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| Taken from Asha's twitter |
Title- Once Upon a Winter: A Folk and Fairy Tale Anthology
Author- edited by H.L Macfarlane
Series- N/A
Published- 2021
Page Count- 369 pages
Publishing House- Macfarlane Lantern Publishing
Genre- anthology, short stories
Rating- 3/5 stars
About the Antholgy
A list of stories and contributors to the anthology:
The Biting Cold by Josie Jaffrey
The Match Girl by Rebecca F. Kenney
Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Bharat Krishnan
A Pea Ever After by Adie Hart
The Snowdrop by H. L. Macfarlane
Silverfoot’s Edge by Ella T. Holmes
The Storm Hags by Caroline Logan
The Boggart of Boggart Hole Clough by Jake Curran-Pipe
Around the Hawthorne Tree by Jenna Smithwick
The Best Girl this Side of Winter by Laila Amado
The Snow Trolls by S. Markem
Lord of the Forest by Katherine Shaw
Queen of the Snows by Joyce Reynolds-Ward
Long Meg and the Sorcerer’s Stones by M. J. Weatherall
The Frost of Mercy by A. J. Van Belle
Wintercast by R. A. Gerritse
You Can’t See Me by Kate Longstone
The Match Girl by Rebecca F. Kenney
Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Bharat Krishnan
A Pea Ever After by Adie Hart
The Snowdrop by H. L. Macfarlane
Silverfoot’s Edge by Ella T. Holmes
The Storm Hags by Caroline Logan
The Boggart of Boggart Hole Clough by Jake Curran-Pipe
Around the Hawthorne Tree by Jenna Smithwick
The Best Girl this Side of Winter by Laila Amado
The Snow Trolls by S. Markem
Lord of the Forest by Katherine Shaw
Queen of the Snows by Joyce Reynolds-Ward
Long Meg and the Sorcerer’s Stones by M. J. Weatherall
The Frost of Mercy by A. J. Van Belle
Wintercast by R. A. Gerritse
You Can’t See Me by Kate Longstone
Taken from Amazon
Plot
Once upon a time stories travelled from place to place on the tongues of merchants and thieves and kings alike. Under the blanket of night they were exchanged between children, and passed on to their children, and their children after them. Details were altered from one generation to the next until thousands of tales existed where once there were few.
In the spirit of these age-old stories comes Once Upon a Winter, a seasonal anthology of folk and fairy tales from 17 authors across the globe. It covers the Gothic, the romantic, the whimsical, the frightening and everything in-between, and features both intriguing twists on classic tales and exciting original stories.
The first of four planned seasonal anthologies from Macfarlane Lantern Publishing, Once Upon a Winter is sure to have a story for just about everyone. Grab your copy in time for Christmas today!
In the spirit of these age-old stories comes Once Upon a Winter, a seasonal anthology of folk and fairy tales from 17 authors across the globe. It covers the Gothic, the romantic, the whimsical, the frightening and everything in-between, and features both intriguing twists on classic tales and exciting original stories.
The first of four planned seasonal anthologies from Macfarlane Lantern Publishing, Once Upon a Winter is sure to have a story for just about everyone. Grab your copy in time for Christmas today!
Taken from Amazon
Opinions
I'd like to start this blog post by thanking the team at Story Origin for sending me a digital proof ahead of publication to read. They were a really nice team to work with and it was easy to apply to receive a copy. As a small blogger/content creator, it can be hard to get to this stage with a company, so it was lovely working with them.
I found this anthology through Twitter, after seeing someone I follow rave about it. I don't normally read anthologies or short story collections, but this sounded like something I would enjoy. There was mentions of fantasy and queer characters, which are two things I enjoy reading about. One of the big things going for this collection was the wide range of stories featured in it. From how the authors approached the theme, to the age range of the intended audience, I felt that there was something for everyone. They all felt like very original takes on the fairy tales included. I particularly enjoyed the environmental theme throughout this anthology. It felt very relevant at the moment.
My favourite story in the collection, without a shadow of a doubt, was A Pea Ever After by Adie Hart. I liked the mythology of the world, the characters and just the story in general. It really stood out to me within the collection. I would actually like to read more about this particular world as I could see these characters having a lot of fun going off on different adventures. I would also be interested in reading more of Adie's work. It was a fun, light hearted, feminist and queer story. So it ticked all my boxes.
Personally, I struggled to connect with most of the stories in this collection. There was so much potential, but it often felt rushed or lacking in world building. At 369 pages, this is a very long anthology. I read it during a very busy period of my life, and I thought it would be something I could easily dip in and out off, but it took me almost two weeks to read it. While there was a wide range of stories, I think it could have done with a bit of tailoring as at times it felt like the target audience was adults, then YA and then for children. All the jumping around made it hard to follow. I can see why people have enjoyed it, but I think it just wasn't for me in the end.
What did you think of Once Upon a Winter??
