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kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
Four short stories of horror revolving around the basic plot of someone offering to raise the dead...for a price.
Series:
“Alive Day” (Joe Ledger - 06.5)
My Take
All four were horrorific in varying degrees. And all four were well written as complete stories with backgrounds and developed characters.
The Stories
Kelley Armstrong’s “Suffer the Children” is a nasty bit of complex betrayal in a small village outside Ontario in the nineteenth century, and I cried so at the end.
Christopher Golden’s “Pipers” was the most depressing as events fall apart around the townsfolk. People who mostly hoped to bring back their loved ones, but were pushed and blackmailed into continuing with a deadly plan.
David Liss’s “A Bad Season for Necromancy” was my least favorite as the “hero” was such a weak man who preyed on others for his own advancement. Although Liss did provide for this aspect of Reginald/January with the effects of being revived.
Jonathan Maberry’s “Alive Day” is the most horrific, partially because Maberry leaves so much to my confused imagination, and partially because he was so brilliant in pulling me into the terror of what happened to Finn in Afghanistan.
The Cover
The cover is actually not so scary with its behatted man in a leather coat, his back to us as he stands in the rain in the middle of a cemetery.
The title is short and to the point, for these are Four Summoner’s Tales. Hope they never summon you!
Series:
“Alive Day” (Joe Ledger - 06.5)
My Take
All four were horrorific in varying degrees. And all four were well written as complete stories with backgrounds and developed characters.
The Stories
Kelley Armstrong’s “Suffer the Children” is a nasty bit of complex betrayal in a small village outside Ontario in the nineteenth century, and I cried so at the end.
Christopher Golden’s “Pipers” was the most depressing as events fall apart around the townsfolk. People who mostly hoped to bring back their loved ones, but were pushed and blackmailed into continuing with a deadly plan.
David Liss’s “A Bad Season for Necromancy” was my least favorite as the “hero” was such a weak man who preyed on others for his own advancement. Although Liss did provide for this aspect of Reginald/January with the effects of being revived.
Jonathan Maberry’s “Alive Day” is the most horrific, partially because Maberry leaves so much to my confused imagination, and partially because he was so brilliant in pulling me into the terror of what happened to Finn in Afghanistan.
The Cover
The cover is actually not so scary with its behatted man in a leather coat, his back to us as he stands in the rain in the middle of a cemetery.
The title is short and to the point, for these are Four Summoner’s Tales. Hope they never summon you!
amybraunauthor's review against another edition
4.0
A pretty good collection of stories about people tangling with dark summoners or summoning rituals, and why you should never ever be involved with them. All of the stories were good, but my favorite was the last one, “Alive Day” by Jonathan Maberry. It had a lot of action, danger, mystery, and reality to it. Definitely worth checking out!
beastreader's review against another edition
4.0
So what do you get when you give four authors the following sentence?
"A strange visitor comes to town, offering to raise the townsfolk's dearly departed from the dead-for a price."
You get Four Summoner's Tales, an anthology. This is what authors Christopher Golden and Jonathan Maberry did. They met in July 2011 and were discussing ideas for about plots. It was determined that there are only about seven different plots but it all comes down to...execution. Every person has their own idea about the execution of the story. So why not test that out and see what the results are. The above sentence was given to Mr. Golden, Mr. Maberry and their two fellow authors, Kelly Armstrong and David Liss. They had free rein to whatever concept they wanted in achieving the execution of the story that fit within the parameters of the sentence that they were presented with. Each author came up with their own unique twist on the execution.
It has been a little while since I have read and enjoyed an anthology. When I say enjoyed I mean enjoyed every story and not just one or two. In addition, that the stories featured are ones that you do not have to be familiar with the authors series to like. In fact if you are looking for new authors or have been wanting to check out these ones than you should pick up this anthology. While none of the stories are spooky scary they are still scary in their own ways. Kelley's story reminded me some of the Children of the Corn movie. Whereas Mr. Golden's story was like a Clint Eastwood movie but only if Clint was fighting the undead. Than there was Mr. Liss's story...just imagine The Tudors but instead of the court jester doing the tricks, he was replaced by a necromancer. Finally there is Mr. Maberry's story. I imagine it like Black Hawk Down but the enemies don't die as they are already dead.
"A strange visitor comes to town, offering to raise the townsfolk's dearly departed from the dead-for a price."
You get Four Summoner's Tales, an anthology. This is what authors Christopher Golden and Jonathan Maberry did. They met in July 2011 and were discussing ideas for about plots. It was determined that there are only about seven different plots but it all comes down to...execution. Every person has their own idea about the execution of the story. So why not test that out and see what the results are. The above sentence was given to Mr. Golden, Mr. Maberry and their two fellow authors, Kelly Armstrong and David Liss. They had free rein to whatever concept they wanted in achieving the execution of the story that fit within the parameters of the sentence that they were presented with. Each author came up with their own unique twist on the execution.
