Songs of Love and Death: All Original Tales of Star Crossed Love

Overall Review: Love, love, love! Songs of Love & Death is an anthology of short stories of star-crossed or otherwise impossible love, stories that exist on the borderland between romance and speculative fiction. This book was so good that I am even willing to forgo the usual grumbling about how I really wish George R. R. Martin would stop editing anthologies and just buckle down and publish the rest of the damn Song of Ice and Fire books already. (Well, okay, maybe a *little* grumbling.) But as I said, if all of his recent anthologies are as good as this one was, it makes me almost willing to forgive him the time spent.

In most anthologies, there are a few stories I love, a lot of stories I like, and a few stories that do absolutely show more nothing for me at all. Songs of Love & Death, on the other hand, was almost shocking in how consistently great the stories were. Even my least-favorite stories were still entertaining and fun to read. The stories run the gamut of speculative fiction - historical and alternate-world fantasy, space opera, ghost-story thriller, to name a few - and the love stories range from sweet to twistedly dark, from happy to bittersweet to tragic. But I enjoyed the heck out of all of them, and came away with a number of new authors I want to try.

One note: A lot of people will want to pick this collection up for Diana Gabaldon's short story, and for Outlander fans, it's well worth it. However, I thought it was the one story in this collection that relied way too heavily on the reader's familiarity with the author's previous work. The other stories that are set in an established series (Jim Butcher, Jacqueline Carey, etc.) do an excellent job of bringing an unfamiliar reader (namely, me) into their world, but Gabaldon's so cagey about a lot of things that large parts of the story will lose their impact for people who aren't already familiar with the characters. Not that that should deter non-Outlander fans from reading this book, since there are plenty of other fantastic stories that stand alone just fine. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Story Summaries:
- Love Hurts by Jim Butcher. Harry Dresden and his partner have to track down a killer who is targeting young couples in love.

- The Marrying Maid by Jo Beverly. The young Viscount Loxsleigh must find and marry his destined bride before his 25th birthday, or else a terrible curse will befall him and his family. However, the chosen young lady - one who is far beneath his station in life - wants nothing to do with him. One of my favorites in the collection.

- Rooftops by Carrie Vaughn. A playwright with an absentee boyfriend is rescued from a robbery attempt by a masked superhero.

- Hurt Me by M. L. N. Hanover. The neighbors are worried about the woman who's moved in next door, as her house haunted by a power that hates women, but she refuses to back down and move away.

- Demon Lover by Cecelia Holland. A homely village girl flees from a stuttering suitor into a wizard's realm of illusion, where she is the chosen consort of the wizard... but every bit of beauty has its own terrible price.

- The Wayfarer's Advice by Melinda M. Snodgrass. A mercenary ship rescues an Imperial princess from the wreckage of a terrible planetary battle - a princess who happens to be the captain's ex-lover, and who also happens to be tired of the demands of Imperial politics.

- Blue Boots by Robin Hobb. An orphan kitchen girl falls in love with a court bard, despite warnings that bards never settle down with one person, and are forever at the beck and call of their Royal Highnesses.

- The Thing about Cassandra by Neil Gaiman. Stuart's friends keep telling him that they've run into his high-school girlfriend Cassandra, and how the two of them should really get back together. The only problem? Stuart made Cassandra up. Very Gaiman-ish.

- After the Blood by Marjorie M. Liu. In a post-apocalyptic world in which the Big Death turned the infected into zombpires, a young woman living in Amish country must face the fact that her lover's family disapproves of their relationship - and of what their son has become.

- You, and You Alone by Jacqueline Carey. A young nobleman falls in love with a prince of the realm, but can their relationship survive a lifetime of courtly schemes and plots? Another one of my favorites; just beautiful.

- His Wolf by Lisa Tuttle. A college professor falls for a mysterious young man with a beautiful but equally mysterious wolf as a pet. Probably my least-favorite, since I'm not crazy about romances in which people reorganize their entire lives for someone they've known for a few hours because they're so deeply in love.

- Courting Trouble by Linnea Sinclair. A spaceship captain cargo gets impounded, and she realizes she's caught in a web of intrigue... a web that may be spun by her ex-best friend. The story was good, but was a little bit hampered by the "give everything a Weird Name so that they'll know that it's sci-fi" style of the writing.

- The Demon Dancer by Mary Jo Putney. A young Guardian and his much older mentor have to track down a succubus that's preying on New York City's population.

- Under/Above the Water by Tanith Lee. A looping, dream-like story about missing one's true love, and the chance to try again in the next life, generations later. Ordinarily the writing style of this story would have annoyed me, but something about it held me completely spellbound.

