I was predisposed to be charmed by these stories. Look at the cover artwork with the tiny princess having tea with the dragon! Look at all the story tI was predisposed to be charmed by these stories. Look at the cover artwork with the tiny princess having tea with the dragon! Look at all the story titles about grumpy dragons and precious things! The stories themselves feel traditional and modern all at the same time, and Price's hand on the writing is sure and smooth and fun.
Five-year-old me would have demanded this book be read to her every night at bedtime.
Ten-year-old me would have pulled this out concurrently with volumes of Brothers Grimm and other folklores and sincerely try to read all of them at the same time.
Seventeen-year-old me would have stumbled upon this while reorganizing her bookshelves with a Huh, I remember this. and spent the next 30 minutes rereading it without a trace of shame.
I very much enjoy fairy tales and retellings and I'm fairly well-read in them, but despite George MacDonald being one of the classic names in that genI very much enjoy fairy tales and retellings and I'm fairly well-read in them, but despite George MacDonald being one of the classic names in that genre, I'd never read anything by him. His writings are openly acknowledged as having influenced the work of many authors I admire — C.S. Lewis, E. Nesbit, Madeline L'Engle, G.K. Chesterston, Mark Twain, et al. — so when I realized that Project Gutenberg has several of his out-of-copyright publications up for free access, I downloaded them once and prepped my ereader for some serious reading.
Unfortunately, all in all, I really would have rather left MacDonald entirely unread. He seems to be an author far too fond of his own voice. I found his fairy stories to be ponderous moral tales, which I'm sure are fine if you like that sort of stuff: I don't. The gender and race relations made me cringe, and the introduction of Chinese buffoon characters 'Hum-Drum' and 'Kopy-Keck' nearly made me stop reading then and there. In the entirely of "The Light Princess," I found one single passage I enjoyed:
The forests are very useful in delivering princes from their courtiers, like a sieve that keeps back the bran. Then the princes get away to follow their fortunes. In this they have the advantage of the princesses, who are forced to marry before they have a bit of fun. I wish our princesses got lost in a forest sometimes. [p. 15-16]
The character names in "The Giant's Heart" stopped me dead as well: 'Tricksy-Wee' and 'Buffy-Bob,' seriously? "The Golden Key" was better, but I didn't like the creepy, directly stated plot point that eating sentient fish was perfectly okay because the fish turn into angels afterward.
I can't speak for MacDonald's other publications, but The Light Princess and Other Fairy Stories was to me an example of Victorian literature at its worst. I need to go off and reread Wee Free Men as a palate clenser. Two stars.
Quote pulled from unknown edition. Three stories made up this edition: "The Light Princess," "The Giant's Heart", and "The Golden Key."
Radford is a capable writer. Her stories are imaginative and well crafted. And I genuinely don’t like any of them. I read about five of the stories inRadford is a capable writer. Her stories are imaginative and well crafted. And I genuinely don’t like any of them. I read about five of the stories in this collection, and maybe two others from a previous anthology, and I actively disliked each one. The stories she tells just aren’t ones I want to hear. INYIM. YMMV. DNF. Two stars....more
Oh, ha ha, this was excellent. The stories are brilliantly creative along the one solid theme, and I really like the illustrations that accompanied evOh, ha ha, this was excellent. The stories are brilliantly creative along the one solid theme, and I really like the illustrations that accompanied every story. (I’d say I was charmed by the surprise of finding them here – I hadn’t realized there were to be illustrations at all – but ‘charmed’ isn’t a word that gracefully accompanies an anthology of this theme.) I finished it practically in one sitting. Five stars.
The stories in this collection are extraordinary, guttural and disturbing. Warrick plays each one to the weird, and the result is completely breathlesThe stories in this collection are extraordinary, guttural and disturbing. Warrick plays each one to the weird, and the result is completely breathless.
Four stars, possibly four and half. I haven't been this excited about a horror collection since finding Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts.
Well-presented anthology of illustrated (comic-book type) erotica with an LGBT focus. I liked the wide variety in the stories and thought most of the Well-presented anthology of illustrated (comic-book type) erotica with an LGBT focus. I liked the wide variety in the stories and thought most of the artwork was top notch. I'm generally not a fan of manga-style art; there were few examples here.
