Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales

Edited by Melissa Marr & Tim Pratt

ISBN: 9780316212946

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 22nd 2013
Number of Pages: 356
Source: Local Library
Goodreads Summary: The best writers of our generation retell the classics. Literature is filled with sexy, deadly, and downright twisted tales. In this collection, award-winning and bestselling authors reimagine their favorite classic stories, ones that have inspired, awed, and enraged them; ones that have become ingrained in modern culture; and ones that have been too long overlooked. They take these stories and boil them down to their bones, and then reassemble them for a new generation of readers.

My Rating:  

This book is anthology of different tales that have been re-worked by today's authors to bring new perspective.

There was artwork by Charles Vess, but I did not read any descriptions (not too interested); I only glanced at the pictures while turning to the next story.

There are twelve short stories; these are my reviews. 

1. That the Machine May Progress Eternally by Carrie Ryan

Inspired by E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops”

Rating: 4 stars

I really enjoyed this short story, though I did not read the one that inspired Ryan. We have Tavil, a boy from the surface, who wants to take a peak at "The Underneath" where a what is called just "the Machine" runs the place. 

"That tight feeling Tavil experienced the first moment he realized he was trapped underground beings to crawl along his arms. Perhaps it is the taste of the surface on the back of his tongue or the knowledge that he has finally found a way out of the labyrinthine Machine, but he is unable to hold back the sensation of being buried alive" - Rags & Bones, 13-14

He becomes trapped in this world but he slowly begins to become accustomed to the way the Machine provides for all his needs. 

"He would rather live his last moments below the surface, ensconced in the Machine, than spend eternity aboveground away from its comforting hum." - Rags & Bones, 25

A spooky tale that makes you think about our reliance on technology.

2. Losing Her Divinity by Garth Nix

Inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King”

Rating: 2 stars

This short story is told both in the present by the narrator, Kipling and he is talking to two men - Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz of the past. He tells them the story of his run-in with the Goddess Pikgnil-Yuddra (the Darkness).

Interesting story but didn't quite hold my interest.

3. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

Inspired by “Sleeping Beauty”

Rating: 4 stars

Really liked this one! Twist on the tale of Sleeping Beauty but Snow White (not named as such, but description leads you to this conclusion) is the heroine of this story. Her kingdom becomes threatened by the sleeping curse, as it is spreading. She sets off with her loyal dwarfs.

I really liked how unique Gaiman’s take on this old tale was. To incorporate another fairy tale character we all know and then add a different ending to this story really made it a great read!


4. The Cold Corner by Tim Pratt

Inspired by Henry James’s “The Jolly Corner”

Rating: 4 stars

Really bizarre story – think twilight zone (if you can remember what that was….perhaps the younger generation doesn't know. It was a TV show that showed alternate realities, science fiction ideas that had unexpected twists and sometimes horror aspects)

 TJ, a gay man from North Carolina who moved to California and became a chef, has decided to come back to his hometown of Cold Corners for his family reunion. He feels he has nothing left in California after being dumped by his boyfriend, getting fired from his job and not winning on a reality TV cooking show.

Weird thing is, he keeps running into himself. Different versions of whom he could have been, how life could have went if he had made a different choice at certain crosswords in his life.

Liked the science fiction aspect and how TJ reflects on himself and makes you wonder what your life could look like if you had taken a different path.

“I don’t know if we’re ghosts or projections from alternate dimensions Doesn't much matter to me. What we are is family…We started comparing notes, using each other to test things out. What would happen if I dated that girl, or bought that truck.” - Rags & Bones, 107

5. Millcara by Holly Black

Inspired by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla”

Rating: 2 stars

This was a vampire story that tells the somewhat romantic but definitely gothic tale between two young girls.  I would be interested to read the inspiration, “Carmilla” as it predates Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” but I hadn’t heard of it. 


