Sharyn NovemberReseñas

A collection of short stories from authors with books published by Firebird, a YA fantasy imprint. YA fantasy spans a wide range of reader maturity, and that range is evident in this collection. Nancy Springer's sugar-coated, condescendingly stupid "Mariposa" (which I hated, if you can't tell) is apparently directed at five-year-olds, while Garth Nix's awesome, bloody "Hope Chest" wouldn't be out of place in an adult horror collection. With the obvious exception of the Springer story, most of the stories ranged from middling-good (Sherwood Smith's "Beauty") to awesomely great (Nix). I was familiar with most of the authors (which included Lloyd Alexander, Emma Bull, (illustrator) Charles Vess, Diana Wynne Jones, and Patricia A. McKillip), but the anthology has spurred me to find further books by two unfamiliar authors. Megan Whalen Turner's "The Baby in the Night Deposit Box" manages to be funny and sweet without being cloying ("Mariposa," I am looking at you!), and Elizabeth E. Wein's "Chasing the Wind" is a charming story about a teenage girl's 1950 airplane flight across Africa.

This collection of short stories has not been as good as I would have hoped. I am reading only one story a week so my final thoughts are still a ways off.

A uniformly good, not great collection of stories, many from authors I've followed. It is the first time in ages that I've read, or heard, a reference to "why is a mouse when it spins?" The nonsense riddle that seemed to amuse my parent's circle of friends on and off for a few years in the 60s, reviving whenever they found a new victim.½

I had read another anthology in this series, [Firebirds Rising], and liked it very much, so I bought this one, and it sat on my TBR shelf for some time, but I finally got around to reading it. I found the stories more enjoyable than not. There are some big names included (well, big in the field of YA fantasy at least): Megan Whalen Turner, Garth Nix, Diana Wynne Jones . . . Finding a new-to-me DWJ short story is always a treat, and hers was probably my favorite in the book. If you enjoy fantasy and short stories, this is worth a read.

This particular one did not appeal to me quite as strongly as the first 2, but I think that's a reflection of personal taste, rather than a lowering of quality. This collection always has an all-star line-up, but some of my very favorite authors didn't make it into this installment. I was totally excited about the Nina Kiriki Hoffman Novella and really blown away by several of the stories. Great range!

This book is filled with heroine twists and turns. This book would be a fun read aloud that would stull be engaging for students.

This is a nice little collection of fantasy if stories--especially good if you enjoy urban fantasy or retelling of fables and fairy stories. I'm not clear on why the title says Science Fiction as I didn't find any in here. That said, a good way to discover some future fantasy authors.

{Second Firebirds anthology of 3. Anthology, fantasy} (2006)

Each story is followed by a short biography of the author and an author's note about the inspiration for the story.

1. Huntress - Tamora Pierce
A girl whose family worships the old moon goddess discovers what it’s like to run with the pack.
3***

2. Unwrapping - Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Two teenage girls are dressing for Hallowe’en. One is going as a mummy and the other ... you’ll see.
A story of friendship.

3.75****

3. The real thing - Alison Goodman
A story about the first Chorian to study time-jumping at an Earth university. About perceived class and genetic superiority and exclusiveness.

3.5***

4. Little (Grrl) lost - Charles de Lint

Friends come in all shapes and sizes, even when you think the world is against you.

3.75****

5. I'll give you my word - Diana Wynne Jones

About two brothers, whose parents specialise in Occult Services, and lots of words. I love the author’s note too.
I may be biased but:

5*****

6. In the House of the Seven Librarians - Ellen Klages

A little girl grows up in a library. A sweet story. A love story to libraries and librarians.

5*****

7. Wintermoon Wish - Sharon Shinn

A Christmas story about charity with a touch of romance and hope.

4.5****

8. The wizards of Perfil - Kelly Link

Everyone knows that the wizards buy children. This is what happens to one of them.

A story of magic. And hope.

4.75*****

9. Jack o'Lantern / Patricia A. McKillip

There’s still magic in the world, even when it seems ordinary or constrained.

3.5***

10. Quill - Carol Emshwiller

A story of children growing up in the wild and learning how to survive.

