Honeycomb by Joanne Harris

 I discovered this book by pure happenstance; I had no idea Harris, most famous for writing Chocolat, had written a collection of fairy tales. There are fables and just-so stories, but the bulk are fairy tales of the kind that used to be told, with fairies -- called Silken Folk -- who are as capricious as they are beautiful. Many relate the adventures and misdeeds of the Lacewing King, a prince of the Silken Folk who steals the Spider Queen's crown, aids the Clockwork Princess, and spars with the treacherous Harlequin before finally meeting his fate. Linking all the stories are the motifs of bees and honeycomb, by which stories are transmitted through the nine worlds. "This is a story the bees used to tell ..."

The stories are elegant but also deeply cynical. Kindness is rare, and virtue is never rewarded. A set of fables inspired by Animal Farm illustrate modern ills such as fascism and influencers, and the morals can be heavy-handed; others simply reflect the cruelties of the world. Each story is by itself clever and amusing, but read collectively they wear on the soul. What a shame to see such beauty in nature, in insects, in storytelling, but not in humanity.