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knittingchaos's review against another edition
3.0
Like most anthologies, some of the stories i loved and others were meh.
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
A collection of 21 short stories revolving around some interesting interpretations of dangerous women…walk carefully, lest you find one.
Series:
"Bombshells" (The Dresden Files, 12.5)
"Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell" (Warbreaker, 1.5)
"The Girl in the Mirror" (The Magicians, xx.5)
"Virgins" (Outlander, 0.5)
"Pronouncing Doom" (Emberverse, 1.5)
"The Princess and the Queen" (A Song of Fire and Ice, 0.5)
"Lies My Mother Told Me" (shared-universe Wild Cards, 21?)
The Stories
Joe Abercrombie's "Some Desperado" was sad and funny at the same time. It's all the warnings your mother gives you come true with a girl who is honest enough to admit it in this Old West tale. An oddish sort of ending, and it worked. He's already on my TBR list, and this story simply spurs me on.
Megan Abbot's "My Heart is Either Broken" was read too soon after I read a post on stories that ended without proper punctual endings, and the title bothered me. Of course, it bothered me, for completely different reasons, once I finished this short. It's a peek into a dreadful time for a young couple. Their daughter's been stolen and the hard cruel eyes of the public are judging, expecting. And I suspect it's the beginning of the end. You'll cry at the end, and I also suspect you'll hope without hope.
Cecelia Holland's "Nora's Song" is a dip of the historic toe into the family chaos of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine and has me wanting to delve into what happened to their children. An intriguing, and sad, look at their children's lives growing up between these warring spouses. It raises a sad and parallel thought about ambitious parents---generally royal and noble ones---eager to continue their legacies and family names at the expense of their children. To be loved by one's parents. Is it a fantasy only recent generations have? That expectation to be loved for oneself? I do want to read more of Holland's work.
Melinda Snodgrass's "The Hands That are Not There" is another sad tale of bigotry and love in the wrong places in this science fiction romance. You know it's going to end wrong, but you won't believe how wrong. Heartbreaking and so very well done.
Jim Butcher's "Bombshells" is a brief glimpse into Molly's travails after Dresden has died, the efforts she goes through to do honor to her mentor in saving his half-brother, and how it affects the people around her. It's also a cheeky thump to the heart with its ending hint!
Carrie Vaughn's "Raisa Stepanova" is its own tale complete in itself of a stubborn girl who wanted to fly and World War II gave her the opportunity. Her thoughts, her dreams, her worries all come through even as Vaughn paints a worrisome picture in the background. Very nicely written.
Joe R. Lansdale's "Wrestling Jesus" is yet another bittersweet story, of a wrestler this time and the dreams that held him back in this grim contemporary story. Dreams that will spur his protégè on. I did love the way the X-Man prodded Marvin onward, lol. Another name added to my TBR.
Megan Lindholm's "Neighbors" is a terrifying mix of old age and science fiction! A true look through an old woman's eyes at the choice of fates before her. Aging with the loss of memory that accompanies it and being nagged toward losing too much of herself or stepping out into a "new world" where she knows nothing. I hate how Lindholm left this, and I'm hoping she'll go somewhere with it as it's left me with way too many questions!
Lawrence Block's "I Know How to Pick 'Em" is terrifying in a different direction. The title sounds like a complaint, and it's more of an acknowledged lament. I have to wonder if this is his "job"? His direction in life? What did that army doctor see and how did it affect "Gary"'s decision? I haven't read much Block, and this story didn't seem like his usual (of the little I've read *eye roll*). Excellent contemporary story of a perverse mother, no-tell motels, and with a nasty twist on that dangerous woman theme.
Brandon Sanderson's "Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell" is another one, arghhhh! A brief glimpse into this woman's world, and I want to know so much more about it!! Sanderson gives plenty to intrigue but only enough to touch on Silence's background and the dangers of this fantasy world. It's greed, pride, and fear that push and pull at its characters, and it takes a dangerous woman to survive.
Sharon Kay Penman's "A Queen in Exile" is another historical based on true people: Constance de Hauteville and her husband, Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. It's a few years of her married life with the jerk with a behind-the-scenes reasoning for her choices for Frederick. Very well done.
Lev Grossman's "The Girl in the Mirror" is the planning and effect of a prank that reveals so much more and reads like the start of something. Brief sketches of students, several professors, and the school that made me feel as if I were stepping into a story that has been ongoing, and while Grossman pulled me in with his effective characterizations, he's left me wanting more. I want to know more about Wharton and his pencils. I want to know more about Plum and what haunts her. I want to know more about Professor Coldwater, whose portrayal was very conflicting, and the secrets ways of Brakebills. As for the girl? She's barely tapped. If it weren't for the title, we wouldn't know she might be important. The ending was annoying as well. All this effort and this is it?
