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Some Kind of Fairy Tale
 
 
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Some Kind of Fairy Tale [Kindle Edition]

Graham Joyce (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
Print List Price: £7.99
Kindle Price: £3.99 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £4.00 (50%)
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Product Description

Review

A sly, observant story... Joyce keep the focus on the human drama, allowing his fairyland to build itself with threatening glamour in the shadows of the reader's imagination. (Tim Martin The Daily Telegraph 20121215)

Book Description

A haunting modern fairy tale from the 'brilliantly original' (SUNDAY TIMES) WORLD FANTASY AWARD-winning author.
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Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 568 KB
  • Print Length: 401 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0575115289
  • Publisher: Gollancz (21 Jun 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B00884709O
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #6,607 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous (in every sense) 28 Jan 2012
By D. Harris TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
A few months ago, a Channel 4 series ("Gods and Monsters") presented by Tony Robinson (of Time Team and Baldrick fame) examined the history of superstition. It told the story of Bridget Clary. In 1895 she was murdered by her husband, who believed she was a changeling, that is, not his wife at all - the real Bridget having been stolen by the fairies. Graham Joyce's novel uses this theme, postulating a similar "abduction" in 21st century England. There is a strong and intriguing opening, when Tara Martin knocks on her parents' door just after Christmas. Tara disappeared 20 years ago at the age of 16, and it was assumed that she was murdered in the mysterious Outwoods. When she reappears, insisting that she has only been absent for six months and doesn't seem to have aged a day, there are challenges for everyone - her now elderly parents, her brother Peter who has "grown up" since, and her ex boyfriend, upon whom suspicion fell. The book deals with the consequences of the situation.

Joyce weaves together Tara's own story of her experience (white horse, seductive young man, strange, fey land which she cannot get out of) with a very matter-of-fact account of everyday life for the left behind (work, pubs, children, casual police brutality). He grounds the comings and goings to the mysterious otherworld very credibly in a specific English locality, the Charnwood forest, where three counties meet (so, a border place - good for crossing into the Otherworld) which overlies a geological fault (those interested in "Earth mysteries" sometimes speculate that spooky experiences may be linked to the influences of gases and vapours seeping up from below ground, as with the oracle at Delphi. Equally, of course, those "stolen" away were thought to be somehow taken underground). This is done very well.... Read more ›
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Boomerang book: I chucked it but it came back ... 9 Sep 2012
By David
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book earned a double first from me. A few weeks back it became the first book that annoyed me so much I chucked it across the room. It then became the first book that, having once given up, I gave a second chance.

Glad I did. 4 out of 5 stars. (It lost a star for putting a mark in the living room wall).

Seriously, why did I chuck it? A couple of annoying factual errors. Some grating clichés and (the straw that broke the camels back) a scene (in the "real" world) that I found so ludicrous the book went sailing across the room before I knew it. But I was compelled to return. Thereupon, the story became quite unputdownable.

A refreshing take on folklore. I am so close to giving back that fifth star ...
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary take on the 'abducted by fairies' tales 22 Aug 2012
By I Readalot TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
Once upon a time in north Leicestershire Tara, aged 16, goes missing, it is if she has just dropped off the planet. After a long and fruitless search her parents, Peter, her older brother and Richie the besotted boyfriend have to accept she is gone forever and try to get on with their lives. Once best friends Peter and Richie become estranged, poor Richie is suspected of killing her and all he has left is his music. Twenty years later on Christmas Day Tara returns with a very strange tale to tell. All except Richie have come to terms with her loss and now have to come to terms with her return and they all react to her wild story in different ways.

`Some Kind of Fairy Tale' is a contemporary take on the classic `abducted by fairies' tale and Joyce makes no attempt to hide the fact that he was inspired and influenced by many such stories from the past. His fairies are not the sentimentalized version, they are not tiny and they don't have wings and wear pretty little dresses. I wouldn't want to meet Joyce's fairies; it is not that they are evil but dark and sinister with, by human standards, a lax view on morality and they don't like being referred to as 'fairies'.

Charnwood Forest provides the perfect setting for this story; as someone who once spent several years living within walking distance of the Outwoods I can vouch for the enchanted nature of this ancient place and the bluebells really are an impressive sight when you catch them at the right time. I haven't really thought about Charnwood Forest for a few years now but this novel took me right back rekindling memories of happy times spent in this beautiful part of England.... Read more ›
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Some Kind of Fairy Tale 27 Dec 2012
By S Riaz HALL OF FAME TOP 10 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Peter Martin, his wife Genevieve and their four children live on one side of Charnwood Forest. His parents, Dell and Mary, live on the other side. Nearby lives Peter's childhood friend Richie. However, they are not only separated by the forest, but by the ghost of a girl - Peter's sister Tara - who disappeared twenty years ago. Richie was Tara's boyfriend and he was suspected of her disappearance, and possible murder. However, one Christmas day, Tara suddenly turns up - looking almost the same as she did on the day she left, so long ago. This is the basic plot of this modern day fairy tale, which has a lot of interesting themes and questions. Do Tara's family and friends believe the story of what she claims happened to her? How do they heal the hurt and suspicion that Tara's loss caused among them?

Our book club came across this novel when we were looking for a Christmas read which not overly sentimental and a little different. Actually, this book is ideal for a book club read, with lots to discuss and an interesting array of characters. I also enjoyed the various quotes at the beginning of each chapter, which give the novel an air of mystery and fantasy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A really good read
This is an amazingly well written book. I am half way through and cannot put it down. I haven't read anything like it before...really good.
Published 25 days ago by DH
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic read - a fairy tale for grown ups
Have read a lot of fairytale/paranormal romance books at the grand old age of 38 but have to say a lot of them are cringe worthily simple in their writing style - i was reading... Read more
Published 27 days ago by joannap
5.0 out of 5 stars a rare breed
There is a shortage of good books that deal with the supernatural and ideas, whereas there are plenty of horror slashers and twilight vampires but something thoughtful is hard to... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Nicolas Milne
4.0 out of 5 stars fiona blackbure
This book is brilliant. A perfect blend of the mundane and the fantastical. Leaving it up to the reader if it is a fairy story or a study of delusional fantasy
Published 2 months ago by fiona blackburne
3.0 out of 5 stars so much to offer but it did not deliver!!!!
This book could have been very good,but it did not deliver as a story,Characters are well drawn but the story has not much depth to it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by mrallandavies
4.0 out of 5 stars Faerie in the modern idiom
Joyce writes well, and this is a clever take on the fairy abduction trope.
A young girl disappears in the early 1990s and returns to her family strangely unchanged in the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Penelope Swan
5.0 out of 5 stars Re-Joyce
I have read all of Joyce's books so far and they are all of a high standard but I think this is my favourite so far! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. Nicholas Moore
4.0 out of 5 stars Jack, the cat & Mrs Larwood.
Peter Martin's 15 year old sister Tara went out and didn't come back. She left behind her mum, dad, brother Peter and her boyfriend Richie. Read more
Published 4 months ago by StarPlayer
1.0 out of 5 stars Not for me
I have now learned how to delete books from my Kindle in order to get rid of this book. From the plot summary, I thought I would love this book but I couldn't stand the dreary... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Geraldine
3.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining book which never quite balanced all of its elements
**Minor Spoilers Implied**

Some Kind of Fairy Tale borrows liberally from British folk tales relating to the disappearance of young women, apparently taken by the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Thomas Blount
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