Retellings offer the chance for authors to take a new perspective on classic tales, from fairytales gone wrong to history with a twist. Read on for some fresh new takes on old favorites!
And check out opens in a new windowUpon A Starlit Tide by Kell Woods, on sale today!
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opens in a new windowUpon A Starlit Tide by Kell Woods
Upon a Starlit Tide is a dark and enchanting historical fantasy combining elements of “The Little Mermaid” and “Cinderella” into a wholly original tale of love, power, and betrayal.
Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758. To Lucinde Leon, the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner, the high walls of Saint-Malo are more hindrance than haven.
While her sisters are busy trying to secure advantageous marriages, Luce spends her days secretly being taught to sail by Samuel, her best friend—and an English smuggler. Only he understands how the waves call to her. Then one stormy morning, Luce rescues a drowning man from the sea.
Immediately drawn in by the stranger’s charm, Luce is plunged into a world of glittering balls and faerie magic, seduction and brutality. Secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface, but as Luce wrestles with warring desires, she finds that her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper.
Or the scales of a sea-maid’s tail.
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opens in a new window A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes A Sorceress Comes to Call—a dark reimagining of the Brothers Grimm’s “The Goose Girl,” rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic. Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets in this house—and her mother doesn’t allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother’s beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t evil sorcerers. When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother’s next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother’s plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family.
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opens in a new windowDestroyer of Light by Jennifer Marie Brissett
This Afro-futuristic retelling of the Greek myth of Persephone is set after the Earth was destroyed from an alien invasion, and the rest of humanity has been sequestered to the planet Eleusis. In this world divided into four habitable zones – Day, Dusk, Dawn, and Night – a young girl is kidnapped from Dusk by a violent warlord, leaving her mother desperately searching. On another side of the planet, a search for a child born from a human and alien in a criminal underground trafficking ring for unknown purposes, and a young woman with inhuman powers rises through the ranks to become a soldier. These stories build to a boiling point when the fate of humans and aliens will be determined.
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opens in a new windowThe Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang
Joan of Arc with mechas in space. Do we have your attention yet? This retelling delivers devious politicking, high-stakes ship battles, and ruminations on queerness and the nature of identity.
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She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
Reimagining the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor, She Who Became the Sun follows an unnamed girl who is destined for nothingness, while her brother is destined for greatness. But when her brother, Zhu Chongba dies, the girl decides to steal his identity to flee to a monastery and escape her own death. After her safe haven is destroyed, however, Zhu realizes she also has the chance to claim another future: her brother’s abandoned greatness.
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opens in a new windowIn the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
Inspired by Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, opens in a new windowIn the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you opens in a new windowThe House in the Cerulean Sea and opens in a new windowUnder the Whispering Door.
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Lady Hotspur by Tessa Gratton
In this genderbent retelling of Henry IV, the Lady Knights are sworn to defend the prospective heir, Banna Mora. But when a rebellion ousts Mora and replaces her with leader of the Lady Knights, Hal Bolingbrooke, Mora is forced to choose between letting a king-killer rule, or taking up arms against her childhood best friend. War between the two Princes is inevitable – but Lady Hotspur could turn the tides with her support.
The Thousand Eyes
The Atlas Six
Light From Uncommon Stars
Winter’s Orbit 
The House in the Cerulean Sea