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justgeekingby's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
With stories from a wonderful selection of SFF writers, Unbound II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy also offers a short story by editor Shawn Speakman in memory of his father. Out of the seventeen authors, I had only previously read work from five of them, although I was familiar with quite a few of them by name. This anthology was a great chance for me to finally read some of their work.
Despite featuring so many well known SFF authors, Unbound II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy was only a three-star read for me. That isn’t to say that the stories were not good quality, just that this anthology includes such a wide variety of genres, content and styles. While some of them were interesting, others just did not catch my attention at all.
The ones that stood out above the rest for me are:
The second story, ‘A Poor Reflection’ by Peter Orullian, is a dense read due to the scientific jargon, but it is one that is worth sticking with for the clever conclusion. I tipped my hat to Orullian when I finished this one, very well done. It’s followed by an equally clever tale by Saara El-Arifi, an author whose name I’m familiar, although I’ve yet to read any of her books yet. If ‘The Shadhavar’ is anything to go by, I need to remedy that pronto. El-Arifi’s story is a slick, enticing tale of hunters trying to find a legendary beast.
Kevin Hearne’s story was one of my most anticipated, as it promised to tell the origin story of the mysterious Gladys, a character from his Ink and Sigil series. While this story can be read alone, it is one that readers of that series will enjoy infinitely more. The story did not disappoint, and is Hearne at his absolute best. It’s a must-read for anyone who is reading the Ink and Sigil series.
‘Moonflower Alchemy’ by Jordan Ross is a gorgeously gothic fantasy story filled with dark magic. I loved everything about this and would love to see this world explored further in a book. Anna Stephens also delivers an incredible and heart-warming story in ‘Heart-Eater’. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Tamora Pierce that I’ve never loved, and the ‘The Sheriff’s Daughter’ is no different. It was particularly interesting to see her write urban fantasy instead of fantasy, and I hope she writes more in the future!
The final story of the anthology is ‘The Last Arrow of the Autumn Huntsman’ by editor Shawn Speakman and is a beautiful tribute to his father that reflects his father’s struggle with PTSD. It’s linked to a previous story Speakman wrote in Unfettered II to commemorate his mother. I loved that he wrote the first story for his son to learn about his grandmother through his eyes, and reading this story with that in mind just makes it even more beautiful. It is also a brilliant fantasy short story in its own right, and I’m very excited to read Speakman’s upcoming novel, The King-Killing Queen.
The full list of stories in Unbound II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy is:
‘Imperial Court’ by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
‘A Poor Reflection’ by Peter Orullian
‘The Shadhavar’ by Saara El-Arifi
‘Gladys and the Whale’ by Kevin Hearne
‘Business in Great Waters’ by Ken Scholes
‘Moonflower Alchemy’ by Jordan Ross
‘The True Adventures of Gilgamesh and Enkidu’ by Dyrk Ashton
‘Samantha vs. the Shadows in the Basement of the Captain Riddle House’ by Kristen Britain
‘Last of the Red Riders’ by Django Wexler
‘Heart-Eater’ by Anna Stephens
‘Sandra and Me’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky
‘Shadow’s Daughter’ by Jon Sprunk
‘Homecoming’ by Patrick Swenson
‘The Sheriff’s Daughter’ by Tamora Pierce
‘Solomon’ by Mark Lawrence
‘A Knight Was Once Sent on a Quest by Her Master’ by Anna Smith Spark
‘The Last Arrow of the Autumn Huntsman’ by Shawn Speakman
Despite featuring so many well known SFF authors, Unbound II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy was only a three-star read for me. That isn’t to say that the stories were not good quality, just that this anthology includes such a wide variety of genres, content and styles. While some of them were interesting, others just did not catch my attention at all.
The ones that stood out above the rest for me are:
The second story, ‘A Poor Reflection’ by Peter Orullian, is a dense read due to the scientific jargon, but it is one that is worth sticking with for the clever conclusion. I tipped my hat to Orullian when I finished this one, very well done. It’s followed by an equally clever tale by Saara El-Arifi, an author whose name I’m familiar, although I’ve yet to read any of her books yet. If ‘The Shadhavar’ is anything to go by, I need to remedy that pronto. El-Arifi’s story is a slick, enticing tale of hunters trying to find a legendary beast.
Kevin Hearne’s story was one of my most anticipated, as it promised to tell the origin story of the mysterious Gladys, a character from his Ink and Sigil series. While this story can be read alone, it is one that readers of that series will enjoy infinitely more. The story did not disappoint, and is Hearne at his absolute best. It’s a must-read for anyone who is reading the Ink and Sigil series.
‘Moonflower Alchemy’ by Jordan Ross is a gorgeously gothic fantasy story filled with dark magic. I loved everything about this and would love to see this world explored further in a book. Anna Stephens also delivers an incredible and heart-warming story in ‘Heart-Eater’. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Tamora Pierce that I’ve never loved, and the ‘The Sheriff’s Daughter’ is no different. It was particularly interesting to see her write urban fantasy instead of fantasy, and I hope she writes more in the future!
