Under the big top of The Emerald Circus (2017) is a fantastical assemblage of sixteen short stories and novelettes by Jane Yolen. Historical figures like Emily Dickinson, Benjamin Disraeli, Hans Christian Andersen and Edgar Allen Poe enter the three rings and shed their normal identities, dancing across the high wires and peering into tigers’ mouths. In this circus’ House of Mirrors we also see unexpectedly twisted reflections of fictional characters like Alice in Wonderland (who makes an appearance here in two very different Yolen tales), Merlin, and Dorothy Gale. A few fairy tale characters ― the Snow Queen, Beauty and the Beast, Red Riding Hood and the wolf ― round out the performers in this entrancing circus.

My favorite stories in this collection:

“Andersen’s Witch” ― Hans, a young boy from a destitute, conflict-ridden family, is visited by the Ice Maiden one night, who grants him his three wishes. He wishes for a bed long enough for his legs to fit, for his Papa to get well enough to earn money for the family, and to become a rich poet, a digter. Like wishes granted by faeries, though, those granted by the Ice Maiden may twist in the way they are granted.

"Surely a price will be demanded, he thought feverishly. Witches promise you sweets and then shove you in the oven."

Can the grown man Hans, the famous digter, outwit the Ice Maiden who has become the cold Snow Queen?
“Lost Girls” ― Darla, angry because it isn’t fair that Wendy does all the housework in Neverland and Peter Pan and the boys get to fight pirates, goes to bed and finds herself in Neverland. It’s even worse than she imagined: there’s a whole slew of girls (all of them dismissively called “Wendy” by Peter Pan and the Lost Boys) doing all of the cleaning for a group of extremely messy boys. Darla decides to lead a strike (“Being the daughter of a labor lawyer had its advantages”) in this delightful take on Peter Pan.

“Blown Away” ― Dorothy Gale does indeed get blown away by a cyclone in this story, narrated by Tom, one of the farm hands. When Dorothy returns seven years later, claiming that she’d experienced a memory loss and had been adopted by the Emerald Circus, Tom wonders about the truth of her story. It’s intriguing to trace the connections between this story and the original Wizard of Oz story by L. Frank Baum (the fate of Toto is eyebrow-raising), but more interesting is the insights into the various characters, like the long-hidden feelings of Tom’s wife Amelia.

“Evian Steel” ― This story is a type of prequel to the King Arthur legend, set on Ynis Evelonia, an island of women who make the finest swords known in the kingdom. Elaine is sent to the island as a young girl, to live there for the rest of her life. It’s a difficult transition, but gradually she settles in and begins to get to know the other girls and to learn the art of sword making. When the time comes for Elaine’s older friend Veree to go through an initiation process, Elaine wishes to stand by her in her trial.

In some of the other stories, Alice makes a return trip to Wonderland and has to face her greatest fear in the Jabberwock (“Tough Alice”), Beauty and the Beast channel O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” with an outcome that I definitely did not expect (“The Gift of the Magicians”), Robin Hood’s dying mother has a terrifying request to make of his nurse when her son is born (“Our Lady of the Greenwood”), and Emily Dickinson meets … an unexpectedly inspiring space alien (“Sister Emily’s Lightship”). It’s a varied and imaginative collection.

A few of these stories, like “The Bird,” in which Edgar and his young, ailing wife discuss their bothersome pet raven, are vignettes, glimpses of events in a character’s life, rich with imagery but perhaps too brief or one-note to make a lasting impression. On the other hand, “Wonder Land,” though even shorter, packs a sensual, feminist punch in three pages.

Except for “The Bird,” these are previously published stories; for example, four of them appeared in an earlier Yolen short fiction collection, Sister Emily’s Lightship and Other Stories. Here, though, each story is accompanied by Yolen’s insightful story notes at the end of this collection, and by a blank verse poem (most of which are new) that relates topically or thematically to that story. For example, “Tough Alice,” in which Alice desperately battles the Jabberwock, is accompanied by this thought-provoking poem:

Managing Your Flamingo
So there she is, Alice underground,
life more complex than imagined.
A game, she’s told, though without
rules or white lines or a sense of finality.
They hand her a bird, the pink of longing,
beak as sharp as an executioner’s sword,
its gangle of legs tangling her skirt.
The queen growls: Manage your flamingo,
and the others shout: Play on, play through.
As if it were life.
As perhaps it is.

