ISBN: 978-0425215180 | Pages: 400 (hardcover)
Editors: Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois
I’ve been reading more short stories recently, in preparation for writing some of my own, but I could still count the collections I’ve read on one hand. I prefer novels. So, I’m not sure if I’m the best person to judge stories.
Having said that, these eighteen stories on the topic of wizards were very enjoyable indeed. My favorites:
- Neil Gaiman’s The Witch’s Headstone (part of his novel-in-progress)
- Peter S. Beagle’s Barrens Dance (and I still haven’t read The Last Unicorn)
- Orson Scott Card’s Stonefather
But there were plenty of other good ones, too. In fact, Eoin Colfer’s A Fowl Tale was the only one I didn’t like, and since he’s apparently popular enough to merit a mention on the front cover, I may be alone in my opinion.
See also:
- Review of Dark Alchemy (the UK title for Wizards) at the Susan Hated Literature blog
- Slightly less positive review on Alone and Unobserved
(And last of all, I’ll sneak a question for Novelish readers into my review: are there any books of short stories, of any genre, that you’d recommend? I’m trying to find some good ones.)
My copy of Wizards should be arriving from Amazon any day now… I’m glad to hear you liked it.
A fowl’s tale was probably my least favourite too, but I’ve read one or two of his books and they are much better. imo of course
Really? Hmm. After reading the story I decided I’d stay away from his novels, but maybe I should try them after all.
I’ve only read one of Eoin Colfer’s books—the first Artemis Fowl novel—and it left me somewhat cold. There were some inventive sequences and entertaining shenanigans, but on the whole I felt I would have liked it much better at the age of ten. Which is not to say it’s a bad book; I just wouldn’t recommend it to an adult.
Hm…Eoin Colfer? Is the Fowl Tale an Artemis Fowl story? Or is it just about a dove or something?
I really enjoyed the Artemis Fowl series. But it’s not Colfer’s style that’s my favourite. I can understand why you wouldn’t like it that much. It was Artemis Fowl’s character and the plot that made me fall in love with the series, not Colfer’s style of writing.
Porpierita – Err, since I haven’t read the Artemis Fowl books I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s just about a dove.