Scan barcode
cherryboo's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
goldguardie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It's neat to see what else Garth Nix can do outside of the series I've read already. There were a few stories in here I'd absolutely ready full books about, too.
solanpolarn's review against another edition
4.0
I love The Old Kingdom, though sadly only the title story in this book is set there. The other stories are well-crafted, though some of them are very strange. Mostly the interesting sort of strange, with a heavy dose of scary in various forms.
basbleu_dans_labiblioteque's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
I love all of these stories!
Favorites:
To Hold The Bridge
A Handful of Ashes
Holly and Iron
I loved the Robin Hood/King Arthur/Norman Conquest mix of Holly and Iron, and putting the amazing author Joan Aiken as an awesome character in A Handful of Ashes was so cool!
Favorites:
To Hold The Bridge
A Handful of Ashes
Holly and Iron
I loved the Robin Hood/King Arthur/Norman Conquest mix of Holly and Iron, and putting the amazing author Joan Aiken as an awesome character in A Handful of Ashes was so cool!
aimeesbookishlife's review against another edition
2.0
I really enjoyed the titular story, about the Greenwash bridge that features prominently in [b:Goldenhand|28594830|Goldenhand (Abhorsen, #5)|Garth Nix|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459724394s/28594830.jpg|42858213], but the other stories were very hit and miss. The first story is also the only one set in the Old Kingdom, so the cover is a little misleading.
claudiacantread's review against another edition
4.0
Ok so normally for short story collections I would review these individually but I just…don’t want to. So you are getting a broad outline of the overall collection and Nix’s writing.
The big story in this (to me at least) is our story in the Old Kingdom. Its a pretty simple tale of a man going to find work at a bridge being built in the Old Kingdom, hundreds of years before the action of Sabriel. I really enjoyed it. It was short but had just enough investment and action for me to get really into it. I think I would love plenty more stories from this world (hint, hint) especially in such a short format.
So despite mostly just getting this for my Old Kingdom continued fix, I did check out the other stories and found that I really enjoyed myself for the most part. Nix seems to have a very skilled ability to create a world within a few pages so that an elaborate magic system and entire world feels fleshed out even in such a small scale.
It was also interesting that I could tell fairly quickly if I was interested in a story or not. There were a lot of these that I absolutely LOVED and think could be turned into full novels that I would read. There were several that while I could see the same kind of skill just weren’t my kind of stories and I skipped through them. It really showed the diversity of his writing and I think if you are a fan of sci fi and fantasy you could find something worthwhile in this collection for you.
Overall, despite skipping stories that just weren’t for me, I really did enjoy enough of this collection to make it totally worthwhile and a good purchase. It also really showed off Nix’s writing skills.
Some favorites: the ‘evil witch’ who gets harrassed by some long haired asshole named Rapunzel, the magic academy one (as always), the hellboy fanfiction (did NOT expect that to be in a short story collection but I liked it!), and of course our Old Kingdom story.
The big story in this (to me at least) is our story in the Old Kingdom. Its a pretty simple tale of a man going to find work at a bridge being built in the Old Kingdom, hundreds of years before the action of Sabriel. I really enjoyed it. It was short but had just enough investment and action for me to get really into it. I think I would love plenty more stories from this world (hint, hint) especially in such a short format.
So despite mostly just getting this for my Old Kingdom continued fix, I did check out the other stories and found that I really enjoyed myself for the most part. Nix seems to have a very skilled ability to create a world within a few pages so that an elaborate magic system and entire world feels fleshed out even in such a small scale.
It was also interesting that I could tell fairly quickly if I was interested in a story or not. There were a lot of these that I absolutely LOVED and think could be turned into full novels that I would read. There were several that while I could see the same kind of skill just weren’t my kind of stories and I skipped through them. It really showed the diversity of his writing and I think if you are a fan of sci fi and fantasy you could find something worthwhile in this collection for you.
Overall, despite skipping stories that just weren’t for me, I really did enjoy enough of this collection to make it totally worthwhile and a good purchase. It also really showed off Nix’s writing skills.
Some favorites: the ‘evil witch’ who gets harrassed by some long haired asshole named Rapunzel, the magic academy one (as always), the hellboy fanfiction (did NOT expect that to be in a short story collection but I liked it!), and of course our Old Kingdom story.
kaceyjoy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I loved some of these stories, but some of them were not for me.
twistedblonde's review against another edition
5.0
This was an excellent short story collection. I'm not usually a big fan of short story anthology, but I wanted to read this for the story to hold the bridge.
All of them were excellent and I highly recommend this anthology!
All of them were excellent and I highly recommend this anthology!
sausome's review against another edition
4.0
Garth Nix is a wonderful writer, and this collection really proves it. The first story is an "Old Kingdom" tale, like something out of his "Abhorsen" trilogy, and it was SO GOOD. I wanted to read a whole book about it - I'm hoping the newest "Abhorsen" book takes off from there in some way - already sitting on my nightstand waiting to be begun! The other stories were also good, though not necessarily all taking place in the "Abhorsen" world, as I sort of expected them to be. Once I shifted my mindset away from that expectation, I enjoyed them more. He's just so masterful at creating a world, then creating the very believable and likable (or not, if he wants) characters to walk around the world he just created. I guess that's what a writer does - but he's just so great at it. I'm always left wanting to read more of his books, and was pleasantly surprised by the "Shade's Children" world story towards the end. A great collection I would recommend for anyone who loves Nix.