The Emerald Circus is a circus worth visiting and revisiting from time to time.

I actually requested this in a hope to read much of fairy tales, or at least get an idea of each in one single book. Jane Yolen didn't disappoint me. I enjoyed every story included in here. In my most honest opinion, I must say, I liked how she twist the original stories, molding them using HER OWN style, without taking off the feeling of familiarity that most fairy tale readers have grown up with.
I applauded Yolen's ability to add dark and drama to each story. I specifically loved Blown Away which is Dorothy's story. And that Knot of Toads. :)

Overall, this is a perfect collection of short stories of well-loved classics. I read this one, little by little an denjoyed them still. A story a day and what a great journey it was while reading this book. :)

3.5 stars rounded down to 3 because the collection was disconcertly varied and included some disturbing short stories

I had never read Jane Yolen before this book, nor had I heard of her, which is a bit surprising considering how much I enjoy fairytale/ folktale retellings. When I requested this book, I knew little about it except that another reviewer was excited about it. In fact, I had thought it was a novel and not a short story collection. Had I known it was a short story collection, I probably would not have requested it as I don't typically enjoy short stories and tend to only read short story collections in audiobook format. But I put my misgivings aside to give this book an honest chance.

The first several stories were strong and I greatly enjoyed Anderson's Witch and Lost Girls. Tough Alice was okay, but after that, the collection fell apart for several reasons. While this collection is sold as fairytale retellings, it includes legends and historical people, which was jarring and those stories did not fit and likely fell more flat because they simply did not belong. In addition, there were stories that were likely fairytale retellings, but the original tales weren't known, so they ended up lacking without that context. While most of the stories were light and enjoyable, some were incredibly dark and one was disgusting. I respect that some people enjoy dark fairytale retellings, but they are not well suited to a collection which sells itself as bright and cheerful. The stories of the monks felt connected, but weren't exactly, and that was simply very confusing. This was a hard collection to read, harder than short story collections usually are, because the stories are so greatly varied. Even in length, there were incredible extremes and it made it hard to find a comfortable pace to work through these stories.

I did love some of the stories, particularly Lost Girls and Evian Steel. I enjoyed the stories of the monks, though I wished I had the knowledge of the historical context to enrich them. I wanted to enjoy The Emerald Circus, but there was a huge plot gap hole that messed everything up. There are many more stories I barely remember and a few I wish I hadn't read. For an author who is apparently so celebrated, I expected better consistency in the quality of her stories.

But maybe it is partly because some of these stories are so old and are being republished that the consistency is not there. Or maybe it is simply laziness. While I enjoy author's notes at the end, I don't think these served her well as I now have an impression of a writer who recycles her work in order to make deadlines she tends to miss. The notes also came off with a sense of preteniousness that will make it hard for me to read other stories by her.

I am glad I read some of these stories, but overall, I am pretty mixed on the collection and likely won't pick up other books by Yolen. If you have previously enjoyed her work, then you will likely enjoy this; however, do check the table of contents as you might find that many of the stories you have already read.

I received this book free from publisher Tachyon through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Tachyon and Yolen for a chance to read this ARC.

This is a collection of short stories written by Jane Yolen. I had not read anything by her prior to this collection, but she can now count me as a fan!

As a recent convert to the short-story format, Jane Yolen's short stories are truly short but she manages to fit so much lore and intreigued into each one. I wished many of the short stories would continue on!

There is a variety of short stories in this collection, and many of them are either loosely based on old fairytales or are imaginings of the history of existing people (such as Emily Dickenson). I much preferred the fairytale retellings compared to the ones about real people, probably because I know very little about the real lives of those real people. The fairytale retellings were excellent, and Jane Yolen managed to make them all very unique.

