Adrienne Martini Reviews Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher (Tor 978-1250244093, $19.99, 128pp, hc) August 2023.
Thornhedge, a short novel by T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon), concerns a princess in a tower. The princess isn’t the main character; rather, the story is about Toadling, the human-ish person who is destined to stop the princess from murdering everyone she sees. As you’d expect from Vernon, this is a fairy tale told slantwise.
Toadling didn’t start her life as a were-toad. Instead, she was born to the King and Queen but swapped for a changeling. The greenteeth – think magical amphibians – raise Toadling, imbuing her with her own unusual abilities. As the changeling princess grows stronger, Toadling must rise to the occasion, even though she’d much rather remain with the greenteeth who love her.
Thornhedge is Vernon at her most Vernon-est. Descriptions leap off the page, like this one for Master Gourami, who had “a face like a catfish and the hair that sprouted from his ears moved restlessly, like whiskers.” There is whimsy and heart and pain. This story is both kind and brutal as it shows how narrow the power of love is. Stretched to the word count of a novel, Thornhedge wouldn’t be nearly as potent. As a short novel, it’s exactly as long as it should be – and we’re fortunate to have so many publishers willing to give these longer short works a chance to delight an audience.
Adrienne Martini has been reading or writing about science fiction for decades and has had two non-fiction, non-genre books published by Simon and Schuster. She lives in Upstate New York with one husband, two kids, and one corgi. She also runs a lot.
This review and more like it in the June 2023 issue of Locus.
While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to continue quality coverage of the science fiction and fantasy field.
©Locus Magazine. Copyrighted material may not be republished without permission of LSFF.
