Two Fairy Tale-Based Novels, Compared

Learning techniques from published novels is something we writers do a lot. One way to analyze what you’re seeing in a novel is by comparing two similar works.

When I happened to read two fairy tale-based fantasies back-to-back, I noticed that I was drawn more to T. Kingfisher’s Nettle & Bone (Tor, 2022) than to Elana K. Arnold’s Damsel (Balzer & Bray, 2018).

Both novels are very well written. The authors made distinct and compelling choices for their particular stories and both authors have something to say about women and their roles in the world. Nettle & Bone is adult fantasy (the main character is 30), though it feels like YA. Damsel is YA and won a 2019 Printz honor award.

In terms of tone, I happen to be partial to novels with a hint (or more) of humor, which Kingfisher provides in her novel. Damsel is definitely more serious and darker overall.

It’s not just the tone of the novels that’s different, however.

I’ll share a few quick observations to show you what I mean.

Damsel begins with setting:

“The castle seemed to grow from the cliffs that cupped the shoreline. Its jagged-peaked turrets pierced the rain-heavy clouds above; its windows were gaping mouths and gored-out eyes. Between the slate-gray cliffs and the smoke-gray sky and the churning gray sea and the ghost-gray mist, it was a gray place, indeed. It was so thoroughly gray that a traveler who lost his way could be blinded by it—by the overwhelming grayness that permeated everything, erasing vision entirely.” (page 1)

The first sentence seems almost gentle compared to the second with its sharp words—jagged, pierced, gored-out. The third sentence uses “gray” 5 times. This is obviously not a light-hearted, happy place, nor is the story itself.

I wonder now if Arnold’s attention to setting right at the beginning is part of her overall point. Is this one way she’s commenting on societal structures (and literal structures) that restrict women?

Nettle & Bone also begins with setting:

“The trees were full of crows and the woods were full of madmen. The pit was full of bones and her hands were full of wires.” (page 1)

Kingfisher’s first paragraph uses “full” 4 times and the same structure for the two sentences. Perhaps that’s to give it a fairy tale feel. Despite the “madmen” and pit “full of bones,” I’d argue that this setting doesn’t feel as immediately oppressive as Arnold’s.

After this quick bit of setting, Kingfisher introduces readers to her main character:

“Her fingers bled where the wire ends cut her. The earliest cuts were no longer bleeding, but the edges had gone red and hot, with angry streaks running backward over her skin. The tips of her fingers were becoming puffy and less nimble.”

The “her” in this paragraph is Marra, the main character of Nettle & Bone. She is clearly in the middle of some strange action in a strange location—a charnel pit—all on the first page.

In Damsel, on the other hand, the first character that readers meet is not the damsel herself, but her rescuer: “Sitting upon the broad back of his night-black steed, Prince Emory of Harding scanned the vast gray scene around him.” (page 1)

We don’t meet the damsel until page 41: “When the damsel woke, it was to a gentle rocking. The awareness of her naked limbs pressed one against another. An arm around her. A hard surface beneath her.”

The damsel is passive at first and at the mercy of her rescuer. Her ability to take action for herself is greatly inhibited whereas Marra is active from page 1.

Until I went back to intentionally compare the beginnings of these two novels, I thought the main reason that I preferred Nettle & Bone (both are good!) was because of the gently humorous tone.

But I can see now that the tone was only one part of it. The active female protagonist also appealed to me more.

What kinds of writerly choices appeal to you?