- Kaskia by Peter S. Beagle. A man buys a new computer that has some impressive features - like the ability to communicate with an alien intelligence. One of the weaker stories, I thought. Dryly funny, it but didn't have enough of a romance angle to it for my tastes.

- Man in the Mirror by Yasmine Galenorn. A woman moves into a seemingly abandoned house, only to find out that it's not quite so abandoned after all. This one did the best with the whole "star-crossed" angle, I thought.

- A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows by Diana Gabaldon. A WWII RAF fighter pilot crashes his plane during a test flight over Northumbria, and finds himself not only miles but centuries from home, and from the woman he loves. show less

This anthology is jam-packed with major authors who explore themes of star-crossed love, some of them within the worlds of existing series, such as Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. Most are along the lines of fantasy, but there were some science fiction tales mixed in as well. One of my favorites ("Hurt Me" by M.L.N. Hanover) tilted toward horror, not a genre I usually like, but the twist here was especially delicious.

This collection of short stories is exactly what the subtitle says: tales of star-crossed love. Crossing a gamut of sub-genres within the realms of science fiction and fantasy, there should be something here for almost everyone.

As with almost any anthology, there were stories that I loved and some that just didn't do anything for me. I was a little afraid that it would start to get depressing (star-crossed love just doesn't sound happy, now does it?) but there was a good balance of happy and sad endings.

Favorite story: "Hurt Me" by M. L. N. Hanover.--A woman moves into a house haunted by an angry ghost. It was dark and disturbing all the way through, but holy cow, what an ending. I feel like I should have seen it coming but I show more completely did not. Very well done.

"Love Hurts" by Jim Butcher--Someone starts magically forcing people to fall in love on Harry's turf with disastrous results. I've only read the first two books in the Dresden Files, but I do love Harry and Murph. There wasn't really anything spoilery in this story, labeled as # 11.5, but it was a little bittersweet.

"The Marrying Maid" by Jo Beverley--A young aristocrat zeroes in on a sensible vicar's daughter as his one true love. This felt like it was going to venture into bodice-ripper territory (nothing wrong with it, but that's not my thing), but it steered mostly clear. It was fun but I don't think it will end up being memorable for me.

"Rooftops" by Carrie Vaughn--A playwright living in a version of Gotham City is rescued by a masked crusader. A strong contender for my favorite story. A shy new superhero? Yes, please.

"Demon Lover" by Cecelia Holland--A young woman unsatisfied with her lot in life ventures into a castle she's never seen before. I had to look and remind myself what it was about. Not a great sign, but I did enjoy it while I was reading it. A story of mortals drifting into the faery realm is always a safe bet for me.

"The Wayfarer's Advice" by Melinda M. Snodgrass--The captain of a tradeship stumbles on the wreckage of a Imperial cruiser (different wording, same thing) and he's pretty sure his old flame was on board. Again, I had to look back at it, but it was haunting while I was reading it. I felt like there were elements of Serenity in it. I'm not complaining.

"Blue Boots" by Robin Hobb--I did not enjoy the two books I've read by Robin Hobb at all so I gave up on her altogether. This story made me rethink my stance. A plucky kitchen maid and a minstrel? Again, has my name all over it.

"The Thing About Cassandra" by Neil Gaiman--A man starts hearing about an old girlfriend that he'd completely forgotten about. If you read many of my reviews at all, you know I love Neil Gaiman, so you know I was excited for this one. I was let down. There was a twist that surprised me, but I didn't really care. I can't describe it better than that.

"After the Blood" by Marjorie M. Liu--The Amish, a plague, these vampire-y thing? I just didn't understand this story. I felt like I was reading an entry in a series that I knew nothing about. Maybe I was. I was missing a whole lot of information that I think would have helped me make sense of what was going on.

"You, and You Alone" by Jacqueline Carey--Delauney's story, only hinted at in Kushiel's Dart. I loved the Kushiel series so I was very excited to read this, especially when I realized what it was about. Loved it.

"His Wolf" by Lisa Tuttle--A recently relocated woman falls in with a mysterious man and his wolf. It didn't go exactly in the direction I expected, a huge plus.

"Courting Trouble" by Linnea Sinclair--The captain of a tradeship finds herself relying on an old friend for help, years after he betrayed her trust. A little too science-fictiony for my reading taste. I didn't dislike it though.

"The Demon Dancer" by Mary Jo Putney--A magician cop and an old friend tackle a succubus before the spirit can destroy too many lives around the city. I liked this one quite a bit. I didn't see where it was going either.

"Under/Above the Water" by Tanith Lee--Two lovers, separated by centuries, trying to find their way back to each other. Not my style. I typically need to be up in the characters' heads to really enjoy a story and this one felt very distanced.

"Kaskia" by Peter S. Beagle--A man hits "the red button" on a mysterious computer with very unexpected results. Felt a bit too short, although I think Beagle accomplished exactly what he was trying to do. I just wanted a little more!

