series, the interactions between characters evolve in some truly intriguing ways, going way beyond the scope of an individual retelling.

Although this post is mainly about book series, I would be remiss if I didn’t also bring up the show Once Upon a Time. Much like the examples I list above, Once Upon a Time intertwines a large number of characters, stories, and settings from different fairy tales to make a more interesting retelling overall.

While not every fairy-tale retelling series has an intertwined storyline, I find it so intriguing to read the ones that do. Seeing characters from several of my favorite fairy tales collaborate adds layers that are not there in the original stories. I would strongly encourage anyone to look into series based on retellings. If you have any recommendations you would like to share below, I would love to hear them!

Fairy truly yours,

Grace W. Wong