Good fantAsy anthology ( )

This is one book that I tripped upon in high school and absolutely fell in love wit since it reaches the young developing heart of a child. For the average teen or adolescent these stories ask questions that may be bothering them while giving wise answers but all within a story.

What makes these stories (and one poem) special is that there are a lot of famous authors who have contributed to this beautiful collection. Their writings, although separate, don't conflict but give weight to each other while still carrying a strong fantasy/mythological tone of their own. And even better is you don't need to read it in order but allow yourself to pick and choose such as in this case I read the Introduction and poem before randomly opening up.

But what makes this book a one-of-a-kind is its beautiful artwork at the beginning of each story. Although black and white there is a vitality as you look at the pictures of a girl with snakes in her hair while the lights of New York flicker behind, of a dragon princess whose uniqueness is shown in the dropped cloth from her back and a centaur colt with a quizzical face. The pictures will most definitely stir your mind.

Star-Ratings for the Stories:

Becoming - 5
Linnea - 2
Water's Edge - 5
Elder Brother - 2
How To Make A Human (Poem) -5
Scarecrow - 3
Centaur Field - 2
Princess Dragonblood - 4
Soaring - 5
The Hardest, Kindest Gift - 4 ( )

This was a real treat. I had this collection of ten short stories by different fantasy authors lying around for quite a while now, having it originally bought for only one of the stories. Now I finally managed to read the whole collection and don't regret it.

The stories are all different in topic and style, naturally. But still the common theme suggested by the title can be found in all of them. Sometimes the characters are literally half-human, sometimes one has to look closer to "see" their other side.

Although these are fantasy stories they are also recommended reads for people who normally don't enjoy the genre in itself too much, because that isn't the point in the stories. It's friendship, discovering one's own merits and other important aspects of life. And because I can't find any fault with the collection or any of its stories, it deserves the highest rating. ( )

A really interesting collection of short stories. They all had an interesting spin on someone being ‘half-human.’ "Linnea" was perhaps my favorite of them all overall. ( )

Loved this compilations of fantastic stories. A must read for lovers of fantasy. ( )