Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

    • everand.content_preview.content.explore_1_5m_audiobooks_ebooks_free_trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Shadow Queen and Other Tales: Ariele's Fairy Tales, #3
    The Shadow Queen and Other Tales: Ariele's Fairy Tales, #3
    The Shadow Queen and Other Tales: Ariele's Fairy Tales, #3
    Ebook100 pages1 hourAriele's Fairy Tales

    The Shadow Queen and Other Tales: Ariele's Fairy Tales, #3

    By Ariele Sieling

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    In this collection of five original fairy tales by Ariele Sieling, each tale uses classic fairytale elements and themes to explore concepts such as right and wrong, moral ambiguity, and hope.

     

    In Cleo and the Wisp of Wind, meet Cleo, a mage who is just discovering the extent of her powers in a world that doesn't seem to want her.

     

    In The Mage on the Mountain, an older Cleo is forced to decide which is more important: power or relationships.

     

    In The Shadow Queen, the queen must make a plan for how to handle her successor in the absence of children or anyone she deems capable of ruling her kingdom.

     

    In Labyrinth of Desire, meet Hollis, whose husband disappears while on a work crew tasked with building the queen's new palace.

     

    In The Staff of Blood and Bone, meet Esme, a young thief with strange dreams who simply longs for security and stability.

     

    This book is the third in a series of collections filled with brand-new original fairy tales.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAriele Sieling
    Release dateAug 9, 2023
    ISBN9798223118770
    The Shadow Queen and Other Tales: Ariele's Fairy Tales, #3
    Author

    Ariele Sieling

    Ariele Sieling is a Pennsylvania-based writer who enjoys books, cats, and trees. Her first love, however, is science fiction and she has three series in the genre: post-apocalyptic monsters in Land of Szornyek; soft science fiction series, The Sagittan Chronicles; and scifi fairytale retellings in Rove City. She has also had numerous short stories published in a variety of anthologies and magazines and is the author of children's books series Rutherford the Unicorn Sheep.She lives with her spouse, enormous Great Pyrenees dog, and two cats.You can find her work on Kobo, Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Apple, GooglePlay, and Payhip. Visit www.arielesieling.com for more information.

    Other titles in The Shadow Queen and Other Tales Series (4)

    View More
    View More

    Read more from Ariele Sieling

    Related to The Shadow Queen and Other Tales

    Titles in the series (4)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    General Fiction from #Booktok

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Shadow Queen and Other Tales

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Shadow Queen and Other Tales - Ariele Sieling

      Foreword: On Darkness

      In the world of fiction, the word dark gets tossed around a lot. But what dark actually means is entirely subjective. There are certain elements we all agree constitute more dark or less dark, but overall, there is not any singular understanding of exactly how dark something might be to be classified as dark. A romance reader might find any references to fear or terror or death to be dark, but a horror reader might find a story with a happy ending to be not dark—even if said story was filled with gore, violence, and death.

      What it means to be dark is relative, contextual, and personal.

      In my opinion, this collection of original fairy tales, The Shadow Queen and Other Tales, is a little darker than my previous collections. In fact, from my perspective, it’s a little darker than anything I’ve written across my entire bibliography. I wrote the first four tales in the throes of a period of depression for me, and the fifth when I was coming out of it, and I think that is represented within the structure of the stories themselves.

      But to simply say that these stories are darker than my others, doesn’t offer much in terms of specificity. In fact, the most general definition of dark when applied to storytelling identifies any stories that include dark or mature elements, such as murder, death, abuse, and anything that examines the more horrifying side of being human—either in a deep, detailed way or even just distant mentions. Some also use the term dark to describe very specific types of darkness, and this is most clearly seen in genre classifications.

      The dark romance genre, for example, is a subgenre of romance that specifically deals with relationships involving abduction, rape fantasies, captivity, and BDSM. The dark fantasy genre incorporates elements of horror into an otherwise fantasy-based story, and can include elements such as supernatural horror, an anti-hero, a narrative told from a monster’s point of view, or extreme violence and moral ambiguity.

