The Sleeper and the Spindle: A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Neil Gaiman (Author, Narrator), Gwendoline Christie (Narrator), Penelope Wilton (Narrator),

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A brand new BBC Radio adaptation of Neil Gaiman's award-winning fairytale, merging Snow White and Sleeping Beauty to enchanting effect.

In a mountain kingdom far away, a young queen prepares for her wedding, believing her future is sealed. But when three dwarves bring news of a sleeping sickness sweeping across her realm, she knows she cannot stand by and do nothing. As a girl, she survived her own long, magical sleep, so she must try to turn back this new plague and save her people.

Abandoning her bridal finery, she dons her armour instead, and rides out to a castle at the very heart of the sleeping lands. There, she finds a beautiful princess, sound asleep, and a very old woman, forever awake. With no handsome prince in sight, the queen wakes the princess in the traditional way - but things are not as they seem, and it will take more than a kiss to ensure everyone lives happily ever after.

Penelope Wilton, Gwendoline Christie, Ralph Ineson and Neil Gaiman himself are among the star cast in this captivating fable of love, loss, hope and destiny.

This release is an extended cut of the story broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and features an exclusive introduction from Neil Gaiman.

Credits

Written by Neil Gaiman

Adapted by Katie Hims

Directed and produced by Allegra McIlroy

Recorded remotely by Sharon Hughes and John Benton

Sound design by Sharon Hughes

A BBC Audio North Production

Cast

The Narrator/The Old Woman - Dame Penelope Wilton

The Queen - Gwendoline Christie

The Home Secretary - Neil Gaiman

The First Dwarf - Ralph Ineson

The Second Dwarf - Stefan Adegbola

The Third Dwarf/The Prince/The Tinker/The Woodcutter - Ian Dunnett Jnr

The Pot Girl/The Young Girl/The Mother - Cecilia Appiah

The Maid/The Other Woman/The Stepmother - Emma Handy

The Father/The Inn Keeper/The Bandit - Roger Ringrose

The Child - Milton Dighton

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26th December 2020

Listening Length

1 hour and 12 minutes
Author

Neil Gaiman
Narrator

Gwendoline Christie, see all
Audible release date

28 January 2021
Language

English
Publisher

BBC Audio
ASIN

B08PC7QYNT
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	1 hour and 12 minutes
Author	Neil Gaiman
Narrator	Neil Gaiman, Gwendoline Christie, Penelope Wilton, Ralph Ineson, full cast
Audible.com.au Release Date	28 January 2021
Publisher	BBC Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08PC7QYNT
Best Sellers Rank	45,484 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 251 in Fairy Tale & Folklore Adaptations for Young Adults 990 in Science Fiction & Fantasy for Teens 998 in Literature & Fiction for Teens

Customer reviews

5 star		76%
4 star		13%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from Australia

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So much more than a fairytale mash-up!

Reviewed in Australia on 7 January 2016

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The Sleeper and the Spindle is a dark and twisted fairytale that takes components of Sleeping Beauty and mixes in Snow White and three of the dwarves. It is truly beautiful, largely due to the illustrations which My children and I devour frequently. I think this is what makes this so special, not only is it a unique take on a traditional fairytale (in fact fairytale feels too small a word for what this book is) but it allows you to reminisce when looking over the illustrations once you've finished. A sleeping enchantment has been spreading across the neighbouring kingdom and it won't be long until it starts effecting Snow White's people too. As the queen it is up to her to put a stop to it so Snow happily puts her wedding plans on hold, sets out on a quest to wake Sleeping Beauty and her people. This is not for young children as some of the themes are quite mature and there are some incredible dilemmas raised in fact, many adults can read it and be enchanted - it's a novelette that takes about 20-30 minutes to read. As for the kids, my 10 & 12year olds loved it! There are no handsome princes in sight - total chick power. This is a story where girls take centre stage and prove that they are more than capable of fighting their own battles. Neil Gaiman has written a fabulous story that turns the usual fairytale saccharine upside down and look out for the fabulous twist at the end. A very strong 5 stars

