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eriynali's review against another edition
2.0
A book of shortstories that was unusually difficult to get through, and I am a short story lover. Some of the stories were really lovely, especially "A Dishwasher for Michelina", "For a cup of tea" and the title story "And the Angels Sang." Others were needlessly densely written. Each story contained at least one or two beautiful or thoughtful descriptions, that were spot on.
There were moments of dissatisfaction, that I think arise from the fact that they are *short* stories. It seems as though Stephens didn't have the gumption to follow through on these to make them full fledged novelettes or even longer short stories. She tends to gloss over the actual story part, and focus on unimportant details, using multiple adjectives that mean the same thing. Many seem to be parts of a larger tale, where the reader must fill in the prior chapters, since Stephens often starts her stories in the middle of a dialogue or thought.
There is a lot of mixture of the every-day and fantasy, to the detriment of "Darkies" which seems to advocate asking spirits to protect against rape.
The story that was most different from the others, the "Green Season" (in the afterward, the author acknowledges "I admit to the cardinal sin of anthropomorphism") shows Stephens' gift for imagining the pain of human suffering in the most instinctual of situations. It follows the rebellious and deep feelings of a young lionness, in her conventional pride.
Lastly, there is artwork between each story, that has some thread to the story to come, but is not specifically related. That was lovely, but I wish the b+w reproduction had been a little bit better.
There were moments of dissatisfaction, that I think arise from the fact that they are *short* stories. It seems as though Stephens didn't have the gumption to follow through on these to make them full fledged novelettes or even longer short stories. She tends to gloss over the actual story part, and focus on unimportant details, using multiple adjectives that mean the same thing. Many seem to be parts of a larger tale, where the reader must fill in the prior chapters, since Stephens often starts her stories in the middle of a dialogue or thought.
There is a lot of mixture of the every-day and fantasy, to the detriment of "Darkies" which seems to advocate asking spirits to protect against rape.
The story that was most different from the others, the "Green Season" (in the afterward, the author acknowledges "I admit to the cardinal sin of anthropomorphism") shows Stephens' gift for imagining the pain of human suffering in the most instinctual of situations. It follows the rebellious and deep feelings of a young lionness, in her conventional pride.
Lastly, there is artwork between each story, that has some thread to the story to come, but is not specifically related. That was lovely, but I wish the b+w reproduction had been a little bit better.
lunaseassecondaccount's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book as part of Goodread's Giveaways and First Reads.
The short, sci-fi stories contained in this book shuffled between really interesting and engrossing to boring and difficult to follow. Some of the ideas contained within were interesting, such as Sister Sun and Have a Nice Day Pass The Arsenic (the former about time travel, I suppose, and the latter about having children in space). I especially liked Green Season, where lions were involved.
Unfortunately I felt that the poorer stories, such as And The Angels Sang and even Jaguar let the book as a whole down. I also feel that [a:Lorina Stephens|1865504|Lorina Stephens|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238871917p2/1865504.jpg]' writing style as a whole left something to be desired. I think the book as a whole lacked punch, or a spark that really tied it together.
The short, sci-fi stories contained in this book shuffled between really interesting and engrossing to boring and difficult to follow. Some of the ideas contained within were interesting, such as Sister Sun and Have a Nice Day Pass The Arsenic (the former about time travel, I suppose, and the latter about having children in space). I especially liked Green Season, where lions were involved.
Unfortunately I felt that the poorer stories, such as And The Angels Sang and even Jaguar let the book as a whole down. I also feel that [a:Lorina Stephens|1865504|Lorina Stephens|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238871917p2/1865504.jpg]' writing style as a whole left something to be desired. I think the book as a whole lacked punch, or a spark that really tied it together.
inthelunaseas's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book as part of Goodread's Giveaways and First Reads.
The short, sci-fi stories contained in this book shuffled between really interesting and engrossing to boring and difficult to follow. Some of the ideas contained within were interesting, such as Sister Sun and Have a Nice Day Pass The Arsenic (the former about time travel, I suppose, and the latter about having children in space). I especially liked Green Season, where lions were involved.
Unfortunately I felt that the poorer stories, such as And The Angels Sang and even Jaguar let the book as a whole down. I also feel that [a:Lorina Stephens|1865504|Lorina Stephens|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238871917p2/1865504.jpg]' writing style as a whole left something to be desired. I think the book as a whole lacked punch, or a spark that really tied it together.
The short, sci-fi stories contained in this book shuffled between really interesting and engrossing to boring and difficult to follow. Some of the ideas contained within were interesting, such as Sister Sun and Have a Nice Day Pass The Arsenic (the former about time travel, I suppose, and the latter about having children in space). I especially liked Green Season, where lions were involved.
Unfortunately I felt that the poorer stories, such as And The Angels Sang and even Jaguar let the book as a whole down. I also feel that [a:Lorina Stephens|1865504|Lorina Stephens|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238871917p2/1865504.jpg]' writing style as a whole left something to be desired. I think the book as a whole lacked punch, or a spark that really tied it together.
creatrix's review
2.0
I won this through the GoodReads First Reads program. It arrived on 20 July 2011. Review to follow.
I read the first section of stories and I can't say I'm impressed enough to carry on. Most of the stories have good ideas at their core, but play out predictably or are simply bland. (More care also should have been taken on the editing end of things. In one story, a character's last name is spelled at least three different ways.) I'll try to dip back into the book to finish it, but from what I've read, I found it to be rather generic.
I read the first section of stories and I can't say I'm impressed enough to carry on. Most of the stories have good ideas at their core, but play out predictably or are simply bland. (More care also should have been taken on the editing end of things. In one story, a character's last name is spelled at least three different ways.) I'll try to dip back into the book to finish it, but from what I've read, I found it to be rather generic.
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