Pan's Labyrinth is one of my all-time favourite films, so I was thrilled to get my hands on this new collaboration between the film's original writer/director Guillermo del Toro and bestselling children's author Cornelia Funke (best known for her Inkheart trilogy). I usually avoid movie tie-ins, because the writing quality is never great, but this retelling was utterly brilliant. With the beautiful illustrations, it would make a lovely present.
The story is set in Spain in 1944, five years after the Civil War. Ofelia is a thirteen-year-old girl whose widowed mother has recently married Capitán Vidal - a sadistic psychopath desperate for a son. Vidal is deeply resentful of the generals who have stationed him in a remote mill house, far from possible military glory. He is determined to wipe out the few remaining rebels hiding in the forest - success being the best form of revenge. Ofelia, immersed in her world of fairy tales, is oblivious to this. She misses her real father, instinctively hates Vidal, and is worried about her mother, who is in the last few weeks of a difficult pregnancy. To escape from this, Ofelia takes refuge in the forest, where she discovers a centuries-old labyrinth, fairies, and a sinister faun. The Faun tells Ofelia she is a reincarnation of the lost Princess Moanna, and if she wants to return to her former life in the Underworld, she will have to complete three tasks...
I loved this book, especially the amazing world Guillermo del Toro has created. If you enjoy old-style, traditional fairy stories, you'll recognise all the well-loved tropes, such as the impossible task and the dangers of eating fairy food. But the sheer brilliance of Pan's Labyrinth is that right from the start it works on so many different levels, depending what you want to believe. It can be a straight-forward urban fairy tale or an alternative world that Ofelia has created to cope with the horrors of real life. It reminded me of a mash-up of The Wizard of Oz, David Bowie's Labyrinth, and The Life of Pi. The historical aspect, showing the reality of war, and that humans are far more capable of evil than mythical characters in a story, adds another dimension.
I loved that there are shorter tales woven throughout the text, explaining the grim stories behind some of the objects mentioned, such as Vidal's pocket watch, along with the history of the labyrinth and the mill pond. From a reader's point of view, it's like opening a present and finding another present inside, and then another one, and so on. The way all these stories are linked is pure genius!
Would you like it? Well, Pan's Labyrinth is a dark fantasy/urban fairy tale with a sprinkling of horror. Despite the cover, this is a story best suited to adults or teenagers because there are several gory scenes. Fans of the film will love it, because the mini tales add another layer to the familiar story. Although there is no romance, I can also see it appealing to fans of urban fairy tale authors such as Holly Black.
One of my new, all-time favourite reads! I'd give this a hundred stars if I could!
Thank you to Guillermo del Toro, Cornelia Funke and Bloomsbury for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.
