Firebirds Rising: An Original Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy

This is the second anthology of fantasy and science fiction short stories from Firebirds, and I enjoyed it quite as much as I had the first.

The standouts here were Diana Wynne Jones's "I'll Give You My Word," about a boy who babbles (seemingly) nonsensical big words; Kara Dalkey's "Hives," about technology in the hands of teenage-girl cliques, with a dark ending with surprisingly complex themes; and Kelly Link's "The Wizards of Perfil," about two kids and a city of wizards who never show themselves.

A couple stories did not work at all for me. "Blood Roses," by Francesca Lia Block, seemed like it was an unedited first draft of a story that would need several revisions. (The reason why was clear in the author's note--the entire story had show more been the author's dream, down to every detail. I mean... really!? No wonder it made no sense at all.) Ellen Klage's "In the House of the Seven Librarians" admittedly had its moments, but I couldn't help but compare this story of a girl growing up in a library after being deposited in the book return to "The Baby in the Night Deposit Box" by Megan Whalen Turner, my favorite story from the first Firebirds anthology, about a girl growing up in a bank. And Turner just told a much better story. Klage's story was cute, but the ending left something to be desired.

The rest of the stories ranged from so-so to excellent. I appreciated the increase in sci fi in this collection, and, once again, the mixture of well-known names with less established authors. show less

An overall good collection of fantasy and sci-fi geared towards the young adult market. My favorites:

Unwrapping by Nina Kiriki Hoffman - A short interesting story about best friends and secrets.

The Real Thing by Alison Goodman – Fairly straightforward sci-fi, but well written and I’ll be looking for more by this author.

I’ll Give You My Word by Diana Wynne Jones – A boy tries to protect his strange big-word using younger brother.

In the House of the Seven Librarians by Ellen Klages – Great story about a young girl being raised in a closed library.

Wintermoon Wish by Sharon Shinn – The reason I bought the collection (I read all of Shinn’s work), a story set in her Safe-Keeper series.

Quill by Carol Emshwiller – Very strange show more sci-fi tale of a sheltered society of strange beings.

Blood Roses by Francesca Lia Block – Creepy, ephemeral story about two sisters following trouble.

What Used to Be Good Still Is by Emma Bull – Heartbreaking story about young love and the environment. show less

Although the benefits of reading aloud to teens are documented, teachers often avoid this activity. Short stories are often overlooked as a way for teachers to continue the read aloud experience. Firebirds Rising is filled with stories that teachers should read aloud and that students will love hearing or reading themselves. This anthology is a Who’s Who of the very best science fiction and fantasy authors. Tamora Pierce, Charles de Lint, Francesca Lia Block, and Emma Bull are just a few of the authors. The stories are among the very best writing by these authors. We have stories projecting the future of genetic engineering (“The Real Thing” by Alison Goodman), stories that speculate about our obsession with cell phones show more (“Hives” by Kara Dalkey), stories that will test even the most advanced vocabulary (“I’ll Give You My Word” by Diana Wynne Jones), stories that question our perception of beauty (“Perception” by Alan Dean Foster), and so much more. I have mentioned four stories; this anthology includes sixteen. So often anthologies have one or two exceptionally strong and weak stories; this anthology is exceptionally strong from its wild, stalking beginning (“Huntress” by Tamora Pierce) to its chilling, yet surprisingly hopeful end (“What Used to Be Good Still Is” by Emma Bull). There is not a weak story in the book, although not everyone will absolutely adore “In the House of the Seven Librarians” (by Ellen Klages) like I do! Recommended for sophisticated middle school students and all high school libraries. show less

A collection of YA short stories. Yet another clunker from Charles DeLint, another terrifically imaginative story from Diana Wynne Jones, and several stories that felt all too much like snippets from a novel. Francesca Lia Block's story was literally just one of her dreams, transcribed--not a good read. There was no point to Tanith Lee's lackluster "The House on the Planet." Kelly Link's "The Wizards of Perfil" was evocative, if a little too surreal in places. Ellen Klages' "In the House of the Seven Librarians" doesn't delve deep but IS a really fun, comfortable read; it's the tale of seven librarians who shut themselves up in a library and raise a baby, with lots of sensory details and librarian in-jokes. The best story is Kara show more Dalkey's "Hives." As Oyceter said, it has a modern, truly teen-oriented tone that echoes Scott Westerfeld's Pretties series. In "Hives," a certain kind of cell phone hooks directly to your brain, leading to incredibly powerful, addictive cliques. The concept is chilling, the world-building intense, and I loved the main character. show less

Firebirds Rising was a lot like Firebirds - some stories I loved, some I liked a lot, most were interesting to read, some were odd, and a couple I didn't like very much at all.

I enjoyed Alison Goodman's "The Real Thing" as it follows on from one of my favourite novels, Singing the Dogstar Blues (although it wasn't as good as the latter), and loved both Diana Wynne Jones' "I'll Give You My Word" and Sharon Shinn's "Wintermoon Wish". Other favourites were Ellen Klages "In the House of Seven Librarians" and Kara Dalkey's "Hives". Also, I was surprised I didn't mind Tanith Lee's short story, because the only novel by her I've tried to read was something I didn't finish, with very good reason.

I struggled to get through this anthology. Most of the stories are just so way out there, even for me. Maybe if they were made into longer books with more explanations they would have made more sense. Some of them remind me of Aesop's Fables, short stories that teach a moral or lesson, but they are just so hard to relate to that you get the lesson but didn't enjoy the story.

However I did greatly enjoy the one called In the House of Seven Librarians. About a baby who was left on the doorstep of a library as payment for a very overdue book and is raised by the librarians.

There is a first Firebirds anthology and I'll probably skim it to see if anything is of interest.

I enjoyed this book as an entertaining read. Some of the stories were better than others, I thought.

"Huntress" was OK -- I do love Greek mythology, so the references there were quite good, but I really didn't understand the characters' motivations.

"I'll Give You My Word" -- I love word play, so this was one of my favorites in the anthology.

"The Wizards of Perfill" -- didn't like this one much at all, mostly because I found Onion very bland and, and didn't really understand the premise of magic in the setting until close to the end.

"In the House of the Seven Librarians" -- my absolute favorite in this book!

"Hives" -- very much enjoyed this one. I found it somewhat scary, actually, how likely and believable I found the techy part of the show more plot!

I hadn't seen these anthologies before, and now I'd like to read the original one as well. All in all, I'm glad I read this book, but I am equally glad that I checked it out from the library and didn't purchase it.

http://www.amazon.com/Firebirds-Rising-Original-Anthology-Science/dp/0142405493/... show less