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mxsallybend's review against another edition
4.0
It's very strange. I've been a Tad Williams fan since the early 90s, when I first encountered (and subsequently devoured) his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn saga. I was absolutely blown away by the size and scope of the story, the complexities of the characters, and the depth of the mythology. I dabbled in the Otherland books, but never really got hooked, and I loved the Shadowmarch saga, although I still have 1 book left to read.
Maybe it's because I'm so enamored with him on that large scale that I've never really dabbled in his short stories, so there was a definite appeal in picking up The Very Best of Tad Williams for review. There were a handful of tales here that simply didn't work for me - 'And Ministers of Grace' was a tad too religious, while 'Black Sunshine' and 'Not with a Whimper, Either' were written in a style I didn't care for - there were also some very pleasant surprises.
'The Old Scale Game' is a great kick-off to the collection, with a con run by dragon and dragon slayer quickly getting out of control. It's quick, it's clever, and it's very funny. By contrast, 'The Storm Door' is a very dark sort of hard-boiled detective tale with a paranormal edge . . . and an ending I didn't expect, but which works beautifully.
We get lighter again with 'The Stranger’s Hands,' in which the darkest of magicians is caught masquerading as a miracle worker, while 'Child of an Ancient City' once again turns the tables on us, taking an Arabian Nights sort of approach to a mountain flight from old-school vampyrs. 'The Boy Detective of Oz' is an Otherland story that I really liked, which may put that saga back on my to-read list, in which Williams really has fun playing with the mythology of L. Frank Baum's world.
A very strange, but very strong story, 'Three Duets for Virgin and Nosehorn' is a sort of historical morality tale featuring a virgin beauty, a painter, a priest, a princess, and a (ahem) rhinocerous. Yes, rhinocerous. Nosehorn. Get it? Turning our attention from rhinos to zebras, 'Z is for...' examines the aftermath of a party, and the confusion of a hangover.
'Monsieur Vergalant’s Canard' is another odd one that I really can't explain, although it did leave me suitably amused. 'The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of' brings us back to the realm of hard-boiled detectives, this time centered around the murder/suicide of a famous magician, while 'A Fish Between Three Friends' is a short, but lively sort of fairy tale fable.
'Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air' is another religious themed tale, but this one worked for me because of its earnest absurdity. 'A Stark and Wormy Knight' is the one story I had read before, and it is just as funny and entertaining the second time around, particularly with is play of language. Finally, oddly meshing pulp fantasy and space opera, 'Omnitron, What Ho!' is a very funny tale about a young man and his robot, sent by his elders to prevent a marriage.
All-in-all, a solid collection of stories that does a nice job of exposing some new facets of Williams' literary talents. Even with the few that didn't work, The Very Best of Tad Williams is a better collection than most authors could ever hope to produce.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
Maybe it's because I'm so enamored with him on that large scale that I've never really dabbled in his short stories, so there was a definite appeal in picking up The Very Best of Tad Williams for review. There were a handful of tales here that simply didn't work for me - 'And Ministers of Grace' was a tad too religious, while 'Black Sunshine' and 'Not with a Whimper, Either' were written in a style I didn't care for - there were also some very pleasant surprises.
'The Old Scale Game' is a great kick-off to the collection, with a con run by dragon and dragon slayer quickly getting out of control. It's quick, it's clever, and it's very funny. By contrast, 'The Storm Door' is a very dark sort of hard-boiled detective tale with a paranormal edge . . . and an ending I didn't expect, but which works beautifully.
We get lighter again with 'The Stranger’s Hands,' in which the darkest of magicians is caught masquerading as a miracle worker, while 'Child of an Ancient City' once again turns the tables on us, taking an Arabian Nights sort of approach to a mountain flight from old-school vampyrs. 'The Boy Detective of Oz' is an Otherland story that I really liked, which may put that saga back on my to-read list, in which Williams really has fun playing with the mythology of L. Frank Baum's world.
A very strange, but very strong story, 'Three Duets for Virgin and Nosehorn' is a sort of historical morality tale featuring a virgin beauty, a painter, a priest, a princess, and a (ahem) rhinocerous. Yes, rhinocerous. Nosehorn. Get it? Turning our attention from rhinos to zebras, 'Z is for...' examines the aftermath of a party, and the confusion of a hangover.
'Monsieur Vergalant’s Canard' is another odd one that I really can't explain, although it did leave me suitably amused. 'The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of' brings us back to the realm of hard-boiled detectives, this time centered around the murder/suicide of a famous magician, while 'A Fish Between Three Friends' is a short, but lively sort of fairy tale fable.
'Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air' is another religious themed tale, but this one worked for me because of its earnest absurdity. 'A Stark and Wormy Knight' is the one story I had read before, and it is just as funny and entertaining the second time around, particularly with is play of language. Finally, oddly meshing pulp fantasy and space opera, 'Omnitron, What Ho!' is a very funny tale about a young man and his robot, sent by his elders to prevent a marriage.
All-in-all, a solid collection of stories that does a nice job of exposing some new facets of Williams' literary talents. Even with the few that didn't work, The Very Best of Tad Williams is a better collection than most authors could ever hope to produce.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
notsarcastic's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
exeidur's review against another edition
4.0
I think this is a 4-star bundle overall. There were one or two stories (mostly toward the end) which really weren't my thing, so I could've done without those. Sci-Fi isn't really my thing usually, but I really liked "The Boy Detective of Oz", "Not with a Whimper, Either", and especially "Z is for...", though I was very confused while reading it and didn't like the beginning one bit.
There's some wonderful fantasy in here as well, and it already starts out with it! "The Old Scale Game" was a lot of fun to read, and it really got me interested in the rest of the stories. "The Stranger's Hands", "Child of an Ancient City", and "A Stark and Wormy Knight" are all pretty good, with "Child of an Ancient City", although quite predictable, being my favourite.
What I think is especially brilliant, is the fact that Williams manages to really work out 3-dimensional, real characters in immensely short stories. Yes, some of them are a bit cliché and/or predictable, but his creative writing skills make up for that. I also think it's really admirable how he manages to write in many different styles and voices. He writes from a dragon's point of view in "A Stark and Wormy Knight", and it really sounds like what you would imagine a dragon to sound like! He writes through a chat room in "Not with a Whimper, Either" and he writes "Black Sunshine" as if it were a movie script. I really disliked that one, because of all the 'fade in to' 'fade out to', etc., and because I generally don't like the type of movies, but I'm sure some people think it's brilliant.
All in all, I think it's a very nice collection of stories. I could've done without a few of them, but the majority were really good reads, and I was pretty sad that they couldn't go on longer. Definite recommendation for people who like fantasy, sci-fi, or both of them (or who just enjoy short stories in general).
There's some wonderful fantasy in here as well, and it already starts out with it! "The Old Scale Game" was a lot of fun to read, and it really got me interested in the rest of the stories. "The Stranger's Hands", "Child of an Ancient City", and "A Stark and Wormy Knight" are all pretty good, with "Child of an Ancient City", although quite predictable, being my favourite.
What I think is especially brilliant, is the fact that Williams manages to really work out 3-dimensional, real characters in immensely short stories. Yes, some of them are a bit cliché and/or predictable, but his creative writing skills make up for that. I also think it's really admirable how he manages to write in many different styles and voices. He writes from a dragon's point of view in "A Stark and Wormy Knight", and it really sounds like what you would imagine a dragon to sound like! He writes through a chat room in "Not with a Whimper, Either" and he writes "Black Sunshine" as if it were a movie script. I really disliked that one, because of all the 'fade in to' 'fade out to', etc., and because I generally don't like the type of movies, but I'm sure some people think it's brilliant.
All in all, I think it's a very nice collection of stories. I could've done without a few of them, but the majority were really good reads, and I was pretty sad that they couldn't go on longer. Definite recommendation for people who like fantasy, sci-fi, or both of them (or who just enjoy short stories in general).
thistlechaser's review against another edition
5.0
(Book received free for review from Tachyon Publications.)
I don't read many books of short stories. I can recall reading only three non-Stephen King books of short works: The zombie one two books ago, a GI Joe one last year, and now The Very Best of Tad Williams. I accepted this one for review because I had loved Tailchaser's Song as a kid, and wanted to see if I'd still enjoy Williams as an adult.
While I didn't like more than half of the short stories (10 out of 17), I enjoyed the others enough to give this book a five star rating. Two of the stories alone would have been worth the cost of the book. The ones I loved:
The Stranger’s Hands, the third story of the book, was my favorite. Usually I love dark, depressing endings, but this one actually bothered me and made me feel bad for days (which is a good thing, that a story can affect me so strongly!). In Stranger's Hands, the most powerful wizard in the world was an evil one. One day he decided to make a magical item that would grant the owner's deepest wish. Right after he finishes, there's a cave-in during which rocks hit his head and the injury causes him to become "simple" to the extreme (basically unresponsive to the world around him). The man who was his most loyal servant takes care of him, keeping them moving from place to place so no one will recognize the evil wizard. Eventually it comes out that by holding the former wizard's hand, sometimes peoples' deepest wishes come true. (There's funny bit about the blacksmith's wish that made me laugh out loud.) Eventually the former wizard becomes well known enough that the local authorities become aware of the miracles, which leads to the other (good) wizards finding out about him. The strongest good wizard, the former evil wizard's mortal enemy, goes to confront him...
Three Duets for Virgin and Nosehorn, the book's sixth story, was three stories in one, weaving around the "nosehorn" (rhinoceros). In one thread, a priest questioning his faith was accompanying an artifact across the sea. In another, an artist was drawing (and falling in love) with a maid girl. He asked for her to sit for him, which she did, and he told her the tale of the nosehorn (the third thread) while he worked.
Not with a Whimper, Either was story #8. I loved so much about this one! It was set in an online chatroom in 2002, so there was tons of fun, dated things. The plot was about how an AI evolved from the Internet and how it interacted with everyone using it at the time. Most of the story was honestly creepy, the feeling sticking with me even when I wasn't reading. The ending had me laughing in such an odd way, an "Oh god, you guys are SO SCREWED!" sort of thing.
And Ministers of Grace was the last story, though I haven't finished it yet. I don't usually review books before I'm done, but I knew this would be a long one and I have time now, so I wanted to do it. I have less than 1% of the book left, so just a couple pages to go. Even without having finished this story, it's one of my two favorites in the book (Stranger's Hands being the other). While Hands was self-contained and felt right as a short story, I want And Ministers of Grace to be a book. A series of books! The world it's set in is so interesting. Far future, the human race living on many planets. Religion is much less widely accepted (contained to a couple planets), but much much more extreme. The main character is a Christian Warrior/Assassin, fitted with nanobots and other tech to make him better able to kill enemies of their faith. He's sent out on a mission to kill the leader of the biggest planet of non-religious people. [Spoilers back here, I"d recommend getting the book instead of clicking for these spoilers!] I can't wait to read the last couple pages, I ran out of time before having to go to work today. I'll finish it tonight for sure.
A couple other stories I read, but didn't like much. Some Thoughts Re: Dark Destroyer (seemed like just a way for the writer to lash out at how some editors/publishers can be condescending towards authors). Z is for... (I was certain that would be a zombie story, but instead was about aliens). Monsieur Vergalant’s Canard (about two brothers and a robot? duck. I stopped reading halfway through it). Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air (a story that could have worked for me if written differently; in it god's daughter "messes up" the Earth that the angels are trying to create).
The other stories I started, but gave up a few pages in. I found that mostly it was his "funny" stories that didn't work for me. Also, all of his dragons/knights seemed to have heavy British accents, which was odd and always knocked me out of the story.
All in all, I'd strongly recommend this book. Even if you like just a couple of the stories, it's worth the cost.