The final story of the anthology is ‘The Last Arrow of the Autumn Huntsman’ by editor Shawn Speakman and is a beautiful tribute to his father that reflects his father’s struggle with PTSD. It’s linked to a previous story Speakman wrote in Unfettered II to commemorate his mother. I loved that he wrote the first story for his son to learn about his grandmother through his eyes, and reading this story with that in mind just makes it even more beautiful. It is also a brilliant fantasy short story in its own right, and I’m very excited to read Speakman’s upcoming novel, The King-Killing Queen.
The full list of stories in Unbound II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy is:
‘Imperial Court’ by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
‘A Poor Reflection’ by Peter Orullian
‘The Shadhavar’ by Saara El-Arifi
‘Gladys and the Whale’ by Kevin Hearne
‘Business in Great Waters’ by Ken Scholes
‘Moonflower Alchemy’ by Jordan Ross
‘The True Adventures of Gilgamesh and Enkidu’ by Dyrk Ashton
‘Samantha vs. the Shadows in the Basement of the Captain Riddle House’ by Kristen Britain
‘Last of the Red Riders’ by Django Wexler
‘Heart-Eater’ by Anna Stephens
‘Sandra and Me’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky
‘Shadow’s Daughter’ by Jon Sprunk
‘Homecoming’ by Patrick Swenson
‘The Sheriff’s Daughter’ by Tamora Pierce
‘Solomon’ by Mark Lawrence
‘A Knight Was Once Sent on a Quest by Her Master’ by Anna Smith Spark
‘The Last Arrow of the Autumn Huntsman’ by Shawn Speakman
Content Warnings
vigneshs's review
4.0
Anthologies are the perfect way to explore some new authors and read some new works of the favourite authors too. This set of stories has no particular theme, hence unbound. And, as any lover of anthologies will tell you, you'll find some stories that you love and some you won't. However, all the stories had something to say and I enjoyed reading through them.
krakentamer's review
5.0
A bit of a cheat here, as I only read the Kevin Hearne story, which I liked very much
wynwicket's review
5.0
The title Unbound embraces the authors' freedom in this fantasy anthology to write the short story they truly want to, regardless of theme or subject, so we get Ken Scholes' warm, thoughtful tale of family and mermaids, "Business in Great Waters" up alongside Saara El-Arifi's unsettling African/Arabian-inspired "The Shadhavar." And it works. The variety of stories keeps the flow of the book moving, as the reader wonders what kind of adventure they will be pulled into next.
It's hard to review short stories in an anthology when they take place in an author's pre-existing universe and the reader isn't well-versed in their work -- such was the case with Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson's "Imperial Court," which no doubt would have had a greater impact on me if I was more familiar with Dune. That said, I have been a fan of Kevin Hearne's work for years, with his distinctive, tongue-in-cheek 'voice', so his "Gladys and the Whale," which tells the origin story of side-character Gladys Who Has Seen Some Shite, was an absolute treat.
In some cases, I wasn't very familiar with an author's work and the short story made me want to read MORE: for example, Mark Lawrence's dip into his Broken Empire universe, which I look forward to revisiting at some point.
The highlights of the anthology though, for me, were the longer pieces, by authors that were completely unknown to me: Moonflower Academy" by Jordan Ross was the real gem, here. In his introduction to the story, Ross says that he wrote it "to honor the magic that happens when we dare to love," and the result is the gorgeous and compelling tale of of a young alchemist seeking redemption for past mistakes, hunting a 'monster' to save her life -- and saving his soul in the bargain.
Honestly, it's a great, varied, group of short stories here. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy of this anthology.
It's hard to review short stories in an anthology when they take place in an author's pre-existing universe and the reader isn't well-versed in their work -- such was the case with Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson's "Imperial Court," which no doubt would have had a greater impact on me if I was more familiar with Dune. That said, I have been a fan of Kevin Hearne's work for years, with his distinctive, tongue-in-cheek 'voice', so his "Gladys and the Whale," which tells the origin story of side-character Gladys Who Has Seen Some Shite, was an absolute treat.
In some cases, I wasn't very familiar with an author's work and the short story made me want to read MORE: for example, Mark Lawrence's dip into his Broken Empire universe, which I look forward to revisiting at some point.
The highlights of the anthology though, for me, were the longer pieces, by authors that were completely unknown to me: Moonflower Academy" by Jordan Ross was the real gem, here. In his introduction to the story, Ross says that he wrote it "to honor the magic that happens when we dare to love," and the result is the gorgeous and compelling tale of of a young alchemist seeking redemption for past mistakes, hunting a 'monster' to save her life -- and saving his soul in the bargain.
Honestly, it's a great, varied, group of short stories here. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy of this anthology.
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