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lessthn3's review
3.0
I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.
While I did enjoy many of the stories in Once Upon a Parsec, I'm afraid this collection falls short when it comes to a captivating hook in each story, which made engagement difficult. I doubt I will remember many of these after moving on to future reads.
nwhyte's review
4.0
It's a collection of fairy tales told by non-human cultures, in some of which humans are the villains. Some good stuff here, most memorable being the very first story, "The Little People" by Una McCormack, and my personal favourite, "The Land of Grunts and Squeaks", by Chris Beckett, in which a formerly telepathic race loses that power and has to learn to communicate with sounds.
kellswitch's review
4.0
** Full disclosure: I received this book in exchange for an honest review**
A collection of short stories, science fiction, and fantasy that are supposed to reflect fairytales from alien cultures.
All anthologies are a mixed bag of hit or miss stories, but overall I did enjoy most of them. However, I am not sure I can say it succeeded in its goal as only a couple of the stories felt like fairytales to me.
The three stories that, to me felt the most like fairytales were "The Land of Grunts and Squeaks" by Chris Beckett, "The Ravellers Tale" by Neil Williamson, and "The Tiny Traveler" by Aliya Whiteley.
A story that effected me strongly, perhaps the most out of all of the stories was "The Blood Rose" by Susan Oke. I can't say why fully without giving spoilers so all I will say is, it made me uncomfortable, angry, and unhappy with the ending...and I think those were the reasons it has stayed in my mind long after reading it and the reason it is such a successful story. I kind of regret reading it, but I'm also glad that I did.
Not many stories make me feel this way.
I would recommend this collection for anyone looking for stories that are different from most anthologies, and I am hoping to read more from many of these authors.
A collection of short stories, science fiction, and fantasy that are supposed to reflect fairytales from alien cultures.
All anthologies are a mixed bag of hit or miss stories, but overall I did enjoy most of them. However, I am not sure I can say it succeeded in its goal as only a couple of the stories felt like fairytales to me.
The three stories that, to me felt the most like fairytales were "The Land of Grunts and Squeaks" by Chris Beckett, "The Ravellers Tale" by Neil Williamson, and "The Tiny Traveler" by Aliya Whiteley.
A story that effected me strongly, perhaps the most out of all of the stories was "The Blood Rose" by Susan Oke. I can't say why fully without giving spoilers so all I will say is, it made me uncomfortable, angry, and unhappy with the ending...and I think those were the reasons it has stayed in my mind long after reading it and the reason it is such a successful story. I kind of regret reading it, but I'm also glad that I did.
Not many stories make me feel this way.
I would recommend this collection for anyone looking for stories that are different from most anthologies, and I am hoping to read more from many of these authors.
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