4****

11. Blood roses - Francesca Lia Block

Two sisters like to escape from the real world. Somewhat gothic.

2.5***

12. Hives - Kara Dalkey

Technology can be addictive. But what if mean girls use it for dark purposes?

3.5****

13. Perception - Alan Dean Foster

A young apprentice climbing the company ladder is posted to an alien planet where he has to interact with the less evolved natives.

4****

14. The house on the planet - Tanith Lee

This story focuses on the people who live in a certain house on a newly colonised planet at 3 different times over 100 years.
If Lee writes that longer story, I’ll read it.

5*****

15. Cousins - Pamela Dean

Two siblings are sent to their aunts in the country where the way of life is different from what they are used to.

3.5***

16. What used to be good still is - Emma Bull

When a mine levels a mountain, what happens to that mountain?

4****

Averaging: 3.95 stars

Lots of OK stuff - - They've already started to fade... "Hives" stood out for me, the Diana Wynne Jones was cute, but almost cliche for her.

An anthology of scifi and fantasy. A bunch of short stories. Some were good, some were simply mediocre and some I thought were stupid. Not a bad collection to introduce to a YA though.

***"Kingmaker" - by Nancy Springer. The king's only child is a girl, who helps her father decide disputes and is well-loved by the populace, but will never rule the kingdom. When she stumbles across a powerful magic bracelet, her disappointment at being passed over bubbles up. I liked this until the end, when the story abruptly shifts.
**"A ticket to ride" - by Nancy Farmer. A destitute boy tries to help a dying homeless man, and accidentally gets to relive all of the man's best memories. Fantastic until--the boy stays on, reliving memories forever, and it's supposedly a happy ending.
*"A thousand tails" - by Christopher Barzak. Story about a modern-day kitsune who turns into a ghost. A little fetish-y for my tastes, the relationship with the father felt completely unreal, and I have no idea what happened when Midori turns into a spirit.
***"All under heaven" - by Chris Roberson. A man and his grandmother go out fishing in a really interesting sf world.
***"Singing on a star" - by Ellen Klages. Creepy and well-written. One little girl shows her friend how to get into a hidden world.
****"Egg magic" - by Louise Marley. A farm girl loves her chickens and dislikes her step-mother and new siblings. She yearns to meet her mother, the mysterious Magda. This is a mature, nuanced story. I really believed in the characters, and the touches of magic were wonderful.
***"Flatland" - by Kara Dalkey. Corporate life in the future.
***"Dolly the dog-soldier" - by Candas Jane Dorsey. Not sure I understand what a dog-soldier is (were the children dogs when they were taken, and turned into humans?), but I really liked this story. A girl is brought up to be a weapon, but she is too smart for the lies she's told.
***"Ferryman" - by Margo Lanagan. A girl brings her father some lunch. It's a cozy little family moment until you realize that he's the ferryman of the dead.
***"The ghosts of strangers" - by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. In a world where dragons torment humans, a small village has found a way to keep themselves safe. Every adult bonds to a single female dragon, then feeds her and her children for seven years. In return, the dragons protect them from marauders.
***"Three twilight tales" - by Jo Walton. "It's a fairy story that questions the demands that stories make of their protagonists. Like most fairy tales it's liminal, it's all about edges and thresholds and twilight and possibilities."
**"The dignity he's due" - by Carol Emshwiller. Two young siblings deal with their mother, who is convinced the boy is the heir to France's throne. It's not speculative in the least, and the story, although interesting, has no end.
*"Power and magic" - by Marly Youmans. Too boring to finish.
**"Court ship" - by Sherwood Smith. Cute little story set in the [b:Crown Duel|21060|Crown Duel (Contains Crown Duel & Court Duel)|Sherwood Smith|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167301606s/21060.jpg|4398231] world.
**"Little Red" - by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple. Crazy girl in an institution is repeatedly assaulted.
***"The myth of Fenix" - by Laurel Winter. A little boy reinvents himself so thoroughly that he fits better with aliens than with humans.
***"Fear and loathing in Lalanna" - by Nick O'Donohoe. Hilarious!
*"Bonechewer's legacy" - by Clare Bell. A story about intelligent cats. It's pretty useless if you don't know the world or the characters already.
***"Something worth doing" - by Elizabeth E. Wein. A young, aimless girl decides that her brother, who just died, will not have died without having honored his name. She takes his place at the RAF. Fantastic training sequences and I love the main character; really satisfying story all around.