I wasn't a huge fan of fairytale retellings, but Jane Yolen must be a master because I loved so many of her retellings.

Despite my low rating this is actually a very well-written book and I did consider giving it 3 stars instead of 2. But ultimately looking back at all the stories I think the only one I actually enjoyed was Lost Girls and several of them were so bad at holding my attention that I skimmed through them. I haven't read anything by this author before but from what I understand she's been writing for a long time and that all of these stories have previously been published in other places, which makes sense because a lot of them felt rather dated to me. If you REALLY like fairytale retellings [although some of them are really stretching that definition a bit] then you might like this, but I didn't think most of them were all that innovative. Also there were 3 Alice in Wonderland retellings in a collection of maybe 12-15 stories which I thought was kind of overkill. Although I guess again if you really love AiW then that might be a selling point.

This collection gathers a number of Jane Yolen's short stories from other anthologies, except for one new story (a riff on Poe). Though Yolen most of her 300 books are for kid readers, I don't think this collection is for the young.

I've read most of these stories over the past three decades, which are predominantly twists on fairy tales or old folklore. Yolen was doing it before it became popular, and some hold up better than others. My favorite two are the first and last, the first a tribute to Hans Christian Andersen (whose stories, incidentally, I loathed as a child, as they were all so sad, and no little girl came out well in any of them) but this one still moved me as a beautiful tribute.

The last story, a science fiction story about Emily Dickinson and a visitor from the stars, is my favorite of all her stories.

Best of all is an essay at the end talking about the various stories and their inspirations, with poetry at the end of each note. This essay is a must for Yolen fans; even the stories that don't quite work for this or that reader might become more interesting after one reads the notes. Especially writers, who like to see what an author was aiming for.

Altogether a lovely collection, but I wouldn't give it to anyone under sixteen without reading it first.

I’m ashamed to have to admit that before requesting The Emerald Circus, to review, I didn’t know who Jane Yolen was. I don’t know why, but she never entered my circle of consciousness, despite being a veteran of SFF, having been publishing for over 50 years, having won countless awards, and being known as ‘the Hans Christian Andersen of America’. So I’m grateful to Tachyon for publishing this remarkable short story collection and introducing me to Yolen’s work.

The Emerald Circus is a collection of a number of Yolen’s stories both previously published (from 1985 onward) and new, almost all of which are based on legends and fairytales or on history itself, as well as an appendix of Yolen’s notes on the stories, plus an original poem for each.

The title stems from ‘Blown Away’, the fourth story in the collection, which takes the story of Dorothy and twists it in a thoroughly weird (and queer) direction. Despite this, Alice (as in Wonderland) is the star of this collection, featuring in three of the stories in this collection. Yolen connects the two with a poem in which Dorothy and Alice take tea together, both of them a little lost outside of their respective adventures.

Alongside Wonderland, the other vein running through this book is Arthurian legend (two stories of which happen to be recounted by old monks, funnily enough). My favourite story in the book is one of these: ‘Evian Steel’, set on Ynis Evelonia in the river Tamor, where only women live and where they forge the finest swords known to man. I don’t want to spoil anyone, so just read it, okay? I’d rec this book on the basis of this story alone.

The collection closes with the Nebula Award-winning ‘Sister Emily’s Lightship’—in which Emily Dickinson gets to visit space. This story is so full of quiet tenderness that when I read in the story notes that Jane Yolen knows quite possibly more than anyone else about Dickinson I wasn’t at all surprised. In a way this story feels like a gift from Yolen to a beloved author, a woman who suffered much but kept outpouring so much beauty and understanding from her heart.

While I found it unusual, the story notes at the end of the book really helped me connect with Jane Yolen as an author after reading the rest of the collection. As my introduction to her, I enjoyed reading background detail on the stories in her own voice. As for the poems, I felt their inclusion adds another layer of adaptation to these stories which are already themselves transformative of their original tales, which is fun. Plus, I never complain about additional material when I enjoyed the main as much as I did this.

