Review: Redder than Blood by Tanith Lee

Redder than Blood is a collection of short stories that are retellings of fairy tales. From Snow White to Cinderella to Beauty and the Beast and more, the tales in Redder than Blood are often dark and always with a twist. Most of the stories are sci-fi or fantasy, but there are a few that could be considered general fiction, horror, or straight up fairy tale.

The quality of the writing is good. The stories themselves are well written. Many of them have been published before. I can't say I liked each and every story, but I liked more of them than I disliked. There were a few that felt overly long, like the retelling of Swan Lake. My favorite is the last one in the book, a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. There was one story that is ostensibly a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but has elements of Bluebeard in it as well. There is a note at the end that pairs the stories with the original they are derived from.

Some of the stories would be trigger inducing for some people because they have issues in them such as child abuse. Remember though the original tales these are drawn from often had the dark and violent as well. They were not Disney stories. There weren't always happy endings and what happened along the way wasn't always pleasant. That pretty much sums up the stories in this collection.

I give it 4 stars out of 5. The writing is good quality and there is a good variety to the tales. I didn't like all of them, but I liked enough of them to give the anthology a healthy thumbs up. Redder than Blood was published April 4, 2017 from DAW.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.