It has been a little while since I have read and enjoyed an anthology. When I say enjoyed I mean enjoyed every story and not just one or two. In addition, that the stories featured are ones that you do not have to be familiar with the authors series to like. In fact if you are looking for new authors or have been wanting to check out these ones than you should pick up this anthology. While none of the stories are spooky scary they are still scary in their own ways. Kelley's story reminded me some of the Children of the Corn movie. Whereas Mr. Golden's story was like a Clint Eastwood movie but only if Clint was fighting the undead. Than there was Mr. Liss's story...just imagine The Tudors but instead of the court jester doing the tricks, he was replaced by a necromancer. Finally there is Mr. Maberry's story. I imagine it like Black Hawk Down but the enemies don't die as they are already dead.
pamwinkler's review against another edition
3.0
Suffer the Children by Kelley Armstrong was good.
A Bad Season for Necromancy by David Liss was a bit odd, but overall I liked it.
Pipers by Christopher Golden was a bit strange, because it felt at the ending like it was supposed to be horror, but it didn't feel horrific. The violence was gory and scary.
Alive Day by Jonathan Maberry was nicely creepy.
My favorites were probably Suffer the Children and Alive Day.
A Bad Season for Necromancy by David Liss was a bit odd, but overall I liked it.
Pipers by Christopher Golden was a bit strange, because it felt at the ending like it was supposed to be horror, but it didn't feel horrific. The violence was gory and scary.
Alive Day by Jonathan Maberry was nicely creepy.
My favorites were probably Suffer the Children and Alive Day.
annelives's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Kelley Armstrong's contribution, Suffer the Children, to this anthology. Emotionally charged with interesting characters and a plot that is both creepy, somber and hopeful.
sparkleboymatty's review against another edition
3.0
A collection of 4 necromancer tales. I like the idea behind the book - assign 4 authors to write a story based on the sentence "A strange visitor comes to town, offering to raise the townfolk's dearly departed from the dead - for a price". Not as scary as I would have liked, but entertaining.
Suffer the Children by Kelley Armstrong - Bought the book for Kelley's story, and read it last. Not bad. As always, good character development. Ended a little abruptly though.
Pipers by Christopher Golden - The most gruesome and memorable addition to the bunch, but not necessarily my favourite. Good though.
A Bad Season for Necromancy by David Liss - I read this first because I'd never heard of David Liss before. It ended up being my favourite. Good story and some humour too.
Alive Day by Jonathan Maberry - Mixed feelings on this on. On the one hand, it had really cool mythology that I'd have liked to know more about. On the other hand, it was set in a warzone and the characters were soldiers, which didn't keep my interest.
Suffer the Children by Kelley Armstrong - Bought the book for Kelley's story, and read it last. Not bad. As always, good character development. Ended a little abruptly though.
Pipers by Christopher Golden - The most gruesome and memorable addition to the bunch, but not necessarily my favourite. Good though.
A Bad Season for Necromancy by David Liss - I read this first because I'd never heard of David Liss before. It ended up being my favourite. Good story and some humour too.
Alive Day by Jonathan Maberry - Mixed feelings on this on. On the one hand, it had really cool mythology that I'd have liked to know more about. On the other hand, it was set in a warzone and the characters were soldiers, which didn't keep my interest.
beckylej's review against another edition
4.0
One prompt, four authors, four very different stories. This is the concept behind FOUR SUMMONER'S TALES a collection of novellas featuring Kelly Armstrong, Christopher Golden, David Liss, and Jonathan Maberry. According to the intro, Golden and Maberry conceived of the idea over dinner one evening. Their prompt was just one sentence: A strange visitor comes to town, offering to raise the townsfolk's dearly departed from the dead - for a price. With that in mind, they chose two additional authors and all set out to create their own tales.
In Armstrong's "Suffer the Children" a town devastated by a diphtheria outbreak welcomes a man who claims to be able to raise their children from the dead. But of course it comes at a price. Addie and her foster family are certain that this is no miracle and must discover the truth before the town is too far gone.
Golden's "Pipers" a small Texas town has seen unimaginable tragedy: over twenty people gunned down in an increasingly escalating war with a Mexican drug cartel. Enoch has come to offer them a new option. He can bring back their dead, and with their help, bring down the cartel.