Nancy Kress' "Second Arabesque, Very Slowly" is another dip of the toe, into an apocalyptic world this time. The characters ring true and prove that man fails when he reduces women to second-best. Stories from the past and a glimpse of the beauty that was cause this tiny leap of hope in the midst of shortsighted dogs of greed. What doesn't ring true is Kress' explanations for why dancing is so horrible that it earns a death penalty---her explanation in the story doesn't work for me since Kara hasn't had a period yet, so WTF? Yet another ending that left me frustrated.
Diana Rowland's "City of Lazarus" looks at corruption in New Orleans with a different twist on the after effects of Hurricane Katrina. And not so fanciful either as it's still a fate that could overtake New Orleans! A corrupt cop who learns a better way to live only to find the answer, too late. I did keep expecting Kara Gillian to crop up, though, *grin*
Diana Gabaldon's "Virgins" is a prequel that tells the story of how Jamie joined up with Ian's mercenary group in France and one of their adventures there. Oh, boy. Jamie may still be a virgin, but Ian has lost a bit of his, um, innocence, lol.
Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Hell Hath No Fury" is a fearful ghost story of a Creek woman done wrong and what it will take to appease her. Nice blend of history, Indian beliefs, and greedy bigotry with a touch of the psychic to pull it together.
S. M. Stirling's "Pronouncing Doom" was fabulous! Another apocalyptic tale but one involving law and Wiccans. I want more. A small group of people who are trying to pull together and survive. To be better than the old world. A-l-most you could want a disaster to see if we could make things better as the Dun do in this story. Yes, it's hard work and too many died to make this come about, but to bring about a more peaceful, supportive, and responsible rule? Stirling did a lovely job of sharing Juniper's thoughts, how hard this was for her to make the choices she did, and the whys. I've enjoyed his Shadowspawn series, and I can see that I have definitely got to read more of his work.
Sam Sykes's "Name the Beast" has promise, but I found it too confusing. Sykes dropped me in and left me dangling. Much like Eadne. It turns out there were two different mother-and-daughter couples and both were, um, sort of fighting the other? And each other?? I didn't understand who Kalindris or Rokuda were. What their purpose was. I caught the conflict. The usual one of "invasion" of some sort, but I never did understand Kalindris' side of all this. What the purpose of her people was. This was my own bête noir of the anthology.
Pat Cadigan's "Caretakers" is a horror story of sisters far apart in age and the typical rivalry of siblings as each struggles with how they react with each other and their fears for their mother in an assisted living home. Their fears of how the staff are caring for their mother and the other retired people. It's a bit close to home with the description of a mother suffering from Alzheimer's and her gradual decay.
Caroline Spector's "Lies My Mother Told Me" is a well-written and interesting blend of X-Men, comic superheroes, and the paranormal in a short story that is part of George R.R. Martin's shared-universe series, Wild Cards. It's zombies and conspiracies as an unknown enemy is stealing Wild Card powers and Bubbles and Hoodoo Mama must thwart them with the background help of Adesina. My one quibble is why they want Bubbles to retire??
George R.R. Martin's "The Princess and the Queen" is a prequel to A Song of Fire and Ice series, one that I suspect is set in the distant past as he relates the story of royals flying dragons while half-brother and half-sister battle it out for the Iron Throne (Being a History of the Causes, Origins, Battles, and Betrayals of the Most Tragic Bloodletting Known as the Dance of the Dragons, or a battle within House Targaryen from 129 to 131 AC). It's very much in the theme of the story with its paranoid betrayals, battles, and death. And I suspect the last time dragons fly in this world. Until now.
The Cover
The cover looks like an old, smoky parchment brushed by fire on the edges with the title in a bright, gleaming gold raised above the surface. The editors' names are also in a raised font in black while a partial list of contributing authors is below the title.
The title is the theme of these stories, for they are all about Dangerous Women in one form or another.
Series:
"Bombshells" (The Dresden Files, 12.5)
"Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell" (Warbreaker, 1.5)
"The Girl in the Mirror" (The Magicians, xx.5)
"Virgins" (Outlander, 0.5)
"Pronouncing Doom" (Emberverse, 1.5)
"The Princess and the Queen" (A Song of Fire and Ice, 0.5)
"Lies My Mother Told Me" (shared-universe Wild Cards, 21?)
The Stories
Joe Abercrombie's "Some Desperado" was sad and funny at the same time. It's all the warnings your mother gives you come true with a girl who is honest enough to admit it in this Old West tale. An oddish sort of ending, and it worked. He's already on my TBR list, and this story simply spurs me on.
Megan Abbot's "My Heart is Either Broken" was read too soon after I read a post on stories that ended without proper punctual endings, and the title bothered me. Of course, it bothered me, for completely different reasons, once I finished this short. It's a peek into a dreadful time for a young couple. Their daughter's been stolen and the hard cruel eyes of the public are judging, expecting. And I suspect it's the beginning of the end. You'll cry at the end, and I also suspect you'll hope without hope.
