It has elements of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, set in an echo of Middle Earth, led by the women who are largely absent in Tolkien's world, plus (male) dwarfs. All are nameless, the better for us to know them, and maybe be them. I really wanted to see that build/emotional development and the was absolutely nothing. Hugely disappointed. It seems every time I delve into the world of a retelling I begin by pointing out how much I didn’t care for the original. I guess it should come as no surprise that Snow White and Sleeping Beauty weren’t my idea of a great time when I was a kid either. In fact, the entire world of Disney princesses kinda creeps me out – unless it’s these kind of princesses . . . .

She called for provisions, and for her horse, and then she rode out of the palace, towards the east.” urn:lcp:sleeperspindle0000gaim_c2g0:epub:846aed25-212a-4851-802e-79fe9fe921d8 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier sleeperspindle0000gaim_c2g0 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t06z1ps27 Invoice 1652 Isbn 0062398245This was a fun audiobook to listen to! It was quite interesting to see this story in two different forms of media: an illustrated novel/picture book and a full-cast dramatisation. Having read the book before, I already knew what to expect, and having seen Chris Riddell's illustrations, it was easy to picture the story and the characters while listening to this dramatisation. The story was fun (like the original novel), and I still really like how Neil Gaiman made his own versions of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. The actors (and their accents) were a pleasant and nice addition. Then she decides she wants to have adventures instead of marriage and tromps off into the sunset and away from her kingdom. This is one of my favourites from Gaiman. I'm not much of an audiobook person but I really loved this and honestly, I'd consume anything that has Gaiman's name stamped on it. So... clearly this review is biased. BBC made this available for free for a period of time. To anyone reading this, at this point of time you still have 12 more days to listen to this dramatisation of The Sleeper and the Spindle. It’s ideal for children, but equally delightful for adults in a suitable frame of mind - or wanting to be, as I was. Escape to childhood for half an hour. and the queen who is ready for some adventure, or so it seems, heads out to see what this nonsense is all about!

Their reading added a different dimension to the words that I remember reading from the print version and made it sound almost new to me, and I love that. The strong female main character, the queen, was brave and a perfect role model for young children. Edit, 2022: pals it’s been nearly EIGHT YEARS since I posted this review. I don’t care if you disagree. Good for you if you do, but I don’t need to hear about it. Any comments disagreeing with what I’ve said – or defending any of the choices made by anyone involved in publishing this book – will be deleted. Go have a cry about my opinion about a book no one even talks about anymore somewhere else, thanks ✌🏻 (Also I sincerely doubt this one review is going to affect NG in the slightest, so definitely don’t feel like you have to stand up for him. He won’t even see it. He’s got better things to do with his time than look at things posted on Goodreads almost a decade ago, and frankly so do I.)

The queen (Snow White) is preparing to marry her prince and to live happily in her kingdom until she’s informed of a sleeping enchantment that’s taken over everyone in a nearby land. She takes matters into her own hands, alongside her dwarves-at-arms, and leaves on a journey to see what this enchantment is all about.