Review: South of the Sun: Australian Fairy Tales for the 21st Century

South of the Sun: Australian Fairy Tales for the 21st Century

by Australian Fairy Tale Society

Kindle, $9.99

Buy this book

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Imagine your favourite fairy tale.

Imagine your favourite fairy tale going for a stroll through the backstreets of Melbourne's CBD, holding a snag sanga and whistling a Cold Chisel song.

That's what South of the Sun is.

Well, that's my terribly convoluted way of describing this amazing book of Australian fairy tales, anyway.

Going in, I didn't know what to expect. I'll admit, I haven't really read (or thought about) many fairy tales since I was a kid. But this took me back to my primary school days, shoved some fairy bread in my clammy little hands and let me frolick a magical land again. Except this time, it felt more like home.

South of the Sun: Australian Fairy Tales for the 21st Century is an illustrated collection of fairy tales filled with loads of incredible talent. My favourite thing about this anthology was how it bent and swayed with each story—no two were the same. Each one sent me in a different direction, and I found myself glued to each page, wondering whether the next story would make me laugh or get the feelz.

It's impossible for me to pick a favourite. Each shone in its own way. However, I would simply be unable to forgive myself if I did not mention the short story Jack, the Beanstalk and the NBN by Lindy Mitchell-Nilsson in my review. I don't want to spoil anything, because I think this story works best going in blind, but let me just quote the first paragraph to draw you in:

Once upon a time, beyond the black stump, there lived a poor mother and her son, Jack. The pair had fallen on tough times. Young Jack was one of the chronically underemployed rural youth, and his single mother was on Newstart. Then Centrelink lost all their paperwork, the local Centrelink office closed down, the call centre never answered their calls and the family’s new NBN connection made going online impossible, because the NBN is rubbish.

Relatable.

An Australian book of fairy tales wasn't something I thought I needed until I read it. Reading stories set in places you've been—or even the suburb you live in—is, well, pretty cool. And whether you're a fairy tale-noob or a fairy tale-buff (I don't know the official title for someone who knows a lot about fairy tales. Please don't @ me) there's something everyone can enjoy in this book.

In fact, I think the only requirement to enjoy this anthology is to be a person. So, if you're reading this, you should probably read South of the Sun too.

Thank you to Odyssey Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.