"Man in the Mirror" by Yasmine Galenorn--A troubled woman moves into a house with a past of its own. A sad, haunting, very visual tale. I really, really liked it.

"A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows" by Diana Gabaldon--A WWII RAF pilot goes down over Scotland and wakes up in an unexpected place. Possibly my least favorite story. What a crap ending.

And that's it. The good outweighed the bad and overall I enjoyed the book. There were some very strong entries in this collection. I do recommend it. show less

Oh, anthologies. The good and the bad. I put a lot of blind faith into this one because George R. R. Martin was an editor for it. Upon reading it I immediately recalled from past story collections/recommendations of his how tremendously his tastes in fiction he doesn't actually write can differ from mine.

I grabbed this book on a lark from the library, and once I started reading I realized there was a lot in it that didn't really float my boat (for instance, I hate The Dresden Files, and anymore any stories even remotely related to vampires or werewolves kind of makes me want to die before I even attempt to read them). The stories that I did finish reading, for the most part, were definitely worth having checked the book out.

- I loved show more "The Marrying Maid," which was presented to us by the historical romance author Jo Beverley. It was the kind of fantasy short story I've been desiring for awhile, and it had a delicious helping of Fae, Robin Hood, and a race against time while a lord tried his damnedest to convince a religious spinster to become his wife.

- "Demon Lover" by Cecelia Holland was a great story for me to read following the first. Although it was a bit obvious, I felt that it was written with fresh imagery and it really pulled me in. It's definitely not what it sounds like.

- "Blue Boots" by Robin Hobb also fit right in as the third story I skipped to. It's a wonderful story about a kitchen maid and a minstrel.

- "The Thing About Cassandra" by Neil Gaiman was, as most Gaiman tends to be, perfect. Spun my head right round at the end just the way I like it. I notice that's getting harder to do lately (I don't know if it's me or just newer writing) but he always manages somehow.

- "You, And You Alone" by Jacqueline Carey was my small foray into her universe. One reason I grabbed this book was to see if I liked her writing and to judge whether or not I'd like to try out her Kushiel series. Well, turns out I liked it very much and I'm super intrigued now to learn about these characters in a more in depth format.

- "His Wolf" by Lisa Tuttle... sucked for me. It was a pseudo-werewolf story, and I only skimmed through it while I was waiting for technicians to change my transmission fluid. Blech.

- "The Demon Dancer" by Mary Jo Putney also rubbed me quite wrong. The whole story seemed a bit too Buffy The Vampire Slayer-ish for me. I didn't enjoy it one bit.

That was also where I stopped, because the not-good stories were beginning to outweigh the good ones. It got returned to the library with some other less favored checkouts.

Unfortunately, I skipped the Tanith Lee story, and I may have liked it. show less

This was a great anthology! I was familiar with several of the authors in it, so I thought I would give it a try.

I was a little disappointed in Jim Butcher's story. I've only read the first Dresden Files novel, and maybe the disappointment comes from not being very familiar with the characters. It seemed mostly like a tease. The actual story parts of it (the two characters are solving a case/mystery) were very entertaining, though.

M.L.N. Hanover's "Hurt Me" was probably the best story in the anthology. I was preparing for a haunted house story where the woman falls in love with the ghost, but... it did not go anywhere near like I expected. I also enjoyed the twist on the theme, though the pair weren't technically "star-crossed lovers" show more that way. I wish there had been one or two more stories of love gone wrong like this.

Robin Hobb's story was also quite good, and felt more developed than the others. The whole thing read like a cautionary tale though, and I was disappointed it didn't go darker places. Some parts of this were pretty dark, though. It also reminded me a bit of "In the Name of the Wind," but probably only because of the bard and the nomadic murder.

Neil Gaiman's story was contemporary, and had a very clever ending. I was waiting for the punchline the whole time, but was not expecting that. Cute.

I mostly bought the collection to read "You, and You Alone" by Jacqueline Carey. It matched the theme the best, was the only story that had homosexual lovers, and was as lovely as I had hoped. Made me want to re-read Kushiel's Dart.

Mary Jo Putney's story was sweet, and I enjoyed it all the way through, even though it was pretty clear where it was going.

Tanith Lee... I've not read her before, and her story was strange to the point that I almost didn't understand it. But it was ambitious, and quite lovely. I intend to pick up one of her novels.

I'd also read the first three Outlander books this year, so I was looking forward to "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows." I enjoyed the fact it wasn't connected very firmly to Outlander, and it told a nice story within the confines of the series' magic. I didn't realize who the characters were until the end, so I didn't know how it would end. I also didn't realize I should have been further along in the series...

