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A review by gen_wolfhailstorm
Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane by Alison Littlewood, Robert Shearman, Sophia McDougall, Dan Abnett, Steve Rasnic Tem, Jonathan Oliver, Gemma Files, Paul Meloy, Storm Constantine, Liz Williams, Christopher Fowler, Will Hill, Sarah Lotz, Gail Z. Martin, Thana Niveau, Audrey Niffenegger, Lou Morgan
4.0
This is going to be a long one, as I'll be reviewing each of the 15 stories, individually and then my generalized thoughts on the book as a whole. *takes a deep breath* well, here we go!
-The wrong fairy~Audrey Niffenegger
2/5*~ So, it seems this was following the artist father of Arthur Conan Doyle (Tess of the Baskervills, Sherlock, etc) who was sen to another asylum for his alcohol abuse. Although I imagine it was supposed to be a haunting and sad, but beautiful, tale I think it was too short to be able to expand on that notion and I didn't understand much of what happened. I found this to be a poor start to this collection.
-If I die, kill my cat~Sarah Lotz
1/5*~ Another disappointing short story as again, I found there just was not enough time to build characters and the world, however, saying that Neil Gaimen's short stories never fail to impress me, so clearly time shouldn't be an issue. I didn't understand a lot of the terminology, the setting or the point in two complete different things being smooshed together. The story didn't go anywhere and it ended abruptly and unsatisfying.
-Shuffle~Steve Hill
3/5*~ This was a strange one, more enjoyable than the first two because I was definitely intrigued by the air of mystery surrounding out protagonist, his tattoos and the strange events of what happened to his friends and how his tattoos increased. I would like to know more about this.
-Domestic Magic~Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
3.5/5*~ This was actually quite a sad story surrounding a small family with a seemingly crazed by magic mother. I enjoyed it, even though I sometimes felt a little disorientated and detached. but thought that the story premise was rather unique. The fact that this witchcraft magic takes place in a very poor and dysfunctional family is really interesting and it was sweet that Felix looked after his eight year old sister, Margret, when she was troubled and tried to find the magic, knowing things were not right in their lives and wanting always to escape.
-Cad Codeu~Liz Williams
4/5*~ This was a really enjoyable red and more to the nature of the more traditional, fantastical pieces I prefer, due to the mythical feel to it. It did not have much of a strong plot, however I found myself really enjoying it, the writing style, the mystical creatures of the wood and the initial confusion of our protagonist.
-Party Tricks~Dan Abnett
2/5*~ Although this story was solely about politics and mysterious trickery, something I have no interest in at all, I did find it to be an easier read that I had anticipated. Nevertheless, I did glaze over quite a portion of this short story, again due to it's content just not sparking my interest.
-First and Last and Always~Thana Niveau
5/5*~ This didn't fit in with the more 'subtle' magic in this collection, but it's something I enjoyed all the same because of it's teenage, silly protagonist, being stalkerish... And then it got creepy. Yes, if it wasn't weird enough, wait until the ending. This story took a sinister turn and being longer than some of the other stories, I feel like it had the sufficient time for the plot to go somewhere, have some character building and end properly. For a short story, especially in comparison with the others in this collection, it was really good and I think the little synopsis at the beginning, written by the editor- the guy who compiled these stories together, really summed it up well.
-The art of escapology~Alison Littlewood
4/5*~ This seemed to be more aimed at younger children because of the style of writing used, but enjoyable nevertheless. It was cute seeing how full of belief Tommy was filled with for magic and rather dark and depressing to see it turn into fear, when situations aroused, and slowly turn to a dull and bitter indifference.
-The baby~Christopher Fowler
4.5/5*~ At first I thought I was going to be incredibly frightened by this story, but when I began to read how our main character, Sasha, immaturely felt about things and eagerly acted upon them I thought it was going to be a poorly written story, I was so very wrong! As events got darker and more menacing, I found myself gripped to this short story, that although short indeed, the way it was plotted out gave us time to explore the happenings. Although the events were disturbing, it was not near as 'horrifying' as the book's editor, Jonathan Oliver, claims it to be and I found the writing not as adult as I had expected.