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 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.

A really fabulous collection of YA scifi and fantasy short stories.

Really excellent anthology from the Firebird imprint, which specializes in YA fantasy. The list of authors really speaks for itself.

Cotillion • Delia Sherman
The Baby in the Night Deposit Box • Megan Whalen Turner
Beauty • Sherwood Smith
Mariposa • Nancy Springer
Max Mondrosch • Lloyd Alexander
The Fall of Ys • Meredith Ann Pierce
Medusa • Michael Cadnum
The Black Fox • Emma Bull & Charles Vess
Byndley • Patricia A. McKillip
The Lady of the Ice Garden • Kara Dalkey
Hope Chest • Garth Nix
Chasing the Wind • Elizabeth E. Wein
Little Dot • Diana Wynne Jones
Remember Me • Nancy Farmer
Flotsam • Nina Kiriki Hoffman
The Flying Woman • Laurel Winter

lots of new authors to try out. do love the anthologies.

lots of new authors to try out. do love the anthologies.

lots of new authors to try out. do love the anthologies.

lots of new authors to try out. do love the anthologies.

lots of new authors to try out. do love the anthologies.

Overall Summary and Review: This anthology is a little strange, since it's full of stories that are all written by authors published by the Firebird imprint, but that don't otherwise have much in common. There's fantasy, there's sci-fi, there's historical fiction, there's fairy tale, there's dark, there's light, there's… not really anything thematically or conceptually tying these stories together. If I'd read this anthology straight through, as I've done with other anthologies, I think that would have bothered me, but I read it much more spread out - a story here, a story there, over the course of a month and a half - so the lack of a common thread didn't make much of a difference. But, if your goal in reading this is just to get a sampling of some recent young adult fiction, particularly speculative fiction, this one would definitely fit the bill - there's some great authors included, with some very good stories, and overall, it's a solidly enjoyable collection - some highs and some lows, of course, but definitely more of the former and relatively few of the latter. 4 out of 5 stars.

Individual Stories:
- In "Kingmaker" by Nancy Springer, a king's daughter has always had the ability to tell truth from lies, which makes her a valuable asset to her father, even if she won't inherit the throne. But when she is sitting in judgement over a dispute involving pigs, she uncovers something with the power to change her destiny. I really enjoy this kind of mashup of Celtic mythology, lots of familiar elements, but I liked the protagonist and enjoyed the turns the story took, although the ending didn't have quite as much thunder as I think it deserved.

- In "A Ticket to Ride" by Nancy Farmer, a boy living in a group juvenile home is caught alone outside the library when a local homeless man is dying, and in his panic he finds himself on board a strange train with some strange men. This book is an interesting vision of the afterlife, although I felt like it wasn't entirely internally consistent - what happens to Jason's ticket, and when? - and the setting was a strange mix of old-timey ridin' the rails that clashed with the weird hint of dystopia that permeated the first part of the story.

- In "A Thousand Tails" by Christopher Barzak, a young girl realizes she's a kitsune, a fox spirit, trapped in the body of a girl, and she must figure out how she got to be where she is. I liked this one - it's quiet and bittersweet, and yet it unsettled me, since I recognized a lot of my younger self in Midori. I thought the ending went on a bit too long and lost some of the momentum of the story, but otherwise, really very good.

- In "All Under Heaven" by Chris Roberson, a young man is going out for one last fishing expedition with his grandmother, and trying to find a way to tell her that he's leaving. Initially this one confused me - I couldn't tell if it was distant past or distant future, or both. But once I got settled in, I quite liked the world, and wanted to know more about it than the glimpse of the little story.

