| Title | : | Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology: Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0765315637 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780765315632 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 380 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2006 |
Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology: Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy Reviews
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My favorites, in no particular order:
Joe Haldeman's previously unpublished early "Expedition, with Recipes" about a band of children struggle to find food in a post-apocalytic ruin. (His explanation of how he wrote it was also amusing.)
Eric Nylund's "Butterflies like Jewels" reminded of fantasy from an earlier era (the 1920s? Not sure).
Lynn Flewelling's "Perfection" is remarkably interesting for a story with no action. An old lady architect builds her last and greatest palace.
Nina Hoffman's "Sea Air" was interesting, but felt like it wanted to be a YA novel instead of a short story.
Sharon Shinn's "Double-Edged Sword." Nice to see depressed, charmless middle ages folks getting some romance.
"The Potter's Daughter" is an earlier story about Kade from Martha Wells'
The Element of Fire. It can be read without having read the book, but I don't think it would be as interesting.
That brings me to my main complaint about a number of these stories, which is that many are set in the authors' larger story-arcs or worlds and are thus confusing or uninteresting to readers who haven't already read the 6-volume Nareela epic or whatever. But I guess this collection was for charity and they probably grabbed whatever was laying around and could be completed quickly. -
Wow! The stories in this book are very, very good. I'm generally not a big fan of science fiction, but only a couple of these short stories were really what I consider to be "science fiction." I honestly liked almost every singe story in the book, but some of them were absolutely amazing. Some made me laugh out loud (which takes a lot--usually reading only provokes me to smile or chuckle, not actually laugh) and some made me tear up. Excellent, excellent writing!
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This is a great collection of SF/fantasy short stories. And that proceeds helped victims of the Indonesian tsunami is good, too. There were only one or two stories of the whole anthology that I didn't like. A good mix and just the right length to squeeze in a tale or two on break.
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Read this for the Sharon Shinn short-story, which was wonderful of course. I read it several times over. I was equally surprised to discover and read a sci-fi story by the beloved Juliet Marillier!
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Great stories from great authors. Enjoyed dipping my toes into these small universes.
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Loved Sharon Shinn's 'Double Edged Sword' story. Loved it. Have not gotten to read the rest.
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A so-so speculative fiction anthology.
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I've been procrastinating on writing this review because I wanted to address each story individually, and that would take time, and I never have time anymore. Okay, that isn't strictly true, I have lots of time, I just spend most of it these days playing CivV. Like I literally cannot stop. But enough of that.
Though not every story in this anthology was a hit for me, I thought it was very well edited. The collection is eclectic at best- it's more like a random hodge-podge of modern fiction. Some stories felt more sci-fi/fantasy-y than others, and no two were truly alike. And somehow, it worked.
Like I said, some resonated with me more than others- I don't care so much for war and combat stories, so space marines aren't really my thing (*ahem* Halo) and the Violet Dogs story was a little too melodramatic for me. But the thing I liked about this anthology, even the stories that I didn't like so much, is that it exposed me to a lot of new things. I looked up several of the authors' longer stuff, and it reminded me that genre fiction can tell beautiful and intriguing stories (in fact, there's an incredibly meta short story in there about just that).
Overall, as long as you've got an open mind, you're bound to find something you enjoy in this anthology, and it's a great sampling of what's available today in modern sci fi/ fantasy. Anyone looking to expand their horizons in that genre would be well-suited by this book. -
Report from the Near Future: Crystallization :/
And Tomorrow and :)
Abductio ad Absurdum :(
In the Matter of Fallen Angels :/
Tiger in the Night :(
The strange case of Jared Spoon, who went to pieces for love. :(
The Solipsist at Dinner :(
The Wager :(
Expedition, with Recipes :(
Tough Love :/
Chanting the Violet Dog Town: A Tale of Noreela :/
Butterflies Like Jewels :)
Perfection :)
The Compound :(
Sea Child: A Tale of Dune :(
Moebius Trip :(
The Run to Hardscrabble Station :(
The Last Mortal Man :)
The Double Edged Sword :)
Night of the Dolls :/
The Potter's Daughter :)
The Day of Glory :(
Sea Air :) -
I purchased this book solely for the short story, The Wager. I'm a completest when it comes to collecting all works by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and found the very short story about Thomas Malory - the author of the Arthurian tales - very fun! I adored how Sherri worked this in as an interesting tidbit, and I'm extremely curious as to whether or not Thomas will come into play in a later book.
As for the other stories, I might one day read them, but I have no immediate plans to do so. I rate this book 5 stars based on Sherri's short story. -
I enjoyed this collection but unfortunately too many of the stories were set in universes already explored in other books for me to enjoy them. I find it really difficult to read a story set alongside other books I haven't read, because I feel as though I'm missing something. I had to skip those, but luckily there were enough self-contained stories to keep me interested during the long process of moving. It made for a great book to read during short breaks of lugging boxes and furniture.
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It's hard to rate an anthology such as this one as a whole. The overall theme is dark and sad..and some of the stories shine, some are okay, and a rare few were tedious for me. I had a hard time finishing this because there was no ongoing story to get back to that pulled me in, which is something I find I usually deal with in anthologies. Since I have to rate all these stories together, I say 4 stars because most of the stories were enjoyable!
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Various authors contributed to this benefit anthology. Unfortunately some of the stories seemed to be dug out of a drawer rather than responding thematically to the disaster. My favorites were the first and the last stories and I found some new authors of interest. I only gave up on one story (I'm not a fan of detailed military campaigns) I was reminded of how much I like Nina Kiriki Hoffman.
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4
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Only read:
The Wager by Sherrilyn Kenyon -
Really enjoyed some top-notch stories by a good number of story-tellers . . . great way to find out who's work you may want to read more of.
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Nice mix of stories but some are very flat or downright confusing. Not impressed with the cover artwork (what little there is of it.)
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I only read Kinley MacGregors story, but still would have wanted more background on the character.
