Reviews

Operation Arcana by John Joseph Adams

pelargonia's review

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

sarah42783's review

3.0

💣 Overall rating: 3.380765333 stars. Yes, you are quite right, this rating has indeed been very scientifically computed.

This will come as a huge surprise to most of you, but I originally bought this anthology because:

Military Fantasy short stories galore, oh my! Don’t let your little barnacled selves be fooled by my moderately pathetic rating for this anthology. It’s actually one of the best Fantasy anthologies I’ve read in a looooong time (if not in the entirety of my entire life). Granted, there is some Premium Quality Crappy Not So Good Stuff (PQCNSGS™) here, but there are also some Pretty Damn Scrumptious Stories (PDSS™) to be had. You know, the kind of PDSS™ that make you want to read more PDSS™ written by the most wondrous authors who wrote said PDSS™. Hay.

Okay, I know that some of you pretend to have boring things to do and uninteresting places to go and stuff, so I shall be uncharacteristically kind and compassionate, spare you the agony of reading the Booker Prize-worthy reviews I wrote for each bloody shrimping story in this anthology, and very generously give you a time-saving YES Perhaps Maybe Then Again Maybe Not NO Recap (YPMTAMNNR™):

🥇 You really really really want to read 🥇
✔ Bone Eaters by…Wait for it…Dun dun dun and stuff…Glen Cook! I kid you not.
✔ The Damned One Hundred by Jonathan Maberry.
✔ Weapons In The Earth by Myke Cole.
✔ The Graphology of Hemmorhage by Yoon Ha Lee.
✔ Heavy Sulfur by Ari Marmell.
✔ The Way Home by Linda Nagata.

★ You might want to read ★
✔ The Guns of the Wastes by Django Wexler (this one nearly made it up there ↑, only that it didn't. Life sucks and stuff).

☢ You might or might not want to read ☢
✔ American Golem by Weston Ochse.
✔ Blood, Ash, Braids Genevieve Valentine.
✔ Mercenary’s Honor Elizabeth Moon.

☠ You do not want to read ☠
✘ Rules of Enchantment David Klecha & Tobias S. Buckell.
✘ Steel Ships by Tanya Huff.
✘ Sealskin by Carrie Vaughn.
✘ Pathfinder by T.C. McCarthy.
✘ Bombers Moon by Simon R. Green.
✘ In Skeleton Leaves by Seanan McGuire.






➽ Bone Eaters by [a:Glen Cook|13026|Glen Cook|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207159752p2/13026.jpg]: 9 stars. And a half

DUH

.

This Piece of Pure Undiluted Utter Black Company Awesomeness Short (PoPUUBCAS™) is especially quite deliciously scrumpalicious because:

① We learn more about Darling in this story than in the whole series put together. And that is NOT completely NOT delightfully joyful and stuff. Oh, and by the way, a very private message to The Author Who Shall Not Be Named: this is how you do mute women characters. No need to thank me. My pleasure and stuff.

② My boyfriend Croakie is as yummy and grumpy and yummy and sarcastic and yummy and deadpan and yummy and cynical and yummy and yummy. Oh, and he's yummy, too. Sometimes.

③ There is a Mini Lady in the making here. 'Nuff said and stuff.

④ Goblin + One-Eye = squeeeeee like a slightly hysterical, hyperventilating 13-year-old fangirl on crack. Because yes, I have a thing for ancient, derelict, always-up-to-no-good, ever-bickering wizards with a thing for crafting revolting illusions with too many eyes and too many legs and too many claws and stuff.

⑤ The last paragraph makes me dream of a spin-off series. Which is a little exciting. Not much, though. Just a little bit.

All in all, this short story kinda sorta made me feel like:



Yeah, I know, I have the most unexpected reactions when it comes to this author/series/whatever.



➽ The Damned One Hundred by [a:Jonathan Maberry|72451|Jonathan Maberry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1512594942p2/72451.jpg]: 4 stars.

☣ Warning: the first couple of paragraphs in this mini crappy non-review are is merely an introduction of sorts. There is a slight chance they it might possibly be longer than the actual mini crappy non-review part of this mini crappy non-review.

