Title: Evolving Author: Natasha Beaulieu In: Evolve (Nancy Kilpatrick) Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this) My Bookshelves:Easy reading, Vampires Dates read: 24th March 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Edge Year: 2010 5th sentence, 74th page: Shanella grips his arm.
Anton has always wanted to be a vampire. But, what if he is already evolving into one? Does he have more power than he realises?
I’m a scientist. So I kind of loved the idea of a story in
which somebody evolved into another
version of themselves. Another version of a vampire.
This was a somewhat slow tale, and not one that really felt
like it had a beginning, a middle and an end. Rather, it was almost like a bit
of a character bio and introduction. You got to know Anton intimately, but
there wasn’t much else happening around him. Or at least, that’s how it struck
me.
Title: Ten Things I Know About the Wizard Author: Steve Rasnic Tem In: The Mammoth Book of Dark Magic (Mike Ashley) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Dark fantasy, Easy reading, Wizards Dates read: 13th March 2019 Pace: Slow, Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 1983 5th sentence, 74th page: The wizard was indeed isolated; there seemed to be no other dweelings as far as the eye could see.
There are a lot of wizards in the world, but here are ten things that we know about this wizard in particular…
I read a lot of lists online, but this is the first time
that I’ve read a short story that is in list form. And it worked kind of
brilliantly. I wasn’t really sure how this format would work, or if it would
really be a story. But it did work, and a great story unfolded.
Dark magic always seems to be about power, especially over
others. And what can be a more potent power than that of a parent exerted over
their child? Especially when they are the creator of the child (not in the
sense you are thinking, but you’ll have to read this short story to figure out
what I mean there).
This short story plays on the idea of power in a
parent-child relationship and the ways in which a suitor can upset this. There
is constant plays of power and battles of the will throughout the storyline. And
although there seems to be a clear winner at the end, you still have to wonder
if he did win in the end…
Title: Rolling Steel: A Pre-Apocalyptic Love Story Author: Jay Lake & Shannon Page In: The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk (Sean Wallace) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Dieselpunk, Easy reading, Romance Dates read: 12th March 2019 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2009 5th sentence, 74th page: He squinted into the depths of night through the prism that made up Rough Besat’s forward vision block, watching for the mill which loomed close, its fires never banked.
A pre-apocalyptic love stories are just so hard to come by. Except for this one… this one is brilliant and beautiful.
This is my first ever dieselpunk story. And it was a really
good, fun introduction to the subgenre. This was kind of funny, very fast-paced
and had a slightly pragmatic love story throughout. Alright, it’s not the kind
of romance that will make you clutch your chest and sigh, but it is one that makes
you have a little giggle and grin at the end.
I loved the jumpiness of this storyline. It flicks between
the two leads and in this completely alters the way in which the narrative is
told. From a completely sane, but obviously slightly unhinged female, to a bat-shit
insane male as they rocket through space to do… well, I’m not really sure what.
But I loved all of the action regardless!
Olive has visited Wonderland and finds that things aren’t all as they ought to be. Meanwhile, Mrs Hargreaves and Peter are sitting down for a dinner and reminiscing on the pasts that were stolen, but never should have been.
This is a bit of a jumpy short story. Which is pretty typical for a tale from Mad Hatters and March Hares if I’m being truly honest with myself. But, it felt kind of jumpier and more confusing than some of the other stories that I had read. Not to say that it was bad… but it did take me a little more to understand what I was reading than usual. I actually read through this twice… just because there was not one, but two different storylines to try and get my damn head around.
Although I liked the storyline about Olive, it was the secondary
tale that really caught my attention. The parallels drawn between Peter Pan and Alice were ones that I had
never even considered. But they were really powerful and potent in their own
way. And now, when I finally get the time to read Peter Pan, I’m going to be drawing those connecting lines the
entire time.
Title: A Sound, Like Angels Singing Author: Leonard Rysdyk In: Snow White, Blood Red (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Easy reading, Fairy tales Dates read: 21st March 2019 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Signet Year: 1993 5th sentence, 74th page: His eyes bulged and he caught his breath.