-Do as thou wilt~Storm Constantine
4/5*~ This read was another enjoyable one and took more of an eerily revenge plot. I liked the characters in it as, given the subject matter, they all seemed realistic. I found myself confused if some of the terms the characters used had literal meaning or spiritual, metaphorical meaning though.
-Bottom line~Lou Morgan
5/5*~ What a great story! Morgan's writing was just liquid gold and the way this story was told was just splendid. The plot is about our main character having to tread carefully where magic in concerned, but also having to deal with the painful temptation gnawing at his mind- Oh, and the mafia-like-''magicians'' trailing after him. I haven't read anything like this before and found the story behind the magic just great when it was explained. It made for some great character development. I'll have to check out more stories from this author.
-Mailerdaemon~Sofia McDougall
5/5*~ This was a great read. AT first, I didn't really get where it was going and although I still carried this cloud of confusion- especially when programming was mentioned- I ended up loving this story about a young woman plagued by nightmares. I grew rather attached to Grace and Luke and I found the ending was satisfying, yet oddly sad because in a way, Grace is left with this Earthly eternal task and she is sometimes still troubled by her dreams. This stories pace was very regular for the most part, aside from situations (between Grace and Jawad) where I felt things were rushed.
-Buttons~Gail Z. Martin
4/5*~ What another enjoyable read! Despite the writing style not being spectacular the story was story was still endearing. I think I mainly enjoyed the premise surrounding our protagonist's work in an antique shop and how her magic assists her there. The story whittled own to one threatening plot and it was really strong, with an ending that had great closure.
-Nanny Grey~Gemma Files
2/5*~ This could have been really good with the type of theme used, however, I found it extremely nonsensical and ultimately, the direction it headed ended up nowhere.
-Dumb Lucy~Robert Shearman
4/5*~ I'm not really sure I understood this story. I feel as though it had some great depth to it that I just couldn't fathom. In saying this though, I found the writing and story beautifully sad~ It was one of those stories that made my heart ache and I wish I understood it on a larger level. A cool point is the author was the guy who wrote the episode where the Daleks were reintroduced, in Doctor Who.
I ended up quite liking this collection of short stories over all and it has broadened my reading horizons to some new authors I had never read from, before. I liked the pretty chapter headers, but not sure I get the illustrations/cover art- I could hazard a guess that they belong to a particular tale featured, but wouldn't be able to say which ones.
Pick it up, give it a go enjoy!
Gén
-The wrong fairy~Audrey Niffenegger
2/5*~ So, it seems this was following the artist father of Arthur Conan Doyle (Tess of the Baskervills, Sherlock, etc) who was sen to another asylum for his alcohol abuse. Although I imagine it was supposed to be a haunting and sad, but beautiful, tale I think it was too short to be able to expand on that notion and I didn't understand much of what happened. I found this to be a poor start to this collection.
-If I die, kill my cat~Sarah Lotz
1/5*~ Another disappointing short story as again, I found there just was not enough time to build characters and the world, however, saying that Neil Gaimen's short stories never fail to impress me, so clearly time shouldn't be an issue. I didn't understand a lot of the terminology, the setting or the point in two complete different things being smooshed together. The story didn't go anywhere and it ended abruptly and unsatisfying.
-Shuffle~Steve Hill
3/5*~ This was a strange one, more enjoyable than the first two because I was definitely intrigued by the air of mystery surrounding out protagonist, his tattoos and the strange events of what happened to his friends and how his tattoos increased. I would like to know more about this.
-Domestic Magic~Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
3.5/5*~ This was actually quite a sad story surrounding a small family with a seemingly crazed by magic mother. I enjoyed it, even though I sometimes felt a little disorientated and detached. but thought that the story premise was rather unique. The fact that this witchcraft magic takes place in a very poor and dysfunctional family is really interesting and it was sweet that Felix looked after his eight year old sister, Margret, when she was troubled and tried to find the magic, knowing things were not right in their lives and wanting always to escape.
-Cad Codeu~Liz Williams
4/5*~ This was a really enjoyable red and more to the nature of the more traditional, fantastical pieces I prefer, due to the mythical feel to it. It did not have much of a strong plot, however I found myself really enjoying it, the writing style, the mystical creatures of the wood and the initial confusion of our protagonist.