I only learnt of Mr Maberry's existence a month ago. And I have my delicious boyfriend Daniel Faust to thank for this most serendipitous introduction. What happened was: I had purchased the [b:Urban Allies|27213192|Urban Allies Ten Brand-New Collaborative Stories|Joseph Nassise|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449805589s/27213192.jpg|45467108] collaborative anthology because it features one of Danny Boy's short adventures. I could have done the Who Gives a Fish Thing (WGaFT™), and left it at that, but I had a sudden surge of uncharacteristic compassion and benevolence towards the other stories in the collection, and decided to read some of them ← I hope you didn't believe a word of this because it's total bullfish and stuff. What really happened is: after reading my boyfriend's collaboration with the most boringly lackluster magician that ever was, I realized that there was a [a:Larry Correia|1136158|Larry Correia|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1323587082p2/1136158.jpg] short in this anthology, too. Since I somewhat enjoyed [b:Monster Hunter International|2570856|Monster Hunter International (Monster Hunter International, #1)|Larry Correia|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1506646711s/2570856.jpg|2581372] a little (which I may or may not have mentioned before), I decided to give Correia's story a try. And it just so happens that Correia wrote said story in collaboration with Jonathan Maberry! Aha!



I'm hilarious, I know.

Anywayyyyy, I kinda sorta thought that said story (most deliciously called Weaponized Hell) was very moderately entertaining. So when I discovered that there was a Maberry short in this delightful collection here, I obviously went all…



Yep, that is indeed me going all hilarious on you again. You better make the most of it before I start charging entrance fee and stuff.

Soooooo, now for the mini crappy non-review part of this mini crappy non-review: Thermopylae Type Thingie (TTT™, or T³ for short) + vamps + sorcery + nuns = fishing hell to the bloody shrimping YES!

QED and stuff.



➽ Weapons In The Earth by [a:Myke Cole|804399|Myke Cole|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1439857990p2/804399.jpg]: 4 stars.

Because Myke Cole is a pretty cool guy I follow on Twitter. And maybe also because I've been wanting to read [b:The Armored Saint|35018914|The Armored Saint (The Sacred Throne, #1)|Myke Cole|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499255978s/35018914.jpg|50836132] for, like, forever and stuff. Well at least for the month and a half since it was released and stuff.

Well, well, well…This was slightly dark and depressing and bleak.

Hahahahaha, how glorious indeed!

. And a little dark and depressing and bleak, too.

Hahahahaha, how perfectly exquisite!

But hey, it could have been much worse! The author could have killed everyone and everything within a two hundred thousand miles radius of the story and stuff. Which he didn't. I mean, he almost nearly did. But he didn't. Unless I got the Final Slightly Dead Headcount (FSDH™) wrong and stuff. Anyway, YES, Weapons in the Earth is kinda sorta grim, but it also happens to be kinda sorta pretty cool. Also, it's a great, effective, original suicide method for cute kitty/fluffy bunny-loving freaks. But I digress. What is so cool about this story, you ask? Let's see…

① It's about goblins. And everyone knows goblins are sexy as fish. I mean, there's one here who’s really extremely super hot: his body is swollen and adorned with lovely patches of scraggly hair, and veins that look like tree roots. Yum. His many unaligned eyes are all different sizes, and very strategically placed near his armpits. How scrumpalicious indeed. My exoskeleton is getting all tingly and stuff. He's got swollen purple lips, his jaw hangs to his knees and his teeth yellowed tusks rear up to one of his lower eyes. Sigh. So much heavenly beauty. I think I'm in love.

② There's a super villainous villain. Who might or might not be the Super Sensually Sensuous Goblin (SSSG™) I so vividly described by shamelessly copying the author's text in the previous paragraph. And incidentally, the guy creature of my dreams. I mean, who could resist such a deadly combination of damnably titillating, voluptuous good looks and complete, utter evil wickedness? Not bloody shrimping little me, that's who. This delicious guy creature is pretty much absolutely perfect, as far as I'm concerned and stuff.