I don't read many books of short stories. I can recall reading only three non-Stephen King books of short works: The zombie one two books ago, a GI Joe one last year, and now The Very Best of Tad Williams. I accepted this one for review because I had loved Tailchaser's Song as a kid, and wanted to see if I'd still enjoy Williams as an adult.
While I didn't like more than half of the short stories (10 out of 17), I enjoyed the others enough to give this book a five star rating. Two of the stories alone would have been worth the cost of the book. The ones I loved:
The Stranger’s Hands, the third story of the book, was my favorite. Usually I love dark, depressing endings, but this one actually bothered me and made me feel bad for days (which is a good thing, that a story can affect me so strongly!). In Stranger's Hands, the most powerful wizard in the world was an evil one. One day he decided to make a magical item that would grant the owner's deepest wish. Right after he finishes, there's a cave-in during which rocks hit his head and the injury causes him to become "simple" to the extreme (basically unresponsive to the world around him). The man who was his most loyal servant takes care of him, keeping them moving from place to place so no one will recognize the evil wizard. Eventually it comes out that by holding the former wizard's hand, sometimes peoples' deepest wishes come true. (There's funny bit about the blacksmith's wish that made me laugh out loud.) Eventually the former wizard becomes well known enough that the local authorities become aware of the miracles, which leads to the other (good) wizards finding out about him. The strongest good wizard, the former evil wizard's mortal enemy, goes to confront him...
Three Duets for Virgin and Nosehorn, the book's sixth story, was three stories in one, weaving around the "nosehorn" (rhinoceros). In one thread, a priest questioning his faith was accompanying an artifact across the sea. In another, an artist was drawing (and falling in love) with a maid girl. He asked for her to sit for him, which she did, and he told her the tale of the nosehorn (the third thread) while he worked.
Not with a Whimper, Either was story #8. I loved so much about this one! It was set in an online chatroom in 2002, so there was tons of fun, dated things. The plot was about how an AI evolved from the Internet and how it interacted with everyone using it at the time. Most of the story was honestly creepy, the feeling sticking with me even when I wasn't reading. The ending had me laughing in such an odd way, an "Oh god, you guys are SO SCREWED!" sort of thing.
And Ministers of Grace was the last story, though I haven't finished it yet. I don't usually review books before I'm done, but I knew this would be a long one and I have time now, so I wanted to do it. I have less than 1% of the book left, so just a couple pages to go. Even without having finished this story, it's one of my two favorites in the book (Stranger's Hands being the other). While Hands was self-contained and felt right as a short story, I want And Ministers of Grace to be a book. A series of books! The world it's set in is so interesting. Far future, the human race living on many planets. Religion is much less widely accepted (contained to a couple planets), but much much more extreme. The main character is a Christian Warrior/Assassin, fitted with nanobots and other tech to make him better able to kill enemies of their faith. He's sent out on a mission to kill the leader of the biggest planet of non-religious people. [Spoilers back here, I"d recommend getting the book instead of clicking for these spoilers!] I can't wait to read the last couple pages, I ran out of time before having to go to work today. I'll finish it tonight for sure.
A couple other stories I read, but didn't like much. Some Thoughts Re: Dark Destroyer (seemed like just a way for the writer to lash out at how some editors/publishers can be condescending towards authors). Z is for... (I was certain that would be a zombie story, but instead was about aliens). Monsieur Vergalant’s Canard (about two brothers and a robot? duck. I stopped reading halfway through it). Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air (a story that could have worked for me if written differently; in it god's daughter "messes up" the Earth that the angels are trying to create).
The other stories I started, but gave up a few pages in. I found that mostly it was his "funny" stories that didn't work for me. Also, all of his dragons/knights seemed to have heavy British accents, which was odd and always knocked me out of the story.
All in all, I'd strongly recommend this book. Even if you like just a couple of the stories, it's worth the cost.
krakentamer's review against another edition
5.0
Possibly one of the most unexpectedly delightful collections that I've read all year. From the cover and blurb I was actually a bit hesitant to jump into this book, as I'd never read anything by the author, and the write-up focused on his fantasy writings. In general, I'm not a fan of straight-up sword and sorcery books (although my Read shelf might show otherwise). But there was actually not a lot of old school fantasy in this collection; if anything, it skewed quite significantly toward science fiction.