Nails and her family just want to eat, sleep and get fat. But the sound of angels singing keeps on drawing them out for the promise of a better future.
The introduction to this short story tells you that you are going
to recognise the fairy tale upon which it is based at the end of the tale. And,
to be honest, I wasn’t really sure that I was going to recognise it. there just
seemed to be nothing recognisable in it. Until the last two pages… then I finally
understood exactly which fairy tale this was. And I loved it.
I was expecting this story to be a slightly twisted version
of a tale from the villains’ point of view. It had all of the gore and self-centred-ness
of this kind of tale. But, at the end, it become clear that it wasn’t really
about the villains per se, but rather, a totally different perspective to a story
that I don’t often see retellings of. Which also made me kind of love it all
the more…
Title: Realer Than You Author: Christopher Barzak In: The Coyote Road (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Easy reading, Japanese mythology, Tricksters Dates read: 23rd March 2019 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Firebird Fantasy Year: 2007 5th sentence, 74th page: My dad’s boss, Mr. Fujita, got my dad acclimated to the area quickly, so I don’t think he ever felt that vertigo.
It’s hard to find yourself, but when you’ve moved across the world to a country you don’t understand, it can be even more difficult. But a visit from a trickster spirit could help this young boy figure out what his new path to happiness will be.
We all know the feeling of not belonging. Of being a fish
out of water, so to say. Sadly, not many of us necessarily know how to get rid
of this feeling. And, sometimes when people are teenagers, they never move
beyond this. Which is all the kinds of feelings that this short story reminded
me of. The feeling of not belonging and loss. And, quite honestly, the suicide
forest that I’ve heard of in Japan. It just had that beautifully and tragically
eerie feeling to the tale that I just didn’t quite know what to do with.
I really like the idea of kitsune in the Japanese folklore,
but I don’t know much about it. Nor have I read much based on this (as I am
writing this review, I’m also ordering some novels to fix this gap in my
reading). This didn’t give me much more information than I already have, but it
did help to fill my need to find out more. After all, this is a mythology I’m
not familiar with, in a culture that I think is fascinating and beautiful. And
I’m especially obsessed with tricksters, so it just makes the book nerd in my
salivate all the more.
I was kind of expecting a bit of a sad ending in this short
story. After all, it immediately reminded me of suicide forests and tragedy.
Luckily, it didn’t end in this way. And I had the privilege of closing the
final page with a smile on my face.
Dr Taylor is about to find out the true meaning of mercy. Taught by a man who has haunted her dreams for years, against the villain she has always fought.
I think if you talk to most people, you will find that
cancer has impacted on them in some way, shape or form. Which means that there
tends to be a whole heap of stories out there that feature cancer. What I
wasn’t expecting was to find such a story in a collection of vampire romance
tales… that kind of took me by surprise. In the best way possible.
I loved the play of mercy in this story. After all, everyone’s
ideas and experiences of mercy are different. And this story was able to
highlight that in a very few pages. The idea that each person’s experiences and
needs for mercy are different. Actually, as the story unfolds, Rosemary’s ideals
and experiences of mercy change too.
The naming of the chief protagonist as Rosemary was a final,
nice touch to this story. Rosemary is used in funerals with Thyme (for
remembrance I’m fairly certain) and I loved that a story which featured death
as a mercy has a main character named for such…
Title: The Silver Chair Author: C.S. Lewis Series: Chronicles of Narnia #6 Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Classics, Easy reading, Fantasy Dates read: 23rd – 27th March 2019 Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Grafton Year: 1953 5th sentence, 74th page: The children thanked her again, with shining eyes, and the Lady waved to them.
Quick!” said Eustace. “Hold hands! We mustn’t get separated!” And before Jill quite knew what was happening, he had pulled her out of our whole world into That Place.