6 people found this helpful

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Julie Mattner

Beautifully illustrated but text was lacking

Reviewed in Australia on 19 January 2016

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The illustrations I this book are stunning - and for this reason I don't regret purchasing the book. Reworked fairytales or stories that give us the "truth" behind the well loved fairytales can make for interesting reading - and I did like the concept behind this one. However, it was the writing itself that let this book down. I purchased the kindle version and kept going back and forth and changing the iPad from landscape to portrait, just to check I wasn't skipping pages! It felt a bit like a first draft and that the filling just wasn't there.

One person found this helpful

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Sue Collins

Thankyou Mr Gaiman

Reviewed in Australia on 4 September 2016

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Once again, an outstanding tale. As always, a well written, satisfying story that any age will enjoy. Topped off with subtle advice on how to deal with narcissists. Love it!

One person found this helpful

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ozcopilot

Enjoyable fairy story

Reviewed in Australia on 4 May 2017

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This is a short story from Neil Gaiman, and well written (although in short sentences for children). It has a twist on the old fairy tales which is quite fun.

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Brenda Ford

A child's book - and all the better for it

Reviewed in Australia on 13 November 2015

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A different take on life choices, love, and what it is to find a way through difficult situations. Interesting and stimulating.

3 people found this helpful

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Phoenix

Sleeping beauty retelling

Reviewed in Australia on 23 September 2021

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Beautiful book for any fan of Neill Gaiman.

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Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in Australia on 4 May 2017

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Neil Gaiman always takes you to magical places with a twist.

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Frank

Good read for the pre teen readers

Reviewed in Australia on 3 May 2016

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Excellent children read a twist to keep any young reader reading.

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Top reviews from other countries

janifitz

It got great reviews as an alternative fairy tale and I'm a ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 February 2018

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Haven't read this all the way through to my daughter yet. It got great reviews as an alternative fairy tale and I'm a massive fan of Neil Gaiman but it's a bit creepy and I don't want to scare my child before bed! I love the book and the spin on the traditional tale. It helps to know the stories its talking about though which has been another problem for my daughter. As beautiful as the illustrations are, she also finds them a bit scary so this is a book for her when she's that bit older. Buy it though because every girl needs to know she doesn't need a prince to save her!

13 people found this helpful

Miss K. Southern

and I think this might be my favourite of them all so far

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 January 2018

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I've made my way through a small portion of Neil Gaiman's books now, and I think this might be my favourite of them all so far. My love of Fairy Tales (especially when they have a slightly creepy twist to them) obviously contributes to that, but I think most of all it was in this book that I really found myself unable to draw my eyes from Gaiman's writing. He has a serious knack for re-tellings with a twist. I was completely engrossed from start to finish! What's more, his unique take on the stories of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were a joy to read, and I was really taken aback by the surprise twist at the end. It's a really good one! The characters were memorable, I loved the idea that Snow White wanted more than just her 'happily ever after' and really enjoyed reading from her perspective (for the most part). The only thing that lost this one half a star was the fact that it was a mere 70 pages long! Yes, I know it was a book aimed at children, but I would have loved this one to be turned into a three hundred page, padded out adventure! Still, this is a wonderful story and Chris Riddell's illustrations were absolutely divine and really helped to enliven the imagination.

6 people found this helpful

J. Proctor

Such a gorgeous book and story!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 July 2017

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This is a brilliant book. A wonderful retelling of a well-known fairy-tale but with a twist or three along the way. The illustrations are sumptuously drawn and almost tempt the reader to colour them in because they look as though they are from a mindfulness colouring book.

The only real low point about this book is getting to the end of it. I read it on a journey to see my Dad the afternoon after it arrived and I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the illustrations. If you're a Neil Gaiman fan (which I am anyway) I think you'll love this story, but this isn't essential to enjoy the story. It's just a shame it's such a short one. However, I can't recommend it highly enough.

