“Oh, Toadling” is a phrase you’ll be uttering many, many times through T. Kingfisher’s delightful, heartbreaking, fairy-tale-told-on-its-head Thornhedge, a charming and tense dissection of why a princess may get herself locked in a tower, why a fairy would do such a thing, and what drives a noble knight to uncover the truth of it all. Kingfisher is known for taking the form of the fairy tale, and like any good magician, stretching it, reshaping, and happily twisting it into something new and exciting. In this case, it is the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty in her talented hands, and by story’s end, nothing will be as you expect.
Toadling, named for her penchant for transformation into the creature itself, is a changeling, taken from her mortal parents by the grabsy-tricksy hands of the fae at birth. Rather than taking wing with fae of the air or dancing among the roots and branches of the fae of the land, Toadling (as she is come to be called) is given to the Greenteeth, those fae of the dark, murky water of bog and fen and swamp, their magic that of transformation and obfuscation, hiding and hidden, water and shadow. And for many years within the waters of Faerie, Toadling thrives, learning magic and hunting, basking in the love of her family. When she hits adulthood, though, greater powers come to her, asking a favor: to bring a blessing to a newborn child, a princess of a king and queen. And in a moment of very human fumbling, Toadling botches the blessing. The story unspools from there, as we learn what comes of the princess-to-be, where a certain wall of briars emerges from, and what happens when a wandering knight decides he must know what lies beyond them.
Buy the Book
Thornhedge
The star of this story is, of course, Toadling. Say what you will of T. Kingfisher’s impeccable ability to craft a narrative, dress a scene, and infuse sentence after sentence with magic—she sure can craft a compelling, complicated protagonist to root for in all the ups and downs of her work. That’s not to say we must count out Halim, the genuine, kind, caring, and inquisitive young Muslim knight who, having heard tales of the sleeping princess and the wall of thorns, comes to find the truth, only to find the truly befuddled Toadling desperate to keep him out. We even can’t discount Princess Fayette, a tragic child who, by virtue of movements outside of her periphery, cannot be any more than what she is—a danger, through and through. But through all of Thornhedge, there is Toadling. Human and shy, unconfident but stalwart, self-deprecating but brave, she is a walking (and at times, hopping) contradiction of a character—too human for Faerie, and a little too Faerie to be at ease in the mortal world. But she tries. Oh, how she tries. And even when she is at her most lost, her tenacity, courage, and hope continue to see her through.
Like many of T. Kingfisher’s works, this novella is atmospheric and engrossing. In the breath of a chapter, it completely immerses you in a world gone by in centuries and introduces Toadling, afraid of anyone ever finding her charge sleeping beyond the thorns. Chapter by chapter, complications ratchet up the tension until, like all fairy tales, they give way to the fate that was desperately held back for so long. At times, Kingfisher opts more for vibes than concrete details; there is some fuzziness around what kind of world and time we find ourselves in, as well as some mechanics of magic and some reasons for a few narrative choices that led us to the present day. Still, our heroine’s charm, kind nature, and determination more than made up for any brief moments of confusion, and instantly brought me right back into the story.
Thornhedge continues T. Kingfisher’s successful run of fairy tale tellings with her own unique spin and flair to them, poking holes and asking questions in all the right places, with a complex and virtuous voice leading readers down the rabbit hole of what is the truth waiting to be found in these fairy tales, who is a hero and who a villain. With the excellent foils of Halim and Fayette to bounce off, a mistake she finally has the chance to fix, and a family waiting for her to return to Faerie, Toadling’s story is a balm for the heart. If I had my fairy tale wish, we’d find her on another adventure after Thornhedge, for Kingfisher has given us a protagonist I would gladly read about for many years to come. Until that day, please pick up Thornhedge, and meet our beloved Toadling for yourself. You won’t be disappointed. And please, don’t touch the thorns; they’re sharp.
Thornhedge is published by Tor Books.
Martin Cahill is a writer living in Queens who works as the Marketing and Publicity Manager for Erewhon Books. He has fiction work forthcoming in 2021 at Serial Box, as well as Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Fireside Fiction. Martin has also written book reviews and essays for Book Riot, Strange Horizons, and the Barnes and Noble SF&F Blog. Follow him online at @mcflycahill90 and his new Substack newsletter, Weathervane, for thoughts on books, gaming, and other wonderfully nerdy whatnots.