③ There's cool Earth Magic Stuff (EMS™). Spoiler alert: this might or might not be why the story is called Weapons of the Earth.

④ There's blood and gore and bloodshed and stuff. Which is not quite entirely surprising given the final body count.

⑤ Super cows to the rescue!



Now if this ⤴ doesn't entice you to read this story, I don't know what will.



➽ The Graphology of Hemmorhage by [a:Yoon Ha Lee|3001246|Yoon Ha Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1383757366p2/3001246.jpg]: 4.45698 stars.

Dammit dammit dammit and quintuple dammit. I'd written a perfectly fascinating mini crappy non-review for this moderately exciting tale, but it apparently went poof on me. Dammit dammit dammit and quintuple dammit again.

Okay, I'm afraid this won't be quite as fascinating as the previous by-product of my ever-scintillating two grey cells, but here goes:

Asian-type setting + war + military magicians + calligraphy as a weapon + spoiler spoiler spoiler + bloodshed + books + sadly beautiful and beautifully sad stuff =





➽ The Way Home by [a:Linda Nagata|578581|Linda Nagata|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1545180307p2/578581.jpg]: 4.5 stars.

This slightly awesome story can be read for free online.

A military team trapped in what seems to be Hell’s suburb. “Modernized, weaponized,” and somewhat homicidal, deathly lethal demons. Combat. Violence. Death. Spoiler spoiler spoiler. YUM.

Great writing + cool premise + interesting characters + non-stop action = Linda Nagata, I need a full-length novel set in this world. Now

pretty shrimping please and stuff

.





➽ Heavy Sulfur by [a:Ari Marmell|26796|Ari Marmell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1539838714p2/26796.jpg]: 4 stars.

Because WWI + witchcraft + trenches + demon summoning + infiltrating enemy lines + military magi = YES, please!





➽ The Guns of the Wastes by [a:Django Wexler|639491|Django Wexler|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1357865518p2/639491.jpg]: 3.5 stars.

I thought Mr W. was going to go the Flintlock Fantasy of Deadly Boredom Route (FFoDB™) here, but decided to read the story anyway because I'm bold and audacious like that. So imagine my surprise when I realized this was no FFoDB™ candidate, but a Quite Entertaining Steampunk Sci-Fi Type Thingie (QESSFTT™)! Flabbergasted a little I most certainly was, when aware of this I became!



Quick maths time:

Not entirely uninteresting world building with potentially potent potential + original, diverse cast of characters (some of them the deliciously eccentric, slightly goofy scientist type) + funny stuff + lots of action + cool, um, enemy-type thingies (that is a technical term, yes) + mini slaughter fest = bloody shrimping hell! This is what The Thousand Names should have been like! Also: bloody stinking fish! I want a full-length novel set in this world! Also, also:



P.S. I would have given this one 4 scrumpalicious stars if it had felt like an actual story, and not like a scene from a book. But it did, so I didn't. Ha.



➽ American Golem by [a:Weston Ochse|992207|Weston Ochse|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1548632855p2/992207.jpg]: 2.7545 stars.

So the premise is pretty cool (because war + Afghanistan + golem +revenge = duh of course it's pretty cool) and I really like the whole Modern Day Warfare Meets Fantasy World Thingie (MDWMFWT™) and the author's personal experience as a soldier in the Greater Middle East adds a lot to the story but…



Ask not why for know the answer to that question I do not.



➽ Mercenary’s Honor by [a:Elizabeth Moon|10518|Elizabeth Moon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1199059504p2/10518.jpg]: 2.5 stars.

This story could have been all sorts of super awesomely cool. Because mercenaries and stuff. And it is a truth universally acknowledge that all mercenaries are super awesomely cool because slightly ruthless and a little amoral, ergo hot and sexey and stuff. Well all mercenaries except the ones in this story it seems. I mean, all these guys worry about is honor, loyalty and all kinds of silly, grand, noble ideas! That’s completely preposterous! And I’m pretty sure my Black Company homies would take offense at such a shameful display of dignity and respectability!