Cecelia Holland's "Nora's Song" is a dip of the historic toe into the family chaos of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine and has me wanting to delve into what happened to their children. An intriguing, and sad, look at their children's lives growing up between these warring spouses. It raises a sad and parallel thought about ambitious parents---generally royal and noble ones---eager to continue their legacies and family names at the expense of their children. To be loved by one's parents. Is it a fantasy only recent generations have? That expectation to be loved for oneself? I do want to read more of Holland's work.
Melinda Snodgrass's "The Hands That are Not There" is another sad tale of bigotry and love in the wrong places in this science fiction romance. You know it's going to end wrong, but you won't believe how wrong. Heartbreaking and so very well done.
Jim Butcher's "Bombshells" is a brief glimpse into Molly's travails after Dresden has died, the efforts she goes through to do honor to her mentor in saving his half-brother, and how it affects the people around her. It's also a cheeky thump to the heart with its ending hint!
Carrie Vaughn's "Raisa Stepanova" is its own tale complete in itself of a stubborn girl who wanted to fly and World War II gave her the opportunity. Her thoughts, her dreams, her worries all come through even as Vaughn paints a worrisome picture in the background. Very nicely written.
Joe R. Lansdale's "Wrestling Jesus" is yet another bittersweet story, of a wrestler this time and the dreams that held him back in this grim contemporary story. Dreams that will spur his protégè on. I did love the way the X-Man prodded Marvin onward, lol. Another name added to my TBR.
Megan Lindholm's "Neighbors" is a terrifying mix of old age and science fiction! A true look through an old woman's eyes at the choice of fates before her. Aging with the loss of memory that accompanies it and being nagged toward losing too much of herself or stepping out into a "new world" where she knows nothing. I hate how Lindholm left this, and I'm hoping she'll go somewhere with it as it's left me with way too many questions!
Lawrence Block's "I Know How to Pick 'Em" is terrifying in a different direction. The title sounds like a complaint, and it's more of an acknowledged lament. I have to wonder if this is his "job"? His direction in life? What did that army doctor see and how did it affect "Gary"'s decision? I haven't read much Block, and this story didn't seem like his usual (of the little I've read *eye roll*). Excellent contemporary story of a perverse mother, no-tell motels, and with a nasty twist on that dangerous woman theme.
Brandon Sanderson's "Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell" is another one, arghhhh! A brief glimpse into this woman's world, and I want to know so much more about it!! Sanderson gives plenty to intrigue but only enough to touch on Silence's background and the dangers of this fantasy world. It's greed, pride, and fear that push and pull at its characters, and it takes a dangerous woman to survive.
Sharon Kay Penman's "A Queen in Exile" is another historical based on true people: Constance de Hauteville and her husband, Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. It's a few years of her married life with the jerk with a behind-the-scenes reasoning for her choices for Frederick. Very well done.
Lev Grossman's "The Girl in the Mirror" is the planning and effect of a prank that reveals so much more and reads like the start of something. Brief sketches of students, several professors, and the school that made me feel as if I were stepping into a story that has been ongoing, and while Grossman pulled me in with his effective characterizations, he's left me wanting more. I want to know more about Wharton and his pencils. I want to know more about Plum and what haunts her. I want to know more about Professor Coldwater, whose portrayal was very conflicting, and the secrets ways of Brakebills. As for the girl? She's barely tapped. If it weren't for the title, we wouldn't know she might be important. The ending was annoying as well. All this effort and this is it?
Nancy Kress' "Second Arabesque, Very Slowly" is another dip of the toe, into an apocalyptic world this time. The characters ring true and prove that man fails when he reduces women to second-best. Stories from the past and a glimpse of the beauty that was cause this tiny leap of hope in the midst of shortsighted dogs of greed. What doesn't ring true is Kress' explanations for why dancing is so horrible that it earns a death penalty---her explanation in the story doesn't work for me since Kara hasn't had a period yet, so WTF? Yet another ending that left me frustrated.
Diana Rowland's "City of Lazarus" looks at corruption in New Orleans with a different twist on the after effects of Hurricane Katrina. And not so fanciful either as it's still a fate that could overtake New Orleans! A corrupt cop who learns a better way to live only to find the answer, too late. I did keep expecting Kara Gillian to crop up, though, *grin*
Diana Gabaldon's "Virgins" is a prequel that tells the story of how Jamie joined up with Ian's mercenary group in France and one of their adventures there. Oh, boy. Jamie may still be a virgin, but Ian has lost a bit of his, um, innocence, lol.
Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Hell Hath No Fury" is a fearful ghost story of a Creek woman done wrong and what it will take to appease her. Nice blend of history, Indian beliefs, and greedy bigotry with a touch of the psychic to pull it together.
S. M. Stirling's "Pronouncing Doom" was fabulous! Another apocalyptic tale but one involving law and Wiccans. I want more. A small group of people who are trying to pull together and survive. To be better than the old world. A-l-most you could want a disaster to see if we could make things better as the Dun do in this story. Yes, it's hard work and too many died to make this come about, but to bring about a more peaceful, supportive, and responsible rule? Stirling did a lovely job of sharing Juniper's thoughts, how hard this was for her to make the choices she did, and the whys. I've enjoyed his Shadowspawn series, and I can see that I have definitely got to read more of his work.
Sam Sykes's "Name the Beast" has promise, but I found it too confusing. Sykes dropped me in and left me dangling. Much like Eadne. It turns out there were two different mother-and-daughter couples and both were, um, sort of fighting the other? And each other?? I didn't understand who Kalindris or Rokuda were. What their purpose was. I caught the conflict. The usual one of "invasion" of some sort, but I never did understand Kalindris' side of all this. What the purpose of her people was. This was my own bête noir of the anthology.
Pat Cadigan's "Caretakers" is a horror story of sisters far apart in age and the typical rivalry of siblings as each struggles with how they react with each other and their fears for their mother in an assisted living home. Their fears of how the staff are caring for their mother and the other retired people. It's a bit close to home with the description of a mother suffering from Alzheimer's and her gradual decay.
Caroline Spector's "Lies My Mother Told Me" is a well-written and interesting blend of X-Men, comic superheroes, and the paranormal in a short story that is part of George R.R. Martin's shared-universe series, Wild Cards. It's zombies and conspiracies as an unknown enemy is stealing Wild Card powers and Bubbles and Hoodoo Mama must thwart them with the background help of Adesina. My one quibble is why they want Bubbles to retire??
George R.R. Martin's "The Princess and the Queen" is a prequel to A Song of Fire and Ice series, one that I suspect is set in the distant past as he relates the story of royals flying dragons while half-brother and half-sister battle it out for the Iron Throne (Being a History of the Causes, Origins, Battles, and Betrayals of the Most Tragic Bloodletting Known as the Dance of the Dragons, or a battle within House Targaryen from 129 to 131 AC). It's very much in the theme of the story with its paranoid betrayals, battles, and death. And I suspect the last time dragons fly in this world. Until now.
The Cover
The cover looks like an old, smoky parchment brushed by fire on the edges with the title in a bright, gleaming gold raised above the surface. The editors' names are also in a raised font in black while a partial list of contributing authors is below the title.
The title is the theme of these stories, for they are all about Dangerous Women in one form or another.
aceinit's review against another edition
2.0
A longer review than usual follows, and a breakdown of each individual story, as I have been asked by multiple people whether or not they should read this book due to its all-star lineup (and Martin’s presence as editor and contributor, in particular).
The TL;DR answer is: no. Do not waste your time with this boring, mess of a book that barely adheres to its own theme.
The longer answer is as follows:
I really wanted to enjoy this collection but, wow, this is probably the greatest disappointment of an anthology I have ever read. I have absolutely no idea why I did not ragequit this book less than halfway through because, let me tell you, what I was promised
is definitely not what I got. I suppose it’s because I wanted to give each author a fair shot. If you go into this book with the same mindset, and find yourself becoming more and more disheartened with every passing story, do yourself a favor and stop. It really, really doesn’t get any better the longer you stick it out. This is, in fact, the most tedious, boring collection of short stories I have ever read.
Below are my thoughts on each story, followed by a rating of “Dangerous Woman,” “Maybe in the right light” “Why is this even included here?” and “Obligatory Token Female Character.” Obligatory Token Female Character is one who (a) only exists to show how manly the manly men are by acting as an object of inexplicable lust and (b) seems to be in the story only because “oh, right, it’s called dangerous WOMEN...I might want to include one of those after talking about men for 2/3 of the story. See, look how it fits the theme now! LOOK!”
- “Some Desperado” by Joe Abercrombie: Despite Shy South being one of my least favorite Abercrombie creations, her story opens the anthology with a bang. When cornered, Shy bears her teeth and shows exactly why she is not someone to be crossed. A western-style story with guns, knives and bone-crunching fights. Rating: Dangerous Woman
- “My Heart is Either Broken” by Megan Abbott: Personally, I loved this one and thought it was a very subtle, perfect fit. I’ve seen a lot of people say they feel like it doesn’t belong, but here we are dealing with a very real issue seen too often in the news: a missing child, a parent who is a suspect, and an ending that drives home that the nightmare has really just begun. Rating: Dangerous Woman
- “Nora’s Song” by Cecelia Holland: Slow, plodding, with the primary focus on a very young princess who is watching her royal mother play what is presumably a very dangerous game of politics. I say presumably because my knowledge of this particular period in history is pretty much nonexistent. As a result, this is one of those stories that has a lot of allusions but never actually goes anywhere. Rating: Maybe in the right light / Why is this even included here?