The common theme in Yolen’s stories is their humanity. She treats every character in her stories with respect—there’s not one side character in one story that is a cardboard cut-out or a joke. Even in ‘The Jewel in the Toad Queen’s Crown’, abhorrent little Queen Victoria and her designs of empire are somehow relatable, even magical, without ducking the reality of her unpleasantness and cruelty. (The only conceivable exception for me would be Morgan in ‘Evian Steel’, but given what we know about her I’d say she’s just been made more disturbing.) By this, Yolen lays out the truth of the world through myth and story, maybe the ultimate theme to this fascinating collection: nothing is simple.

I love Jane Yolen, so I was excited to read this book. As I expected, the quality of writing in this collection is excellent. My only problem is that it seems like two different collections. I think the order of the stories is more the cause of that feeling than the stories themselves. I enjoyed reading about the origin of each story at the back of the book. However, I would have appreciated them more had they been placed before or after the stories they explained. This book would be great for anyone seeking nostalgia through stories with familiar literary figures and locations. My favorite is the story of Peter Pan and his Wendys.

<p>Many many moons ago, I read <a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/43257">Briar Rose</a> and have had a soft spot for Jane Yolen ever since, although a soft spot in that until now I haven't read any of her other books (mainly because I aged out of the YA ones pretty much immediately after I read <a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/43257">Briar Rose</a> and I don't tend to read too much adult fantasy, but I have <i>bought</i> some of her other books, like <a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/9439380">Foiled</a> for Miss T). </p>

<p>So soft spot for Jane Yolen plus Jane Yolen books for request on <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/">Netgalley</a> equals I have <A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/19513170/book/146562775">The Emerald Circus</a> and <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/113003">another Jane Yolen book</a> to review. And <A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/19513170/book/146562775">The Emerald Circus</a> is a shout-out to Oz,
and there are other fairy tale retellings/fairy tale inspired stories and then <A href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Disraeli">Disraeli</a> casts cabalistic magic on Queen Victoria and Emily Dickenson is abducted by space aliens and ...</p>

<p>Yeah, I'm back in the world of books with <a href="http://www.reluctantm.com/?p=3032">bizarre twists out of nowhere</a> (no <a href="http://www.reluctantm.com/?p=3206">squid sex</a>, so I guess we have a kinda win here?). So if you like odd, and short stories, and fairy tales, and aliens, <A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/19513170/book/146562775">The Emerald Circus</a> might be the book for you. The Oz retelling was pretty nifty, I do have to say. </p>

<p>But then aliens. Sigh. Maybe my tombstone could read <i>Always managed to find the books with surprise aliens in them</i>.</p>

<p><A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/19513170/book/146562775">The Emerald Circus</a> by Jane Yolen went on sale November 14, 2017.</p>

<p><small>I received a copy free from <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/">Netgalley</a> in exchange for an honest review.</small></p>

3.5 Stars

Jane Yolen is a revered and highly lauded writer of poetry, folklore, and fantasy who has been publishing for decades. At the outset, we should say these stories are fairy and folktale retellings for a young adult or adult audience. They require a certain level of insight and sophistication that will be lost on a younger child. Many of these short stories have previously appeared in other anthologies and while it's great to have these Yolen short stories all in one anthology that is not the reason you will be interested in this book, at least if you are like me. What you want is the rich trove of notes about the stories at the end of the book. These notes make for fascinating reading and an insight into Yolen's life and world.

Andersen's Witch as story built on the platform of Hans Christan Andersen's magnificent Snow Queen in which a boy, Kai, has a shard of ice put into his heart and rejects his beloved playmate Gerda, takes on a whole new meaning in Yolen's retelling but a new meaning on top of that in a poem related to the HCA story in which Yolen speaks of losing her husband and widowhood. Likewise Lost Girls gives us notes about the outrage of Peter's inability to credit Wendy for fixing his shadow problem in J. M. Barrie's story, and thoughts about the callousness of children. From Baum to Keats to Dickenson, the origins and ruminations of the stories in this volume are seen through the paradigm of Yolen's world. I do have to confess there were times I liked the notes and their accompanying poems more than I liked some of the stories.

