Helpful Score: 8
This is a worthwhile read if only because of Sharon Shinn and Marjorie M. Liu's contributions. 2 out of 4 good reads isn't bad when usually I only like one story out of many in these kinds of anthologies.
Despite the fact that Laurell K. Hamilton's name is 4 times larger than the other authors her contribution is nominal. At a mere 35 pages in length her story is pathetic in comparison to the others and suggests her name is attached to the venture merely to sell more copies. For all that, her story isn't bad per se, just unmemorable. It's an easy, breezy read and somewhat like an Aesop's Fable with the moral being that it is more important to be happy than right.
Yasmine Galnorn's "The Shadow of Mist" is the only contemporary tale and the only one to take place in an already preexisting storyline. Since she draws from her Sisters of the Moon series to people her rather creepy story, she is the only author to not have a fairytale-like quality to her story. This was my least favorite contribution in the book for several reasons. The characters were unlikeable, the story was told in first person which I very rarely like, and it seemed like she didn't put much thought into the development of the plot especially since both the villain and the heroine made some truly sloppy mistakes. In the end I kind of wanted everyone to just die for being so spectacularly stupid.
"The Tangleroot Palace" was my first introduction to Marjorie M. Liu's writing skills. I had labeled her under the genre of mediocre paranormal romances, but I was amazed by how funny she was. The plot was easy to decipher but the wry and lyrical way it was told had me eager to read it and eager to pick up some of her full length novels. It is also very hard to get someone like me to believe in two people falling in love in the space of a mere 90 pages when I often fault novels of far greater length for the lack of chemistry between the two "soulmates" (who fall into bed with each other after a few heated gazes and call it love), but Liu created a true romance.
Sharon Shinn, however, wrote the true gem of this anthology. But she is better known for her scifi/fantasy novels and I dare say she is better at world building and creating a more believable depiction of two people falling in love than many romance writers who rely on the concept that since people who are reading romance novels expect the two main characters to fall in love, then all sense of reality should be suspended and therefore it is okay to have unrealistic immediate attraction leading to equally unrealistic fantastic sex and happily ever after while, of course, people are fleeing for their lives. Call me a cynic but I do so appreciate when an author actually uses her literary skills to make me believe in the characterizations and motivations of the people in her story, instead of relying on the reader to automatically believe. Anyway, Shinn has done a great job, once again, of creating likable characters, a believable world that is gritty and doesn't shy away from hard truths, but still has magic and hope in which to believe. She also knows how to write well in first person! I'm so glad her story was the last taste left in my mouth after finishing this anthology.
Despite the fact that Laurell K. Hamilton's name is 4 times larger than the other authors her contribution is nominal. At a mere 35 pages in length her story is pathetic in comparison to the others and suggests her name is attached to the venture merely to sell more copies. For all that, her story isn't bad per se, just unmemorable. It's an easy, breezy read and somewhat like an Aesop's Fable with the moral being that it is more important to be happy than right.
Yasmine Galnorn's "The Shadow of Mist" is the only contemporary tale and the only one to take place in an already preexisting storyline. Since she draws from her Sisters of the Moon series to people her rather creepy story, she is the only author to not have a fairytale-like quality to her story. This was my least favorite contribution in the book for several reasons. The characters were unlikeable, the story was told in first person which I very rarely like, and it seemed like she didn't put much thought into the development of the plot especially since both the villain and the heroine made some truly sloppy mistakes. In the end I kind of wanted everyone to just die for being so spectacularly stupid.
"The Tangleroot Palace" was my first introduction to Marjorie M. Liu's writing skills. I had labeled her under the genre of mediocre paranormal romances, but I was amazed by how funny she was. The plot was easy to decipher but the wry and lyrical way it was told had me eager to read it and eager to pick up some of her full length novels. It is also very hard to get someone like me to believe in two people falling in love in the space of a mere 90 pages when I often fault novels of far greater length for the lack of chemistry between the two "soulmates" (who fall into bed with each other after a few heated gazes and call it love), but Liu created a true romance.
Sharon Shinn, however, wrote the true gem of this anthology. But she is better known for her scifi/fantasy novels and I dare say she is better at world building and creating a more believable depiction of two people falling in love than many romance writers who rely on the concept that since people who are reading romance novels expect the two main characters to fall in love, then all sense of reality should be suspended and therefore it is okay to have unrealistic immediate attraction leading to equally unrealistic fantastic sex and happily ever after while, of course, people are fleeing for their lives. Call me a cynic but I do so appreciate when an author actually uses her literary skills to make me believe in the characterizations and motivations of the people in her story, instead of relying on the reader to automatically believe. Anyway, Shinn has done a great job, once again, of creating likable characters, a believable world that is gritty and doesn't shy away from hard truths, but still has magic and hope in which to believe. She also knows how to write well in first person! I'm so glad her story was the last taste left in my mouth after finishing this anthology.
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