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A review by reader44ever
A Fantastic Holiday Season by Kevin J. Anderson
4.0
3.5 stars - good
This first volume of A Fantastic Holiday Season was not nearly as good for me as the second one was. You can read my review of that second volume here, if you would like. So many of the stories in this first volume felt unfinished, or were simply just confusing. This resulted in my feeling rather disappointed by this book.
The best stories for me were the two by [a:Nina Kiriki Hoffman|12991|Nina Kiriki Hoffman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1278864412p2/12991.jpg]: "Foreign Exhange" was fun and "LaZelle Family Christmas" just really wowed me. :-)
Also pretty neat were "Jukebox Gifts" by [a:Dean Wesley Smith|43988|Dean Wesley Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1314802347p2/43988.jpg] and "The Christmas Noun" by [a:Larry Correia|1136158|Larry Correia|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1323587082p2/1136158.jpg], which made me laugh. :-)
Special mention should also be made of "Inquiring Minds Want to Snow" by [a:Rebecca Moesta|98411|Rebecca Moesta|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png]. I didn't quite understand the reporter in the story, but seeing as how it was told in rhyming verse, it sure was fun to read!
My least favorite stories are, probably, two of the three written by the Oltions. [a:Kathy Oltion|96594|Kathy Oltion|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s "These Halls" and [a:Jerry Oltion|12580|Jerry Oltion|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s "One Last Gift" both numbered among those stories that left me confused or feeling let-down. Thankfully, JO's second story, "The Jolly Old Boyfriend," was the best of the three. It was sort-of good, if a wee bit confusing.
A few words on the book as a whole, most of the stories were error-free in this first volume, but the editing was not perfect on every story, though I did not make notes on mistakes. The one mistake, though, that I do not understand, that drove me nuts, and that I really just despise is that Jerry Oltion's "One Last Gift" was mislabeled as being "Popcorn for Christmas" at the top of the page, where the story's title was printed. So when I came to the next story, which was also/again "Popcorn for Christmas," I was all, "Wait, what?"
So that explained one reason for why "One Last Gift" was confusing for me. While reading it, though it was short (and properly titled on its first page), I was all, "why is this story called 'Popcorn for Christmas'?"
In sum, this book was mostly disappointing for me, despite the few gems I read in it. So I am going to give it just 3.5-good stars. (I was thinking three stars would be a good rating for it, but those few gems inspired me to up my rating to the 3.5-good level.) While I may someday buy volume #2 for rereading purposes, I think this first volume will be best if I can just forget about it. The few gems were too few and really just bogged down by the duds.
Am I glad I read this book? Yes, because I love short story collections and this was a rather fun one. Am I disappointed that I didn't just leave it at having read book two? Also, yes. All of the gems-for-me were originally published elsewhere, so, with one exception, I could probably have read the other collections and been more satisfied. The one exception is Larry Correia's "The Christmas Noun," which was written for and first published in this book. So I guess I am happy to have read this first volume of A Fantastic Holiday Season stories.
;-)
This first volume of A Fantastic Holiday Season was not nearly as good for me as the second one was. You can read my review of that second volume here, if you would like. So many of the stories in this first volume felt unfinished, or were simply just confusing. This resulted in my feeling rather disappointed by this book.
The best stories for me were the two by [a:Nina Kiriki Hoffman|12991|Nina Kiriki Hoffman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1278864412p2/12991.jpg]: "Foreign Exhange" was fun and "LaZelle Family Christmas" just really wowed me. :-)
Also pretty neat were "Jukebox Gifts" by [a:Dean Wesley Smith|43988|Dean Wesley Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1314802347p2/43988.jpg] and "The Christmas Noun" by [a:Larry Correia|1136158|Larry Correia|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1323587082p2/1136158.jpg], which made me laugh. :-)
Special mention should also be made of "Inquiring Minds Want to Snow" by [a:Rebecca Moesta|98411|Rebecca Moesta|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png]. I didn't quite understand the reporter in the story, but seeing as how it was told in rhyming verse, it sure was fun to read!
My least favorite stories are, probably, two of the three written by the Oltions. [a:Kathy Oltion|96594|Kathy Oltion|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s "These Halls" and [a:Jerry Oltion|12580|Jerry Oltion|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s "One Last Gift" both numbered among those stories that left me confused or feeling let-down. Thankfully, JO's second story, "The Jolly Old Boyfriend," was the best of the three. It was sort-of good, if a wee bit confusing.
A few words on the book as a whole, most of the stories were error-free in this first volume, but the editing was not perfect on every story, though I did not make notes on mistakes. The one mistake, though, that I do not understand, that drove me nuts, and that I really just despise is that Jerry Oltion's "One Last Gift" was mislabeled as being "Popcorn for Christmas" at the top of the page, where the story's title was printed. So when I came to the next story, which was also/again "Popcorn for Christmas," I was all, "Wait, what?"
So that explained one reason for why "One Last Gift" was confusing for me. While reading it, though it was short (and properly titled on its first page), I was all, "why is this story called 'Popcorn for Christmas'?"
In sum, this book was mostly disappointing for me, despite the few gems I read in it. So I am going to give it just 3.5-good stars. (I was thinking three stars would be a good rating for it, but those few gems inspired me to up my rating to the 3.5-good level.) While I may someday buy volume #2 for rereading purposes, I think this first volume will be best if I can just forget about it. The few gems were too few and really just bogged down by the duds.
Am I glad I read this book? Yes, because I love short story collections and this was a rather fun one. Am I disappointed that I didn't just leave it at having read book two? Also, yes. All of the gems-for-me were originally published elsewhere, so, with one exception, I could probably have read the other collections and been more satisfied. The one exception is Larry Correia's "The Christmas Noun," which was written for and first published in this book. So I guess I am happy to have read this first volume of A Fantastic Holiday Season stories.
;-)