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A review by zoes_human
The Book of Magic by Gardner Dozois
3.5
... Magic predates Art. In fact, Art may have been invented as a tool to express Magic, to give Magic a practical means of execution—to make it work. So that if you go back far enough, artist and sorcerer are indistinguishable, one and the same—a claim that can still be made with a good deal of validity to this very day.
—Gardner Dozois
Having a great love for Gardner Dozois' science fiction anthologies and loving the cover, I decided to give this collection a whirl. Disappointingly, it rather missed the mark for me. Mind, it's not a horrible book. Most of the stories in it are good; however, only two genuinely stood out as excellent tales.
I have no idea if this simply wasn't his best work or if something else altogether was the problem. He was, after all, coming rapidly to the end of his life as he worked on this, not living long enough to even see it published. A person who feels unwell doesn't perform their best.
The two stories that did stand out to me were as follows:
“The Fall and Rise of the House of the Wizard Malkuril” by Scott Lynch
5 stars
Clever and funny, yet with some depth. An altogether charming story.
“The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable” by Matthew Hughes
5 stars
A vindictively satisfying story for those of us who revel in the petty.
—Gardner Dozois
Having a great love for Gardner Dozois' science fiction anthologies and loving the cover, I decided to give this collection a whirl. Disappointingly, it rather missed the mark for me. Mind, it's not a horrible book. Most of the stories in it are good; however, only two genuinely stood out as excellent tales.
I have no idea if this simply wasn't his best work or if something else altogether was the problem. He was, after all, coming rapidly to the end of his life as he worked on this, not living long enough to even see it published. A person who feels unwell doesn't perform their best.
The two stories that did stand out to me were as follows:
“The Fall and Rise of the House of the Wizard Malkuril” by Scott Lynch
5 stars
Clever and funny, yet with some depth. An altogether charming story.
“The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable” by Matthew Hughes
5 stars
A vindictively satisfying story for those of us who revel in the petty.