Toby D. (bookswapper) reviewed More Fantasy than Romance, okay stories on 8/24/2008 + 188 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

I just finished reading all 4 stories. I picked up the anthology because it included Sharon Shinn and Rebecca York, but Shinn's story almost made me not want to finish the book. Usually with an anthology, they try to put the strongest story in the first position, so it lowered my expectations.

1st story: Sharon Shinn's story was told entirely from the viewpoint of a third party. It read more like a fairy tale, but an unhappy one, and there was little romance.

2nd story: Jean Johnson's story was much more romantic. The characters spent time together developing a relationship and the fantasy elements were supporting the story rather than the purpose of the story. I think this was the strongest in the book and would be interested to read more by this author. This tale had twin royal sisters trying to determine which of them is firstborn and would become their father's heir. While researching a solution, the heroine meets a mage that provides assistance in her quest.

3rd story: Carol Berg's story was okay - it has a psychic investigator who is still a student that gets involved in espionage. This story seems to be crying out to be a larger novel - a lot of time is spent defining the class problems between psychics and people without powers, problems with a neighboring region, types of law enforcers and types of power holders. The amount of time for the hero/heroine to meet and fall in love is short and unsubstaniated. Seems likely this was part of a larger book, maybe a prequel where there heroine and hero meet. Not much romance, some physical attraction.

4th story: Rebecca York's story was okay - it is the sexiest of the stories in the book, including a virgin sex slave. The paranormal plot is interesting. The storyline is obviously trying to set up an alternate universe earth, in the future after people have invented a device that creates mental powers and ends up causing chaos and war. The characters seem surprised to blurt out they were in love, and I was surprised too, as they had almost barely meet each other and spent little time together and not really shown that they were in love. I didn't buy in to the romance storyline, but the intrique was sustainable to finish the story.

All four short stories were from good authors, but no standouts, not their best works.

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