      But dark can be much, much vaguer, and hard to pin down. Dark can refer to thematic elements or tone as well, even if a story doesn’t fall into a specific dark genre categorization, or have extreme violence, gore, or terror. For example, philosophical stories that deal with existentialism, nihilism, or meaninglessness can often feel dark, even without many specific darker elements—simply because of their pessimistic take on the world. The Stranger by Albert Camus is a good example of this. (Spoilers incoming.)

      There are two key dark scenes in The Stranger: the first is when the main character, Meursault, murders a man for no reason, and the second is when Meursault is put to death. Despite dealing with a dark action, both moments are portrayed from a distance and with some indifference by the narrator. There is no explicit violence, no descriptive gore, no detailed descriptions. Throughout the other parts of the book, Camus portrays Meursault as a very basic sort of human, who doesn’t care much for anything other than pursing the most basic pleasures in life—entertainment, sex, and swimming, mostly. But despite the cheerful depictions of sunshine and the beach, and the lack of explicit violence, the story itself can feel very dark and hopeless, because of the narrative glimpses at the main character’s lack of concern for others around him, his inability to experience emotion, and his perspective that human life is fundamentally meaningless.

      I also think the underlying narrative structure can cause a story to be perceived as dark, or at least make it seem darker. For example, a story where the protagonist has a negative character arc—where their character worsens throughout the course of the book, rather than improves—can feel dark. A tragedy wherein the protagonist fails to achieve their goal may also be considered dark, even if other dark moments such as murder or death don’t occur.

      For example, Romeo and Juliet, which you are probably familiar with, is a tragedy: the main characters fail to achieve their goal (of being together and also alive), and die at the end. But much of the story is filled with banter, humor, and romance. The narrative contrasts darkness and light to create a sense of dramatic irony at the end of the story. And despite being a dark story when taken as a whole, many scenes within the story do not feel dark—at least, not until you find out what happens at the end.

      Darkness is subjective. Some readers find that depictions of gore, violence, and abuse cause them to have feelings of fear and anxiety, and in some cases can trigger panic attacks or other mental health symptoms. But others find that these sorts of fictional depictions make them feel freer and lighter, as if they are unbound from their own chains when immersed in the story. How much darkness a person needs for a story to feel dark will depend on the person. Darkness includes many varying shades of shadow.

      I will use myself as an example. As a kid, my family did not have a television. I watched movies maybe three or four times a year, at a friend’s house or at my grandparents’ houses. When I was a teenager and first started watching movies with friends, they dropped me right into PG-13 and R-rated movies, and I had absolutely no tolerance for it. The first twenty minutes of Die Another Day, the James Bond movie, gave me nightmares for weeks, and I had to sleep with a light on. I was 17.

      It wasn’t until I was in my twenties and started binge-watching Doctor Who (and willingly suffering the subsequent nightmares for my love of the story) that I finally began to build up some endurance for darker themes. And I think we can all agree that Doctor Who is not what most people would even consider close to the realm of dark. And now, through repeated exposure and willingness to stretch myself, I can bear a lot more darkness than the average reader—at least when it comes to fictional depictions of darkness.

      So when I say the original fairy tales you’re about to read are darker than my previous stories, I don’t mean there is more violence or more gore than in my other books—Land of Szornyek is nothing but monsters and fighting, after all! And there aren’t necessarily scenes that are considered common traumatic triggers for people with PTSD or CPTSD. But in these stories, the good guys don’t always win. The good guys aren’t always even good guys. Right and wrong is a little fuzzier. Themes of moral ambiguity run through each story. And I’m not entirely sure if I want to root for most of the characters.

      But these stories do reflect some of my own experiences of the world.

      Like, the good guys aren’t always good guys. There isn’t always a right answer. Sometimes we do things because we can, not because it’s right or good or we should. Or we do them because we have to make a choice and can’t predict the outcome. And sometimes, we’ll never know the answers to our questions. When we ask why, the universe will answer: Just because. Que sera, sera.

      Cleo and the Wisp of Wind

      Once upon a time, there lived a little girl named Cleo with brown hair and brown eyes. She didn’t think she was anything special because all the main characters in the stories had raven-black hair and

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1