I wanted to like this book. Really. Small Magic is a collection of shirt stories, and this term, "short" is true. A couple stories are nothing more than two paragraphs. Too short to really consider it a story. The problem that I had was with the stories is that some are really good and really messed up, but the order or the way they were strung together, is too disjointed to make sense. I think it's a weird way of putting together a collection of short stories, but maybe some better connections between each stories. ( )

This is the first flash fiction I have ever read, I will say it was a little frustrating at first but I got into it. I have read other books by Aaron Polson and this was writeen as well as all the others. I would of course continue reading his work ( )

I have not read a lot of flash fiction, but I find that, at least in this case, it is quite enjoyable. Aaron Polson has created a platter of deletable appetizers to tempt our imaginations. I found that each vignette made me consider the "what next". In the past I have felt unsatisfied by the nibble of story that flash fiction provides, but in this case, each tidbit was well-sculpted to feel complete, yet enticing.

The subject of these fictions range from the mystical to the macabre, the delightful to the disturbing. A few of them were a bit more gory than I like, but on the whole, especially reading this around Halloween, the level of darkness was well-tempered. Even the darkest stories seemed to be written with glee. The overall tone of the collection reminds me of a 19th century museum - wandering creaky narrow halls within a dimly lit room created by rows of bright display cases of odd and unusual curiosities from around the world - from butterfly collections to shrunken heads, Ming vases to two-headed calves.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys dark humor, horror, and the original versions of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

I received a copy of this book through a LibraryThing giveaway. ( )

I'll hold my hands up to never previously being a fan of flash fiction. The ultra-short story tended to leave me more frustrated than fulfilled; like having someone wave a bit of your favourite treat under your nose and then yank it away from you.

And then I got this.

Every now and then you come across writing that makes you turn green with envy, simply because you never wrote it.
This little book of magic is one of those. From the funny to the outright disturbing, not a single one of these pieces of flash fiction is boring. Some of them are pure delight. Most of them are not for the squeamish, and the ability to make me flinch in the space of a paragraph is pretty impressive.

The best part of all, though, is the sense that Aaron Polson just had an absolute blast writing these; even the darkest of them have the overtone of the author rattling them out with one major grin on his face.

I still prefer longer fiction, but missing out on these would have been my distinct loss; I'll be hunting down more from this author.

Recommended for : horror fans and short commutes. ( )

Aaron Polson's flash fiction collection, Small Magic, is composed of brilliant, bite sized, dark short stories, ranging from slightly-off-kilter to downright macabre. The stories do not rely on shock tactics for their effectiveness; instead, the writing is subtle, cleverly and tightly written, all the more impressive considering the length of the stories. He uses touches of black humour and little nudges to prick up the reader's senses to the realisation that something is ever so slightly out of place. A few of the stories revolve around words or writing; a guide to writing horror fiction is deliciously tongue in cheek, while in another, the words themselves take action. Others revolve around normal daily occurrences that veer towards the hideously wrong, or are focused on children's interactions. All in all, a wonderful collection of weird tales covering a wide variety of themes.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys well written short, dark fiction.

Review copy supplied by the author as part of LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program.
Overall rating: 5 stars ( )