There were 3 duds in here that I could not finish:
The Boy Detective of Oz: An Otherland Story: Since I'd not read the Otherland series, I immediately could tell that I wouldn't get much out of this story, so I bailed.
A Stark and Wormy Knight: I could not get into the pidgin-dragon speak.
Black Sunshine: I hate reading scripts
But other than that, there were some really solid stories that I enjoyed immensely. My ratings averaged out to 4.6, which I'll gladly round up to 5 stars.
The Old Scale Game: 5 Stars
The Storm Door: 4 Stars
The Stranger’s Hands: 5 Stars
Child of an Ancient City: 4 Stars
The Boy Detective of Oz: An Otherland Story: DNF
Three Duets for Virgin and Nosehorn: 2 Stars
Not with a Whimper, Either: 5 Stars
Some Thoughts Re: DARK DESTRUCTOR: 5 Stars
Z is for... : 5 Stars
Monsieur Vergalant’s Canard: 5 Stars
The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of: 5 Stars
A Fish Between Three Friends: 5 Stars
Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air: 5 Stars
A Stark and Wormy Knight: DNF
Omnitron, What Ho! : 5 Stars
Black Sunshine: DNF
And Ministers of Grace: 5 Stars
There were 3 duds in here that I could not finish:
The Boy Detective of Oz: An Otherland Story: Since I'd not read the Otherland series, I immediately could tell that I wouldn't get much out of this story, so I bailed.
A Stark and Wormy Knight: I could not get into the pidgin-dragon speak.
Black Sunshine: I hate reading scripts
But other than that, there were some really solid stories that I enjoyed immensely. My ratings averaged out to 4.6, which I'll gladly round up to 5 stars.
The Old Scale Game: 5 Stars
The Storm Door: 4 Stars
The Stranger’s Hands: 5 Stars
Child of an Ancient City: 4 Stars
The Boy Detective of Oz: An Otherland Story: DNF
Three Duets for Virgin and Nosehorn: 2 Stars
Not with a Whimper, Either: 5 Stars
Some Thoughts Re: DARK DESTRUCTOR: 5 Stars
Z is for... : 5 Stars
Monsieur Vergalant’s Canard: 5 Stars
The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of: 5 Stars
A Fish Between Three Friends: 5 Stars
Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air: 5 Stars
A Stark and Wormy Knight: DNF
Omnitron, What Ho! : 5 Stars
Black Sunshine: DNF
And Ministers of Grace: 5 Stars
metaphorosis's review against another edition
3.0
reviews.metaphorosis.com
2.5 stars
Seventeen stories from Tad Williams.
I've only read one of Tad Williams' short stories before - "Child of an Ancient City", included in this collection, but previously published as a novel. I've read most of his novels, including his three massive series - Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Otherland, and Shadowplay. I've found the quality to be profoundly mixed. Much of the content is overwritten, and not highly original (The War of the Flowers was good). Still, Williams puts together familiar elements in an interesting way, and I thought it would be interesting to see what he can do when forced to a less epic scale.
The result is decent but not stunning. The writing is good, but not compelling, and the narratives are relatively simple. Few of the stories really stand out as good, though there are a couple that are pretty weak.
The Old Scale Game - an aged dragon and an equally aged knight find common cause. Light-hearted and fun, but not very deep.If you read all the above, you'll find that I learned this: Williams goes for the obvious ending almost every time. While the writing is pretty solid, the stories often fail at the ending. For one thing, they're generally too long for the ending they offer - or the endings are too easy for the long story they follow.
The Storm Door - a demon hunter finds evil close to home. This stands out for the unusual tone of its ending, which I liked.
The Stranger's Hands - a pair of mysterious strangers can grant wishes, but there's something dark behind their power. I like this one quite a lot for most of its length, but the end was disappointingly simplistic and cheapened the rest of the story.
