2016 fantasy. Gerta's friend Kay is stolen away by the Snow Queen; so
off she goes to get him back.
The fairy tale this time is The Snow Queen of course, and if
you know that story you'll spot many reflections of it here. I didn't!
I was never much of a fan of Anderson and I don't seem to have met
that particular story of his, but I still hugely enjoyed this.
"However," said Mousebones, "since you have given me cheese and
carried me all this way, I will not eat your eyes today, unless you
want me to."
"Want you to?"
"Well," said Mousebones, fluffing up all his feathers and settling
them again. "Some people do. For wisdom, you know. I could pluck out
an eye and eat it and then the other one would have the second
sight. In theory."
"Does that work?" asked Gerta.
Mousebones made a drawn out aaaurrrrr-rrr-rrk sound. "It might,"
he said, a bit doubtfully. "I just handle the eye-eating bit. The
second sight is somebody else's problem."
Because it's real. And it's very Finnish (and Kingfisher had the
sense to consult experts in reindeer, and in Finnish and Sami folklore
and history); it comes over effectively as a culture that is not mine
but that makes sense on its own terms.
At the same time, the people are real; Gerta may start off as the
mindlessly devoted girl following the selfish boy, but unlike
Anderson's "heroine" she gets a chance to think for herself.
I'm loving everything I read by Kingfisher. There's something here
that reminds me of Frances Hardinge, that same slightly sideways way
of looking at tropes. Very fine stuff!
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