Jane Yolen once again returns to fairy tales and classics for inspiration in this collection of 16 short stories (and as many poems in the author notes). My favorites were the longer stories that took more time to develop character motivations and subtleties. And even though I'd already read the Arthurian legend stories in Merlin's Booke, I loved rereading them. I hope she someday publishes her Arthurian trilogy like she originally planned!

Despite having read the Arthurian tales, all the other short stories were new to me. I thought I'd already read "Sister Emily's Lightship" -- about Emily Dickinson and extraterrestrials -- but I had not and it was a wonderful story. I also thought "Blown Away" -- a Wizard of Oz re-imagining -- and "A Knot of Toads" -- where Disraeli attempts to enchant Queen Victoria -- to be imaginative and unique.

Best of all (well, almost), Jane Yolen includes author notes about each story at the end, with accompanying poems! That was a really delightful surprise. I love hearing how stories come to be, and I love poetry.

Thanks to Tachyon Press and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Andersen’s Witch: Hans Christian Andersen's life's fairy tale, when he makes a bargain with the Ice Queen. 3.5/5

Lost Girls (Nebula Award Winner): Darla from the 21st century gets transported to Never-Never Land, where she has some ideas about women's rights and isn't about to clean up after Peter. 3.5/5

Tough Alice: Alice falls through into Wonderland again, and is trying to find a champion to fight the Jabberwock. But when no one steps up, she realizes she has to be her own champion. 3/5

Blown Away: When Dorothy is blown away in the tornado, she doesn't go to the Emerald City, rather, the Emerald Circus. She returns 7 years later and a farmhand--who tells the story--can't believe how much she's changed. 4/5

A Knot of Toads: A daughter returns from college to her small, Scottish hometown for her father's funeral. Only to discover her father's death occurred under unusual circumstances, while working on a history of witches. 4/5

The Quiet Monk: Lancelot is a wandering monk, trying to find Guinevere's grave. 4/5

The Bird (Original story): Edgar Allan Poe gifts his wife Lenore a raven on the eve of her death. 2/5

Belle Bloody Merciless Dame: A drunk chooses the wrong woman to molest in an alley. 2/5

Jewel in the Toad Queen’s Crown: Disraeli tries to practice Kabbalah magic on Queen Victoria. 4/5

A Gift of Magicians: Beauty and the Beast meets O. Henry's Gift of the Magi. 2/5

Rabbit Hole: 80-year-old Alice goes down the rabbit hole once more. 2/5

Our Lady of the Greenwood: Before Lady Margaret of Locksley dies in childbirth, she charges her midwife to take her infant son to the greenwood, to be named by the fae. 3.5/5

The Confession of Brother Blaise: Merlin's birth, as told by Brother Blaise on his death bed. 4/5

Wonder Land: Little Red Riding Hood goes through the woods to tell her BFF about where her boyfriend just put his hands, but she's not to be fooled by wolves or any other creature. 4/5

Evian Steel: Elaine is sent to the isle of women to be trained in their magic and craft, and forms a friendship with Veera. When Veera forges a sword as part of her initiation into adulthood, something goes wrong with the ceremony, but it's exactly the sword, and the girl, that Merlin wants. This one reminds me of Sister Light, Sister Dark. 4.5/5

Sister Emily’s Lightship (Nebula Award Winner): Emily Dickinson trades poems with an alien. Yep! 4.5/5

Posted on Goodreads and Amazon 11/12/2017
Posted about on Book Riot 11/09/2017
Will post about on blog in early December.

Goodreads Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3

The cover and title for this immediately caught my eye–not only is it pretty, but suggesting an Oz-based circus made me giddy. I think this ingrained very, VERY high expectations for all the stories contained within, which may be why my rating isn’t as high as I’d hoped it be–the stories that I weren’t crazy about just made me more disappointed somehow. However, I still enjoyed this book and am very glad I kept reading as there are some gems of stories in here.