There were two sci-fi stories that didn't really feel like they belonged. The only other two stories I disliked were the Peter S. Beagle story near the end (the "computer magic" in it was a little too ill-defined for me) and the weird superhero thing by Carrie Vaughn near the beginning.

Overall, I loved the collection. My last foray into a multi-author short story anthology like this was very poor, so I was glad I picked this up and got stories from several authors I like, and a few more I plan on trying. show less

Songs of Love and Death is I think the third or fourth all-original anthology co-edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois in recent years, and their experience and powers of discrimination are at their peaks by now. This book is subtitled "All Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love," and features well-known authors from the worlds of sf, fantasy, horror, romance and mystery - and mash-ups of the same. We have stories ranging from Jo Beverley's "The Marrying Maid," in which a man with ties to the realm of Fairy must convince a young woman that she really is meant for him as Titania had marked her to be his bride, to "The Thing About Cassandra" by Neil Gaiman, in which a man finds that the young woman he'd made up back in his teenage show more years is now alive and somehow involved in his life, to Lisa Tuttle's "His Wolf," a twist on the werewolf theme that I'd not read before. As always there are some stories here that work better for me than others; for example, I couldn't get into Cecelia Holland's "Demon Lover" at all and didn't finish it; but with authors such as Tanith Lee ("Under/Above the Water"), Peter S. Beagle ("Kaskia"), Diana Gabaldon ("A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows") and Linnea Sinclair ("Courting Trouble"), there's plenty of variety and quality writing for everyone to enjoy. The trend toward mixing genres has been going on in fiction writing for some time now, and it seems to me to just be getting better and better, particularly at short-story or novella length. If you find cross-genre writing as intriguing and original as I do, then definitely pick this one up - highly recommended! show less

I picked this up because it has stories in a few series that I love: Dresden Files, Kushiel, and Outlander. Plus a Neil Gaiman story. It had some ups and downs. "The Marrying Maid" was insanely bad. Just unbelievably terrible. "You, and You Alone" and "The Thing About Cassandra" were both fantastic. More good than bad overall.

"Love Hurts" by Jim Butcher - Harry and Murphy need to get to the bottom of some freaky love magic. Not bad, but not exceptional. I think I just don't care for Harry and Murphy together... 3 stars.

"The Marrying Maid" by Jo Beverley - Ugh. She's his soul mate, and he will literally die if she doesn't sleep with him right now... This story is so rapey! I will make sure to avoid this author in the future. 0.5 show more stars.

"Rooftops" by Carrie Vaughn - Superhero romance! Light, but fun. 3.5 stars.

"Hurt Me" by M.L.N. Hanover - Great haunted house story. And apparently the writer is one of the people who wrote Leviathan Wakes, which my boyfriend has been bugging me to read! 4.5 stars.

"Demon Lover" by Cecelia Holland - Fantasy, heavy on the mythology. Predictable, but not bad. 3.5 stars.

"The Wayfarer's Advice" by Melinda M. Snodgrass - Star ships and intergalactic war. Decent story, but nothing exceptional. 2.5 stars.

"Blue Boots" by Robin Hobb - Generically historical, but good. 3.5 stars.

"The Thing About Cassandra" by Neil Gaiman - Brilliant and weird. 4.5 stars.

"After the Blood" by Marjorie M. Liu - How could I not love a post-apocalyptic story about an Amish vampire! 4.5 stars.

"You, and You Alone" by Jacqueline Carey - Delauney's backstory! I'll admit that I cried a bit. Coming right after [Song of Achilles], all the allusions to Patroclus and Achilles made me even more emotional. 5 stars.

"His Wolf" by Lisa Tuttle - Contemporary fantasy set in the southwest. 4 stars.

"Courting Trouble" by Linnea Sinclair - Scifi. I just couldn't bring myself to care about this story... 2 stars.

"The Demon Dancer" by Mary Jo Putney - Urban fantasy. It started good, but then dragged on. 2.5 stars.

"Under/Above the Water" by Tanith Lee - Aren't short stories supposed to be short? It felt like this one went on forever! 1 star.

"Kaskia" by Peter S. Beagle - My first Peter S. Beagle! I've been meaning to check him out for a while. This was a really good story with an honestly surprising twist. 4.5 stars.

"Man in the Mirror" by Yasmine Galenorn - This one has some a lot of similar themes to the other haunted house story in this collection, but it's also really good. 4 stars.

"A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows" by Diana Gabaldon - I stopped reading the Outlander series midway through the fifth book, partially because I found Roger and Brianna incredibly irritating. I was worried I wouldn't like this because it's Roger's backstory, but it's actually quite lovely. It hints and things that must happen after I stopped reading, and now I'm curious. Maybe I'll give it another try... 4.5 stars. show less