➽ Blood, Ash, Braids by [a:Genevieve Valentine|3400079|Genevieve Valentine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360060998p2/3400079.jpg]: no rating because no rating.

I read this. I know I read this. Okay, so I don’t remember reading this but I know I did. Damn, I must have been high on top quality stuff at the time. I mean, why else would I have no bloody shrimping recollection of what this story is about? Sorry, what? My two ever-flailing, decaying, amnesia-prone grey cells might have something to do with it you say? Oh please, don’t be ridiculous. I’ll have you know my little head is functioning at full capacity right now. Anyway, care to remind me what it was we were talking about? It seems to have slipped my mind for some strange, unknown reason.





➽ Pathfinder by [a:T.C. McCarthy|4143867|T.C. McCarthy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1552654436p2/4143867.jpg]: 2 stars.

This could have been great and intriguing and refreshing because Korean war setting meets the surpernatural, but it wasn’t and it wasn’t and it wasn’t so it wasn’t. Also, boring boring bored.



➽ Rules of Enchantment by [a:David Klecha|6456211|David Klecha|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] & [a:Tobias S. Buckell|107891|Tobias S. Buckell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1370963821p2/107891.jpg]: 2 stars.

US Marines + Elves + Trolls + Orcs + Bloody Shrimping Second Person Narrative from Hell (BSSPNfH™) + what the stinking fish is going on here?! =





➽ Steel Ships by [a:Tanya Huff|1967|Tanya Huff|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207242126p2/1967.jpg]: 2 stars.

Okay, so the idea of military-type, seal/selkie-like shapeshifters going on a covert operation is slightly awesome and original and stuff. Only that this feels like an action scene from a book, not like an actual story. So meh and stuff.



➽ Sealskin by [a:Carrie Vaughn|8988|Carrie Vaughn|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468274730p2/8988.jpg]: 2 stars.

There might possibly perhaps be a point to this story. Maybe. I might possibly perhaps have completely missed it. A little. Not by much. Obviously.



➽ In Skeleton Leaves by [a:Seanan McGuire|2860219|Seanan McGuire|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1245623198p2/2860219.jpg]: 2 stars.

My favourite Peter Pan characters are Captain Hook and Tick-Tock the Crocodile, so imagine my utter disappointment and total indignation when I realized they weren’t featured in Seanan McGuire’s take on Neverland! This story is all about silly Pans and boring Wendys and stuff, with no pirate or croc in sight! It is quite outrageous, if you ask me. And might perhaps maybe explain why I didn’t exactly like this story very much, despite its supposed darkness and cleverness and depth and stuff. But worry not, Seanan McGuire. This is the fourth story of yours I’ve misread so far, and we both know that it’s not me you, it’s you me.





➽ Bombers Moon by [a:Simon R. Green|41942|Simon R. Green|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1224555729p2/41942.jpg]: 2 stars.

Yet another story that could have been slightly awesome but wasn’t. This is getting old and stuff. This one is about the WWII Dresden bombing. And involves possessed Spitfire bombers. Should have been pretty cool, huh? Right. The problem here is that the author turned this pretty great premise into a over-simplified, uninspired story where the good guys are GOOD (and therefore backed up by most benevolent angels) and the bad guys are EVIL (and therefore backed up by super villainous demons). Oh, goody.





Bye now. I’ll see my little self out and stuff.

glennisleblanc's review

4.0

I like themed anthologies and for the most part they normally work pretty well and this one was no exception. John Joseph Adams always puts together strong collections and this one is no exception. Of course I didn’t like every story but I have to think long and hard if there was a collection that had at least a few stories that didn’t do it for me. Several of the contributing writers wrote stories in a known universe but I think I liked the ones that seemed to be in all new settings. Several of the writers were new to me and now I’ll have to keep my eyes open for them. The stories in the collection all deal with war either in a fantasy setting or in a more modern setting but the thread that ties them all together is war with some form of magic use. You get setting going from high fantasy up to modern times but all of them deal with some part of fighting. I’ll be looking back at this collection when it comes to Jan 2016 to work on my Hugo ballot.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley