Thomas the Rhymer by Elen Kushner

Title: Thomas the Rhymer

Author: Elen Kushner

Pages: 258

Finished: July 8, 2017

First Sentence: I'm not a teller of tales, not like the Rhymer.

Summary: (from Goodreads) A minstrel lives by his words, his tunes, and sometimes by his lies. But when the bold and gifted young Thomas the Rhymer awakens the desire of the powerful Queen of Elfland, he finds that words are not enough to keep him from his fate. As the Queen sweeps him far from the people he has known and loved into her realm of magic, opulence—and captivity—he learns at last what it is to be truly human. When he returns to his home with the Queen’s parting gift, his great task will be to seek out the girl he loved and wronged, and offer her at last the tongue that cannot lie.
 

Thoughts: I will freely admit, most of my negative thoughts towards this come from the fact that I was expecting something completely different. One of my favorite legends is Tam Lin. I've read many adaptations of the Tam Lin tale and was told that Thomas the Rhymer is similar. The problem is, the part I love most about Tam Lin is Janet. And Elspeth was no Janet.

I found the use of the different narrators interesting, though it didn't do too much for me in the story. I wasn't a huge fan of Thomas though. He just wasn't all that sympathetic to me. I also wasn't a huge fan of Elspeth. The best parts of the book? Fairyland and the riddles in Fairyland.

Read for the Retelling Challenge.