- “The Hands That Are Not There” by Melinda Snodgrass: A really, really, really interesting ending. I will give it that much. The problem is that we spend so long in desolate bars and alien strip clubs oogling the girlflesh that I’d lost most of my interest by the time the story took a turn for the unexpected. Rating: 1/2 Obligatory Token Female Character, 1/2 Dangerous Woman
- “Bombshells” by Jim Butcher: I'm sure this qualifies as blasphemy, but I highly prefer Molly Carpenter over Harry Dresden. Dresden never failed to irk me, and I never finished the series because of it. Molly, however, I dig. She shows that you can be insecure about your capabilities but still fully capable of kicking butt and taking names. Rating: Dangerous Woman
- “Raisa Stepanova” by Carrie Vaughn: This story about a female Russian fighter pilot seems like the perfect setup for a Dangerous Woman story, but it fizzles out towards the end. I would have liked to see this story end more dynamically than it actually did. As things stand, after all the action in the early pages, the conclusion is a severe disappointment. Rating: Maybe in the right light
- “Wrestling Jesus” by Joe R. Lansdale: I will admit that I love the premise here: two geriatric guys fighting it out fist over aging fist every couple of years over a woman who has bewitched them body. The “dangerous woman” in questing here is very much a background character, but with Lansdale’s writing style and the setup, it works. The problem is, that Lansdale’s story also serves as the first course of what will become a recurring theme in this anthology: women existing solely to drive men to do things and never becoming anything more than flat, clichéd eye candy whose sex appeal is the whole reason for her existence. Rating: 1/2 Obligatory Token Female Character, 1/2 Dangerous Woman (And only because this is the first story of its kind in the collection. The ones to come will be graded much more harshly.)
- “Neighbors” by Megan Lindholm: Admittedly, this story hit a little close to home for me. I am dealing with an aging grandparent, and having a lot of the same conversations that take place in this story. It was a hard read. However, there is also absolutely nothing “dangerous” about our elderly protagonist of her friends. The day-to-day activities of basic home life drone on, even with the presence of an otherworldly place living right next door to our main character’s. It is too mundane, too uneventful. Rating: “Why is this even included here?
- “Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell” by Brandon Sanderson: I have shameless love for Sanderson, thanks to his Mistborn trilogy. Here, he introduces us to Silence, an innkeeper/undercover bounty hunter, and her daughter, William Ann. When a man with a very large price on his head comes into Silence’s inn, she must employ every trick in her book and then some to secure a financial future for herself and her daughter. Factor in a double-crossing third party and some very creepy ghosts, and you have one of the standout stories in the anthology. Rating: Dangerous
- “I Know How to Pick ’Em” by Lawrence Block: Sexpot woman does sexy things with a guy with serious anger management issues, and asks him to kill her husband because, since they’re having sex, why would the guy not totally be up for a little homicide on the side. There is absolutely nothing in this story that isn’t a cliche. Even the “twist” ending has been done to death. Rating: Obligatory Token Female Character
- “A Queen in Exile” by Sharon Kay Penman: Apparently infertile queen worries about marriage beds, a husband who doesn’t love her, fertility and other Serious Womanly Business. The land is in the midst of rebellion but, trust me, it doesn’t matter. All you need to know about this one is that the author had to stick in an afterword explaining WHY her woman was a dangerous one. And even that’s not particularly convincing. Rating: Why is this even included here?
- “The Girl in the Mirror” by Lev Grossman: Grossman is one of those authors I’ve wanted to read for a while now. And this story did convince me to read him. He’s got a quirky magic system going on here that’s like Hogwarts but without the whimsy, and he writes neat, quirky characters. The problem is that there’s not a lot of danger in a story about petty revenge, even when a more menacing ghost gets involved. A fun read, and female-centric, but not entirely fitting for this particular anthology. Rating: ½ Maybe in the right light, ½ Why is this even included here?
- “Second Arabesque, Very Slowly” by Nancy Kress: Set in post-apocalyptic Manhattan, the dialect of Kress’s entry almost made me skip it entirely. Even after reading it, I’m still not sure I liked it. However, as we progress from subservient Nurse to a woman who is determined to protect her wards at all costs, this one definitely earns a rating of Dangerous.
- “City Lazarus” by Diana Rowland: Alternate history version of New Orleans, with consequences far more severe than Katrina. This one focuses on a corrupt cop and a woman who captures his attention and his lust. She has an agenda that he discovers too late. Of course she does. But her grand scheme is revealed a little too late and whose methods are a little too slow to ever accomplish her end game. Rating: Obligatory Token Female Character
- “Virgins” by Diana Gabaldon: This is the point where I nearly (and should’ve) stopped reading. Gabaldron's endless entry was one of the worst, and the second longest story in the collection. A female character isn't even introduced until the halfway mark and, with a third of the story still to go, has yet to do something other than be sexy and flirtatious. Her worst offense is inconveniencing our male hero who is supposed to deliver her to her future husband. Rating: Obligatory Token Female Character
- “Hell Hath No Fury” by Sherilynn Kenyon: Kenyon's story gets in, does what it needs to, and gets out again in only a few pages. The dialogue in the frame story feels stiff and laughably cliched, but at least it sticks to the theme the rest of the time. Rating: Dangerous
- “Pronouncing Doom” by S.M. Stirling: . Stirling's alternate history story is well-written and female-centric, but feels like it's missing the "dangerous" element, or any element other than worldbuilding, since its focus is more on aftermath than any active action. Our female lead and clan leader arrives to judge a man accused of rape. As the story states pretty early on, this is a judgment only, not a trial, not any active action. The whole of the story is completely passive, with no suspense to build up to or let down. Rating: Why is this even included here?
