Once upon a time doesn’t necessarily have to be long, long ago. I’ve mentioned my great love of fairy tales—whether they be classics, retellings, or brand-new fairy tales that emulate the classics in form and style. Denizens of Distant Realms, a new collection of short stories by Dawn Vogel, falls into the latter category. The book came out back in August, and while I was previously unfamiliar with the author and her other works, my great love of fairy tales drew me to take a chance on the new collection.
Denizens of Distant Realms is a small collection, comprising only six stories that each tackle different aspects of fairy tales and fantasy. In my opinion, the author’s storytelling is strongest in her love stories, and my favorite tales were the two romances that bookend the collection. “The Cobbler’s Daughter” immediately situates you in the familiar world of fairy tales using classic tropes. The protagonist, Chetana, is a hard-working orphan along the lines of Cinderella and the chance to change her fate appears in the form of a pair of magic shoes. After her father dies, Chetana continues working in her family’s shoe shop, but because she is a girl she is not allowed to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a cobbler. One night, she discovers that wearing her father’s old mojari transforms her into a boy. Chetana surreptitiously enters the yearly contest to design shoes for the princess, dons her new disguise to travel safely through the kingdom, and ultimately wins both recognition for her skill and the princess’s heart. The Southeast Asian setting and queer love story add a new dimension to this Cinderalla-esque tale.
The final story in the collection, “Catch,” is also a lesbian love story that plays on classic tropes. This time, the source material is the genre of classic mermaid/selkie tales in which a woman is stolen from her home in the sea to become a man’s bride. Of course, Dawn Vogel subverts these tropes to restore agency to the mermaid and empower the women of the story. The tale’s protagonist, Emmeline, is similar to Chetana in the first story. After Emmeline’s father dies, she yearns to continue his profession—in this case, fishing, which is considered men’s work in her society. Despite the disapproval of her neighbors, the need to provide for her family drives Emmeline to sneak out on her father’s old boat. One day she meets a mermaid, who helps her to catch more fish than she’s ever been able to do before. But when Emmeline’s suitor, Yov, finds out about the mermaid, he views her as an abomination and drags her onto land to be dealt with by the priest. Emmeline rescues her beloved mermaid and ultimately chooses to be with her in a way that doesn’t force the mermaid to give up her home.
The other stories in the collection had unique and compelling premises, though not all of them managed to fully stick the landing in terms of execution. I did thoroughly enjoy “We Have Not Always Been Small,” which explains how a group of cats were ultimately descended from dragons. “Dry Spell” deals with slavery and witchcraft, but felt a little unfinished. “Stormbringer” centers on a family line in which each woman becomes bound to a mystical man who controls the rain, though the stakes don’t feel very high and the ending wraps up a bit too easily. In “A Dark Place,” a poor boy discovers the dark alchemical secrets being housed in a mansion from which other visitors have been known to never return.
Overall, Denizens of Distant Realms is a fun collection that spins stories in the classic fairy tale style while subverting tropes and adding a more diverse spin. You can find Denizens of Distant Realms at your local retailer, or buy it online using this Bookshop.org affiliate link.