Green Monkey Dreams by Isobelle Carmody

review by Maryom

"This is the unforgettable world of Isobelle Carmody, presented in fourteen stories written over a period of thirteen years.
Within it you will find roads of paradox on which an angel might be a torturer, or a princess reject a prince to save a rooster. These are paths travelled by seekers of the difficult deepest truths never found on straight roads; here a boy searches for his true name, a group of pilgrims is led by a song on an ancient journey, and a beast discovers hope.
Enter this world and you will never again be sure where reality ends and imagination begins, for sometimes the greatest truths can only be told through imagination …"

 I discovered Isobelle Carmody through another short story collection which she co-edited - The Wilful Eye - and loved her writing style. Happily this selection of her own stories didn't disappoint. The stories fall into 3 groups - those set in the here and now, some in what feels like a post-apocalyptic or dystopian future and some in the pure fantasy world of fairy tales. These aren't fantasy stories about elves or ogres but the sort of stories that shed light on our hopes or fears, on what has value or a lack of it, on the thin line between what is real and what imagined, in much the way that traditional folk tales do. Some are poignant, some disturbing, often with ambiguous endings but all leave images that remain long after the story is read.
Although in the YA section of the publisher's catalogue, I loved it - and I'm sure it would appeal to many other adult fantasy readers

Maryom's review -  5 stars

Publisher - Allen and Unwin

Genre - YA fantasy, fairy tales

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The Wilful Eye (Tales from the Tower Vol 1)

 review by Maryom

Edited by Isobelle Carmody and Nan McNab The Wilful Eye is the first of two volumes of re-told fairy tales from Allen and Unwin.
This collection takes six stories familiar to most of us -  The Tinderbox, Rumplestiltskin, the Snow Queen, Beauty and the Beast, Babes in the Wood and the Steadfast Tin Soldier - and  lets six authors  - Margo Lanagan, Isobelle Carmody, Rosie Borella, Richard Harland, Margaret Mahy and Martine Murray - loose on them to reinterpret as they feel fit.
Margo Lanagan is the only one with which I'm familiar, through her novel The Tender Morsels which re-works the story of Snow White and Rose Red in a sometimes rather disturbing and distressing manner. While not quite as dark in tone, this collection is NOT for younger readers. The stories have been taken away from the cosy nursery setting and back to their darker folk tale roots via sex, drugs and violence.
Some are set in the traditional 'once upon a time' vague past, others in the more-or-less present. I liked most those, such as Wolf Night by Margaret Mahy, that took the basic tale and removed it to a modern setting, emphasizing the timeless quality at the heart of these tales.
There's an introduction by Isobelle Carmody about the inspiration behind the whole collection and notes from the authors explaining what influenced their choice of tale and what shaped their reinterpretation.

Recommended by the publisher as a 'young adult' read, suitable from ages 16 to 18 but I think many older adults (if that's the correct term) will love it too; I certainly did.

Maryom's review -  5 stars

Publisher - Allen and Unwin

Genre - YA fantasy, fairy tales
 

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