- In "Singing on a Star" by Ellen Klages, a girl goes over to a friend's house for a sleepover, but finds out that her friend has a secret elevator in her closet that allows them to travel to a strange place. I thought this one was kind of predictable, but with a really palpable sense of menace surrounding the childhood loss of innocence that made it resonate really well.

- "Egg Magic" by Louise Marley features a teen girl whose mother left when she was very young, but left behind a strange chicken, that has only every laid a few very strange eggs. I liked the non-usual family dynamic in this story, and how immersed I felt in the story, even within a few pages.

- In "Flatland" by Kara Dalkey, Appie works for a company that monitors her performance in almost every aspect of her life. Even when she's on vacation, she's never entirely free… but that's how she likes it, right? This reminded me in a lot of ways of a cross between So Yesterday and some elements of Ready Player One. Maybe a little predictable but I found the world really interesting.

- I skipped "Dolly the Dog-Soldier" by Candas Jane Dorsey. Wasn't feeling it. Sorry.

- "Ferryman" by Margo Lanagan was one of my favorite pieces in the collection. It involves Charon, the man who ferries the souls of the dead to the Greek underworld, and his daughter. I love Greek mythology, and I am a sucker for stories about dads and their daughters, and Margo Lanagan's writing is unsurprisingly tender but haunting.

- "The Ghosts of Strangers" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman is one of the longest stories in the collection, about a village who has a relationship with dragons that live nearby, helping them care for their young, and bringing them ghosts of animals to eat. A young girl has the ability to capture human ghosts as well as animals, a power that may come in useful when her village is threatened. I liked the world and the tone of this story, although it seemed needlessly complicated. (For example, I'm still not sure what the jewel-finding ability had to do with anything.)

- Jo Walton's "Three Twilight Tales" all focus around a small village inn where magical things seem to happen. I liked the fairytale feeling of this one, and the little twists in each of the tales.

- In "The Dignity He's Due" by Carol Emshwiller, the narrator's mother is convinced that her son, the narrator's brother, is heir to the French throne, even though they are homeless in rural America. This one had some great characterization, and an emotional weight that occasionally felt like a punch to the gut.

- "Power and Magic" by Marly Youmans is the tale of a confident boy trying to impress a jaded girl, who has promised to kiss him if he shows her real power and magic. I was surprised by this one - both the depth of character and the sheer weight of atmosphere that Youmans is able to build in a relatively short space were impressive, and this story is resonating in my head after many of the others have faded.

- "Court Ship" by Sherwood Smith had the potential to be an interesting story about a prince who hires a ship to take him to pay a visit to a future princess, but the worldbuilding was so complicated - names and countries and politics and alliances and histories, and the ultimate payoff of the story didn't really seem like enough. When I got to the note at the end and realized that it was set in the world of Smith's other novels, and made reference to things that happened in those books, it was immediately clear why the story standing alone was less than successful.

- "Little Red" by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple is a take on Little Red Riding Hood involving a girl in a psychiatric ward. Little Red Riding Hood is a disturbing story at the best of times, and Yolen and Stemple have amped up the disturbing on this one, no doubt. Dark and brutal, but really well done.

- "The Myth of Fenix" by Laurel Winter is a little story of a boy who fakes his own death to leave his world behind - maybe literally. I'm not a huge fan of the fragmented stream-of-consciousness style of story most of the time, and this one didn't make much of an impression on me one way or the other.

- "Fear and Loathing in Lalanna" by Nick O'Donohue involves two mages who are sent to infiltrate a meeting of Heroes armed with nothing but a cartload of magical supplies. This was clever and funny enough, although I'm not a particular Hunter S. Thompson fan, so I was maybe not the optimal audience.

- "Bonechewer's Legacy" by Clare Bell is a good example of how to write a story that's part of a series world without making it feel like it. It involves the leader of a group of sentient animals who believes her mate has returned from the dead. I didn't love this story - the world didn't entirely grab me, but it was still an interesting read, with some nice worldbuilding.

- "Something Worth Doing" by Elizabeth E. Wein was another one of the best stories in the collection. It's the story of a girl who, following her elder brother's death in a pointless accident, takes his place training to be a pilot in the RAF in World War II. Judging by the author's note, this was written before Code Name Verity, but it's in a similar vein, and really, really good and satisfying.