6. When First We Were Gods by Rick Yancey

Inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth Mark”

Rating: 3 stars

This is a neat science fiction story that tells of a time where humans have been made immortal. You download yourself into a computer chip and just upload yourself into a new body, potentially allowing you to live forever.

"May you wake safely upon that far shoreWhen night is through May you find no everlasting sleep When breaks the Eternal Dawn!”- Rags & Bones, 143

Of course, not everyone is allowed to do this. This is for the elite and powerful – the First and Foremost Families (the 3Fs). “Normal” people – called the finitissium: the finite ones only live out a natural lifetime in their one body. If you are lucky, you are a persist, a servant to the 3Fs. They get food and shelter versus the others who live in scary cities where you need to fight to survive.

When Beneficent Page falls in love with his wife’s Persist, he decides to break the rules and give eternal life to Georgiana.

But do you really want eternal life?

“’I may be immortal, but I am still human.’‘I suppose that depends on the definition.’‘Of immortality?’‘Of what is human.’ She moved at last toward the door, away from him. ‘And what is not.’” - Rags & Bones, 155

7. Sirocco by Margaret Stohl

Inspired by Horace Walpole’s “The Castle of Otranto”

Rating: 1 star

This is a horror story, the remake of “The Castle of Otranto” set in modern times. A movie is being filmed at this castle in Italy but it is haunted. It didn't really hold my interest.

8. Awakened by Melissa Marr

Inspired by Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”

Rating: 5 stars

Really enjoyed this story about a Selchie (a seal that can shed its' skin and turn into a human to walk on land). Eden is our heroine and she is caught off-guard by a man, Leo, who steals her skin (she also refers to it as her soul) thus gaining control over her. She can't return to her seal form and must know obey his commands. 

This was a powerful story about women and the few choices they had  (and sometimes still do) about the controlling of their own lives. I also liked the mythology and the story as a whole.

"It is not the choice I thought I would make, but like so many women before me, I cannot survive in a cage." - Rags & Bones, 259 

9. New Chicago by Kelley Armstrong

Inspired by W.W. Jacobs’s “The Monkey's Paw”

Rating: 3 stars

Interesting story set in the futuristic dystopian world of "New Chicago." Cole and Tyler are brothers just trying to survive in this city. Tyler works for what sounds like a mobster so that Cole can educate himself. They are saving money so that they can buy passes into the better part of New Chicago - Garfield Park.

Cole follows a man from Garfield Park; he watches as he meets with a peddler who gives him a gift - a monkey paw. The old peddler says that it has the power to grant three wishes. Cole steals the paw for his own. Little does he know that you have to be very careful with wishes. 

Kept me reading and the consequences of the wishes makes you think about what you would wish for and at what cost. I did not like the open-ended conclusion though :/

10. The Soul Collector by Kami Garcia

Inspired by the Brothers Grimm’s “Rumpelstiltskin” 

Rating: 4 stars

Oh this was a great story with Garcia's take on Rumpelstiltskin! He takes the form of the Soul Collector in this tale - he grants favors to a girl named Petra in return for small tokens - a kiss, a memory. Then comes the time when she makes a deal with him that when it is time to collect, she loses something very important. 

The conclusion gave me chills and the character of the soul collector is creepy and haunting. I loved the author's note:

"The crossroads demon (or Soul Collector, as I call him in this story) is the Rumpelstiltskin of the urban fantasy world. He can solve your problems and even grant you wishes - for a price. The question is always the same: What are you willing to trade?" - Rags & Bones, 313

11. Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy by Saladin Ahmed

Inspired by Sir Edmund Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene”

Rating: No Stars

Did not read beyond the first page; was not interested.

12. Uncaged by Gene Wolfe

Inspired by William B. Seabrook’s “The Caged White Werewolf of the Saraban”

Rating: 1 star

This could have been a real thrilling story but I found it very confusing. A woman named Kay/Marthe that may or may not be a leopard and a man who travels to Africa to save her after receiving her letter. Strange tale.