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    The Sleeper and the Spindle
    The Sleeper and the Spindle
    The Sleeper and the Spindle
    Ebook95 pages35 minutes

    The Sleeper and the Spindle

    By Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    In a beautiful collaboration, New York Times bestselling and Newbery and Carnegie Medal-winning author Neil Gaiman and Kate Greenaway-winning illustrator Chris Riddell have created a thrillingly reimagined fairy tale, "told in a way only Gaiman can" and featuring "stunning metallic artwork" (GeekInsider.com).

    The result is a beautiful and coveted edition of The Sleeper and the Spindle that the Guardian calls "a refreshing, much-needed twist on a classic story."

    In this captivating and darkly funny tale, Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell have twisted together the familiar and the new as well as the beautiful and the wicked to tell a brilliant version of Snow White's (sort of) and Sleeping Beauty's (almost) stories.

    This story was originally published (without illustrations) in Rags & Bones (Little, Brown, 2013). This is the first time it is being published as an illustrated, stand-alone edition, and the book is a beautiful work of art.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 22, 2015
    ISBN9780062398260
    Author

    Neil Gaiman

    Neil Gaiman is the New York Times bestselling and multi-award winning author and creator of many beloved books, graphic novels, short stories, film, television and theatre for all ages. He is the recipient of the Newbery and Carnegie Medals, and many Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner Awards. Neil has adapted many of his works to television series, including Good Omens (co-written with Terry Pratchett) and The Sandman. He is a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR and Professor in the Arts at Bard College. For a lot more about his work, please visit: https://www.neilgaiman.com/

    Read more from Neil Gaiman

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    Reviews for The Sleeper and the Spindle

    4/5

    92 ratings58 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Not a retelling, a reinvention, reminding me of some of the darker inverted tales of the 1980s, but from this century's perspective.
    • 5/5
      I was already a fan of both Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell, so it would’ve been a great surprise if I hadn’t enjoyed this illustrated story. I liked the way Neil Gaiman kept true to the heart of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty but still played with our expectations about the characters in the stories and their fates. The twist at the climax of the story I found to be fresh but still in keeping with the spirit of these fairytales. The Queen was probably my favorite part though: equal parts intelligent, courageous, strong, and feminine—but without a giant neon sign pointing at it saying, LOOK, A WELL-ROUNDED FEMALE PROTAGONIST. She simply was.
    • 4/5
      I listened to the dramatized version of this short story. I loved the interaction of two famous fairy tale princesses. Mr. Gaiman turns the audience expectations on their head - the villain of the piece is not who you would expect.
    • 5/5
      Can Neil Gaiman make anything not qoeyh reading, I don't think so. He can transform and take any tale by putting ghis magic upon it His writing and especially his narration is like no other !
    • 4/5
      I've wanted to read Neil Gaiman's work for a while now, and that's why I borrowed this one. It was only later that I realized it was a children's book. But then I figured I'd planned on reading some children's books anyway, so it's probably a good thing!


      Well, I'm glad I read it! I actually coupled the ebook with its Audiobook partner, and the experience was so awesome. Apparently, this book has been performed by a full cast, with different people for different characters, background noises, everything! 


      I loved the story too. It was short, sweet and ended the best way possible. I loved it that there were almost no names in the story. They were all just short dwarf, old woman, the queen and so on. 


