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The Essential Peter S. Beagle, Volume 2: Oakland Dragon Blues and Other Stories by Peter S. Beagle
kleonard's review
5.0
I love that Beagle's work is being re-assembled and published again, and that he has written his own introductions to these works. I'm especially delighted to find stories here that I hadn't read before, and to re-read old favorites with his intro in mind. Here, Meg Elison does a somewhat better job of writing the Foreword than Jane Yolen, whose Foreword should be trashed completely, but I wonder why have these Forewards in the first place? Just read the stories with Beagle's recollections, and enjoy his worlds and words.
smittenforfiction's review
4.0
ARC from Netgalley ♥
The Last Unicorn is one of my favourite books and I'm very excited to read this!
Peter Beagle is an excellent writer. Will share a longer review soon. In the meantime, I recommend this short story collection to fantasy readers 14+.
May 15, 2023:
› The Essential Peter S. Beagle Volume II Oakland Dragon Blues and Other Stories has an introduction by Meg Elison, artwork by Stephanie Law and 16 stories.
› Sleight of Hand: a heartbreaking story about a woman who is lost and depressed after her husband and daughter die. She drives aimlessly and meets a magician (who reminded me of Schmendrick) at a diner who changes her life.
Oakland Dragon Blues: is about the dragon from the original version of The Last Unicorn
The Rock in the Park: is about centaurs who need a little help from two ordinary teen boys.
The Rabbi's Hobby: is about Rabbi Tuvim helping Joseph prepare for his Bar Mitzvah and they end up working together to find a girl from an old photograph. This is my favourite story in the collection.
The Way It Works Out and All: is about a strange alternate universe called the Overneath. An awesome story.
The Best Worst Monster: "From the tips of his twisted, spiky horns all the way down to his jagged claws, the monster was without any doubt the biggest, ugliest, most horrible creature ever made."
La Lune T'Attend: Arceneaux and Garrigue are lifelong friends and werewolves try to defend their families from a vicious villain.
The Story of Kao Yu: this is a story about a judge who lives in South China named Kao Yu who sometimes enlisted the help of a unicorn to help him determine a person's fate. The Chinese unicorn, called Chi-li is more like a magical dragon-horse who always knows the truth and will deliver swift and brutal justice.
Trinity County, CA: You'll Want to Come Again and We'll be Glad to See You!: drug dealers that have dragons. Another great story!
Marty and the Messenger: is about talking jello. Funny, ridiculous, tense, heartbreaking. Beagle can do it all.
The Mantichora: the last person on earth who can speak Mantichora meets the last Mantichora.
Mr. McCaslin: a crabby old man asks a group of kids for one favour - keep the dog away from him for a few weeks so he can have enough time to get his affairs in order before he dies.
The Fifth Season: Four fifteen-year-old boys have an epic water gun battle.
Tarzan Swings by Barsoom: Tarzan wakes up on another planet.
The Bridge Partner: Mattie's new bridge partner is dangerous.
Vanishing: a man fall's asleep in a waiting room and wakes up back at the Berlin Wall during the war.
› Final Thoughts
• Peter S. Beagle's short stories are adventurous, lighthearted, mysterious, emotional, and funny. They have interesting themes about free will, discrimination, fear, acceptance, friendship, love, and sacrifice. Quite a few of the stories reminded me of classic stories like The Lion and the Mouse, American Tale, and Charlotte's Web. I recommend both of these collections to fantasy readers looking for unique short stories.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.
The Last Unicorn is one of my favourite books and I'm very excited to read this!
Peter Beagle is an excellent writer. Will share a longer review soon. In the meantime, I recommend this short story collection to fantasy readers 14+.
May 15, 2023:
› The Essential Peter S. Beagle Volume II Oakland Dragon Blues and Other Stories has an introduction by Meg Elison, artwork by Stephanie Law and 16 stories.
› Sleight of Hand: a heartbreaking story about a woman who is lost and depressed after her husband and daughter die. She drives aimlessly and meets a magician (who reminded me of Schmendrick) at a diner who changes her life.
Oakland Dragon Blues: is about the dragon from the original version of The Last Unicorn
The Rock in the Park: is about centaurs who need a little help from two ordinary teen boys.
The Rabbi's Hobby: is about Rabbi Tuvim helping Joseph prepare for his Bar Mitzvah and they end up working together to find a girl from an old photograph. This is my favourite story in the collection.
The Way It Works Out and All: is about a strange alternate universe called the Overneath. An awesome story.
