Denise Little

This was a quick read for me for when I'm cooking or in between homework assignments. I enjoyed the anthology, for everything I questioned in the Harry Potter/magical boarding school world there was an answer in one of these stories pretty much. Some fared better then others (I thought the story "Boil and bubble" by Phaedra Wheldon could have benefited from a longer format while Jody Lynn Nye's "A Learning Experience" was perfectly suited to the shorter form), but they all entertained me.

I show more wouldn't mind if a few even got expanded in some way; Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Domestic Magic" was well contained, but had little hints at the end that there could be more to the story. Debra Dixon's "Coyote Run" was fascinating in how it approached the traditional role of the witches' familiar and I wouldn't mind if she explored Izzy's life after a bit more.

If you enjoy anthologies this is a solid one. Some of the authors are well known for their anthology works and others have longer novels that their shorter stories don't tie in with and thus don't do those longer works any great justice. In the end its not a bad way to pass some in between free time when a longer novel isn't possible. show less

Out of 20 short stories, only three didn't induce nausea or boredom. Rosemary Edghill's "Bitter Fruit: A Tale of Crownland" was a grown up and viscerally disturbing story about a woman who seeks justice. Scott William Carpenter's "Heart of Stone," in which a calculating Medusa experiments with what permutation of love will set her free of her killing curse. And Michael Hiebert's "Dust" is a slightly trippy look at a tooth-fairy accidentally bound to the will of a vapid human child. The rest show more are banal, trite and dull re-tellings of all the usual tales. Cinderella's "evil" stepmother tells her tale. A Valkerie falls in love with a mortal soldier and begs Odin to let her live a "real life," which apparently means a wedding and babies. Morgan le Fey's oh so selfless desire to save Britain. On and on and on, one uninspired plodding story after another. These are the worst kind of pseudo-feminist revisionist fantasy. show less

This book was quite entertaining, and most of the stories were strong. These short stories were a great twist to the old myths - ranging from funny, to mildy chilling, to downright silly. Definitely a great light read!

This is a terrible collection. The stories chosen are each so incredibly awful--so casually offensive, clunkily written, and devoid of imagination--that I cannot believe a single one of them was published, let alone all of them. There is one good story in this entire collection--Nina Kiriki Hoffman's piece. I've always enjoyed her work, but generally find it a little too bouyantly surreal. But this story, an emotionally powerful take on Wagner's Ring, is possibly the best she's ever written. show more For her story alone, this collection is worth checking out of the library. But don't waste a cent on it. show less