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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
As with most anthologies, there were a few really good stories, a few that were a slog to read, and several that fell in between. The biggest problem with this book as a whole was the lack of thorough proofreading; almost every story had a couple missing words, wrong words and/or typos.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Kidnapping
Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Torture, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
This collection was much larger than I expected, and kinda took me forever to work my way through! Any short story collection is going to be a mixed bag, but most of these were at least worth reading, with some real gems in there. I'm sorry to say that my ebook copy was riddled with typos that eventually got very distracting. One story even had the title repeated in place of the author's name. These folks really needed a decent proofreader.
The best stories, in my opinion: Monster, The Magpie and the Mosquito, Effigies in Bronze, Valentine Blues, Unnamed, Look Me in the Stars.
The worst: Davy Crockett vs. the Saucer Men, A Tale of Red Riding: Seduction of the Werepire.
The best stories, in my opinion: Monster, The Magpie and the Mosquito, Effigies in Bronze, Valentine Blues, Unnamed, Look Me in the Stars.
The worst: Davy Crockett vs. the Saucer Men, A Tale of Red Riding: Seduction of the Werepire.
Loved
Beautiful shorts. I really enjoyed the creation and work of this piece. I can’t wait to read more. Enjoy this!
Beautiful shorts. I really enjoyed the creation and work of this piece. I can’t wait to read more. Enjoy this!
Je ne note ici que la novella : The demons of Arae"
3.5 Stars Overall
As with other short-story collections, with multiple contributing authors, that I've read (or listened to) in recent years, this one follows the same basic pattern of my interest:
- I got the collection to read because at least one novella is part of a larger main series I'm currently reading/listening to; which is usually one of the more enjoyable ones.
- About 60-70% of the stories are interesting enough to read to the end thoroughly; with 15-20% perhaps raising enough interest to look up their related main series (so 2-3 in this case).
- Which, unfortunately, leaves about 30-40% that are either not immersive enough or interesting enough subject/genre for me to do more than "skip-skim" to the end. (usually, the style of writing is off-putting somehow).
Enjoy at your own investment.
As with other short-story collections, with multiple contributing authors, that I've read (or listened to) in recent years, this one follows the same basic pattern of my interest:
- I got the collection to read because at least one novella is part of a larger main series I'm currently reading/listening to; which is usually one of the more enjoyable ones.
- About 60-70% of the stories are interesting enough to read to the end thoroughly; with 15-20% perhaps raising enough interest to look up their related main series (so 2-3 in this case).
- Which, unfortunately, leaves about 30-40% that are either not immersive enough or interesting enough subject/genre for me to do more than "skip-skim" to the end. (usually, the style of writing is off-putting somehow).
Enjoy at your own investment.
A fascinating set of short stories. One of the best I've read in a while.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An interesting look at a less-than-memorable side-character (I didn't remember Goodman Grey from Skin Game, tbqh), spun-off from one of the most memorable Dresden villians/beasties (the Naagloshii has been a fave since first Sight). My favorite part of this was probably the in-depth descriptions of shape-changing from the shape-changer's perspective. I don't think I've encountered a better description anywhere in fantasy or sci-fi fiction.
A nice variety. I particularly enjoyed
Dead end rhodes
Shadow of markham (pied piper
Unnamed
Threshold
The magpie and the mosquito
Monsters
Dead end rhodes
Shadow of markham (pied piper
Unnamed
Threshold
The magpie and the mosquito
Monsters
I literally only got this book for the Dresden Files short story Monsters. It was the only story I read and it was awesome. :D