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breezy610's review against another edition
4.0
Banshee Cries was the only one that i read in this book. It is 1.5 in the series that Joanne walker and her jounrey to use her powers in her cop career that she has. In this story, we finally get to know her mother, who was meant in the first book. She learns that her mother battle with the same thing that she is battle. Joanne is stubborn to ask for her mother's help, but a trip to the past helps her figure out her mother and the problem. it's a good story that connet mother and daughter together.
kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
Three short stories of the supernatural and the moon during winter.
Series:
"Moontide" (Five Hundred Kingdoms, 1.5)
"Banshee Cries" (Walker Papers, 1.5)
The Stories
Mercedes Lackey's "Moontide" is mostly well-written with a clever young woman who takes charge of her own destiny and thwarts the kingdom's enemies. I have one niggle about it. If Moira only has a few capsules to contact the countess, why is she using them up so fast? I do love that she doesn't care about the Fool's deformity!
Tanith Lee's "The Heart of the Moon" starts with a bitter betrayal and leads to a penance of sorts, a challenge for Cliro that she must win during the Seven Nights on the Moon Isle. Nor does it seem that Cliro is the only one who must face a challenge and a penance.
It's an interesting tale of betrayal and discovery of one's self, and Lee weaves a curious story. It made me think of Mediterranean warriors and heroes of Ulysses' time.
I don't see where Araitha has a leg to stand on. She was the one in the wrong. As for Zem. Yes, he could have handled it differently, but he too had done much to try and help.
C.E. Murphy's "Banshee Cries" brings Joanne and her mother together again, giving Joanie new insight into her mother and her reasons for abandoning Joanne. The action is the Blade, the banshee, that is referred to throughout the series, so you don't want to miss this one if you're following the Walker Papers. This is also the story where Joanne goes from being a police mechanic to a police officer.
This short annoys me. Yeah, I appreciate getting this bit of background, HOWEVER. Joanne's mother is so angry with Joanne for not knowing why she died or all about her magical powers, and yet when Mommy chose to give up and die for the four months that Joanne spent with her, Mom didn't say anything to her about what was going on. So WTF does she expect? In all those four months, Mom didn't pick up on the fact that Joanne is totally clueless about all this?? Argh.
The Cover and Title
The cover is gorgeous and feels more like a fairytale with its muted blues and browns and a woman in a long, flowing, white gown, her hair blowing in a stiff breeze, standing on the edge of a cliff above the shining sea, and looking up at the biggest full moon, a few fairytale-ish clouds drifting across its face. It's an interesting title that blends too well into the moon, but I do like the artistic effect of the double Os in the word moon. Very nice.
The title is the time of year and a full moon, the Winter Moon that plays an important in each tale's world.
Series:
"Moontide" (Five Hundred Kingdoms, 1.5)
"Banshee Cries" (Walker Papers, 1.5)
The Stories
Mercedes Lackey's "Moontide" is mostly well-written with a clever young woman who takes charge of her own destiny and thwarts the kingdom's enemies. I have one niggle about it. If Moira only has a few capsules to contact the countess, why is she using them up so fast? I do love that she doesn't care about the Fool's deformity!
"Do not think overmuch of what they are not."
Tanith Lee's "The Heart of the Moon" starts with a bitter betrayal and leads to a penance of sorts, a challenge for Cliro that she must win during the Seven Nights on the Moon Isle. Nor does it seem that Cliro is the only one who must face a challenge and a penance.
It's an interesting tale of betrayal and discovery of one's self, and Lee weaves a curious story. It made me think of Mediterranean warriors and heroes of Ulysses' time.
I don't see where Araitha has a leg to stand on. She was the one in the wrong. As for Zem. Yes, he could have handled it differently, but he too had done much to try and help.
C.E. Murphy's "Banshee Cries" brings Joanne and her mother together again, giving Joanie new insight into her mother and her reasons for abandoning Joanne. The action is the Blade, the banshee, that is referred to throughout the series, so you don't want to miss this one if you're following the Walker Papers. This is also the story where Joanne goes from being a police mechanic to a police officer.
This short annoys me. Yeah, I appreciate getting this bit of background, HOWEVER. Joanne's mother is so angry with Joanne for not knowing why she died or all about her magical powers, and yet when Mommy chose to give up and die for the four months that Joanne spent with her, Mom didn't say anything to her about what was going on. So WTF does she expect? In all those four months, Mom didn't pick up on the fact that Joanne is totally clueless about all this?? Argh.
The Cover and Title
The cover is gorgeous and feels more like a fairytale with its muted blues and browns and a woman in a long, flowing, white gown, her hair blowing in a stiff breeze, standing on the edge of a cliff above the shining sea, and looking up at the biggest full moon, a few fairytale-ish clouds drifting across its face. It's an interesting title that blends too well into the moon, but I do like the artistic effect of the double Os in the word moon. Very nice.