For me, this was best read in small sections — every few stories I had to give myself a break from the sex. If this anthology is weakest at anything, it's in the inherent difficultly of having the last sex-focused story impact with the same success as the first. While I thought the stories were nearly universally good, every time my eyes started skipping over the explicit panels in search of dialogue I knew it was time to step away from the book.
I wavered between giving these three or four stars and eventually settled on four. It's not a keeper volume for my collection, but I suspect if I stumble on it again in the future I'll reread it because hey, sex. Recommended for fans of this genre and theme.
A slim, over-sized anthology of four short stories, illustrated, set in the worlds of Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Magic: The Gathering, and EberronA slim, over-sized anthology of four short stories, illustrated, set in the worlds of Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Magic: The Gathering, and Eberron. This would have been a better fit for me if I was fan of those series, but as it is I've never read anything from three of those four, and I've never heard of the fourth. These stories did not seem strong enough to stand on their individual merits and they frankly bored me. The illustrations were better, but they don't make the book worth owning. (I should have borrowed this from my local library.)
Two stars. Recommended only for fans of the companion series; prose-only anthologies like The Dragon Quintet recommended instead for more general dragon fans....more
Sullivan is a capable, passionate author, and once I got a grip on his disjointed narrative chapters I was completely swept away. Blood Horses was rivSullivan is a capable, passionate author, and once I got a grip on his disjointed narrative chapters I was completely swept away. Blood Horses was riveting, but I don't think I'll feel the need to read it a second time.
Recommended to any with interest in thoroughbred racing, or with interest in father-and-son dynamics. Three and half stars, rounded up to four....more
**spoiler alert** I need to offer this book a bit of an apology, because I am not a fan of this subgenre. I typically read fantasy works, and in the o**spoiler alert** I need to offer this book a bit of an apology, because I am not a fan of this subgenre. I typically read fantasy works, and in the odd times I might read a romance novel they are nearly always of the historical flavor. Summer in Mossy Creek entered my radar solely because one of my favorite fantasy authors wrote one of the short stories featured here and, well, I'm a bit thorough in reading works by my favorites.
To read the works by my favorites, I have to first find them. While it was easy enough to locate a library copy of this book, the large-print edition I read didn't have a table of contents. The stories, when I got to them, didn't have titles — they had headings calling out which characters each story featured — and they didn't list authors. The only information telling me who wrote what story was tacked on as one of several appendices. I'm unsure if this formatting is common to collaborative novels, or large-print editions, or if it's a general quirk of the Mossy Creek series, but I didn't care for it. And while Summer was billed as a collaborative novel, it would be accurate to consider it a set of loosely collected short stories in a shared setting, each telling an independent tale and staring a different character, but sometimes characters may guest-feature across multiple stories.
The Anne Bishop story I was seeking turned out to be, "Laurie and Twiddle Dee." I found it surprisingly impactful and very well done. In summary, Laurie finds herself divorced and downsized out of a job in quick succession, but it's only when she receives an ominous medical diagnosis (cancer is implied) that she really puts effort in her intention to fulfill her heart's desire. Mossy Creek was intended to be a pit stop on a road trip, but once she arrived she never quite left. Tweedle Dee is her parakeet. But it's only when she befriends the local coffee shop inhabitants that she really starts developing her skills as a storyteller, and she finds she has just enough time left to leave the town one final gift.
It made me cry.
After I read Bishop's story, I went back to the beginning to read the novel the whole way through. Dixon's "Amos and Dog", the opening story, was the only one to mention events that fell in another story (Bishop's):
Fortunately, I didn't have to mention Clay to convince Casey I had troubles on my mind. Like Laurie Grey. New to town, an interesting woman and, according to Sandy, a woman who was more than a little ill with no support system in sight. [p. 60]
Which rather spoils Bishop's soft approach to that plot point, in my opinion.
Aside from Bishop's work, "Louise and Jack" by Carolyn McSparren, which told of a love affair that might have happened, in a different time and place, was the only other story I really enjoyed.