Retellings of non-fairytale fairytales are my favorites, because these non-fairytales are the ones that I’m more acquainted with, and they lend themselves to more unique interpretations I think. There are many stories that take surreal, “modern” fairy tales–Wonderland, Oz, and Peter Pan–and give a unique, usually mature and/or modern twist (there are multiple Wonderland stories, but only one for Oz and Peter). There were also multiple stories that took place in Arthurian times, two stories focused on fictional exploits of famous poets (one for Poe, one for Dickinson), an origin story, of sorts, for H.C. Anderson, and a retelling of “The Gift of the Magi.” There’s certainly something for everyone in here, especially those who like non-traditional tales!

The stories I didn’t like were partially because I didn’t know the “source” material as well, but also because all of these stories seemed to end very abruptly. They lent themselves very well to prologues to a novella, but as a short, with no other story after it, they just seemed incomplete. And while that’s what many short stories do, leave the ending up to interpretation, these just seemed hurried to finish up, not slowly winding up or down to the end. The author notes were also a bit meh, and the poems seemed to have nothing to do with the shorts, and sometimes barely anything with the source material and/or background provided.

That all being said, the stories that I loved, I LOVED. Here are some mini-reviews of my favorites.

5 stars

"Blown Away": Well of course I loved it because Ozmandia is a bearded lady with the Emerald Circus who seems to be at least slightly enamored with Dorothy. YES. PLEASE. But the story as a whole is also quite strong as an alternate universe interpretation of Oz, where Dorothy gets whisked away to the Emerald Circus, rather than Oz. While they’re likely one in the same, it’s still interesting to think that Oz only exists in Oz, whereas in our “real” world, it exists as a circus.

"Evian Steel": YAAAAS. While I figured out the twist this was going to take fairly early on, I didn’t care, because THIS WAS AWESOME. Badass ladies making badass swords, can’t get any better than that.

4 stars

"Sister Emily’s Lightship": In which Emily Dickinson is essentially abducted by aliens. Her visions of UFO lights also give a few of her poems an inspiration source.

"The Gift of the Magicians": I hate “The Gift of the Magi” but this uniquely violent retelling of it was a bit abrupt and weird, but also simply amazing. (This easily could have been the set up to a Grimm episode and that made me very happy).

"Tough Alice": Alice learns to overcome her fears in a weird meta-Wonderland way (it involves the Jabberwock, but to say much more would be to spoil it). I’m still a tad bit conflicted over the message in the end, but it had many character cameos and was the best of the Wonderland stories in the book.

If you’re looking for some unique retellings of some unique stories and plots, or if you’re a fan of Yolen’s work in general, I would definitely recommend picking this up. (Do note that many of these stories have been published elsewhere before). Whether you end up liking all the shorts, or just a few, there’s probably going to be at least one story in here that you’ll love. I could also see this being a fun book for a college class on retellings of classic tales.

Review of The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen

In the interests of full disclosure, I was sent an ARC of this book by the publisher for review purposes.

Jane Yolen always has an interesting twist to her stories. In this collection you will be surprised, shocked, intrigued, and awed both by new tales and by new perspectives on old, well-loved tales.
Each story evokes its own unique space and time, and opens the imagination a wee bit more.
Don’t skip the story notes and poems at the end of the book. The poems are well worth the time, and the insights into how each story came to be are a brief look into the mind of a writer.

I give it 5 stars.

An odd collection of short stories that was not quite as good as I had hoped. A couple of them were brilliant but overall a touch to obscure for my taste.
I do think that this collection will appeal to people who like an unusual twist to their literature.

Jane Yolen is one of the great writers of middle-grade/ya fantasy (and the occasional Adult, such as the beatiful Briar Rose entry into Terri Windling's Fairy Tale series). She is especially adept at the short story length, and there was a period of time when I was younger where I rarely picked up a YA fantasy anthology without finding a story by her.

This is a collection of short stories that cover over thirty years of her short stories, although a number of the stories have appeared in others among her collections (aimed at different audiences, though).

I did find that the first four stories in the collection were still my favorites at the end of reading.

Anderson's Witch (2012) is a theme setter for the book, being a fairy tale origin story for Hans Christian Anderson, with him making a bargain with a supernatural being as a child. Considering the sort of person Anderson was as an adult, this story fits nicely into explaining the real person.