- “Name the Beast” by Sam Sykes: Though he does an interesting set-up and premise, I'm still not feeling the "dangerous" vibe. Given that this story is about hunters and hunted, that really says something. On one hand, we have a woman teaching a child to hunt and kill. On the other, a family running for their lives. Yet it focuses almost exclusively on petty squabbles instead of building any actual suspense. Rating: Maybe in the right light.
- “Caretakers” by Pat Cadigan: A story about two very different sisters, their aging mother and a possible conspiracy at a convalescent home. And yet another story that alludes to interesting things going on without every showcasing anything. The most dangerous we get is the two of them watching a documentary about female serial killers in the opening pages. And the central character actually referring to herself as “a bad, sneaky, dangerous woman” while admittedly standing mired in indecisision? Give me a break. Rating: Why is this even included here?
- “Lies My Mother Told Me” by Caroline Spector: Zombies, superheroine types, and plenty of heavy-hitting ladies kicking butt and taking names. Still, this being my introduction to the Wild Cards series, I was frustrated by the lack of information about the virus itself. WHY is this alien virus called the Wild Card virus and the terminology around it so closely associated with card games? A brief explanation would have made this a much less vexing read. Still, the rating is decidedly Dangerous.
- “The Princess and the Queen” by George R.R. Martin: Martin continues his quest to give name to every single citizen who has ever walked the foot of Westeros and because of his insistence on naming every single name, this is the most tedious read in the collection. I am fairly certain no reader is sitting at home thinking “but the bannermen, George! WHO WERE THE BANNERMEN!?” If Martin had stuck to the story, like he did in books 1-3 of ASoIaF and not persisted in naming every single player no matter how minor, as in books 4 & 5, this pivotal moment in Westerosi history would’ve made for an intense read. As things stand, it is the most boring story, royal usurpations, war, laying waste to the countryside, and dragons that I have ever encountered. Rating: Dangerous for our usurped princess.
Final Tally:
Dangerous Woman: 7
Maybe in the right light: 2.5
Why is this even included here?: 5.5
Obligatory Token Female Character: 4
The TL;DR answer is: no. Do not waste your time with this boring, mess of a book that barely adheres to its own theme.
The longer answer is as follows:
I really wanted to enjoy this collection but, wow, this is probably the greatest disappointment of an anthology I have ever read. I have absolutely no idea why I did not ragequit this book less than halfway through because, let me tell you, what I was promised
“Here you’ll find no hapless victims who stand by whimpering in dread while the male hero fights the monster or clashes swords with the villain, and if you want to tie these women to the railroad tracks, you’ll find you have a real fight on your hands. Instead, you will find sword-wielding women warriors, intrepid women fighter pilots and far-ranging spacewomen, deadly female serial killers, formidable female superheroes, sly and seductive femmes fatale, female wizards, hard-living Bad Girls, female bandits and rebels, embattled survivors in Post-Apocalyptic futures, female Private Investigators, stern female hanging judges, haughty queens who rule nations and whose jealousies and ambitions send thousands to grisly deaths, daring dragonriders, and many more.”
is definitely not what I got. I suppose it’s because I wanted to give each author a fair shot. If you go into this book with the same mindset, and find yourself becoming more and more disheartened with every passing story, do yourself a favor and stop. It really, really doesn’t get any better the longer you stick it out. This is, in fact, the most tedious, boring collection of short stories I have ever read.
Below are my thoughts on each story, followed by a rating of “Dangerous Woman,” “Maybe in the right light” “Why is this even included here?” and “Obligatory Token Female Character.” Obligatory Token Female Character is one who (a) only exists to show how manly the manly men are by acting as an object of inexplicable lust and (b) seems to be in the story only because “oh, right, it’s called dangerous WOMEN...I might want to include one of those after talking about men for 2/3 of the story. See, look how it fits the theme now! LOOK!”
- “Some Desperado” by Joe Abercrombie: Despite Shy South being one of my least favorite Abercrombie creations, her story opens the anthology with a bang. When cornered, Shy bears her teeth and shows exactly why she is not someone to be crossed. A western-style story with guns, knives and bone-crunching fights. Rating: Dangerous Woman
- “My Heart is Either Broken” by Megan Abbott: Personally, I loved this one and thought it was a very subtle, perfect fit. I’ve seen a lot of people say they feel like it doesn’t belong, but here we are dealing with a very real issue seen too often in the news: a missing child, a parent who is a suspect, and an ending that drives home that the nightmare has really just begun. Rating: Dangerous Woman
- “Nora’s Song” by Cecelia Holland: Slow, plodding, with the primary focus on a very young princess who is watching her royal mother play what is presumably a very dangerous game of politics. I say presumably because my knowledge of this particular period in history is pretty much nonexistent. As a result, this is one of those stories that has a lot of allusions but never actually goes anywhere. Rating: Maybe in the right light / Why is this even included here?