You can't tell from looking at the book in the illustration here, but the image of the girl on the front? It's on the book jacket itself and on the back there's a skull. The dust jacket itself is a little like thick tracing paper so it gives the images on the book itself a little of a dream-like quality, which is very fitting for this story. I found that you can make the picture on the back appear and disappear, depending on how close the dust-jacket is to it (but that soon gets a bit boring).

6 people found this helpful

Lady Fancifull

Fairy-tale mash-up bon-bon

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 July 2015

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Firstly - a word of warning. Do NOT get this as an ebook. As Chris Riddell's illustrations are 50% of the delight of this, you will rue the day if you do eread. (I did, and I do) And secondly, this is not really for children - at least not young ones, its too sophisticated and unsettling.

Neil Gaiman's The Sleeper and The Spindle, is a kind of mash-up hybrid of Snow White and The Seven Dwarves (except that austerity has obviously hit fairy-land too, as we are down to only 3) and The Sleeping Beauty - though there are sly little nods to several other fairy tales which creep in as well - it's a bit like `spot the fairy celebrity!' and I won't reveal them because it would spoil a reader's enjoyment and `aha'! moments

Part of the delight of an earlier Gaiman novel, The Graveyard Book (which I have in paper version) was Riddell's illustrations, so I was expecting good things with this one. Sometimes illustrations fare reasonably well in the ereader format, but this is not the case here, as Riddell's style is so full of fine details, which can't really be seen properly, as if you try to zoom in, to get detail, you then lose the whole. This story (it is a mere 72 pages long, with several pages of illustrations) though full of some lovely little twists and spooky strangenesses, not to mention redundancies of princes, who needs them! - is a moderately long short story, a mere mouthful of a read. It seems overpriced on eReader, purely because those lovely illustrations, black, white, gold, which you can see on the Look Inside, don't translate into the dedicated eRead format

The story on its own is probably a little slight; unillustrated, I'd probably have felt a little cheated and wished that Gaiman had published several different shortish fairy tale mash-ups in one volume.

1 star for eReader version : however, if I HAD got it in the proper format, 3 ½ so I have rounded up to 4

5 people found this helpful

Jess Gofton

Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell are like the Tim Burton and Johnny Depp of the literary ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 October 2015

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Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell are like the Tim Burton and Johnny Depp of the literary world. Everything they produce is wonderfully weird and a tad creepy, and The Sleeper and the Spindle is no different.

Now I'll admit the main reason I picked this up is that stunning cover, which the picture above does no real justice. Seriously if you find this book in your local bookstore just pick it up and try not to buy it. I dare you.

Gaiman's prose is lovely and peculiar, and accompanied by Riddell's illustrations the entire story comes to life; reading this was like going back to my childhood and reading the fairy tales I read then, each one beautifully illustrated with stunning princesses and ghastly crones. The plot itself I loved. I don't think it spoils anything if I say the main protagonist of this tale is Snow White, and it was great to see a Snow White who'd already defeated her stepmother, a Snow White who was already Queen and whose people were in need of her help.

Having said that, I guessed what was coming at the end which is the main reason I didn't give this story a full 5 stars. I was hoping to be completely surprised as so many other readers had mentioned the big twist at the end, but it wasn't quite twisty enough. I still thoroughly enjoyed the read, though.

If you're a lover of fairy tales then this is a must read for you, and even though the story is included in Gaiman's latest short story collection, Trigger Warning, I highly recommend getting your hands on this gorgeous illustrated edition. If you're looking for an LGBT* fairy tale, however, you will be disappointed. I've seen quite a few people describing this as an LGBT* retelling and it's really not, so if that's the main reason you want to check this story out I'm afraid it won't meet your expectations.

But as I said this is a beautiful story, and I'm so glad to have this beautiful book on my shelf.

10 people found this helpful

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The Sleeper and the Spindle: A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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