K. V. Johansen

So, checking this out from the library was an experiment--should it or should it not stay on the TBR?

It is indeed worth reading. The story is set in a multi-deistic world (which reminds me slightly of Bennett's Divine Cities) where one of the goddesses has chosen to become embodied, lifetime after lifetime. She's accompanied and protected by The Black Dog. The dog is an avatar, more or less, and ends up being passed to a mercenary soldier who wants to be kind to a young, helpless child.

At show more page 170, it's vivid, well done, with an interesting mix of male and female characters that defy traditional stereotypes. Cultural setting feels solid, pre-industrial with vaguely nomadic mercenaries on one side, with mountain village-dwellers on the other side. Writing is solid, a good mix of reflection and dialogue. The involvement of the gods with their followers seems intriguing, as does the set up.

I'm just not into epic fantasy right now. Though it is billed as a stand-alone, it sounds like there may be other books in this world. When I want a solid epic fantasy, this should be near the top. show less

A little confusing at times with the prose due to the author's style, but that style also leads to some beautiful, lyrical paragraphs of magic, demons and gods born of earth, water, ice and ash and other visceral, elemental forces. I disliked some of the plot choices, which resulted in some archs manifesting too swiftly, but loved the book as a whole for the author's refreshingly distinct voice (which encompasses the entirety of the book instead of just choice elements.)

Reviewed by Rebecca Wells for TeensReadToo.com

`Other' is the theme of the day - other worlds, other species, other religions. In THE STORYTELLER AND OTHER TALES, K. V. Johansen presents four stories that range from uplifting to eerie with one guarantee: they will all haunt you long after the last page has been turned.

In "The Storyteller," Ulfleif, a warrior-princess who would rather not carry the sword she has inherited, is drawn to the mysterious storyteller Moth, who has an agenda of her show more own for seeking out Ulfleif's home. He-Redeems, a slave in Bronze-Age Korthan, finds that his lovers have been tortured and executed for the crime of worshipping outlawed gods in "He-Redeems," and in response to this horror, finds his own faith shaken. Merlin's daughter rewrites a familiar tale in "The Inexorable Tide," painting a picture of Arthur's Britain steeped in adultery and unexpected treachery. "a. d. cmxci" gives voice to a group of common men of England who faced a barrage of sea-raiders in the historical tale of the Battle of Maldon.

THE STORYTELLER AND OTHER TALES is a collection based around the idea of `other,' and, as such, it succeeds admirably. While all of the stories contained in this book have a magical element to them, which makes this an excellent read, the reader is drawn towards thoughts of what exactly makes the `other' different, and what place otherness has in society today. The best of books are ones that entertain and yet still manage to compel deep thought on the part of the reader, and this is certainly one of them. K. V. Johansen nudges the reader to consider different ways of looking at the world, at heroism and betrayal, and of tragedy.

I enjoyed this collection very much, and I was disappointed to find that it was comprised of only four stories when I reached the end. show less

actual rating: 3.5.
Maybe it was somewhat due to the long hiatus between when I read the first book and then this one, but I just couldn't get into The Lady as much as I did The Leopard. There were extensive swaths in this book where nothing meaningful happened, where the story was just biding its time but there wasn't enough small/interpersonal narratives to fill the spaces in-between the major events.