- “The Hands That Are Not There” by Melinda Snodgrass: A really, really, really interesting ending. I will give it that much. The problem is that we spend so long in desolate bars and alien strip clubs oogling the girlflesh that I’d lost most of my interest by the time the story took a turn for the unexpected. Rating: 1/2 Obligatory Token Female Character, 1/2 Dangerous Woman
- “Bombshells” by Jim Butcher: I'm sure this qualifies as blasphemy, but I highly prefer Molly Carpenter over Harry Dresden. Dresden never failed to irk me, and I never finished the series because of it. Molly, however, I dig. She shows that you can be insecure about your capabilities but still fully capable of kicking butt and taking names. Rating: Dangerous Woman
- “Raisa Stepanova” by Carrie Vaughn: This story about a female Russian fighter pilot seems like the perfect setup for a Dangerous Woman story, but it fizzles out towards the end. I would have liked to see this story end more dynamically than it actually did. As things stand, after all the action in the early pages, the conclusion is a severe disappointment. Rating: Maybe in the right light
- “Wrestling Jesus” by Joe R. Lansdale: I will admit that I love the premise here: two geriatric guys fighting it out fist over aging fist every couple of years over a woman who has bewitched them body. The “dangerous woman” in questing here is very much a background character, but with Lansdale’s writing style and the setup, it works. The problem is, that Lansdale’s story also serves as the first course of what will become a recurring theme in this anthology: women existing solely to drive men to do things and never becoming anything more than flat, clichéd eye candy whose sex appeal is the whole reason for her existence. Rating: 1/2 Obligatory Token Female Character, 1/2 Dangerous Woman (And only because this is the first story of its kind in the collection. The ones to come will be graded much more harshly.)
- “Neighbors” by Megan Lindholm: Admittedly, this story hit a little close to home for me. I am dealing with an aging grandparent, and having a lot of the same conversations that take place in this story. It was a hard read. However, there is also absolutely nothing “dangerous” about our elderly protagonist of her friends. The day-to-day activities of basic home life drone on, even with the presence of an otherworldly place living right next door to our main character’s. It is too mundane, too uneventful. Rating: “Why is this even included here?
- “Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell” by Brandon Sanderson: I have shameless love for Sanderson, thanks to his Mistborn trilogy. Here, he introduces us to Silence, an innkeeper/undercover bounty hunter, and her daughter, William Ann. When a man with a very large price on his head comes into Silence’s inn, she must employ every trick in her book and then some to secure a financial future for herself and her daughter. Factor in a double-crossing third party and some very creepy ghosts, and you have one of the standout stories in the anthology. Rating: Dangerous
- “I Know How to Pick ’Em” by Lawrence Block: Sexpot woman does sexy things with a guy with serious anger management issues, and asks him to kill her husband because, since they’re having sex, why would the guy not totally be up for a little homicide on the side. There is absolutely nothing in this story that isn’t a cliche. Even the “twist” ending has been done to death. Rating: Obligatory Token Female Character
- “A Queen in Exile” by Sharon Kay Penman: Apparently infertile queen worries about marriage beds, a husband who doesn’t love her, fertility and other Serious Womanly Business. The land is in the midst of rebellion but, trust me, it doesn’t matter. All you need to know about this one is that the author had to stick in an afterword explaining WHY her woman was a dangerous one. And even that’s not particularly convincing. Rating: Why is this even included here?
- “The Girl in the Mirror” by Lev Grossman: Grossman is one of those authors I’ve wanted to read for a while now. And this story did convince me to read him. He’s got a quirky magic system going on here that’s like Hogwarts but without the whimsy, and he writes neat, quirky characters. The problem is that there’s not a lot of danger in a story about petty revenge, even when a more menacing ghost gets involved. A fun read, and female-centric, but not entirely fitting for this particular anthology. Rating: ½ Maybe in the right light, ½ Why is this even included here?
- “Second Arabesque, Very Slowly” by Nancy Kress: Set in post-apocalyptic Manhattan, the dialect of Kress’s entry almost made me skip it entirely. Even after reading it, I’m still not sure I liked it. However, as we progress from subservient Nurse to a woman who is determined to protect her wards at all costs, this one definitely earns a rating of Dangerous.
