Long tales of Faerie?

[2D8HP]

It's been over a year since I've asked for Fantasy fiction recommendations?, and I'm asking again, this time for what feel like long form fairy tales.

There have been lots recommendations of The Dresden Files, but I believe those are modern day setting "urban fantasies", which isn't what I'm looking for.

I have many anthologies of myths, legends, folk, and fairy tales, but those are short stories, and I'm looking for novels or novelettes.

Stardust, The King of Elflands Daughter, Lud in the Mist, a little bit of Wee Free Men, and most especially Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell are the kind of tales I have a craving for.

What do you suggest?

[BWR]

Some of Sheri Tepper's stuff, like Beauty.

I'll have to repeat my recommendation of Tanith Lee's "Tales of the Flat Earth" stories from the last thread. Not so much actual fairies but she nails the mythic, fairy tale quality of such stories and is a brilliant wordsmith.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I would recommend Tam Lin, by Patricia Dean. It is part of their "Fairy Tale" series, and is based on the Scottish ballard of the same name.

Despite the modern setting I don't think it counts as an urban fantasy - instead it is how a fairy story would turn out in real life. In fact it is worth reading twice just to see how many clues there are for what is really happening with the aid of hindsight.

Wikipedia describes it thusly (I won't add a link as the cast list includes a major spoiler for the story):

Tam Lin is a 1991 contemporary fantasy novel by United States author Pamela Dean, who based it on the traditional Scottish border ballad "Tam Lin".

The protagonist of Tam Lin is Janet Carter. Written in the indirect third person, from Carter's point of view, the novel is set during her years as a student in the early 1970s at the fictional Blackstock College in Minnesota. The characters include her fellow students, professors at the college, her family, and a childhood friend. The plot combines the story of a young woman's life at college with a retelling of the traditional Scottish fairy ballad "Tam Lin".

EDIT: Also another recommendation for Sheri Tepper's Beauty.

EDIT2: Also, The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede - the first book especially is an interesting take on various fairy tale tropes.

[Palanan]

I would recommend C.J. Cherryh's Dreaming Tree, which is an omnibus incorporating Dreamstone and Tree of Swords and Jewels.

The inhuman protagonist is herself Sidhe, and both the story and the writing are a perfect evocation of the fairy-tale world, tinged by sadness for a lost age of Faerie not unlike Tolkien. Beautiful, melancholy, and with a decidedly Celtic feel.

[Otomodachi]

Most of the works of Charles De Lint. At the risk of damning him with faint praise, I'd say he's no literary giant but he does right good, satisfying urban fairy tales.

[Aidan305]

I'm going to suggest that you take a look at The Onyx Court books by Marie Brennan which explore the interactions between Faeries and the people of London over the course of three centuries, from the reign of Elizabeth I to the end of the Victorian era.

[Aka-chan]

Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale is a wonderful novel that incorporates a lot of Eastern European fairy tales.

[Knaight]

I've heard good things about The Buried Giant, although I haven't actually read it yet (it's in not-textbook slot #3 right now).

[Serpentine]

Hm... How about... Ella Enchanted? It's a retelling of Cinderella and other fairy tales, and a deconstruction and reconstruction of the tropes and archetypes but still keeping a lot of the fairy tale "vibe". I like it a lot (utterly despise the movie). I think it's sort of along the lines of Stardust.

Another one might be The Ill-Made Mute. I read a few books into this series, but I should really have stopped after the first one. But aside from the ending, the first book was a mostly enjoyable read, and who knows, maybe the things that bothered me about it won't bother you.

[2D8HP]

Thanks everybody!



I went to my favorite bookstore, and another one, and while I wasn't able to find everything suggested (and a few suggestions came in afterwards), so I got some (I home near) substitutes.
This is what I got this week (in order of what I'm pulling out of my backpack):

The Dreaming Tree by Cherryh

Night's Master by Lee

The Very Best of Charles de Lint

Snow White and Rose Red by Wrede

The New Voices of Fantasy edited by Peter Beagle and Jacob Weisman

Banshees, Werewolves, Vampires and Other Creatures of the Night by Ventura (next month is October)

I'll keep looking.for the rest.

Thanks again!

[theMycon]

Since you've read Lud-in-the-Mist, you're probably at least aware of James Cabell.

If not, you really owe it to yourself to pick up Figures of Earth (for a novel) and Domnei (for a novella).
If you like those, his most popular book, Jurgen, is alternatively laugh out loud funny and heart-rendingly sad.

[2D8HP]

Since you've read....

I've heard of and have somewhere (but not read) Jurgen but not the other Cabell stories you recommend.
Thanks!

EDIT: I just got The High Place and The Silver Stallion byJames Branch Cabell in nice little '70's prints that will fit in my pocket, but I think I'll need a magnifying glass/reading glasses!

---

I've been on an anthology kick recently, but between the short stories I found time to read The Buried Giant. I've seen it used as an example of a work definitively within the fantasy genre when looked at in terms of setting that nonetheless really doesn't feel like fantasy, and while I wouldn't agree with that analysis it was nice to read something that involved magic and monsters and the like while feeling more like fable and legend than somebody's D&D campaign.

When I picked up Kazuo Ishiguro's novel my bookseller (Jack at Dark Carnival) asked "Is there something going on with Buried Giant, it's the second one I've sold this week"?

I suspect that someone else in my area read your recommendation!