A review by royalrainboww
The Fierce Reads Anthology by Marissa Meyer, Jennifer Bosworth, Leigh Bardugo, Anna Banks, Emmy Laybourne

3.0

'Legacy Lost' reminded me an awful lot of The Swan Princess - here are a young man and woman who have been destined to marry their entire lives, and now that they're older, the boy catches sight of the girl and it's insta!love because she's beautiful. I mean, eventually he finds that she's independent and strong, brave and intelligent, but that isn't what ends the animosity. Is it The Pull? Maybe. But as Grom himself said, shouldn't he have sensed Nalia years earlier, when he first became old enough to mate? And besides, at the beginning of the story, he senses her in the Chamber of Ceremonies, but he feels nothing but loathing for her. It's only after he realizes that she's turned into a total babe since the last time he saw her that he's like, "Oh, okay, so maybe it won't be so bad." And then he gets super angry when she doesn't want him back and plots to embarrass her by making her love him and then reject her. I mean, how petty can you get? I'm super pissed that she dies in the end, because she was the only remotely interesting character in this story, even if she did end up falling in love with an idiot.



    'The Witch of Duva' has one of the best first lines I've ever read:

There was a time when the woods near Duva ate girls.

    And it was so, so good. It has all the elements of a perfect story: cannibalism, a witch who isn't a monster and a loving father who is, murky and frightening woods, an eyeless crow, and a pet bear cub. I love dark stories, and I especially love stories that make me squirm before I'm certain of what is happening because of the bad feeling I get in my gut. Is that bizarre? Probably. Do I care? Not really. I will definitely keep my eye on Leigh Bardugo. Her prose is wonderful and haunting, and marvelously crafts the atmosphere for this story, making you shiver as Nadya walks through the woods of Duva and smell and taste the scrumptious stew Magda cooks for her.



    'Prophet' was interesting - the religious compound, presumably isolated from everything else, how even kissing is an affront to the Almighty, the leader or 'Prophet' who predicts that floods will come and still knowingly sentences a thirteen year old girl to three days in a cellar where she will most likely die drowned, and who then takes his son - MC Rance - to the hospital when he's struck by lightning, which I'm assuming is a no-no. I mean, most people who live in religious compounds like that don't believe in hospitals, right? And then Rance kills his father because he let Olivia - the aforementioned thirteen year old and the girl he was in love with - die. I mean, all that was great. It's just. It's just. I... wanted... more? Maybe that's a good thing, I'm not sure. I wanted to see what happened next, if he'd gone crazy or if he'd really been chosen by some supernatural power, which would have been really creepy but also great.



    'Dress Your Marines in White' was chilling. I liked the small touch that those with type B blood would feel no effect - of course someone has to be immune to your weapon. The idea for the story was interesting, and the different effects that MORS had on people was, as well. Dr. Massey was a complete sociopath, and her characterization was nicely done. I especially loved the scene when she's described as watching the bloodbath with her hands on the glass, as if she were looking at a Christmas window at a store. I also liked how isolated James is from his family by his experience - because they weren't there, and they can't possibly relate. Still, there was something about how this story was written, especially some of the dialogue, that irked me. Sometimes it felt forced, or just not right. I would've liked to have seen the scene where General Montez shoots himself be a little longer, so we could have appreciated the effect MORS had on him. Instead, it was very quick, and all of the sudden he's on the floor dead along with Privates Sands and Gruin and the two guards who'd also been in the room and it's all over.



    'Glitches' was fantastic. I've been wanting to read Cinder for a while and the voice and the setting of this short story, a prequel to that novel, didn't disappoint me. This, along with 'The Witch of Duva,' were probably my favorites from the anthology. 'Glitches' tells the story of how Cinder left Europe and arrived to New Beijing, and how she came to find that she had a very useful talent for mechanics. I really liked the following line, spoken by Iko, the family's android:

    "I have a glitch, too. Sometimes I forget that I'm not human. I don't think that happens to most androids."

    I'm looking forward to seeing Iko more often when I finally make it to Cinder.




     As a whole, this anthology was pretty great. It struck a good balance between sci-fi and fantasy, and stories that are set in the future, in the past, or in time indeterminate. My favorites, as I said, were 'Glitches' and 'The Witch of Duva.' My least favorite was probably 'Legacy Lost,' mostly because I really didn't like Grom.


   If you would like to read this, you can get a free Kindle copy here.