Samhain Publishing, $3.50, ISBN 978-1-60928-168-7
Fantasy Erotica, 2010
Like other short stories in the Enchanted series, Deborah M Brown’s Snow is an erotic fantasy romp inspired by a fairy tale. In this one, the inspiration is clearly the story Snow White.
However, this is not a faithful “just add sex” adaptation of the old story. I don’t want to spoil the story, so let me just say that yes, there is a princess, the stepmother who dislikes her, seven dwarves, and plenty of lurid twists and turns. But Ms Brown proceeds to do so much more with this story, I am totally charmed despite the fact that there are probably too many things going on here for a story this short. The stepmother has a tragic human quality to her weaknesses, one that makes her a three-dimensional foil to our heroine, while Snow White is no damsel in distress.
There are four too many dwarfs here as only three stand out as individuals in some way, but the fate of one of them moves me, much to my surprise. I also have to express my profound admiration to the author for daring to make one of the dwarfs Snow White’s beau without putting him through the limb stretcher. Midgets need love too, and here, midgets get plenty of love!
As for the erotic elements of this story, oh, there are plenty of sex scenes here, but I don’t find them particularly sensual. Of course, other readers may beg to differ.
Snow should have been a much longer story so that the author could do justice to her fascinating characters. But as it is, this is a very intriguing, often inventive, and definitely entertaining take on a familiar fairy tale, with the author giving her own spin to the whole thing to make it feel brand new in many ways. I don’t know who this author is as this is the first time I’m reading her story, but she should stick around. I think we may get along just fine in the future.
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