No matter how much we loved each other, Aunt and Miss Vergie felt those obstacles would have destroyed Jake and me in time. In the end, they prevailed.
Could we have made it? Lord knows.
But there are days like today when I wish to God we'd tried." [p. 250.]
Short stories structured around the loose theme of life and survival in lower social classes, that is, the beggar at the dregs of the futuristic socieShort stories structured around the loose theme of life and survival in lower social classes, that is, the beggar at the dregs of the futuristic society, the healer magically tending the local slum, the hacker off-grid at the space station.
I really didn't enjoy this. One or two stories held my interest enough for me to completely read them, but I found the rest terribly dull and skimmed only their first couple pages. Not an anthology I'll seek out again. No stories or authors of particular merit. Still, it wasn't bad enough to earn just one star....more
**spoiler alert** A slender ebook of two vignettes that fill in a little back story from The Chocolatier's Wife and an excerpt of that novel. I unders**spoiler alert** A slender ebook of two vignettes that fill in a little back story from The Chocolatier's Wife and an excerpt of that novel. I understand that it was originally intended to be part of a free giveaway publication for promotion of that novel, but it's presently available for purchase at a nominal fee.
I would have liked this better if I had better understood exactly what I was buying. I hadn't realized initially that the excerpt was included in here, and it filled a large chunk of the ebook (35 of 79 pages, according to my ereader's pagination). Since I own the novel, purchasing a file that's nearly half content I already have was a little disappointing. I'd thought I was getting a journal of one or both characters or even some more of the letters they exchanged, ones that had never made it into the novel. I still kinda wish I'd had a opportunity to read that. But the vignettes actually included here are sweet.
William's "The Sea Witch" is the first one told. At 14 pages, it's the shorter of the two vignettes, and it fills in quite a large hole in William's back story — it explains why he has left the sea. The reason was hinted at throughout the novel, but the vignette explicitly spells out that William had a brush with someone unearthly whose voice he hears calling him to suicide. The longer he's at sea, the more tempting the voice is, and retiring to a land-based business is William's sensible precaution. Three pages of William's chocolate recipes follow the tale.
Tasmin's "Tasmin and the Sprites" was a less important vignette. At 15 pages, it details how Tamsin encountered and bound the air spirits so much a part of the novel. But it never seemed like vital story to me. William's story I understand the need for — it legitimately explained something I had already been wondering about — but this story of Tamsin's had already been aptly summarized within the novel, and I'm afraid I didn't have any curiosity left on the matter for this tale to satisfy. Four pages of Tamsin's herb simples follow the tale.
I liked the vignettes. As little extras, they were fun to read. And they weren't a bad buy if you consider you're basically tossing a dollar into a pot to support a new author. But I would have been a little happier if I'd read Amazon's sales page more closely before I'd purchased this. Three stars....more
Dark humor fantasy/horror in a fabulous rich setting of mythic ancient Egypt. My biggest beef was that these interconnected short stories are disjointDark humor fantasy/horror in a fabulous rich setting of mythic ancient Egypt. My biggest beef was that these interconnected short stories are disjointed and rather narrow in their scope. I think I would rather have read a novel about the character Kamose instead of these short stories, something where he's challenged, something where he actually struggles.
I kind of feel bad. The Knife and The Wound It Deals is getting really high reviews from every other reader, but I found it rather meh. The stories arI kind of feel bad. The Knife and The Wound It Deals is getting really high reviews from every other reader, but I found it rather meh. The stories are diverse and compelling, but I had a really hard time reading around the ARC's formatting issues. The text laid out on my ereader with a line break a few words into every second line, a handful of seemingly random words were given hyperlinks that lead nowhere, and changes in point of view or setting weren't given the slightest visual separation cue, even something as little as a new paragraph. Rather than falling immersed into Scully's stories, I spent my time paging back and forth trying to figure out if I was in a new scene or if someone new had entered a conversation.
Three stars. Scully is a writer worth following, and I suspect I would have been happier with her stories if I had encountered them in a more accommodating medium.
Note that I read an ARC PDF for this review and that the formatting issues that so bothered me might not feature in a finished copy.
