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anajurs's review against another edition
2.0
A very okay collection of stories with some gems thrown in. My favorites: Gaiman's 'Sunbird', Nalo Hopkinson's 'The Smile on the Face', and Avram Davidson's 'Or All the Seas with Oysters'.
asimilarkite's review against another edition
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised by this collection of short stories. I'm not usually a short story anthology person. When I want to read a short story, it's usually because I'm in a specific mood, and I'll find one and read it to satisfy my mood craving. I don't normally read entire thick tomes of short stories.
But this anthology was well done. There wasn't one story I hated, and I REALLY appreciated the diversity of stories chosen. There were stories by authors of color, women, LGBT people, old stories, new stories, contemporary, classic, dark, funny, mysterious, and more. I'm really intrigued to read more stuff by Nalo Hopkinson, Nnedi Okorafor, and several of the other YA authors. Also, the Neil Gaiman story is of course brilliant and funny and weird.
My teen book club chose this as their January selection -- I'm not sure I'd choose a short story book again for a book club (it was a little tricky to discuss, since not everyone had read every story), but I enjoyed it.
But this anthology was well done. There wasn't one story I hated, and I REALLY appreciated the diversity of stories chosen. There were stories by authors of color, women, LGBT people, old stories, new stories, contemporary, classic, dark, funny, mysterious, and more. I'm really intrigued to read more stuff by Nalo Hopkinson, Nnedi Okorafor, and several of the other YA authors. Also, the Neil Gaiman story is of course brilliant and funny and weird.
My teen book club chose this as their January selection -- I'm not sure I'd choose a short story book again for a book club (it was a little tricky to discuss, since not everyone had read every story), but I enjoyed it.
mikime's review against another edition
5.0
A great collection of captivating stories about all kinds of unnatural / supernatural creatures, often surprising and masterly presenting unexpected contexts and turns of events. Precious book to discover authors you didn’t know yet.
echo_of_the_books's review against another edition
3.0
In Unnatural Creatures hat Neil Gaiman sechszehn Kurzgeschichten von verschiedenen Autoren zusammen getragen. "Unnatural" passt sehr gut, denn die Genre bewegen sich zwischen Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi und Contemporary.
‘fantastical things that exist only in our minds’.
Das Cover ist wunderschön und passt perfekt zu den Geschichten.
Bevor es mit den Geschichten losgeht, erzählt und Neil Gaiman uns in einem Vorwort warum es dieses Buch überhaupt gibt - der Erlös geht an eine gemeinnützige Organisation - und warum er die Geschichten ausgewählt hat.
Die Autoren sind teilweise bereits verstorben und die Erstveröffentlichungen liegt manchmal bereits Jahrzehnte zurück.
Die Mischung ist sehr ausgewogen, es gibt Geschichten die mir wirklich gut gefallen haben und welche die mir weniger gut gefallen haben.
Doch auch dieses Mal musste ich leider feststellen, dass mir das Lesen von Kurzgeschichten nicht wirklich Spaß macht. Das lag nicht an den Schreibstilen oder den Geschichten - sondern einfach an der Tatsache, dass ich bereits mehrmals versucht habe Kurzgeschichten zu lesen und es mir nie wirklich Freude bereitet hat.
Wer sich gerne in den Genre Fantasy, Horror und Sci-Fi bewegt und gerne Kurzgeschichten liest, dem lege ich dieses Buch ans Herz.
Folgende sechzehn Geschichten sind enthalten:
...by Gahan Wilson
The Cartographer Wasps and The Anarchist Bees by E Lily Yu
The Griffin and The Minor Canon by Frank R.Stockton
Ozioma The Wicked by Nnedi Okorafor
Sunbird by Neil Gaiman
The Sage of Theare by Diana Wynne Jones
Gabriel - Ernest by Saki
The Cockatoucan by E. Nesbit
Moveable Beast by Maria Dahvana Headley
The Flight of The Horse by Larry Niven
Prismatica by Samuel R. Delaney
The Manticore, The Mermaid, and Me by Megan Kurashige
The Compleat Werewolf by Anthony Boucher
The Smile on the Face by Nalo Hopkinson
Or All the Seas with Oysters by Avram Davidson
Come Lady Death by Peter S. Beagle --> favourive Story
Am besten hat mir die letzte Geschichte "Come Lady Death" gefallen. Es war ein guter Abschluss für diese Anthologie.
