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A review by posies23
Borderland by Terri Windling
4.0
This is one of those books I'd always heard about, but never been able to track down. Finally, last year, Greg at Dreamhaven books sold me a battered old copy so I could see what everyone was talking about.
This is a "shared world" anthology, about a place called "The Borderlands," where the world of elves and magic has inexplicably merged with the "real" world. The short stories take place in various time periods after the merger. Each of the stories builds a bit of the "mythology" of the series, while occasionally referencing people and things from the other stories.
It's a good book, and I can see how it really (along with Emma Bull's brilliant WAR FOR THE OAKS) kicked off the whole "Urban Fantasy" genre. It's also WAY ahead of its time in terms of politics and gender roles, which is cool to read. I found each of the stories intriguing, although by nature there are huge gaps in the background information, as the first volume works out the "ground rules" of the series. For all of that, it took me quite awhile to get through the book, as other books kept pushing their way to the top of my "to read" list, which probably hurt the overall effect of the book.
My favorite two stories in the book were by Charles De Lint and Ellen Kushner, who have also written other books well worth searching out.
I'll continue on through the series, and see how it develops!
This is a "shared world" anthology, about a place called "The Borderlands," where the world of elves and magic has inexplicably merged with the "real" world. The short stories take place in various time periods after the merger. Each of the stories builds a bit of the "mythology" of the series, while occasionally referencing people and things from the other stories.
It's a good book, and I can see how it really (along with Emma Bull's brilliant WAR FOR THE OAKS) kicked off the whole "Urban Fantasy" genre. It's also WAY ahead of its time in terms of politics and gender roles, which is cool to read. I found each of the stories intriguing, although by nature there are huge gaps in the background information, as the first volume works out the "ground rules" of the series. For all of that, it took me quite awhile to get through the book, as other books kept pushing their way to the top of my "to read" list, which probably hurt the overall effect of the book.
My favorite two stories in the book were by Charles De Lint and Ellen Kushner, who have also written other books well worth searching out.
I'll continue on through the series, and see how it develops!