I picked this up to dabble in some more of Proulx's stories. I had very much enjoyed the film versions of her Brokeback Mountain and The Shipping NewsI picked this up to dabble in some more of Proulx's stories. I had very much enjoyed the film versions of her Brokeback Mountain and The Shipping News, although my enjoyment of the text stories was mixed, and the cover artwork of this book is gorgeous. I thought it would be a nice place to start reading a little more Proulx. And it probably is... I'm just not cut out to be a Proulx fan.
Two stars. Not to my taste. Best for fans of westerns.
Story summaries: (view spoiler)[The half-skinned steer — Old man drives around; probably dies.
The mud below — About rodeos.
Job history — Man worked hard his whole life; died trying.
The blood bay — Feels like a folktale, but Proulx's dry, dispassionate style takes the magic out for me.
People in hell just want a drink of water — In sum: Large, hardscrabble family rules the town. Local entitled boy sets his sights on the big city; returns broken to the arms of his parents. Boy flashes a neighbor; hardscrabble family gelds him for it; boy dies of the untreated wound. The end.
The bunchgrass edge of the world — Daughter inherits farm and takes advice from rusted talking tractor.
Pair of spurs — Man does not handle news of his divorce well.
A lonely coast — Explores some women's lives.
The governors of Wyoming — Terrible people trying to keep a ranch alive.
55 miles to the gas pump — Wife opens up husband's serial killer lair; two pages.
Fabulous. I've rarely enjoyed anthology this much. I mostly really liked these stars or really didn't, with little in betweeen.
One odd shoe / by Pat MFabulous. I've rarely enjoyed anthology this much. I mostly really liked these stars or really didn't, with little in betweeen.
One odd shoe / by Pat Murphy -- shoes by the highway; archiologyical dig; propositioning a coyote woman. Excellent. Five stars.
Coyote Woman / by Carolyn Dunn -- poem
Wagers of Gold Mountain / by Steve Berman -- Chinese-culture enthused. Three stars.
The listeners / by Nina Kiriki Hoffman -- godstruck in Rome, new path to follow. Felt like the first chapter in a novel. Four stars.
Realer than you / by Christopher Barzak -- young expat in Japan meets a kitsune. Or a ghost. Four stars.
The fiddler of Bayou Teche / by Delia Sherman -- Gorgeous. Five stars. Dancing the devil down and down again. Five stars.
A tale for the short days / by Richard Bowes -- energy cycles, or the three times he stole from a family. Four stars.
Friday night at St. Cecilia's / by Ellen Klages -- Egh. Bad-girl cathologic schoolgirl tricked by an evil nun. Readable but fluffy. One star if I'm feeling particularly mean.
The fortune-teller / by Patricia A. McKillip -- I love McKinley but I didn't care for this. She wrote it as 'the trickster getting tricked' and I found it heavyhanded and moralistic. Two stars.
How Raven made his bride / by Theodora Goss -- Poem. So lovely.
Crow roads / by Charles de Lint -- Standard excellent de Lint. Visitor comes to no-end town; lover descids to follow him. Later. Three or four stars.
The chamber music of animals / by Katherine Vaz -- Ech. Kid dying of cancer, something about a musical toy saving him. One star.
Uncle Bob visits / by Caroline Stevermer -- Not a fan of this author. One star.
Uncle Tompa / by Midori Snyder -- poem
Cat of the world / by Michael Cadnum -- Fluffy. Better suited for one of the Catfantastic anthologies. Two stars.
Honored guest / by Ellen Kushner -- World of Swordspoint and massively interesting. Three or four stars.
Always the same story / by Elizabeth E. Wein -- heaps of fun. Son of the circus uses Briar Rabbit trickery and his own skills to escape kidnappers. Three or four stars.
The señorita and the cactus thorn /by Kim Antieau -- Fun fable-like tale of learning to live in the desert. Wtih a Coyote mother-in-law. THree or four stars.
Black rock blues / by Will Shetterly -- Dull. Something about gangsters, maybe. One star.
The Constable of Abal / by Kelly Link -- tethering ghosts and escaping a murder charge. Oh, and your mother is a godess. Three stars.
A reversal of fortune / by Holly Black -- Tricking the devil in a eating contest. I was vaugely unsatisfied by some of the characterizations, but I really enjoyed this. Three or four stars.