Bei anderem Geschichten wie beispielsweise "The Cartographer Wasp and the Anarchist Bees" bin ich beim Lesen leider abgediftet, hatte aber keine Lust nochmal von vorne anzufangen.
Das passiert mir manchmal beim Lesen von englischen Texten, wenn es mich nicht fesselt, dann verlier ich die Konzentration.
Sprachlich bin ich gut zurecht gekommen. Ich würde diese Lektüre nicht empfehlen, wenn du erst anfängst auf englisch zu lesen, da es doch sehr viele Wörter gibt, was teilweise dem Genre geschuldet ist, die nicht im Altagsgebrauch genutzt oder in der Schule gelehrt werden.
Es war eine solide Mischung, die mich mal mehr und mal weniger begeistern konnte.
‘fantastical things that exist only in our minds’.
Das Cover ist wunderschön und passt perfekt zu den Geschichten.
Bevor es mit den Geschichten losgeht, erzählt und Neil Gaiman uns in einem Vorwort warum es dieses Buch überhaupt gibt - der Erlös geht an eine gemeinnützige Organisation - und warum er die Geschichten ausgewählt hat.
Die Autoren sind teilweise bereits verstorben und die Erstveröffentlichungen liegt manchmal bereits Jahrzehnte zurück.
Die Mischung ist sehr ausgewogen, es gibt Geschichten die mir wirklich gut gefallen haben und welche die mir weniger gut gefallen haben.
Doch auch dieses Mal musste ich leider feststellen, dass mir das Lesen von Kurzgeschichten nicht wirklich Spaß macht. Das lag nicht an den Schreibstilen oder den Geschichten - sondern einfach an der Tatsache, dass ich bereits mehrmals versucht habe Kurzgeschichten zu lesen und es mir nie wirklich Freude bereitet hat.
Wer sich gerne in den Genre Fantasy, Horror und Sci-Fi bewegt und gerne Kurzgeschichten liest, dem lege ich dieses Buch ans Herz.
Folgende sechzehn Geschichten sind enthalten:
...by Gahan Wilson
The Cartographer Wasps and The Anarchist Bees by E Lily Yu
The Griffin and The Minor Canon by Frank R.Stockton
Ozioma The Wicked by Nnedi Okorafor
Sunbird by Neil Gaiman
The Sage of Theare by Diana Wynne Jones
Gabriel - Ernest by Saki
The Cockatoucan by E. Nesbit
Moveable Beast by Maria Dahvana Headley
The Flight of The Horse by Larry Niven
Prismatica by Samuel R. Delaney
The Manticore, The Mermaid, and Me by Megan Kurashige
The Compleat Werewolf by Anthony Boucher
The Smile on the Face by Nalo Hopkinson
Or All the Seas with Oysters by Avram Davidson
Come Lady Death by Peter S. Beagle --> favourive Story
Am besten hat mir die letzte Geschichte "Come Lady Death" gefallen. Es war ein guter Abschluss für diese Anthologie.
Bei anderem Geschichten wie beispielsweise "The Cartographer Wasp and the Anarchist Bees" bin ich beim Lesen leider abgediftet, hatte aber keine Lust nochmal von vorne anzufangen.
Das passiert mir manchmal beim Lesen von englischen Texten, wenn es mich nicht fesselt, dann verlier ich die Konzentration.
