A spectacular book that deserves a spot on every bookcase.

Even the production of the book is exquisite, with its stunning cover and black and white print highlighted with flashes of gold. Chris Riddell's illustrations are simply incredible, dark, luscious and filled with intricate detail that match the tone of the words exactly. His female protagonists are powerful and in charge of their destiny, a far cry from the usual female role in a fairy tale.Įvery page is filled with magic and menace as the story winds towards its climax.

Neil Gaiman weaves a tale in which 'happy ever after' is not the end, and beauty and youth should not be trusted as a sign of innocence and goodness.

This magnificent book combines two well-known fairy tales and challenges everything familiar about them. But things in this far away kingdom are not as they seem, and rescuing the princess may not result in a happy ever after. Postponing the wedding and swapping her sumptuous gown for chainmail armour she sets off with the dwarves to locate the sleeping princess whose curse is engulfing the land. When three dwarves inform her of a sleeping sickness that is travelling over the mountains causing everything in its path to fall into a deep, deep slumber, the queen knows she must act to save her people. (Sept.In a magical land far away, a beautiful young queen prepares for her wedding, wondering if these will be the last few days she has control of her life and unsure if she really wants to get married. Riddell draws in pen and ink, eschewing color-save for select gold accents-and pouring his energy into myriad, spidery lines and delicate cross-hatching that recall Aubrey Beardsley’s eerie set pieces. The Sleeper and the Spindle A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation By: Neil Gaiman Narrated by: Gwendoline Christie, Penelope Wilton, Ralph Ineson, Neil Gaiman, full cast Length: 1 hr and 12 mins Try for 0.00 Pick 1 title (2 titles for Prime members) from our collection of bestsellers and new releases. Something new is going on, and readers will be carried to the end by the whirlwind force of Gaiman’s imagination. It isn’t until the travelers penetrate the castle that things tilt sideways. And then you woke again, none the worse for it.” Traveling to the cursed kingdom, the queen and dwarves encounter threatening zombie sleepers and more, but the storyline is still recognizable underneath the new details. Alert readers won’t miss the hint to the queen’s identity: “Would I sleep, as they did?” she asks one of the dwarfs, who replies, “You slept for a year. Three dwarves discover a realm in which everyone has fallen asleep, and they cross into the next country to warn its queen of the great plague that threatens her people. Always a superb spinner of tales, Gaiman presents a filigreed elaboration of Sleeping Beauty that, before long, reveals itself as something more.

The sleeper and the spindle