God clown / by Carol Emshwiller -- Whoa. I liked this, and I hate Emshwiller's work. Tricky tricky insperations. Four stars. Maybe five.
The other labyrinth / by Jedediah Berry -- A bit conveluted, but fine. Three stars.
The dreaming wind / by Jeffrey Ford -- Not bad but forgetable. Two stars.
Kwaku Anansi walks the world's web / by Jane Yolen -- poem.
The evolution of trickster stories among the dogs of North Park after the change / by Kij Johnson -- heartbreaking and extraordianarly done. Five stars. ...more
Beyond Grimm a broad catch-all for stories of all sorts of flavors – humor, traditional, horror, adult, teen – that was probably intended as a somethiBeyond Grimm a broad catch-all for stories of all sorts of flavors – humor, traditional, horror, adult, teen – that was probably intended as a something-for-everyone publication. I personally would have enjoyed it more if the editors had picked fewer flavors and specialized just with them. Any of the stories in this analogy are likely to appeal to a given reader; one single reader is unlikely to find all or even many of these stories appealing. I find it a pity that as an ebook it's unlikely to be found in a public library. This is one of those publications where picking and choosing to read only select stories is really the best way to go.
Three stars overall; I loved several of these stories, thought others were a waste of publication space, and channeled my inner 12-year-old girl in a couple cases -- the collection is that uneven. Still, I liked it more than I didn't. Recommended the most for older teen readers; there's plenty of silly stuff to appeal to the less mature in that crowd mixed in with the harder-edged tales that are the ones worth reading. Provincially recommended with parental awareness for tweens and young teens.
For adult readers? It's worth picking up if you are a fan of fairy tale retellings, but don't expect every story to be a perfect match. My own adult tastes are profoundly slanted towards the horror/fantasy short stories along the lines of Windling and Datlow's Snow White, Blood Red anthologies, and I found the Beyond Grimm tales as Windling and Datlow done light. (Their anthologies for young adults, Retold Fairy Tales, are probably the best comparison to this book.)
Rum Pelt Stilt’s Skin, by Alma Alexander A Rumpelstiltskin variant – it's the king that's really the problem. Strong tone shift toward horror (which I prefer) from the bubblegum fantasy stories that preceded it, and very cleverly done. I'll have to check out more from this author.
Any Brave Boy, by Laura Anne Gilman Themed for love of stories, giants, hidden hearts. A story about stories. I liked this interpretation. A fairy tale at its most basic; ideal for reading aloud to a small child. Likely child's nitpick: So who was crying?
Elfleda, by Vonda N. McIntyre Themed for unicorns. Science fiction. Reprint; I first read this in Unicorns and found it haunting; it's incredible still now. It's also quite dramatically more adult than the other stories collected here, and it's available on the author's website from which you can check your taste.
Sister Anne, by Sylvia Kelso A Bluebeard variant – Because sometimes there are reasons not to go in a locked room. I haven't read before an interpretation of this that put the Bluebeard in the cast of the innocent. Well done. I'll have to read more of Kelso's work.
The Rapture of Ancient Dagger, by Sherwood Smith Greek myth variant, sirens and Muses. Enchanting. I am by no means artistic in any form, but Smith describes the love of music so well. Compare to Kelley Eskridge's short story, Strings.
To Ride Beyond the Wide World's End, by Judith Tarr Traveling Bard/Fairy lands -- I loved this one. I've treasured Tarr's hand with horse stories ever since reading her "Classical Horses" lo many long years ago (Horse Fantastic); this story is as true as ever, even as it shows Tarr slightly more in love with stories than with horses. This particular story is also intended to be made freely available on the Book View Cafe website as a sampler for this anthology, but the site is currently having technical errors. You can find a podcast of it at PodCastle under Tarr's pseudonym, Caitlin Brennan.
These ones were lots of fun, but be aware some of them were very fluffy:
Hair Raising, by Pati Nagle A Rapunzel variant – assume the prince can take care of himself. I liked this one and I could really see a young girl giggling over over the kthnxbye ending, but oh god, that last line pun. I should have expected it from the title, in hindsight, but still.