Lost Girls (1997) was my absolute favorite, in which a girl gets pulled into Neverland, and finds that Peter Pan is a jerk, and his territory is very sexist, with all the Wendys (he can't be bother to remember names) cleaning and cooking, using the pirate threat to keep them in line. So what's a modern girl to do but start a strike.

Tough Alice (1997) is about Alice having to confront the Jabberwocky over and over again until she figures out how to defeat it.

Blown Away (2013) is a variation on The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy comes home, telling the story of being dropped, injured and amnesiac, outside of The Emerald Circus.

After those four stories, there was a string of stories that were a little less enthralling to me. Lancelot as the Wandering Jew looking for the graves of Arthur and Guinevere, a different take on Poe's The Raven, a story of Disraeli and Queen Victoria, origin/birth stories for Robin Hood, Merlin, and Excalibur (along with Guinevere). And then a strong finish with the story of Emily Dickinson meeting an alien poet who takes her on a tour in his spaceship.

One additional element that I enjoyed is that at the end of the book, there are author notes about each story and it's origins, and each one is accompanied by a poem, at least loosely related to the story's subject matter.

At a Glance


Genre(s)/Categories:


Adult fantasy, short story collection, fairy tales


Plot:

In this short story collection, readers are swept away with familiar characters to re-imagined lands and tales. Wendy leads a labor strike in Neverland. Dorothy learns to tightrope walk. And Emily Dickinson travels the stars. This collection of 10 stories is mesmerizing at every page turn.

Pros:

I love fairy tales re-imagined and this collection is fantastic.
Every story is accompanied by an author's note and a poem
Jane Yolen has taken well-known characters and made the fresh and new
Each story stands alone while simultaneously weaving together similar themes

Cons:

I could have read 10 more stories!
I wish the author's story notes would have accompanied each story instead of being in the back of the book (it was difficult to flip back and forth on my Kindle)


Would I recommend this title:

Yes, yes, yes!


Full Review:


I am a big fan of Jane Yolen's children's books. So I was excited to be able to read some of her adult work as well. This book did not disappoint. My experience with short story collections is that they are usually a mixed bag--there are a few great stories mixed in with some not so great stories. That was not the case with The Emerald Circus. Almost every one of Jane's stories knocked it out of the park for me.

Just as each act in a circus can be enjoyed on its own but also serves to make the whole circus better, each story in The Emerald Circus is satisfying by itself while also enriching the whole. Jane is a master storyteller and I would highly recommend this to anyone that enjoys storytelling at it's finest.


*the link for the post will go live on November the 8th*

One small issue with this... I didn't realize it was a collection of Yolan's stories and was hoping for new stories but I love Yolan so I loved this collection!!! It's the best fairy tale re imaginings ever...

Jane Yolen is no stranger to short fiction. As one of the preeminent authors in the field of science fiction and fantasy, she's written over 300 books, including short stories and poetry. She also writes fiction and non-fiction picture books for kids. She's also been called the Aesop of the twentieth century by the New York Times and the Hans Christian Andersen of America by Newsweek--massive praise that she very much lives up to.

Honestly, I don’t know when Jane Yolen finds time to sleep but I'm selfishly glad she's been able to produce wonderful stories filled with deft turns of phrases, palpable atmosphere, and interesting, flawed characters.

Her forthcoming short story collection, The Emerald Circus, published by Tachyon, is another rich entry into Yolen's catalogue. Holly Black, author of Tithe and The Spiderwick Chronicles, provides a glowing introduction. Many of the stories featured in this collection have been published previously, while others are brand new. This collection also features an appendix where Yolen talks about her inspiration for each story and includes an accompanying poem. The poems were my favorite part of the collection, not only because they're beautifully written, but also because they enhance the story with which they're paired. I almost wish every short story collection were constructed this way, but I also realize that not every prose writer is a poet. Yolen happens to be excellent at both. (Another SFF author who executes both forms equally well is Theodora Goss.)