      All in all, The Sleeper and The Spindle was an enjoyable and fun read! I would definitely recommend all the kids to plug in to the audiobook, because it's a must-have experience! 
    • 4/5
      Echoing a lot of reviewers here, this is a 2.75-3 for the writing and a 5 for the illustrations. Was hoping for more here, but the edition is so lovely to hold and read that it ends up around a 4.
    • 4/5
      A very interesting reimagining of two classic tales: Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. It ties together the obvious similarities of the two tales seamlessly and is well done, though the climax is rather short and uneventful. Overall, it was an engaging and intriguing short story that I really enjoyed. The illustrations by Chris Riddell are very well done and integrated with the text very well.
    • 4/5
      Wow!!! It's a short story but another magical story by Neil Gaiman. It's definitely not the Sleeping Beauty from Disney but more of a dark Fairy tale. Love it!!!
    • 3/5
      Neil Gaiman imagines an extension of the Snow White story. Chris Riddell's illustration drawings are amazing.
    • 4/5
      This is a retelling of a fairy tale (could you tell from the title?) that could be entirely familiar... but of course, with Neil Gaiman it has a new twist on it.I can't really say more without giving away the story. I often enjoy reading Neil Gaiman's stories because he always starts out with such an interesting premise and spin on storytelling, but he can be a little hit or miss for me in how I react to how everything plays out. I feel like in some ways his short stories are stronger, and this was a great example of that. The illustrations by Chris Riddell are fantastic, atmospheric, and dark; the story wouldn't be the same without them.
    • 4/5
      Sleeping beauty with a twist, to say more would be to spoil it.
    • 4/5
      A lovely retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story as only Neil Gaiman can tell it. All is not what it seems. It's also a great mashup of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Beautiful Illustrations enhance the story.
    • 5/5
      Different, clever and subtle - I absolutely loved this. A thoughtful re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty accompanied by beautiful illustrations. Fantastic!
    • 4/5
      Summary: Three dwarves, on their way to the queen's wedding, discover that there's a plague spreading throughout the land - a plague of sleeping, rumored to be spreading from an enchanted castle in a neighboring kingdom. The Queen, realizing the danger to her own people, and being a survivor of an enchanted sleep herself, puts the wedding plans on hold and heads out with the dwarves towards the enchanted castle, and the sleeper waiting within. But what they find is not quite what they had expected…Review: Oh, we know I'm a sucker for fairy tale retellings, and so if you toss two of them in together, and provide a good twist at the end, and couch it in this strong of a "princesses saving themselves!" vibe, of course I'm going to love it. (Seriously, the Queen's fiancé, the Prince, is in this so briefly and doesn't get any lines of his own and the Queen "chucked him beneath his pretty chin and kissed him until he smiled" and I grinned so broadly my face hurt.) The story is exactly the right length; long enough to develop some interesting threads but short enough that it moves along at a good clip (although maybe it was a smidgen too short; I was never really clear on why the castle had been cursed for 70 years but the sleeping sickness had only now started to spread). The writing style is… very Gaiman-ish, is the best way I can describe it. It's also fairly dark - not inappropriate for children dark, although there is a definite whiff of zombie-like horror when the sleeping townspeople start coming after the Queen and the dwarves. But it's dark in the way that most fairy tales are dark - and in ways that will make you re-evaluate your favorite fairy tales, to see if everything really is what it seems to be. I've now encountered this story in three forms - first in the audio version, then in print as part of the collection Trigger Warning, and then as a standalone storybook illustrated by Chris Riddell that I got from the library. The audio is a full-cast audio, with background production noises (glasses clinking in the taproom of an inn, zombie sleepwalkers shuffling up a flight of stairs, etc.) The storybook is filled with gorgeous black and white illustration with touches of metallic gold picked out here and there. They both add something to the bare-bones text version of the story. Full-cast audiobooks are a tricky sell for me, although I've certainly liked them in the past, but in this case, while the full-cast-ness of it was fine, I found the production noises mostly distracting rather than atmospheric (as was also the case in in Swordspoint). The illustrated version is absolutely lovely, the drawings beautiful and slightly dark but often with a bit of a sense of humor, perfectly in keeping with the tone of the story. 3.5 out of 5 stars for the audio, 4 out of 5 for the storybook.Recommendation: Good for fairy tale fans of (almost) all ages - probably not for the wee littles, but anyone who can handle the length should be fine with the content of the story.
    • 3/5
      Beautiful, short.
    • 5/5
      Diese und weitere Rezensionen findet ihr auf meinem Blog Anima Libri - Buchseele

      Ich weiß ehrlich gesagt gar nicht, was ich zu dieser Graphic Novel großartig schreiben soll. Eigentlich reichen zwei Worte voll und ganz, um sie zu beschreiben: Wunderschön & Märchenhaft. Okay, vielleicht könnte man noch zwei weitere Wörter hinzufügen: Absolut lesenswert! Und bei „lesenswert“ fällt mir auch direkt etwas ein, was mein eigentlich erstmal klar stellen müsste:

      Denn im Grunde genommen ist „Der Fluch der Spindel“ von Neil Gaiman gar keine Graphic Novel, sondern „nur“ ein illustriertes Märchen. Sicher, die Illustrationen von Chris Riddell sind zauberhaft, wenn auch vom Stil her etwas speziell, glänzen dafür aber auch noch mit edlen, goldenen Metalldruckelementen, aber sie sind nicht notwendig, um die Geschichte zu verstehen, sie haben einen ausschließlich dekorativen Wert.

      So auch die große, doppelseitige Abbildung auf der die namenlose Königin, die mit Hilfe dreier Zwerge das Gebirge am Rande ihres Reichs über- bzw. eher unterquert, um das Nachbarkönigreich und vor allem dessen Prinzessin, von einem Schlaffluch zu befreien, besagte Prinzessin wach küsst. ABER, auch wenn diese Abbildung mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit die ist, die einem beim ersten Durchblättern ins Auge fällt, dieses Märchen ist kein lesbischer Mischmasch aus Schneewittchen und Dornröschen. Stattdessen ist hier einfach vieles nicht so wie es auf den ersten Blick erscheint.