Eustace and Jill are whisked to the land of Narnia where Aslan, the great Lion, needs their help to find the missing Prince Rilian. Teaming up with Puddleglum, the Marsh Wiggle, the search takes them through some of the most dangerous underland of Narnia. Even if they attain their goal, it can only be the start of further trouble…
This is probably my least favourite of the Chronicles of Narnia. It’s still really good, but it just doesn’t have the same adventure spirit and oomph as the other tales. Maybe it’s because the Pensieve children don’t feature in this story at all. They are completely out of the picture, and I really missed them. After all, they are the children that made me fall in love with this series in the first place.
This was a great message of not letting your pride stand in
the way of doing what is right. Every mistake that led to extra complications
throughout this story happened because one of the characters, mostly Jill, was
too prideful and didn’t share what was in her head. Or what she was told.
Basically this story could have been much easier and the adventure much simpler
if it wasn’t for the fact that Jill was kind of a pain in the ass child…
I did like that this story helps to span the rest of Prince Caspian’s lifetime. It follows the stories of Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and gives him a happily ever after that just wasn’t quite expected. And was definitely appreciated. He’s the only Narnian in the whole series that you get to span his entire life, and I kind of really liked that fact. It made this story feel a little more rounded, and a little more reassured that he too got a happily ever after in the end…
Title: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Author: C.S. Lewis Series: Chronicles of Narnia #5 Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Classics, Easy reading, Fantasy Dates read: 19th – 22nd March 2019 Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Grafton Year: 1951 5th sentence, 74th page: He realized that he was a monster cut off from the whole human race.
“Stop it!” cried Eustace. “It’s some silly trick you are playing! Ow!” A great cold, salt splash had broken right out of the frame and they were breathless from the smack of it, as well as being wet through.
Lucy and Edmund, stuck with their awful cousin Eustace, suddenly find themselves on board the Dawn Treader – and realise they have fallen into the magical land of Narnia. Reunited with old friends, the young King Caspian and Reepicheep the mouse, they gladly join the voyage to the World’s End. Eustace, however, is not so happy…
It doesn’t matter how many times I read this story, I still
love it. And my heart melts. And I get all gooey and happy on the inside. It
really doesn’t matter how many times I read this, it is just as wonderful and
amazing as the first time I read it when I was six years old.
I honestly don’t know why I love this story so much more
than anything else from my childhood. It has the same level of writing,
engagement and storytelling as some of the other tales I read as a kid. But it
is just SO MUCH BETTER. It is change your life, melt your heart better. And
honestly, I think part of the reason, is that as a child, Lucy was so easy for
me to relate to. Even now, as an adult, I can understand and sympathise with
Lucy better than most characters in the adult books I read today.
The other part of The
Voyage of the Dawn Treader that I love is that it is a series of mini
adventures. The overall story flows beautifully, but you could almost read each
chapter separately. They are each their own tales and adventures. Something
that I don’t often come across in novels. Or at least, this was the first time (as
a child) that I read a story that was a little less dependent on what happened
before to tell the story.
Title: The Ballad of the Last Human Author: Lavie Tidhar In: The Mammoth Book of Steampunk (Sean Wallace) Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this) My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Steampunk Dates read: 6th March 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2008 5th sentence, 74th page: They looked at the water and it seemed to form a strange, alien face, moonlight and moonshade adding to the semblance of a figure that mouthed words at them without sound.
Dogs and spiders can be best friends too… and they can go on many epic adventures in the mean time.
I kind of found it fitting that The Mammoth Book of Steampunk ended with a story called The Last Ballad. And that it talked about epic adventures by two best friends (who happen to be a dog and a spider) as they sail off into the sunset. An incredibly fitting ending to a very intense collection of stories.
This isn’t one of those stories that I really remember
exactly what happened. It was just an easy and fun read. One that, whilst I
might not remember the central storyline, I did certainly remember the end of
the tale. Like I said, the imagery of riding off into the sunset together for
more steampunk-esque adventures.
Earth and Skye 