- “City Lazarus” by Diana Rowland: Alternate history version of New Orleans, with consequences far more severe than Katrina. This one focuses on a corrupt cop and a woman who captures his attention and his lust. She has an agenda that he discovers too late. Of course she does. But her grand scheme is revealed a little too late and whose methods are a little too slow to ever accomplish her end game. Rating: Obligatory Token Female Character
- “Virgins” by Diana Gabaldon: This is the point where I nearly (and should’ve) stopped reading. Gabaldron's endless entry was one of the worst, and the second longest story in the collection. A female character isn't even introduced until the halfway mark and, with a third of the story still to go, has yet to do something other than be sexy and flirtatious. Her worst offense is inconveniencing our male hero who is supposed to deliver her to her future husband. Rating: Obligatory Token Female Character
- “Hell Hath No Fury” by Sherilynn Kenyon: Kenyon's story gets in, does what it needs to, and gets out again in only a few pages. The dialogue in the frame story feels stiff and laughably cliched, but at least it sticks to the theme the rest of the time. Rating: Dangerous
- “Pronouncing Doom” by S.M. Stirling: . Stirling's alternate history story is well-written and female-centric, but feels like it's missing the "dangerous" element, or any element other than worldbuilding, since its focus is more on aftermath than any active action. Our female lead and clan leader arrives to judge a man accused of rape. As the story states pretty early on, this is a judgment only, not a trial, not any active action. The whole of the story is completely passive, with no suspense to build up to or let down. Rating: Why is this even included here?
- “Name the Beast” by Sam Sykes: Though he does an interesting set-up and premise, I'm still not feeling the "dangerous" vibe. Given that this story is about hunters and hunted, that really says something. On one hand, we have a woman teaching a child to hunt and kill. On the other, a family running for their lives. Yet it focuses almost exclusively on petty squabbles instead of building any actual suspense. Rating: Maybe in the right light.
- “Caretakers” by Pat Cadigan: A story about two very different sisters, their aging mother and a possible conspiracy at a convalescent home. And yet another story that alludes to interesting things going on without every showcasing anything. The most dangerous we get is the two of them watching a documentary about female serial killers in the opening pages. And the central character actually referring to herself as “a bad, sneaky, dangerous woman” while admittedly standing mired in indecisision? Give me a break. Rating: Why is this even included here?
- “Lies My Mother Told Me” by Caroline Spector: Zombies, superheroine types, and plenty of heavy-hitting ladies kicking butt and taking names. Still, this being my introduction to the Wild Cards series, I was frustrated by the lack of information about the virus itself. WHY is this alien virus called the Wild Card virus and the terminology around it so closely associated with card games? A brief explanation would have made this a much less vexing read. Still, the rating is decidedly Dangerous.
- “The Princess and the Queen” by George R.R. Martin: Martin continues his quest to give name to every single citizen who has ever walked the foot of Westeros and because of his insistence on naming every single name, this is the most tedious read in the collection. I am fairly certain no reader is sitting at home thinking “but the bannermen, George! WHO WERE THE BANNERMEN!?” If Martin had stuck to the story, like he did in books 1-3 of ASoIaF and not persisted in naming every single player no matter how minor, as in books 4 & 5, this pivotal moment in Westerosi history would’ve made for an intense read. As things stand, it is the most boring story, royal usurpations, war, laying waste to the countryside, and dragons that I have ever encountered. Rating: Dangerous for our usurped princess.
Final Tally:
Dangerous Woman: 7
Maybe in the right light: 2.5
Why is this even included here?: 5.5
Obligatory Token Female Character: 4
gracefulhope's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. A fun ride! Lots of good stories, some ok stories, and a couple stories I didn't really enjoy. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with George R.R. Martin's novella at the end of the book - it read too much like a history book for me to really get into it and too many characters to be able to follow well. But it was still interesting to learn more backstory/history of the world that A Song of Ice & Fire is set in. Overall I did enjoy it, though, and would recommend it to others looking for a variety of quick reads.
medusa_frost1's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't love it. I'm not sure what I was expecting, maybe something more fantasy related? It's not that the stories aren't well written, they are, just not what I was looking for I guess.
crimsoncor's review against another edition
3.0
Some of the stories are quite good. There is also a bunch of misogynistic crap which I found pretty unfortunate in a book that ostensibly female focused. Oh well.
subparcupcake's review against another edition
4.0
I'm horrible at reviewing short story collections. I don't write down any thoughts between stories, and by the end I don't remember clearly what any of them were about. Suffice it to say that I liked more stories than I disliked in this collection, so four stars it is.
celtic_oracle's review against another edition
3.0
I love anthologies - even if not every story is to my taste (and a couple definitely weren't), I still find new stories and authors to love. Sone really good reads here, even if more of the women were scary-dangerous (as opposed to kick-ass dangerous) than I would have liked.
thorres's review
5.0
Todas as histórias desta antologia são incríveis.
Duas ocuparam a minha cabeça bastante tempo pós leitura: Brandon Sanderson - Sombras para Silêncio nas Florestas do Inferno e
Joe Abercrombie - Completamente Perdida.
Quanto ao GRRM não desiludiu.
Duas ocuparam a minha cabeça bastante tempo pós leitura: Brandon Sanderson - Sombras para Silêncio nas Florestas do Inferno e
Joe Abercrombie - Completamente Perdida.
Quanto ao GRRM não desiludiu.
catatlanta's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The quality varies massively between entires - some are an easy 5* and some I ended up skipping entirely.