      Aber, und auch das ist wichtig, es ist ein Märchen. Und das nicht nur, weil es den Stoff zweier Märchen mit einer gehörigen Portion schwarzen Humors und dunkler Magie neu verwebt, sondern auch stilistisch gesehen: Die Geschichte ist kurz, die 72 Seiten Umfang erreicht das Buch lediglich wegen der großflächigen Illustrationen und dem wenigen Text pro Seite. Die Figuren sind zweidimensional, sie haben keine ausgefeilten Charakter, keine Ecken und Kanten, verborgenen Seiten. Die Handlung hat eine überraschende Wendung, ist sonst aber sehr gradlinig und nicht allzu komplex.

      Trotzdem fand ich das Buch toll. Die Zeichnungen sind wie schon gesagt wunderschön, die Geschichte ist vielleicht recht simpel, dafür aber trotzdem sehr anders und überraschend. Mir hat Neil Gaimans „Der Fluch der Spindel“ mit seinen Illustrationen von Chris Riddell daher sehr gut gefallen und ich kann es nur wärmstens empfehlen!
    • 5/5
      Great take on a classic with beautiful illustrations
    • 4/5
      Ok I am a fan of gaiman's sandman, but I found the story a little confusing. What was going on? Why are there dwarves when they don't do much? Why didn't the old woman explain things? Huh? But I am still giving this four stars cos the illustrations were breathtaking and this edition is stunning. It pays to have a good illustrator, and a publisher willing to pull out the stops in production.
    • 3/5
      I picked this book up because it looked pretty and was written by Neil Gaiman. The illustrations were beautiful. I liked this re-imagined version of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. It was the story of both while simultaneous the story of neither. At 72 pages including several full page (sometimes full double page spread) illustrations, it wasn't a large time investment. I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of fairy tales.
    • 4/5
      This is a retelling; a dark, twisted take on "Sleeping Beauty," and , as we slowly learn, "Snow White." Not a damsel in distress to be found, all the princes are off being heroes somewhere else, and there are even zombies. The illustrations are fabulous. I enjoyed this illustrated book very much indeed. Recommended for people who like fairy tale retellings, people who like fairy tales with kickass females, and people who appreciate illustrated books. Some readers were disappointed that 1) there wasn't much character development. Hello! It's a fairy tale -- flat characters are one of the hallmarks. That's sort of like faulting Charles Dickens for his lack of car chases. And 2) some readers are upset that this isn't a lesbian retelling, which they expected because of one of the pictures int he book. Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss.
    • 2/5
      SPOILERS!!!!!I had the same problem with this book that I have with every Gaiman book I've read: it's more a series of scenes with intricate details with almost no linking transitions, which makes for an unbalanced book. The idea behind the book: Snow White is a queen who rescues Sleeping Beauty and then turns her back on her destiny of marriage and ruling a kingdom to go adventuring with her three dwarfish companions.
    • 5/5
      You could say that Neil Gaiman has twisted the story of the Sleeping Beauty and wrested this dark little tale out of it. But that's not quite the truth. It's more as if, with the expert assistance of Chris Riddell, he has given it a good shake and caught what came out. The Sleeper and The Spindle is surprising - Gaiman has managed to look through the cobwebs that gather on well-known folk tales and find the real story. In fairy tales, witches delude themselves that they are beautiful, and youth is innocent and lovely, but look deeper, and it's all a bit more complicated. It's not for me to tell you what he saw, but as usual, Gaiman has found the 'deeper magic', and it's curious and very satisfying.
    • 4/5
      A unique twist here. I like the merging of the two different fairytales. I think, however, that I missed a lot by listening to this instead of reading it. I didn't realize it was full of illustrations. What would be the best combination in my opinion is to listen to it while following along in the book, because this narration was wonderful. It had a full cast of voices with lots of very good sound effects.
    • 5/5
      Only an inventive and astute mind can create a new fairytale out of two very much loved fairytales; combined with a magical artisan, the story is sure to take on a life all on its own...THE SLEEPER AND THE SPINDLE is an enchanting retelling of both Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. The author took the most memorable, pivotal and historical parts of each story and weaved a new one full of magic, wonder and intriguing new characters.Our Snow White is a warrior who is being forced to marry in order to keep her Queen status. However, news of a curse gone awry forces the Queen to skip her nuptials and go on a long journey to find what the curse is and how to stop it. Flanked by some not-so-merry men, the Queen encounters zombie-like obstacles before making a few discoveries and reaching her destination. There, she finds an elderly woman with a tragic tale. And a Sleeping Beauty who is full of cunning surprises and shocking revelations.And in the end, the Queen makes the most startling choices... and will she go back to her kingdom and remain their queen?Neil Gaiman does not disappoint, he continues to enchant me with his creepy style and unsettling twists. Chris Riddell's illustrations only enhances the eeriness and heightened my imagination, bringing the characters to life in a way that made me stare at the pictures to be sure that they weren't real, or moving... I wish to say more, but I fear two things: one, it may be spoilery; and two, that those things will come to haunt me in my sleep.As you can see by the book's stunning cover, the illustrations are fascinating and, like I mentioned, they will capture your attention and you will have a hard time looking away. You will be forced to stare and study them, they are gorgeous, it will be hard to look away.THE SLEEPER AND THE SPINDLE is simply beautiful - swift, grim and mesmerizing. Both the author and the illustrator will leave you in a stupor wanting more. I highly recommend this not only to those who are enthralled with fairytales, but for those who are looking for something different to escape into for a little while... unless you find yourself enchanted by their spell.You have been warned.