Sprachlich bin ich gut zurecht gekommen. Ich würde diese Lektüre nicht empfehlen, wenn du erst anfängst auf englisch zu lesen, da es doch sehr viele Wörter gibt, was teilweise dem Genre geschuldet ist, die nicht im Altagsgebrauch genutzt oder in der Schule gelehrt werden.
Es war eine solide Mischung, die mich mal mehr und mal weniger begeistern konnte.
haleyrae5566's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved Come Lady Death by Peter S. Beagle.
fictionalkate's review against another edition
4.0
Unnatural Creatures is a collection of short stories compiled by Neil Gaiman. From werewolves to cockatoucans - there's a lot of variety in this volume to interest readers. And whilst I found the stories entertaining, what I loved most about this book was the personal touches. Before each story, Gaiman gives a brief synopsis of the author and why he included the story in this book. The illustrations which accompanied the tales added perfectly to the reading experience.
It is clear upon reading Unnatural Creatures that each story was selected with care. Most compilations I've read contain stories which have no apparently relation to the others but in this book - whilst the tales are independent, they each feel as if they belong in the same compilation as the others included.
Each of the sixteen stories give something different. I had my favourites amongst them with Diana Wynne Jones' tale about gods, a missing Sage, and invisible dragons being the one I liked most. Gaiman himself contributed a story about a Sunbird and there is even a story with a completely unpronounceable title made up of a cartoon instead. I loved the inclusion of the cartoon story and never realized before just how creepy a plain and simple black dot could be ...
I was surprised by the variety of the authors. Some of the stories in this book were first written a hundred years ago with others being relatively recent in comparison. This is a compilation like no other - the diverse backgrounds of authors, the creatures which they wrote about and the era in which they were written all add to the dark and fantastical vibe.
Mythology, horror and the supernatural - Unnatural Creatures is a short story compilation with vast appeal. With a wide range of creatures and authors, I feel this is a book which will interest fantasy fans, young and old alike.
It is clear upon reading Unnatural Creatures that each story was selected with care. Most compilations I've read contain stories which have no apparently relation to the others but in this book - whilst the tales are independent, they each feel as if they belong in the same compilation as the others included.
Each of the sixteen stories give something different. I had my favourites amongst them with Diana Wynne Jones' tale about gods, a missing Sage, and invisible dragons being the one I liked most. Gaiman himself contributed a story about a Sunbird and there is even a story with a completely unpronounceable title made up of a cartoon instead. I loved the inclusion of the cartoon story and never realized before just how creepy a plain and simple black dot could be ...
I was surprised by the variety of the authors. Some of the stories in this book were first written a hundred years ago with others being relatively recent in comparison. This is a compilation like no other - the diverse backgrounds of authors, the creatures which they wrote about and the era in which they were written all add to the dark and fantastical vibe.
Mythology, horror and the supernatural - Unnatural Creatures is a short story compilation with vast appeal. With a wide range of creatures and authors, I feel this is a book which will interest fantasy fans, young and old alike.
crhurlbert's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
peonytea's review against another edition
Lost steam. Maybe I'll pick it up again later?
muniemoe's review against another edition
5.0
A collection of short stories that entertaining especially if you are a fan of monster tales. This is something that you can read at Halloween Story Time (why we have to wait till Halloween to read this?) Every story has its own unique monsters and traits. But some stories leaving a long last impression on me. I pick 3 stories that I love most.
1. The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bee by E. Lily Yu.
2. The Compleat Werewolf by Anthony Boucher.
3. The Cockatoucan Or Great Aunt Willoughby by E. Nesbit.
Overall, this is a book you can read when you have reading slumps. It is not dragging and you can pick which stories that you like to read.
1. The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bee by E. Lily Yu.
2. The Compleat Werewolf by Anthony Boucher.
3. The Cockatoucan Or Great Aunt Willoughby by E. Nesbit.
Overall, this is a book you can read when you have reading slumps. It is not dragging and you can pick which stories that you like to read.
koda_kodak's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0