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torts's review
3.0
I started each story wary of its manner of responding to the story-about-dragons prompt. But each story flouted my low expectations and left me pleasantly surprised.
I found Orson Scott Card's modern-day story to be atmospheric and full of endearing characters. The pace of "In the Dragon's House" was slow, and at first I was irritated by the seeming absence of any dragon. But the story rounded out nicely and left me kind of loving the people and the house and even the dragon that had initially irked me.
Coming after Orson Scott Card's story. Elizabeth Moon's "Judgement" felt almost too action-packed. But the medieval-esque fantasy world pretty much set the tone for the rest of the stories. And it didn't conform to the happily-ever-after conclusion I thought I saw coming.
"Love in a Time of Dragons" was the most polarizing of the stories for me, with all its twists and surprises. It kept writhing out of the judgments and definitions I tried to place on it. At first it seemed grossly un-feminist, then like a pandering bit of shock-for-shock's-sake convention defiance, but then it got kind of lovely and ultimately became something which--though I'm reluctant to say I liked--impressed me. As in, it left me with...impressions.
Mercedes Lackey's "Joust" just kept reminding me of Jane Yolen's pit dragon trilogy. I really have nothing else to say about it except that I read Yolen's trilogy first and therefore like it better.
Aaaand the last story. The "King Dragon" novella. It was...odd. Not a conventional oldie-timey-mythical-land setting. Not a contemporary tale either, really. But it still drew on modern-day machinery (steampunk? not quite...) as well as mythical/fey conventions (the power of names, truth-telling hags, scrying and magic and a "fey" world where magic is normal and normal mortals are aberrations...). The atmosphere of the story reminded me of [b:The Stones Are Hatching|982203|The Stones Are Hatching|Geraldine McCaughrean|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179981619s/982203.jpg|3107914], and I felt a similar sort of ambivalence about "King Dragon" upon first reading it.
Maybe I'll end up re-reading these stories? I definitely don't feel like I've ruminated on them enough to pass my final judgment. And I feel like lingering more on each story would solidify my opinions on them all one way or another. But at the moment I just--as they say in England--can't be assed.
I found Orson Scott Card's modern-day story to be atmospheric and full of endearing characters. The pace of "In the Dragon's House" was slow, and at first I was irritated by the seeming absence of any dragon. But the story rounded out nicely and left me kind of loving the people and the house and even the dragon that had initially irked me.
Coming after Orson Scott Card's story. Elizabeth Moon's "Judgement" felt almost too action-packed. But the medieval-esque fantasy world pretty much set the tone for the rest of the stories. And it didn't conform to the happily-ever-after conclusion I thought I saw coming.
"Love in a Time of Dragons" was the most polarizing of the stories for me, with all its twists and surprises. It kept writhing out of the judgments and definitions I tried to place on it. At first it seemed grossly un-feminist, then like a pandering bit of shock-for-shock's-sake convention defiance, but then it got kind of lovely and ultimately became something which--though I'm reluctant to say I liked--impressed me. As in, it left me with...impressions.
Mercedes Lackey's "Joust" just kept reminding me of Jane Yolen's pit dragon trilogy. I really have nothing else to say about it except that I read Yolen's trilogy first and therefore like it better.
Aaaand the last story. The "King Dragon" novella. It was...odd. Not a conventional oldie-timey-mythical-land setting. Not a contemporary tale either, really. But it still drew on modern-day machinery (steampunk? not quite...) as well as mythical/fey conventions (the power of names, truth-telling hags, scrying and magic and a "fey" world where magic is normal and normal mortals are aberrations...). The atmosphere of the story reminded me of [b:The Stones Are Hatching|982203|The Stones Are Hatching|Geraldine McCaughrean|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179981619s/982203.jpg|3107914], and I felt a similar sort of ambivalence about "King Dragon" upon first reading it.
Maybe I'll end up re-reading these stories? I definitely don't feel like I've ruminated on them enough to pass my final judgment. And I feel like lingering more on each story would solidify my opinions on them all one way or another. But at the moment I just--as they say in England--can't be assed.
cleverbaggins's review
1.0
So the only story I remembered in this book was Joust by Mercedes Lackey and I knew that I loved it and the novel she released based on it afterwards. I found it again when organizing my books and have been in a dragon mood so I pulled it out. It has some pretty illustrations and I was very excited for no freaking reason apparently.
Aside from Joust which is a great short story about a slave and the dragon he cares for, these stories are horrible. Orson Scott Card's story barely had a dragon in it and the ending of the story made you go????REALLY. Elizabeth Moon's was annoying and so forgettable that I literally can't tell you what happened now and I read it yesterday but I remember being frustrated and annoyed the whole time I read it. Tanith Lee's was well written but just...disgusting. I'm beyond done reading about rape and abuse of women and I don't know if this was supposed to be erotic or appalling but it literally made me feel disgusting. Finally Micheal Swanwick's was a disappointing conclusion that I mostly skimmed at this point because I was so fed up with the whole collection. All I can say is I really must have loved the Joust short story and bought this before the novel came out because there's no way I'm keeping it any longer.
Aside from Joust which is a great short story about a slave and the dragon he cares for, these stories are horrible. Orson Scott Card's story barely had a dragon in it and the ending of the story made you go????REALLY. Elizabeth Moon's was annoying and so forgettable that I literally can't tell you what happened now and I read it yesterday but I remember being frustrated and annoyed the whole time I read it. Tanith Lee's was well written but just...disgusting. I'm beyond done reading about rape and abuse of women and I don't know if this was supposed to be erotic or appalling but it literally made me feel disgusting. Finally Micheal Swanwick's was a disappointing conclusion that I mostly skimmed at this point because I was so fed up with the whole collection. All I can say is I really must have loved the Joust short story and bought this before the novel came out because there's no way I'm keeping it any longer.
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