Re: the Henderson: "claustrophobic, pre-industrial dystopia" -- is that so? It struck me as post-apocalyptic, somehow.

I'm sure Haynes feels that in doing so she has breathed new life into these old stories, but I'm generally unimpressed when authors make this choice. Just so! It is so self-serious and, frankly, pretentious -- Tolkien was entirely right about the purpose of myth and fairy-story.