There are a lot of books on my shelves that have some kind of age gap. But, the age gap in this story is definitely a whole lot bigger. Probably because it’s between a college girl and a vampire. So that kind of makes sense. I’ve read a lot of fantasy books that feature this kind of age gap. But, for some reason, in this short story, that just felt slightly… wrong.
I think part of the reason that the age gap and relationship in this story felt wrong was that it felt kind of like the girl was being used. She definitely had feelings for the older vampire, but he didn’t seem to have them for her. It was an interesting story, but I definitely felt bad for the young girl. She even seemed to be aware of the fact that she was just being used to pass the time / decades…
There is so much history that must be seen by an immortal. I too would want to ask a thousand questions. So being constantly told “I forget” would drive me absolutely bonkers. I mean, seriously? So much knowledge, and no chance of having ANY of it shared? Even reading this drove me a little bit nuts…
This is one of those collections that I’ve stopped and started multiple times. Because sometimes that’s what I do with a short story collection. And yet, I have enjoyed reading it almost every step of the way. There’s always something fun and interesting about a collection edited by Ellen Datlow.
Vampire stories are one of those things that I’m very much on the fence about. I mean, I often enjoy them. But because of the naughties, they became something that was slightly overdone. Probably one of the reasons this book came in and out of my shelves so much – I enjoyed it but didn’t want to overdo it either.
The stories in this run the gambit of vampire characterisation. Some are classical. Some are romantic. Some are just a little bit bizarre. But every story was fun and worth reading again.
Prepare to be seduced by powerful magic — the sorcery of lust, need, and sensuality. Multiple award-winners Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling have gathered together twenty-two tales of unearthly temptations wickedly concocted by some of today’s most potent literary conjurers — including Neil Gaiman, Jan Yolen, Michael Swanwick, and Joyce Carol Oates. Here are stories of incubi and succubi, of forbidden fruits harvested in erotic gardens, of pleasures that persist beyond death. So heed the sirens’ song. Lie back, relax, and submit to the darkest delights you have ever experienced.
This collection isn’t quite toe curling, it isn’t quite horrific, but a nice mix between the two. It makes you think about the weirdness of sexuality. And the uniqueness of those things that go bump in the night. And thrive upon our sexual, deepest, darkest desires. I was honestly expecting this to be a little more of an uncomfortable read. However, mostly, I just found it intriguing.
This is a great collection of some very familiar authors, and some very new authors. It was a good way to depart from the realities of the world and be entertained by the imaginations of some very creative people. It wasn’t necessarily my favourite collection ever, the thread tying each of these tales together wasn’t as distinct as other collections. But it was a seriously enjoyable journey regardless.
This is definitely a collection that I’ll pick up again at some point in the future. It’s fun, light and easy. Also, there are a number of authors that I still need to hunt out books for… I enjoyed each and everyone of these stories.
Title: The House of Nine Dorrs Author: Ellen Kushner In: Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Lust Dates read: 13th May 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: EOS Year: 1998 5th sentence, 74th page: You know how to help him get over that, surely.
There are nine doors. Each and every one a doorway to your temptation. Your dreams. The things that make you want.
I really enjoy the little twists and turns that you find throughout Kushner’s short stories. Nothing is ever as it seems, and that intriguing, twiney journey always has a surprising ending at the completion. One that I always rush towards, because I like to be surprised.
Lust seems to be a pretty common occurrence in a lot of the books that I’m reading at the moment. So a story that is entirely based around a pleasure house. And entirely based around lust fits right into that theme. And no, I don’t know why it seems to be such a theme in my reading lately. It just kind of is. The secrets of lust and enjoyment in this story though feel almost pure… and made me love this short story even more.
Even the subheading for this short story is a great little hint in the subheading. The double entendre in this continues throughout the rest of the story, the dialogue, everything has a double meaning. Definitely the kind of short story that I think I’ll discover more and more each time I reread it.
In this thrilling collection of original stories, some of today’s hottest paranormal authors delight, thrill, and captivate readers with otherworldly tales of magic and mischief. In Jim Butcher’s “Curses”, Harry Dresden investigates how to lift a curse laid by the Fair Folk on the Chicago Cubs. In Patricia Briggs’s “Fairy Gifts”, a vampire is called home by magic to save the Fae who freed him from a dark curse. In Melissa Marr’s “Guns for the Dead”, the newly dead Frankie Lee seeks a job in the afterlife on the wrong side of the law. In Holly Black’s “Noble Rot”, a dying rock star discovers that the young woman who brings him food every day has some strange appetites of her own.