In Liss's "A Bad Season for Necromancy" In eighteenth-century England, a man has a plan to get out from under his father's thumb. He kills his father, steals his little bit of money, and moves to the city where he now calls himself January. Here is plans to find a wealthy wife and leave his past behind. But his ghosts aren't so happy to be left behind and his plan is ruinously revealed. When he discovers a book that will allow him to raise the dead, he thinks that surely all his problems will disappear. He's greatly mistaken. His troubles have only just begun.
And finally Maberry's "Alive Day" features Captain Joe Ledger on a mission to recover a lost team of soldiers in Afghanistan. The team, codenamed Rattlesnake, went dark while attempting to stop a group of drug traffickers said to be moving more than just opium. Rattlesnake ended up running into something much worse than terrorists, but it isn't until his own team arrives to investigate that Ledger begins to understand.
Each of these four stories is obvious very different from the others. Not only is it a great collection, but it's a wonderful example of how even one core concept can bring about in quite different results.
In Armstrong's "Suffer the Children" a town devastated by a diphtheria outbreak welcomes a man who claims to be able to raise their children from the dead. But of course it comes at a price. Addie and her foster family are certain that this is no miracle and must discover the truth before the town is too far gone.
Golden's "Pipers" a small Texas town has seen unimaginable tragedy: over twenty people gunned down in an increasingly escalating war with a Mexican drug cartel. Enoch has come to offer them a new option. He can bring back their dead, and with their help, bring down the cartel.
In Liss's "A Bad Season for Necromancy" In eighteenth-century England, a man has a plan to get out from under his father's thumb. He kills his father, steals his little bit of money, and moves to the city where he now calls himself January. Here is plans to find a wealthy wife and leave his past behind. But his ghosts aren't so happy to be left behind and his plan is ruinously revealed. When he discovers a book that will allow him to raise the dead, he thinks that surely all his problems will disappear. He's greatly mistaken. His troubles have only just begun.
And finally Maberry's "Alive Day" features Captain Joe Ledger on a mission to recover a lost team of soldiers in Afghanistan. The team, codenamed Rattlesnake, went dark while attempting to stop a group of drug traffickers said to be moving more than just opium. Rattlesnake ended up running into something much worse than terrorists, but it isn't until his own team arrives to investigate that Ledger begins to understand.
Each of these four stories is obvious very different from the others. Not only is it a great collection, but it's a wonderful example of how even one core concept can bring about in quite different results.
laurla's review against another edition
What if the dead could be summoned from their graves for a price? What if a quartet of distinctive storytellers took a stab at this deceptively simple idea on a dare? It s all in the execution.
"suffer the children" by kelley armstrong. A preacher and his adopted daughter must solve the mystery of the newcomers to their isolated 19th century village men who are preying on residents' overwhelming grief with promises to bring the stricken back to life.
"pipers" by christopher golden. Twenty-three people have already lost their lives to the ruthless cartel terrorizing their small Texas border town. But one man has a plan for revenge, if the town’s survivors will let him use their loved ones -- to raise an army of the undead.
"a bad season for necromancy" by david liss. In merry old England, a rascally con man stumbles upon a book for raising the dead. But instead of using it to make money by reviving relatives for the rich, he'll do just the opposite. Because some family skeletons need to stay buried.
"alive day" by jonathan mayberry. In war-torn Afghanistan, a U.S. military operative and his team face off against an ancient horror during a harrowing off-the-books search-and-rescue mission.
"suffer the children" by kelley armstrong. A preacher and his adopted daughter must solve the mystery of the newcomers to their isolated 19th century village men who are preying on residents' overwhelming grief with promises to bring the stricken back to life.
"pipers" by christopher golden. Twenty-three people have already lost their lives to the ruthless cartel terrorizing their small Texas border town. But one man has a plan for revenge, if the town’s survivors will let him use their loved ones -- to raise an army of the undead.
"a bad season for necromancy" by david liss. In merry old England, a rascally con man stumbles upon a book for raising the dead. But instead of using it to make money by reviving relatives for the rich, he'll do just the opposite. Because some family skeletons need to stay buried.
"alive day" by jonathan mayberry. In war-torn Afghanistan, a U.S. military operative and his team face off against an ancient horror during a harrowing off-the-books search-and-rescue mission.
cathepsut's review against another edition
2.0
A backwards village in the Canadian wilderness is visited by two mysterious strangers, offering them something they can't resist. Well plotted, unusual idea. But I didn't really like it. That's on me and not the fault of the story. I could see this developping into a full-length novel, telling the life stories of Eleazar and Rene. I would even read it, despite my two-star rating.
jmshirtz's review against another edition
4.0
This review is only for "Suffer the Children" by [author: Kelley Armstrong]. That was freaking creepy! It would make a great horror movie. I wish there'd been a bit more tying up of loose ends, but I guess that's part of what makes it so unsettling.