The title is the time of year and a full moon, the Winter Moon that plays an important in each tale's world.
mrsbalrog's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
starfallz's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed Mercedes Lackey's story in this collection. Was quite surprised to be drawn into one of her stories so thoroughly again. Also enjoyed Tanith Lee's story. Thought it was going to be dull and uninteresting in the first few sections, but it turned out to be quite a fascinating tale. Thought C.E. Murphey's short story wasn't as strong as her full length novels, but it is good to have some pieces of story to fill in the references in book #2.
liromar's review
2.0
I only read the third story -- C. E. Murphy's Banshee Cries. It was okay. A bit disappointing, in that the themes were so much the same as the first book that they were almost indistinguishable...
suzemo's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a collection of three writers - Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee, and C.E. Murphy. They all had the moon as a theme to tie them all in together. I got this book because of Lee (in fact, I didn't realize it was three novellas).
Moontide, the first novella, is Lackey's, and I quite liked it. Useless girl-child is sent away by her misogynist father, gets fostered/raised by an awesome woman who trains her ladies to be more than they seem. She uncovers a plot, ends up taking everything for herself. Much love to the strong woman who works (with the help of a magician) to ruin her lord's plans, save the kingdom and win the day.
Tanith Lee's story was second, and I loved it. After being betrayed and asserting her revenge on her betrayers, a young warrior priestess takes an interesting introspective journey and also helps a young man with his spiritual journey. I have a huge love for Lee's writings, and I enjoyed this story as well.
The last one was Banshee Cries by C. E. Murphy. I've never read her stuff nor heard of this author. Apparently it takes place in the same universe as her series, and I just didn't enjoy it. I didn't care for it. It was kind of weak, I didn't care about the characters, and after the two more ethereal/traditional fantasy stories, this urban one just seemed out of place.
Moontide, the first novella, is Lackey's, and I quite liked it. Useless girl-child is sent away by her misogynist father, gets fostered/raised by an awesome woman who trains her ladies to be more than they seem. She uncovers a plot, ends up taking everything for herself. Much love to the strong woman who works (with the help of a magician) to ruin her lord's plans, save the kingdom and win the day.
Tanith Lee's story was second, and I loved it. After being betrayed and asserting her revenge on her betrayers, a young warrior priestess takes an interesting introspective journey and also helps a young man with his spiritual journey. I have a huge love for Lee's writings, and I enjoyed this story as well.
The last one was Banshee Cries by C. E. Murphy. I've never read her stuff nor heard of this author. Apparently it takes place in the same universe as her series, and I just didn't enjoy it. I didn't care for it. It was kind of weak, I didn't care about the characters, and after the two more ethereal/traditional fantasy stories, this urban one just seemed out of place.
whatshereads727's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Very short but so interesting. The female empowerment is real in this story. A heroine who you engage with immediately and a enemy to lover romance! So short it left me wanting more.
pokecol's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I won't say that I like any over the other because I didn't really, they were all had strengths and weaknesses. I will say that I did not expect myself to enjoy the last tale as much as I did, considering I have no love for weird modern fantasy - especially when not done well (which is all of them).
The first story I really liked for the detail of its political sociology in such a tight-knit space.
I enjoyed the second story for a really good introspection of character through Clirando.
And the last of the three was just really easy to read and flowed great from one chapter into another.
Any excessive downside was normally breezed past with the myriad of scene content the book covered making it not too difficult to ignore.
I think the first two tales speak of a more middle ground when it comes to balance, Mercedes Lackey and Tanith Lee both have an evidenced seasoning to their talents as authors, and while C.E. Murphy is not as profoundly written I felt the story had some good highs to balance out the lows making it on the same playing-field, just much more fluid.
That all as it is I definitely have the most criticisms of the 3rd tale. The strange semi-modern lingo, the weird characters which are all middle-aged police agents with cishet white man names which was hard to distinguish, the crappy "forgive family" message it goes for. The way the magic works is also pretty silly. Oh also, there was a strange and VERY regular making of characters layghing and giggling in fully strange and psychotic fashions that left many scenes feeling unnatural.
Tanith Lee's story felt extremely engaging in its start and finish and my main criticism was that the thematics of its narrative crux was 'revenge for revenge' which is a trope-bust-trope I REALLY hate, thankfully they do address that in the story's last couple chapters. Also making a need for a love interest is unnecessary but it wasn't too difficult to overlook.
Mercedes Lackey's story felt the most prepared and grounded in concept and the slow pacing was made up for by the really well done thoughtfulness of the protagonist, but the majority of the story taking place in somewhat indistinct stone-halls for the entirety of the book made it feel more mundane than it actually was.
I think they all standalone well as stories, and though I came in expecting to be only middlingly entertained, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Deadnaming, Infidelity, and Misogyny
ksd1441's review against another edition
3.0
I only read the Mercedes Lackey portion of this collection, because I am a big fan of her Five Hundred Kingdom series. I enjoyed this short story, I just wish it could have been its own book! Since I feel that Lackey thrives on building a story, only having 130 pages really hindered the plotline. I wanted to know more background information, especially concerning Kedric. However, it was still a great addition to the Five Hundred Kingdoms! A longer version could easily get 5 stars. Her writing is awesome.