Featuring original stories from twenty authors, this dark, captivating, fabulous, and fantastical collection is not to be missed!
This is a seriously diverse collection of urban fantasy short stories. Not to mention fun and engaging. Probably moving right to the top of my list if I’m being honest. Normally my purview of urban fantasy is kind of small. But the breadth and width of these stories and the style in which they’re written… just wow.
I loved the fact that most of these short stories were standalones. I used to really enjoy finding new series through short stories and novellas. But, I have so many now that sometimes just reading a standalone without having to hunt out more of that world (I’m obsessive, I do this EVERY time) was kind of nice. I got a great taste of the imaginations and storytelling talents of a variety of authors, without actually feeling the need to buy more, more, more. Honestly, there is nothing worse than finding myself a new series to obsess over and then realising that I have a whole slew of new books to buy…
Although this is an urban fantasy collection, it does have a darker twist to it than usual. Every single one of these stories is a little bit dark, a lot bit fun and most don’t have a happy ending. Which, I tend to love, because I get a bit over all the happily ever afters… but it’s definitely something to keep in mind as you rip through the stories.
Gaslamp fantasy, or historical fantasy set in a magical version of the nineteenth century, has long been popular with readers and writers alike. Many wonderful novels, such as Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and The Prestige by Christopher Priest, ower their inspiration to works by nineteenth-century writers, including Jane Austen, the Brontes, Charles Dickens, and Anthony Trollope. And, of course, the entire steampunk genre and subculture owes more than a little to literature from and inspired by this period.
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells is an anthology for everyone who loves neo-Victorian fiction and modern fantasists using vintage settings, characters, and themes. Their approaches stretch from steampunk fiction to the Austen- and Trollope- inspired works known as fantasy of manners. The result is eighteen stories by experts from the fantasy, horror, main-stream, and young-adult fields, including both bestselling writers and exciting new talents, who present a bewitching vision of a nineteenth century enhance (or cursed!) with magic.
This is an absolutely brilliant collection. One that I didn’t want to put down and introduced me to a whole new genre. It’s my first ever Gaslamp collection, and although I found some of the stories throughout a little weird and intense… I also loved the vast majority of them. Enough so that I plan to read this again and again in the future.
I was expecting a pretty simple and balanced collection. I
really wasn’t expecting such a convoluted and twisted set of stories. But, as
I’ve often found in life, it’s those unexpected surprises are the best and most
exciting aspects of life. They’re the moments that you don’t want to forget
because they were unplanned. And this anthology kind of felt like that.
I tend to read a lot of short stories late at night. Or when
I’m just needing a quick little break from the many complexities of my PhD. This
is not the collection that does that for me. It’s seriously intense, completely
unexpected and very full on. The kind of short stories that you want to read
when you have your concentrating brain working… not when it’s late at night and
you just want some easy entertainment…
Coyote. Anansi. Brer Rabbit. Trickster characters have long been a staple of folk literature – and are a natural choice for the subject of the acclaimed Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s third “mythic” anthology. Twenty-six authors, including Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Charles de Lint (Little (Grrl) Lost), Ellen Klages (The Green Glass Sea), Kelly Link (Pretty Monsters), Patricia A. McKillip (Ombria in Shadow) and Jane Yolen, have crafted stories and poems drawing from cultures and traditions all over the world – each surprising, engrossing, and thought provoking. Terri Windling provides a comprehensive introduction to the trickster myths of the world, and the entire book is highlighted by the remarkable decorations of Charles Vess.
The Coyote Road, like its companions The Green Man (winner of the World Fantasy Award) and The Faery Reel (a World Fantasy Award Finalist), is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary fantastic fiction.
This collection took a long time to read. Yet, I absolutely
adored it. Mostly it took a while to read because there were so many short
stories filling the pages, and whenever I finished one, I often went searching
for more stories by the authors I was discovering. My wishlist has grown by
leaps and bounds since starting this collection.
