Lisa Waters

This volume felt like a weak entry in the series to me. Part of this is simply that many of the more frequent contributors to earlier volumes aren’t in this one, and some may just be because of the change in editor, but there’s more to it than that; after all, both of those statements are also true of the previous book, and that didn’t have the same problem.

I think the main issue I had is that some of the stories seemed to be a bit too far from the original theme of the series. While show more it wasn’t a big deal to me, a couple of the stories were set well outside of any definition of sword and sorcery (one being a Victorian sea story and the other a short piece in modern times) and felt more like they’d have fit into MZB’s Fantasy Magazine if that were still going. More of a problem was that in several of the stories, especially in the early part of the book, the heroine never seemed to have any control over the outcome, being a bit too much of a supporting role in their own stories.

(Note: This review is only of the book itself, not of anything done by anyone involved in the series.) show less

Once upon a time, when I was a little girl, in the dark days pre-Buffy, it was hard to find a female action hero. And yes, little girls need them, and teens, and even young women. So when the first Sword and Sorceress was published, I immediately grabbed it, and it was love at first sight of the cover. The back cover of this 23rd volume boasts that in the years the anthology has existed, it's included such authors as "Mercedes Lackey... Jennifer Roberson... C.J. Cherryh, Charles de Lint, show more Emma Bull, Deborah Ross, Diana L. Paxson, and Laurell K. Hamilton." (I'd add Elizabeth Moon, a favorite author of mine.)

I haven't lost my fondness for kick ass heroines, particularly in fantasy and science fiction, so that and nostalgia would be reason enough to be favorably inclined towards the book. There's another reason though--I'm not an unbiased reviewer here. My good friend Gerri Leen is one of the contributors, and I was a first reader (beta) for her story "The Vessel." And yes, it's very good indeed, a favorite of mine among her short stories; in the introduction to the story, the editor noted, "You can tell a story is good when you finish it and then wonder what will happen to the characters next." And it's humor, which there's not enough of in speculative fiction if you ask me--the last line still cracks me up.

There's more good stuff here though. No one will mistake this for a collection of literary fiction mind you--only two first person stories, Pauline J. Alana's "Daughters of Brightshield" and Melissa Mead's "The Fairest of Them All," even depart from the usual third person, past tense. Maybe part of why besides "The Vessel" they're my favorites--both have a real voice. And besides, that, Mead's was a humorous take on Snow White--it was a nice departure. Another of the stories was based on a fairy tale, one on Arthurian legend, three others I'd describe as historically based and one could be described as urban fantasy: the rest were high fantasy. I found all the stories entertaining and well-written, with no clunker in the bunch. So if you like speculative fiction with strong woman characters, this is definitely a fun way to spend some hours. show less

This is the first book in the Fate series. There are three books in this series, but they deal with different generations of characters. I really enjoyed this fantasy novel. It features strong female characters, is beautifully written, and was very well done.

I enjoyed that this story wasn't a straight “good vs bad” theme, but had a lot of characters that were just struggling to do what they thought was right in their current situation.

There is some neat magic in here and I enjoyed the show more world as well. This was a pretty quick read and it looks like the sequel follows the next generation of characters. Things do tie up nicely here and I enjoyed it a lot.

Overall this was an incredibly well done fantasy story with an old school feel to it. The story ties up nicely and I would recommend to those who enjoy beautifully written fantasy with strong female characters. show less

Acila has run Eagle's Rest for her twin brother Briam since their father left on another land grabbing expedition. When Lord Ranulf comes bearing bloody proof of their father's death to take their land and home Acila is determined to save her brother and get them both far away from the usurper. However, Lord Ranulf isn't just interested in a kingdom anymore because he now knows Acila's secret which gives him a particular incentive to marry her.

This story is a very readable fantasy that moves show more along nicely. This story is told completely from Acila's point of view and I thought her shape shifting abilities were well described. It was interesting to see how she adapted, and in some cases handed herself over, to whatever shape she currently occupied. Although I felt Acila was quite judgmental of the people around her and she was a bit stuck on her own superiority, I never really hated her and was happy to share her story. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more "romance" in the story as I usually like things a bit more frilly and swooney. I really did enjoy the "twin bond" as it was represented here. The idea of twins sharing supernatural powers is something I've been fascinated by since I was a kid watching the "Wonder Twins" on the television cartoon "Super Friends".

Overall I found this to be an engaging story. There weren't any surprises but it was all still very pleasant. show less