-Party Tricks~Dan Abnett
2/5*~ Although this story was solely about politics and mysterious trickery, something I have no interest in at all, I did find it to be an easier read that I had anticipated. Nevertheless, I did glaze over quite a portion of this short story, again due to it's content just not sparking my interest.
-First and Last and Always~Thana Niveau
5/5*~ This didn't fit in with the more 'subtle' magic in this collection, but it's something I enjoyed all the same because of it's teenage, silly protagonist, being stalkerish... And then it got creepy. Yes, if it wasn't weird enough, wait until the ending. This story took a sinister turn and being longer than some of the other stories, I feel like it had the sufficient time for the plot to go somewhere, have some character building and end properly. For a short story, especially in comparison with the others in this collection, it was really good and I think the little synopsis at the beginning, written by the editor- the guy who compiled these stories together, really summed it up well.
-The art of escapology~Alison Littlewood
4/5*~ This seemed to be more aimed at younger children because of the style of writing used, but enjoyable nevertheless. It was cute seeing how full of belief Tommy was filled with for magic and rather dark and depressing to see it turn into fear, when situations aroused, and slowly turn to a dull and bitter indifference.
-The baby~Christopher Fowler
4.5/5*~ At first I thought I was going to be incredibly frightened by this story, but when I began to read how our main character, Sasha, immaturely felt about things and eagerly acted upon them I thought it was going to be a poorly written story, I was so very wrong! As events got darker and more menacing, I found myself gripped to this short story, that although short indeed, the way it was plotted out gave us time to explore the happenings. Although the events were disturbing, it was not near as 'horrifying' as the book's editor, Jonathan Oliver, claims it to be and I found the writing not as adult as I had expected.
-Do as thou wilt~Storm Constantine
4/5*~ This read was another enjoyable one and took more of an eerily revenge plot. I liked the characters in it as, given the subject matter, they all seemed realistic. I found myself confused if some of the terms the characters used had literal meaning or spiritual, metaphorical meaning though.
-Bottom line~Lou Morgan
5/5*~ What a great story! Morgan's writing was just liquid gold and the way this story was told was just splendid. The plot is about our main character having to tread carefully where magic in concerned, but also having to deal with the painful temptation gnawing at his mind- Oh, and the mafia-like-''magicians'' trailing after him. I haven't read anything like this before and found the story behind the magic just great when it was explained. It made for some great character development. I'll have to check out more stories from this author.
-Mailerdaemon~Sofia McDougall
5/5*~ This was a great read. AT first, I didn't really get where it was going and although I still carried this cloud of confusion- especially when programming was mentioned- I ended up loving this story about a young woman plagued by nightmares. I grew rather attached to Grace and Luke and I found the ending was satisfying, yet oddly sad because in a way, Grace is left with this Earthly eternal task and she is sometimes still troubled by her dreams. This stories pace was very regular for the most part, aside from situations (between Grace and Jawad) where I felt things were rushed.
-Buttons~Gail Z. Martin
4/5*~ What another enjoyable read! Despite the writing style not being spectacular the story was story was still endearing. I think I mainly enjoyed the premise surrounding our protagonist's work in an antique shop and how her magic assists her there. The story whittled own to one threatening plot and it was really strong, with an ending that had great closure.
-Nanny Grey~Gemma Files
2/5*~ This could have been really good with the type of theme used, however, I found it extremely nonsensical and ultimately, the direction it headed ended up nowhere.
-Dumb Lucy~Robert Shearman
4/5*~ I'm not really sure I understood this story. I feel as though it had some great depth to it that I just couldn't fathom. In saying this though, I found the writing and story beautifully sad~ It was one of those stories that made my heart ache and I wish I understood it on a larger level. A cool point is the author was the guy who wrote the episode where the Daleks were reintroduced, in Doctor Who.
I ended up quite liking this collection of short stories over all and it has broadened my reading horizons to some new authors I had never read from, before. I liked the pretty chapter headers, but not sure I get the illustrations/cover art- I could hazard a guess that they belong to a particular tale featured, but wouldn't be able to say which ones.
Pick it up, give it a go enjoy!
Gén