Like many of the Ellen Datlow collections lining my shelves, the theme and collected authors in this are brilliant. Each and every story is perfectly curated to match into the theme of Tricksters. Often in surprising and confusing ways. After all, the prefect trickster never does what is expected, and many of the stories in this managed to take me by surprise.
I would suggest this collection to anybody who loves short
stories, fantasy, mythology, tricksters… really I would just suggest it to almost
anyone. There are sad stories and happy ones. Insanely complex tales and ones
that are so beautifully simplistic. Definitely one of those collections that
I’m going to read again and again.
A series of letters tell the story of an experiment gone awry, and the power of magic that ties everyone together. Will there be a happy ending to the letters that they share with one another?
This was such an interesting way to write a story – it was
all written in letters between the characters. Rather than a proper prose, each
moment of the future, past and present was outlined in people’s words and
communications to one another. It made a completely unique and enjoyable
experience. One that I really wasn’t expecting. And definitely a newer format
to me… it’s always fun to find a unique way in which a story is told!
The Vital Importance of the Superficial is kind of nuts, but it was still a great tale. One that I look forward to reading again in the future. Every letter, every moment reveals more about the characters and the past. More about the story that is unfolding in a way that I was quite enthralled to experience. After all, it was a very different way to tell a story that was unique and not quite what was to be expected. All based in a great Victorian era.
The writing and style of this story was very reminiscent of Jane Austen and other similar writers. Not just in the way it was written, but the proper language shared between the characters. That, and the fact that everyone seemed to find love and completion in the end. A partner that was in front of their eyes the whole time…
Title: The Duke of Riverside Author: Ellen Kushner In: Naked City (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Comedy, LGBTQI, Medieval fantasy, Urban fantasy Dates read: 12th July 2019 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Year: 2011 5th sentence, 74th page: Why would you want to go there with me?
There’s a young man whose decided to come down to Riverside and find his death. What he doesn’t realise is that no one is going to end the life of an unarmed man. But what he finds instead is much, much better.
The wit and dry humour in this story had me chuckling a fair
bit. There was something about a strange, lanky scholar who was desperate to be
killed roaming the streets and just having absolutely no luck. It got
even better when you found out that he was a duke and abhorrent to the rest of
his family. The beauty, humour and irony in the story had me cackling more than
I should probably admit if I still wanted people to consider me sane (which I
don’t, so it’s fine).
Growing up, I never seemed to read many stories which
featured LGBTQI characters. But as my reading tastes have grown, I’ve noticed
that it’s a theme that shows up more and more frequently. Or it may just be
that it’s a theme that is written about more frequently as our society changes.
Regardless, it’s something that I always love in my stories. And the unexpected
coupling of two men in this story took me completely by surprise. Partly
because in the beginning I thought it would be a tale about Alec just being
killed in some random, heinous way. And partly because it’s a medieval
fantasy-esque story, and I tend to find that that’s not a relationship that is outwardly
hinted at.
The final scene of this short story is one of those that is
incredibly difficult to get out of your head. The entire time I’ve been writing
this review, I have that great, final image struck into my brain. But, you
really must read this story yourself to have that fine enjoyment.
Title: Honored Guest Author: Ellen Kushner In: The Coyote Road (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Easy reading, Tricksters Dates read: 3rd July 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Firebird Fantasy Year: 2007 5th sentence, 74th page: When I kneel before my instrument, and my fingers bend and dance on the strings, I feel as if I know things no one has ever known before.
Bright Phoenix is trapped by her greedy, malicious grandmother. But a chance visit from a tricky womann might help her escape to a new world, one where her creativity can truly shine.
This didn’t end the way I was hoping for / expecting. Which
is probably not a bad thing. After all, I love a good story that surprises.
Especially one that was as fun and descriptive as this one. We’ve all met that
someone that we completely hate, that just strikes us as not good. The
grandmother in this went that extra step further and seemed just downright
evil, but Bright Phoenix’s responses and thoughts on the old hag were still
completely recognisable.
This wasn’t a trickster story in the sense that many of the
other tales I’ve read lately have been. Jessica, or the honoured guest, might
have a trickster nature about her, but there isn’t the sense of balance and
comeuppance that characterises most of the trickster tales I’ve been reading. Which
wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I kind of would have liked to see a little
more karma, and a little less manipulation in this story.
Earth and Skye 