This compact novella was my first experience reading Catherynne M. Valente, and I was literally blown away (pun intended). Six-Gun Snow White has all the familiar elements from the fairy tale—a young girl abused by her stepmother, a magic mirror, seven dwarves, a poisoned apple, a huntsman—and yet it’s completely new and fresh and unlike any other Snow White story you’re likely to read. Valente arms her Snow White with a revolver called Rose Red and gives her a trusty horse named Charming, then sets her off into the world. The fantasy elements are subtle, and even readers who don’t like speculative fiction will appreciate the real-life struggles that Snow White goes through in this story. I loved the fact that Snow White is a half Crow, half white girl with dark skin, who never really feels like she fits in anywhere. Add in a thoroughly engaging western sensibility and you have one hell of a story. Snow White’s father is Mr. H, a successful prospector who has made a fortune mining whatever precious materials he can find. One day, he meets and becomes instantly smitten with a Crow woman named Gun That Sings, and he decides to do whatever…