The Best Worst Monster: "From the tips of his twisted, spiky horns all the way down to his jagged claws, the monster was without any doubt the biggest, ugliest, most horrible creature ever made."
La Lune T'Attend: Arceneaux and Garrigue are lifelong friends and werewolves try to defend their families from a vicious villain.
The Story of Kao Yu: this is a story about a judge who lives in South China named Kao Yu who sometimes enlisted the help of a unicorn to help him determine a person's fate. The Chinese unicorn, called Chi-li is more like a magical dragon-horse who always knows the truth and will deliver swift and brutal justice.
Trinity County, CA: You'll Want to Come Again and We'll be Glad to See You!: drug dealers that have dragons. Another great story!
Marty and the Messenger: is about talking jello. Funny, ridiculous, tense, heartbreaking. Beagle can do it all.
The Mantichora: the last person on earth who can speak Mantichora meets the last Mantichora.
Mr. McCaslin: a crabby old man asks a group of kids for one favour - keep the dog away from him for a few weeks so he can have enough time to get his affairs in order before he dies.
The Fifth Season: Four fifteen-year-old boys have an epic water gun battle.
Tarzan Swings by Barsoom: Tarzan wakes up on another planet.
The Bridge Partner: Mattie's new bridge partner is dangerous.
Vanishing: a man fall's asleep in a waiting room and wakes up back at the Berlin Wall during the war.
› Final Thoughts
• Peter S. Beagle's short stories are adventurous, lighthearted, mysterious, emotional, and funny. They have interesting themes about free will, discrimination, fear, acceptance, friendship, love, and sacrifice. Quite a few of the stories reminded me of classic stories like The Lion and the Mouse, American Tale, and Charlotte's Web. I recommend both of these collections to fantasy readers looking for unique short stories.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.
casey_h's review
5.0
This man won my heart over with his stories when I was a very small child, and it's no different now that I'm much older. These are full of whimsy, heart, and imagination and I just love them so. Particularly The Rabbi's Hobby and Trinity County, CA are two I keep coming back to
marie101's review
5.0
I just adore Beagle's writing. Thats all there is to it. His stories are absolutely beautiful. I read his earlier work in high school and now as an adult I still equally love his writing. I cannot recommend his work enough. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this arc to read.
sarrie's review
adventurous
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
The first collection of Peter S. Beagle short stories in this two book series was one of my biggest surprises of the first quarter of 2023. I hadn’t read Mr. Beagle’s work in probably 20 years so I was not ready for how much I loved it. The second volume was very similar in tone and style, with just a few stories that I enjoyed but wasn’t completely sure about.
The strongest stories by far for me were the stories that followed his young friend squad as boys and their ‘magical’ encounters. These are fantastic, the type of ‘Magical stories about kids for adults’ that would make Stephen King and his (slightly obnoxious) child characters weep. They have an adults depth with a child’s wonder and it shines beautifully in the stories.
Besides that the only weak stories for me were those that seemed to borrow from elsewhere. Perhaps they felt dated or old fashioned, or it’s just my preference for those self insert stories, but I struggled a bit with stories such as the werewolf one. Set in Louisiana it focuses on two old werewolves of Creole descent and family as they fight a returned evil. I think I connect and see more of his love for his home town and the topics and peoples he knows in those other stories.
Regardless this collection is still fantastic. I’ve already requested copies for my birthday and I will 100% reread them. I cannot wait to return to the story about the backwoods dragon breeders - I live in moonshine country so that really amused and delighted me.
4.5 out of 5 Illegal Dragon Eggs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Xenophobia, War, Murder, and Death of parent
plottrysts's review
5.0
The second of the "Essential Peter S. Beagle" anthologies, Volume 2 focuses on more recent works. Included are some adaptations from podcast appearances, etc. If you only know Beagle from The Last Unicorn, these will give you a good idea of what else he has to offer.
Standouts in this volume include:
Oakland Dragon Blues - a depressed, modern day dragon written in opposition to Ursula K. LeGuins dragons (as Beagle points out, probably the best way to go)
The Way It Works Out and All - a collection of postcards ostensibly sent to Beagle from an all-knowing correspondent, this borders fiction and memoir in a really fun way!
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the anthology.
Standouts in this volume include:
Oakland Dragon Blues - a depressed, modern day dragon written in opposition to Ursula K. LeGuins dragons (as Beagle points out, probably the best way to go)
The Way It Works Out and All - a collection of postcards ostensibly sent to Beagle from an all-knowing correspondent, this borders fiction and memoir in a really fun way!
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the anthology.
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