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49 reviews for:
Dark Alchemy: Magical Tales from Masters of Modern Fantasy
Gardner Dozois, Gardner Dozois
3.62 AVERAGE
49 reviews for:
Dark Alchemy: Magical Tales from Masters of Modern Fantasy
Gardner Dozois, Gardner Dozois
3.62 AVERAGE
I absolutely loved this collection. From the first story to the last one, Orson Scott Card's Stonefather, I was entranced.
skipped a few of the stories after a page or two of slog/casual bigotry. the ones i finished were meh. overall, cishetronormative, white and unimaginative. these are all published authors?? white people really can just write shit and still get paid for it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny
I bought this book for its inclusion of a Garth Nix short story, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the tales contained within.
All in all, a very good collection of short stories. They ranged from standard fantasy to urban. There was really only one story in the collection that I disliked, and several that I greatly enjoyed.
Eh, for most of the stories. Of course, I loved the Gaiman story. A few others were ok. Most of them were a waste of time.
I think I need to stop reading these collections of different authors. It just leads me to read a bunch of authors I've never heard of. And, for a long time, I've tried to read books based on reputation. Sturgeon's Law-90% of everything is crap. And, I don't want to read crap.
I think I need to stop reading these collections of different authors. It just leads me to read a bunch of authors I've never heard of. And, for a long time, I've tried to read books based on reputation. Sturgeon's Law-90% of everything is crap. And, I don't want to read crap.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Fantasy stories ignite the imagination in ways that realistic fiction can not. Characters are larger than life. Conflicts mean life and death – often for an entire race or culture.
In this collection, editors Dann and Dozois, have collected unpublished short stories from a variety of well-known fantasy authors. Each story is about a wizard, but rarely do they appear in the pointed hat and starry cape (like the one on the cover of the book):
Orson Scott Card introduces us to the mages of the elements, who draw their power and their forms from nature.
Mary Rosenblum creates a magical world of colorful auras and a mysterious villain, threatened with oblivion by the real mask they wear.
Terry Dowling takes us to a special school, where students make choices that affect not only their own magical power and abilities, but those around them as well.
Journey through hell and talk to the devil with stories from Andy Duncan and from Terry Bisson.
There is no way to give proper accolades to every story and author represented in this book. Pick up the book and choose one of the excellently crafted stories to embark on a magical mini-vacation today! There are 18 destinations to choose from; a little something to suit every fantasy reader.
Overall this wasn't a bad collection of short wizardly and magical stories, but there were just a few too many Harry Potter clones to make it stand out. I only found a few of the stories to be original enough to be memorable. I appreciate short stories where I can find the, unfortunately the Harry Potter effect has really watered this genre down.