Black Thorn, White Rose edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
Black Thorn, White Rose is the second in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling‘s series of adult fairy-tale anthologies. I’d have to say that this is my favorite of the bunch; most of the volumes are good, but this one has so many wonderful stories that have stayed with me for years. A few highlights:
“Stronger Than Time,” by Patricia C. Wrede , is a sad but hopeful take on “Sleeping Beauty,”
February 2nd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Ellen Datlow, Midori Snyder, Patricia C. Wrede, Peter Straub, Roger Zelazny, Terri Windling | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Snow White, Blood Red edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Snow White, Blood Red was the first of Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling‘s adult fairy tale anthologies. The series later developed into a treasure trove of beauty, horror, humor, brightness, darkness, and above all, terrific writing. Here, though, many of the authors seem to have focused on the “adult” rather than on the “fairy tale,” on sex and gore rather than on the archetypal power of the tales.
Most of the stories in this collection are filled with visceral,
January 30th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Charles De_Lint, Elizabeth A. Lynn, Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Armless Maiden: And Other Tales for Childhood’s Survivors by Terri Windling
I love adult fairy tales, but it seems that all too often, writers pump up the sex and violence to render the tales “adult,” rather than more deeply exploring the human emotional dramas in the stories. Maybe that’s why I love the anthology The Armless Maiden: And Other Tales for Childhood’s Survivors which was edited by Terri Windling. The tales and poems here do include sex and violence, yes, but at their heart is the strength and resilience of the human spirit.
January 29th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Ellen Kushner, Emma Bull, Terri Windling | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Hallowed Circle by Linda Robertson
Linda Robertson’s first novel, Vicious Circle, was a fun read, and its sequel, Hallowed Circle, is even better. In this second installment, Robertson spins a highly original plot (if this has been done in urban fantasy before, it was in a book I missed!), further develops her characters and the relationships among them, and as an added bonus, passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors.
Persephone Alcmedi is still reeling from the discovery that she is the Lustrata,
January 27th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Linda Robertson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler
Jane True has always been an oddity in Rockabill, Maine, what with her scandalous (and missing) mother, her secret habit of swimming at night near the dangerous whirlpool called the Old Sow, and most of all, the tragic death of her childhood sweetheart in a drowning accident. Though some of Rockabill’s residents blame Jane for the tragedy, she has stayed in town to care for her ailing father. She works in a bookstore. It’s not an exciting life, but it’s the only life Jane knows.
Everything changes when,
January 27th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Nicole Peeler | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
I think I’m just not meant to read P.C. Cast. Maybe I’m just anal-retentive; maybe I just have too much trouble shutting off the “mythology geek” section of my brain. I crack open a Cast novel, and instead of sinking into the story, I find myself thinking, “Celtic mythology doesn’t have centaurs,” or “Apollo would make a lousy Prince Charming,” or in this case, “Elphame’s a place name, darn it, not a character name! It means fairyland.” Elphame’s Choice is so called because its heroine is named Elphame,
January 26th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | P.C. Cast | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
I loved Black Ships, and I didn’t know if Jo Graham could top it. The answer, I am happy to report, is a great big YES!
Hand of Isis continues the story of some of the characters from Black Ships who have now been reincarnated as players in the Egyptian-Roman power struggle. You don’t need to read Black Ships first, but you’ll probably get more out of Hand of Isis if you do.
January 23rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3, 5 | Jo Graham | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
I’ve just been to Venice and back, and I’m not even jetlagged…
In Nightwalker, Jocelynn Drake transported the reader to Egypt and London, and now, in Dayhunter, we’re headed for the canals. As the book begins, Mira and Danaus are summoned to appear before the vampire council in Venice. I loved following Mira to all her favorite haunts in the city; Drake does a great job of creating a tangible sense of place.
January 23rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Jocelynn Drake | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
“All magic hurts,” says October “Toby” Daye, and she’d know better than most.
Rosemary and Rue begins in 1995, when Toby, a half-faerie/half-human P.I., runs afoul of some nasty faeries while trying to solve a kidnapping. Toby is cursed, rendered out of commission for fourteen years, and in the process loses the happy human life she’d been trying to build.
It’s been six months since Toby was released from her curse. She wants nothing to do with the fae,
January 22nd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter, Kat Hooper and Terry Weyna´s rating: 3.5 | Seanan McGuire | SFF Reviews | 13 comments |
The Eyes of a King by Catherine Banner
“All those years, I thought I was unhappy. I don’t think anymore that I was,” Leo reflects early in The Eyes of a King, looking back on his teenage self.
Now, after 250 pages of military dictatorship, abusive teachers, missing parents, Leo being sick, Leo’s little brother being sick, kids getting drafted into the army, and heavy-handed foreshadowing of a tragic event that happens around the 225-page mark, and Leo brooding about all of these things? If this is Leo North when he’s happy,
January 21st, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 0.1 | Catherine Banner | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…