Elemental Magic

An anthology of 15 stories set in the Elemental Masters universe, one of which is written by Mercedes Lackey. Unlike the core books which are set in Edwardian Britain or continental Europe, the stories range from Ancient Greece to Hawaiʻi. Most stories are set in the Regency period or after. I found it slightly odd in that there were no stories set between Ancient Greece and the Peninsular War; it would have been interesting to explore how the Elemental Masters coped with 'the Burning Times'.

The stories were generally good - I particularly enjoyed Diana Paxson's A Song of the Sea, set in Ancient Greece, and Jody Lynn Nye's Air of Mystery, set in Art Nouveau Paris. The last one stayed in my mind from when I first read the book, and show more inspired me to re-read it (I've been buying scent).

Recommended. show less

Several very good stories, some not so interesting. Nothing terrible, but nothing wonderful either. And having this many stories in quick succession made me notice that all of them are about mages just starting out - usually older than training should start, but untrained for whatever reason. And then I was thinking about it and that's what Misty writes too - the only two I can think of that got properly trained are in Gates of Sleep where she then ran into villains who didn't use Elemental Magic and was therefore just as uncertain in dealing with it as the rest of the protagonists, and Reggie in Phoenix and Ashes who lost his powers and had to relearn them - be retrained. So here are 15 stories of people who didn't know they were mages show more (or otherwise magic - there's at least one medium as protagonist), or were being kept from the proper training by an enemy or by indifference, and suddenly get exposed to magic and have to figure out how to use it and what their own talents are (ok, upon checking back - 11 like that, one where the protagonist is trained but another isn't, and three where the protagonist is trained but dealing with a new situation). There are several that I'd like to see more of, and some I'm afraid we will (assuming this turns into a series like the Valdemar anthologies), but almost all of them are just starting out in this book, and most of them end these first stories with the equivalent of "Ok, now I'm a mage - what now?". Not bad, but a bit of an overload. And I really wish the Fire Rose protagonists could have shown up in the last story, set in Hawaii - but no, the rescuer had to be an unattached male because the protagonist was a young female. They didn't _all_ end up paired off, but the vast majority did. I did enjoy it, and I'll read again - but overall they've pretty much blurred into one another.
On a reread, 6 years later - I remembered/recognized the first 10 or so stories, and was completely unfamiliar with the last 5. Either I completely forgot them, or I didn't actually finish the book. Hawaii wasn't the last story, for one thing - there were two stories set in Hawaii, and the later one was the second-to-last in the book. Hmmm. Other than that, no change in my opinion. show less

This is a decent collection of stories, from various authors, set in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters world. Some of the stories are set in the same time/location as most Elemental Masters books (England, Late 19th/early 20th century) but some are set in diverse cultures, or in past times. It's a nice exploration of the world, and my particular favorite one was the one with the perfumer. If you liked the Elemental Masters series, you should enjoy this.

The short stories in Elemental Magic are set in Lackey's alternative universe where there are Elemental Masters who command the elements of Air, Earth, Water, and Fire. While I very much enjoy Lackey's novels set in this world, these stories seem rather slight and forgettable. Even a few days later I would have to reread a story in order to describe it. So while I enjoyed it somewhat while actually reading I would only recommend it to those who can't get enough of this series.

I don't use star ratings, so please read my review!

(Description nicked from B&N.com.)

“Among Mercedes Lackey’s many novels, few are as critically acclaimed and beloved as those about the Elemental Masters. The novels in this series are loosely based on classic fairy tales, and take place in a fantasy version of turn-of-the-century London, where magic is real and Elemental Masters control the powers of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Now other authors join Mercedes Lackey to add their own special touches to this delightful alternate history, in a world where magic is always just around the corner...”

I’ve been a little leery of themed anthologies, because they often produce stories that are serviceable without being anything show more extraordinary. Elemental Magic falls into that category. I think that part of the problem with this shared universe is that there isn’t a lot of variety to work with. There are four kinds of magic, which can be either Light or Dark, and a user can be either a Magician or a Master. There’s just not a wide array of things to choose from to create a plot.

About half of the stories, in one way or another, involve a Magician just coming into his or her powers and the chaos that it causes. In some of the tales, the main character is the newbie, but not always. Since a new Magician is usually confused by the growing powers at their beck and call, each of these stories feels pretty much the same. The only difference is in which element the fledgling user can use. Of these, the one I liked the best was “Air of Mystery”, in which an apprentice in the art of perfume making finds that she has a talent for Air magic when she’s tricked into mixing a scent that allows its wearer to be controlled.

The rest of the stories mostly involve conflict between Magicians and/or Masters, although a couple involve Magicians getting into trouble and finding their way out of it. “The Phoenix of Mulberry Street” is one of the best of this lot, although it has strong overtones of “The Little Match Girl” and the old tales of kindness to strangers being rewarded.

A couple of the stories I found to be, quite frankly, kind of bad. “Stones and Feathers”, the story of a young Earth mage drawn to live in London, really doesn’t have a coherent plot and doesn’t give any reason for ending the way that it does. “War to the Knife” relies on a secondary character doing a complete one hundred and eighty degree turn in their personality to accomplish the plot. “Tha Thu Ann” isn’t a bad story, but it is edited so horribly that character names get swapped more than once. And then there’s “The Collector”, in which the only African-American mage in the entire volume is also the only main character to choose Dark magic, which really makes it stand out… and not in a good way.

The universe of the Elemental Masters is one that I’ve enjoyed in the past, but this anthology didn’t do much for me. Elemental Magic is passable, but unless you’re really a fan of the series, don’t bother using this as a gateway to the stories, because you’re likely to get turned off and never try the novels.

This review originally appeared on Owlcat Mountain on March 3, 2013. show less

A book of short stories by various authors all written on a theme created by Mercedes Lackey, all involving elemental masters. I liked the stories very much. The only problem I have is that I felt that most of them were only introductions and could have developed into SO much more. I owuld love to have these authors go further with the characters they created.

I'm not really big on short stories. Some of these were great and I wished they were full novels, and some of them I wished were shorter.