The Emerald Circus has a story for everyone. Yolen selects old tales and makes them new and surprising and yet instantly recognizable. The collection features a slate of disenfranchised Wendys (from Peter Pan); Guinevere, Lancelot, and Merlin of the Arthurian legends; Alice and company from the Wonderland stories; Dorothy and the gang before the big twister. These stories are also rich in atmosphere inspired by Yolen's travels, particularly "A Knot of Toads," which is spooky and moody and makes me want to move to Scotland immediately.

Yolen is also not shy about writing about historical and literary figures such as Hans Christian Andersen, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Queen Victoria, and Benjamin Disraeli, and her perspective on their lives feels fresh while still remaining respectful. My favorite story in the collection is "Sister Emily's Lightship," which won the Nebula a few years ago. In this story, Emily Dickinson struggles with a new poem, hosts afternoon tea, and takes a spacefaring jaunt with an alien before finally completing her poem. The plot is relatively straightforward, but Emily feels both delicate and strong, and like someone I'd very much like to befriend, which makes the story sing.

I also enjoyed Yolen's post-Arthurian tale, "The Quiet Monk." Those of us who love the grandeur and glory of the Arthurian legends often rue the bitter betrayals that bring the tales to a close. Although we know that Arthur lies sleeping, waiting for that fabled moment England might need him again, the legend feels incomplete without much-needed absolution. "The Quiet Monk" addresses the mortal failings of Guinevere, Arthur, and Lancelot, and allows at least one character to seek much-needed redemption. After reading about Yolen's planned Arthurian anthologies in the appendix, I really hope some publisher decides to pick them up.

For lovers of fairy tales, folklore, and a cracking good yarn, I highly recommend The Emerald Circus.

The table of contents for The Emerald Circus is as follows:

Andersen’s Witch
Lost Girls (Nebula Award Winner)
Tough Alice
Blown Away
A Knot of Toads
The Quiet Monk
The Bird (Original story)
Belle Bloody Merciless Dame
Jewel in the Toad Queen’s Crown
A Gift of Magicians
Rabbit Hole
Our Lady of the Greenwood
The Confession of Brother Blaise
Wonder Land
Evian Steel
Sister Emily’s Lightship (Nebula Award Winner)

Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon for providing an advance reading copy for review.

The Emerald Circus is a collection of Jan Yolen's stories that have appeared in other anthologies or magazines first. But do no hold that against these stories. They needed to appear somewhere and it is very nice that they have been gathered here for the reader to enjoy. In the book are tales of adventure, trickery and magic woven into familiar stories that have been bent out of their normal shape. There is a tale of Beauty and the Beast after the end of the normal tale. Dorthy of Oz fame gets a backstory from one of the farmhands. There are a trio of Arthurian tales scattered through the book along with a young Hans Christian Anderson making deals while Emily Dickinson manages to take a very far trip. And one must not forget Alice or Wendy and their adventures. So if you enjoy good storytelling, sit your self down with your favorite beverages and snacks and settle in for an enjoyable read!

For those not in the know, short stories have a habit of sending me into a bit of a reading slump but The Emerald Circus was such an interesting kaleidoscope of some of my favourite stories that I stayed interested throughout.

A lot of these feel a little like a writing prompt gone awry, not that it’s a bad thing, but you can see how ‘what if we combined Peter Pan and labour strikes?’ could turn into a great short story? (The Wendy plot has always been one of my least favourite plots in classical literature and annoys me because I love Peter Pan so fixing it was appreciated).

So yes, these are twists and turns on some of the most well known stories, The Wizard of Oz, Arthurian Legend, Alice in Wonderland and similar. Some of them, like Dorothy’s retelling, were strange and sinister in a great way, some of them worked less well and felt a little like a great idea executed in a mediocre fashion.

What I think is most important is that these stories will stir up your curiosity and will help you to see some of the more interesting elements of the original stories in a different light. Well worth a read, maybe one to keep on the bedside table when you’re burning the midnight oil?

My rating: 3/5 (I liked it, but I don’t think I need to reread it)

The Emerald Circus releases on the 14th of November so keep your eyes peeled!

By the way, I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.