    • 4/5
      Gaiman’s retelling of the classic Snow White and Sleeping Beauty fairy tales is what any Gaiman fan would expect. It defies convention and normal expectations. A young woman leaves her castle on the day of her wedding to go rescue someone in need. Her strength and courage, along with a little help from her friends, takes her far. The UK edition is just breathtaking. There are illustrations from Chris Riddell that absolutely make the book. There is a lovely vellum dust jacket and hints of gold throughout the black and white drawings. The only disappointment is that the story is so brief. It felt like it was just beginning. We only saw the tip of the iceberg and I was left wondering what happened next.
    • 5/5
      A great short story enhanced with Dore-esque art.
    • 5/5
      Who doesn't love a new, delicious Neil Gaiman fairy tale retelling? Add to that story new and equally delicious Chris Riddell illustrations and you have the recipe for an almost instant classic, and neither disappoint in this fairy tale remix. Leave it to Gaiman to take one fairy tale that we're familiar with (in this case, a Snow White a few steps away from any version we've seen before) and mix it with another (a Sleeping Beauty we only think we know), to come up with something that we couldn't have seen coming.On the eve of her wedding, a trio of dwarfs tell their young queen tales they've heard in their travels of an enchanted princess who has slept for seventy or more years in a neighboring kingdom. What alarms the dwarfs is that the sleeping enchantment seems to be growing, reaching farther and farther out from the enchanted kingdom each day. Taking it upon herself to rescue not only her kingdom from the potential sleeping enchantment but to also free the young princess herself, the queen postpones her wedding, dons her armor and sword, and sets forth with her dwarfs in search of the sleeping princess.While we the reader think we know where the story is going, Gaiman takes our hand and leads us down an entirely different road, creating such a magical twist in the story that he creates his own unique and powerful fairy tale. Riddell's illustrations are fantastic, accenting the story perfectly, while being perfectly accented in golden metallic ink. In fact, this is probably one of the more beautifully presented volumes that I've picked up in some time, from the velum, transparent cover right down to the font choice. Clearly, there was significant effort put into giving Gaiman's story and Riddell's art the appropriate packaging.While not available yet in the US, I'd recommend picking up this volume if you're a fan of Gaiman, Riddell, fairy tales, or any combination of the above. Quite frankly, I don't know that any US edition will match the beauty of this UK edition. I know that generally Riddell's illustrations only accompany Gaiman's UK editions, and while I'm sure the US illustrator would do just as admirable a job (I would imagine Skottie Young, as has been the case lately), I'd hate for anyone to miss out on this particular edition, just in case. Do yourself a favor; it's completely worth the money to track down a copy for yourself.
    • 4/5
      A beautiful re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty by one of the UK’s most popular authors!Synopsis:The night before her wedding, a young Queen learns of a mysterious enchantment befalling the neighbouring kingdom. Told by her dwarf friends that the people of the kingdom are in grave danger, she sets aside her wedding plans in order to help the people and save the princess. Battling the thorny forest, the Queen climbs the tower to awaken the beautiful princess, but everything is not as it seems, and this is definitely not the Sleeping Beauty you think you know!Review:I absolutely love Neil Gaiman’s work and this is by no means an exception. Growing up Sleeping Beauty was my favourite fairy tale and the opportunity to read an adaptation of it by an author like Neil Gaiman was a chance I absolutely could not miss. It is an absolutely beautiful book, and the illustrations are haunting and perfect, they really add to the eerie Gothic tone of the story. I don’t want to say too much about the actual story, except that it follows a similar vein as the traditional Sleeping Beauty tale, diverging on some points that will keep you guessing and ultimately add up to a very unique version of such a well known story. This is the second of Gaiman’s re-workings that I have read, and I’ll be honest and say I much prefer this to his Hansel and Gretel adaptation. The story, like most of Gaiman’s work is well written, and leaves enough of the plot a mystery to keep you guessing to the end. Gaiman definitely puts his own spin on it, you won’t be reading the same thing that’s been done time and time again. I really enjoyed this one, I loved the dwarfs and the almost lyrical way that it’s written. It’s a sweet, wonderful little book that is beautifully packaged and is a definite for any fairy tale lover’s collection.
    • 4/5
      The Sleeper and the Spindle is a gorgeous book: the illustrations are all in black and gold, and there are some really beautiful pages. Riddell was just the right illustrator to bring the story to life, I think. The copy I have is really great: the dust cover is transparent, with the pattern of roses on it; the cover of the book itself is the sleeping woman.