Child of an Ancient City - tales within tales within tales, with a vampire at its heart. Good, but too long for the ending to really work well.
The Boy Detective of Oz: An Otherland Story - a sequel of sorts to the Otherland series, starring Orlando Gardiner, now a resident troubleshooter in Otherland. I liked the fact that Williams seemed to have actually read beyond the first book, and be a genuine fan of Oz; the Glass Cat is a key character. Well told, but again the ending is a bit of a letdown - too much buildup, too little impact.Three Duets for Virgin and Nosehorn - a priest, a maid, and an artist accompany a stuffed animal to its destination. This is one of the best stories in the book. For once, Williams reaches for an ending that's not pat and simplistic. He doesn't quite reach it, but he's close.
Not with a Whimper, Either - participants in a chatroom deal with a crisis. Far too long for its unoriginal premise.
Z is for... - a man coming off a drunk struggles to remember where he is. Probably the weakest story of the set. Flat, confused, and unoriginal.
The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of - a struggling stage magician fills in as a detective. As with so many others, a decently crafted story that fizzles out at the end.
A Fish Between Three Friends - three friends each encounter a talking fish. Uninteresting except for one little flourish at the end.
Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air - God's daughter interferes in the Earth's creation. This was a good idea that didn't quite take off. There are a lot of bits that could and should have been funny (the creation of the platypus), but didn't quite make it. I really wish this one had worked.
A Stark and Wormy Knight - a dragon tells her son a good night story. Mildly humorous, but told in a clever patois that isn't nearly funny enough to hold the story for so long, and there's not that much else there.
Black Sunshine - old friends meet up again to relive a horrible episode of their youth. Written as a screenplay, which is handy in signposting the rapid changes in perspective and time frame. Mostly, I got the feeling that this could have been an effective film. As a story, the frequent references to background music are obstrusive, though I know and like most of the songs mentioned. The resolution is vague and undeveloped, but the ending works reasonably well emotionally.
And Ministers of Grace - a trained killer prepares to take out his target, and finds himself. This had promise, though it's desperately slow to start, and the intrusive ad snippets are as irritating to the reader as to the protagonist. Unfortunately, as so often in this book, the ending is too simple to sustain the story.
Overall, good for serious Tad Williams fans, but not recommended for others.
* As a final point - the cover art is attractive, but seems to have nothing to do with any of the stories. Always annoying.
NB: Received free copy from Net Galley.
diesmali's review against another edition
3.0
It took me a looong time to finish this, but mostly because I find I enjoy novels much more than short stories. Also maybe because the best short stories here were to be found in the second half of the collection. Anyway, it finished strong.
bl0ndekitten's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
theartolater's review against another edition
3.0
When you have an author who is one of your favorites, and they put out a compilation of some of their best short works, you want to give it a shot. The Very Best of Tad Williams is good, but not really the Very Best, especially if you walk in expecting more serious fare like his longform fantasy and fiction.
This is not to say all (or a lot of it) is bad. Far too much of it was silly for my tastes (most notably the "Wizard of Oz in Otherland" tale that really sold me on giving this a look to begin with), but when things are working, whether it be the genuinely freaky and creepy screenplay for "Black Sunshine" or the robot tale "Omnitron, What Ho!" toward the end, it really works.
This is probably a poor starting point for most Williams readers. Many would say to go to Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, I'm still partial to Otherland, but as a compilation of fiction of various stripes, it's certainly not bad for existing fans.
This is not to say all (or a lot of it) is bad. Far too much of it was silly for my tastes (most notably the "Wizard of Oz in Otherland" tale that really sold me on giving this a look to begin with), but when things are working, whether it be the genuinely freaky and creepy screenplay for "Black Sunshine" or the robot tale "Omnitron, What Ho!" toward the end, it really works.
This is probably a poor starting point for most Williams readers. Many would say to go to Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, I'm still partial to Otherland, but as a compilation of fiction of various stripes, it's certainly not bad for existing fans.