No Newt Taxes, by Patricia Rice A Snow White variant – an economy lesson with amphibians. A bit 0.O and heavy handed, but definitely a rollicking tale.
The Tinderbox, by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff Retelling of the Andersen story. Cute and honest. Would have loved to see the role of magical dogs expanded and the story either fleshed out more or more pointedly narrowed, but I loved the blend of historical and immediately modern influences.
Nimue's Tale, by Madeleine E. Robins A King Arthur variant – Merlin as lecher; Nimue as innocent, ignorant victim, eventually gathering knowledge (eventually). While I enjoy stories that portray Nimue as something other than a murderous seductress, I am more than a bit tired of stories that too far run in the opposite direction and show her as weak and stupid. My enjoyment of this story took some time to build. I liked Simon R. Green's Merlin/Nimue interpretation from his Nightside books (Paths Not Taken) better.
Ricky Cowlicky, by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff An Ugly Duckling variant – Children get wishes from grandmother witches. One wish; one use; use only on one you love. Very cute, and very nicely done.
Princess Dancer, by Sue Lange A Twelve Dancing Princesses variant – Well, the princesses dance burlesque and the story was rather confusing, but brownie points to the sisterhood.
Mending Souls, by Judith Tarr An Elves and the Shoemaker variant – Really one of the best crafted ones here. Tarr plays quite a lot with assumptions, connections, and courage, and she does it very, very well.
Hero/Monster, by Amy Sterling Casil Beowulf – Excellent tale. A deserving companion to Gaiman's Beowulf film, Gardner's Grendel book, and the original Beowulf tale.
These? Not recommended:
Of Rats and Cats and Teenagers, by Irene Radford Themed for Fairy Godmother mythos. "Let me introduce myself: Cinnamon Schtick" (p. 42), really? Really? Definitive bubblegum fantasy. Bleck.
Harpies Discover Sex, by Deborah J. Ross A Greek myth variant; on Green gods – The story was creative, but I found the gender politics beyond distasteful. Worst by far of the stories in here, Cinnamon Schtick included.
To Serve a Prince, by Brenda W. Clough A Greek myth variant, on the tales of Homer – You know how I liked the blend of historic and modern in the earlier Tinderbox? I was not as much of a fan here. Still, I really liked the solution given for the cyclops' new job.
Little Red in the ’Hood, by Irene Radford A Red Riding Hood variant – Oh, puh-leeze. I nearly stopped reading at the line, "that little lingerie chain, “Victor’s Whispers”" (p. 220) and that was after rolling my eyes through every mention of 'Mobile Meals, Inc.®' (four to seven depending on the varieties of spelling). This story would probably appeal to fans of Piers Anthony, one of which I am not. (Oh god! Old man porn! And then bloodlust, but that didn't save it.)
Turnabout, by Deborah J. Ross A homage to classical ballet – and an interpretation of betrayed love from to betrayer's point of view. A meta story that tries to be more clever than it actually is, and the modern language clashes terribly with the medieval setting and the fact that it's naught but a dream does the opposite of redeeming it. I'm just going to go out and say I'm not a Ross fan.
ETA: You know, I truly didn't realize I disliked from this book the editors' own stories and nearly only the editors' own stories. Huh. I feel a bit bad about that.
Meh. A couple stories were memorable, but most were the exact opposite of my taste and many those were just bad. One and half stars.
Like a bone in thMeh. A couple stories were memorable, but most were the exact opposite of my taste and many those were just bad. One and half stars.
Like a bone in the throat / Lawrence Block Power play / Mary Higgins Clark Fatherhood / Thomas H. Cook West end / vicki hendricks Caveat emptor / Joan Hess eradicum homo horribilus / judith kelman Dead cat bounce / Erick Lustbader Angie's delight / Phillip Margolin Front man / david morrel Murder-two / Joyce Carol Oates The enemy / Shel Silverstein. Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff / Peter Staub ...more
It's so tiny it hardly counts as a short story, but it does fill it a little backstory between Smite and Richard.It's so tiny it hardly counts as a short story, but it does fill it a little backstory between Smite and Richard....more
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