This novel had taken short passages in other stories and fit them into one story. This person got the other authors' permission to put these articles on the book. This book was to have been based on short fantasy passages that would get people excited. Some were twisted, some were turned, and some were good. The articles had surprises is them that got you confused at first, but you got it later on. The authors might have been English or so because the word realize in the book was realise. The book has many exciting articles that are thrilling and fun.
When I got this book, I thought it would be about a fantasy of firebirds or phoenixes. Turned out when I was reading it that it was not and that it was full of little articles. I got confused in them, but got to know what was going on actually. I liked this book a lot and I had fun reading it. I only hate the part of the twists and title. The title had nothing to do with the book. It has twists, but comes through to you.½

Firebirds Soaring is a beautiful anthology of speculative fiction. As with all such anthologies, there were some stories I loved, some I liked and others I didn't like as much, but that's a matter of taste, not quality. Firebirds Soaring is quality through and through: from the selection of stories to the design to the decorations by Mike Dringenberg.

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This is one of the better anthologies I've read. All anthologies are something of a mixed bag. The reader's taste very seldom meshes exactly with the editor's, or the editor has had to make some compromises along the way. Firebirds is substantially above average.

The book is helped, of course, by having some very big names in SFF - [a:Lloyd Alexander|8924|Lloyd Alexander|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1200328980p2/8924.jpg], [a:Patricia A. McKillip|25|Patricia A. McKillip|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1220752490p2/25.jpg], [a:Garth Nix|8347|Garth Nix|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207583754p2/8347.jpg], to name a few. Aside from her first couple of books, I've never read anything by McKillip that wasn't terrific, and that's true here.

The value of anthologies is in introducing readers to new authors. Here, I read a story ("Beauty") by [a:Sherwood Smith|12350|Sherwood Smith|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1339177179p2/12350.jpg], an author I'd never heard of. I was struck by how well developed the world was for a short story. It turns out that's because it is a well developed world. But I nonetheless immediately went out and bought the related novel, [b:Crown Duel|21060|Crown Duel (Crown & Court #1-2)|Sherwood Smith|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309213505s/21060.jpg|4398231]. I'll be looking up [a:Nancy Farmer|8360|Nancy Farmer|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207168030p2/8360.jpg] as well. But this anthology also has some other surprises. "Max Mondrosch" was a startling departure from the Lloyd Alexander of the Chronicles of Prydain ([b:The Book of Three|24780|The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain, #1)|Lloyd Alexander|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317791689s/24780.jpg|1149593]), but no less good because of it.

The editor says she built the book around a graphic novel by [a:Emma Bull|22548|Emma Bull|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1220945364p2/22548.jpg] and [a:Charles Vess|10763|Charles Vess|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1273720560p2/10763.jpg], and I looked forward to it. I'm sorry to say that that story is by far the weakest in the book. Happily, almost all the other stories range from good to excellent.

In short, well worth picking up.

I try to pull from my TBR shelves when I go on trips, and this particular anthology has been languishing for a number of years thereupon. I found the quality of the stories to be consistently high throughout, not as uneven as anthologies often are. There are, of course, a couple of standouts, which include the Tam Lin variant "Cotillion" by Delia Sherman that my Tam Lin fan friends should certainly seek out, and Nancy Farmer's 'Remember Me'. I left this one on the train, and was gratified to see a young man make his way through my car clutching it triumphantly to his bosom within an hour of my dropping it off.

I really like Sharyn November, the editor of these anthologies. I will take her advice on which authors to check out any time. Plus this one has a novella by Nina Kiriki Hoffman in the center - so how about that for some creamy goodness in the middle?

The way I feel about an anthology is I don't have to absolutely love everything in it to love the anthology. For me anthologies are a way to sample new authors. If its just stuff by authors that I already like, and know that I like well that's lovely, sure. But if I find somebody new that I'm excited about at the price of reading some stuff by others who are good but don't thrill me, I feel that's actually better somehow.

By that measure, the Firebirds anthologies have been great for me. More from Sharyn November anytime, please!