Beauty - Sherri S. Tepper, 1991. ISBN 1 85798 722 5
Book 14 in the Fantasy Masterworks collection, published by Gollancz
The story of Beauty is based around the old fairytale of the Sleeping Beauty; except here, Beauty sidesteps her sleeping curse, only to be kindapped by a flim crew from the future, filming key events in the death of magic - the first of her many travels through and beyond time and space.
This may all seem a bit silly, but in fact the book turns out to be a serious and powerful and moving work, with some of the strangeness providing much needed light relief from the book's often dark tone. The future she is dragged to is a dark overpopulated dystopia (she does find somewhere worse, later), and her own personal life is suitably laced with suffering. This is certainly not a children's story.
The book is helped somewhat by the fact that Beauty is an appealing main charater - she seems reasonably bright and capable, and the diary format allows her to have a view on everything without becoming obnoxious. I certainly found it quite easy to identify with and to care for her. The various settings throughout the book are well drawn, and the time travel aspect of the plot is reasonably unobtrusive - a way of adding a very broad scope to the book, rather than a central theme in its own right.
The book does have some weaknesses. The number of fairy stories referenced can become quite fatiguing, and people that violently disagree with the sentiments expressed in the book will probably become frustrated with it. However, all in all, it is a very good book, both moving and refreshingly different, and I would certainly count it among my favourites.
This review originally appeared in the CUSFS 'termly' magazine, TTBA, vol. 29, issue 2, page 11.