      If you know Neil Gaiman's work, the rest of this is perhaps not surprising. It takes both Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, and puts them in a unified world that is a little darker, a little different, a little more mature than the sanitised stories we see so much of now. This ain't Disney. It's still a fairytale, but it's something different, too -- something a little bit creepy, even.

      The LGBT representation that I have seen this book being lauded for is... not exactly. There's one kiss which appears to be so if you see the illustration on its own -- and it's a gorgeous illustration -- but it doesn't mean what it seems to mean, in context. Which is a little bit of a cop-out, really, since there's excitement around this book on the back of it.

      But really, romance isn't at the heart of this fairytale. A search for autonomy is really what's going on; a shrugging away from the familiar fairytale 'happy ever after'.
    • 4/5
      3.5 starsThere is an entire kingdom asleep next to one where the dark-haired queen (no names are used) will soon be getting married. She feels she and her dwarfs must go save the princess in the sleeping kingdom before her own wedding. Beautiful illustrations, but very detailed and mostly pencil, so hard to see on my e-reader. I reread it on my PC where the illustrations were larger and easier to see; also couldn’t see on my e-reader, but there were bits of gold in the illustrations, as well. I think, because it’s a short story, I felt like I could read through fairly quickly, but there is some complexity to this one, so I reread the end of it (while on my PC) to get a better idea of what actually happened and the twist at the end. I would recommend reading this one in print, or at least on a larger screen with colour. Quite good, though, and I liked the twist!

    Book preview

    The Sleeper and the Spindle - Neil Gaiman

    It was the closest kingdom to the queen’s, as the crow flies, but not even the crows flew it. The high mountain range that served as the border between the two kingdoms discouraged crows as much as it discouraged people, and it was considered unpassable.

    More than one enterprising merchant, on each side of the mountains, had commissioned folk to hunt for the mountain pass that would, if it were there, have made a rich man or woman of anyone who controlled it. The silks of Dorimar could have been in Kanselaire in weeks, in months, not years. But there was no such pass to be found, and so, although the two kingdoms shared a common border, nobody crossed from one kingdom to the next.

    Even the dwarfs, who were tough, and hardy, and composed of magic as much as of flesh and blood, could not go over the mountain range.

    This was not a problem for the dwarfs. They did not go over the mountain range. They went under it.

    Three dwarfs, traveling as swiftly as one through the dark paths beneath the mountains:

    Hurry! Hurry! said the dwarf at the rear. We have to buy her the finest silken cloth in Dorimar. If we do not hurry, perhaps it will be sold, and we will be forced to buy her the second finest cloth.

    We know! We know! said the dwarf at the front. And we shall buy her a case to carry it back in, so it will remain perfectly clean and untouched by dust.

    The dwarf in the middle said nothing. He was holding his stone tightly, not dropping it or losing it, and was concentrating on nothing else but this. The stone was a ruby, roughhewn from the rock and the size of a hen’s egg. It was worth a kingdom when cut and set, and would be easily exchanged for the finest silks of Dorimar.

    It would not have occurred to the dwarfs to give the young queen anything they had dug themselves from beneath the earth. That would have been too easy, too routine. It’s the distance that makes a gift magical, so the dwarfs believed.

    The queen woke early that morning. A week from today, she said aloud. A week from today, I shall be married.

    It seemed both unlikely and extremely final. She wondered how she would feel to be a married woman. It would be the end

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