shaekin's review against another edition
No rating because I picked this up for the Mercy Thompson short story. I enjoyed the unappreciated gifts short story. Asil is one of my favorite side characters, and it had some clever lines. Definitely worth it in my opinion.
kitvaria_sarene's review
4.0
This is by far my favourite Christmas Fantasy anthology so far!
Almost all stories were 4 or 5 star reads for me, and I really enjoyed them.
I'll definitely look up some of the authors and see what else they have written! I don't think I have more than one or two in my shelves yet.
They were quite a divers set of topics and tones, from serious to silly and and from fantasy to dystopia and even sci-fi.
I breezed through this one in one afternoon!
(Sole exception was the one by Larry Correia, which I wouldn't even give 1* for if possible. That one I hardly made it through even skim reading.)
Almost all stories were 4 or 5 star reads for me, and I really enjoyed them.
I'll definitely look up some of the authors and see what else they have written! I don't think I have more than one or two in my shelves yet.
They were quite a divers set of topics and tones, from serious to silly and and from fantasy to dystopia and even sci-fi.
I breezed through this one in one afternoon!
(Sole exception was the one by Larry Correia, which I wouldn't even give 1* for if possible. That one I hardly made it through even skim reading.)
kitvaria_sarene's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this! (And contrary to most other reviews I saw at a glance I did *not* buy it for Patricia Briggs, actually found it to be one of the still really good , but weaker stories in the collection...)
So many fantastic stories in here, I and I enjoyed each and every one of them. Some good, some great, some brilliant!
It starts of with the story I found entertaining, but the least bit memorable, but gets a firm standing right after.
I'm not usually a fan of anthologies, but both "Fantastic Holiday Season" books were fantastic entertaining reads with a good mix of all sorts of tones.
Grim and dark
Cute
Fun
Melancholy
Thought provoking
Silly
You get it all, and in a well balanced mix. I could do without the introductions every time, but that really is the only part of the book I felt unnecessary.
What I'd love is a list of the stories and authors with a quick sentence to know which story was which after you finished the book - especially for those doing audio and so not able to just page through the book quickly.
So many fantastic stories in here, I and I enjoyed each and every one of them. Some good, some great, some brilliant!
It starts of with the story I found entertaining, but the least bit memorable, but gets a firm standing right after.
I'm not usually a fan of anthologies, but both "Fantastic Holiday Season" books were fantastic entertaining reads with a good mix of all sorts of tones.
Grim and dark
Cute
Fun
Melancholy
Thought provoking
Silly
You get it all, and in a well balanced mix. I could do without the introductions every time, but that really is the only part of the book I felt unnecessary.
What I'd love is a list of the stories and authors with a quick sentence to know which story was which after you finished the book - especially for those doing audio and so not able to just page through the book quickly.
kmoses87's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up to read the Patricia Briggs short story, which I really enjoyed. However, I only read that one and the first two. The first book about the Zombie detective needing to save Christmas from a materialistic elf was fun, but the second one was pretty boring, I think because I'm not familiar with the world, so I didn't really understand the family magic that tied the characters hearts together. After that I just decided to skip the others and read the Patricia Briggs one.
thorngil45's review against another edition
4.0
I bought this book, like many others here, just for Asil's story, but stayed for the other weird, wonderful and touching stories; Unappreciated Gifts and A Sufficently Advanced Christmas were my favorites :)
zinlizzie's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
mdlaclair's review against another edition
3.0
I just read the Patricia Briggs story. It was cute wish we could have seen all 5 dates.
travelgirlut's review against another edition
3.0
I only read the story by Patricia Briggs. It was fun to read more about Asil, though I'm not sure he would've gone for the bet. He doesn't seem like the dating type.
amyiw's review against another edition
4.0
Decided to read the Patricia Briggs Asil story again. This is the first date he goes on. I’m left wondering whether he wins and who set up the whole thing. Great, cute story about Asil being set up on a blind date through a dating site. Things definitely don’t go as planned. Wonder how the next ones go.
[b:Fantastic Hope|52915421|Fantastic Hope|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1579737806l/52915421._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73686640] has the next date
________________________________
Reread- Not quite as I'm reading some of the other stories for the first time.
Naughty & Nice by Kevin J Anderson
Someone has stolen Santa's naughty list. A zombie PI with his ghost assistant get on the case, is it Elvis the naughty elf that is trying to capitalise on the holiday and take over Santa's business. How about the missing children? Then a werewolf couple comes to say that their adoptive child is missing. Could it be something to do with it.
Pretty quick and straight forward, 3 1/2 stars
Close Knit
Family magic, a movie and dinner, then talking to his kids on everything he missed. His son who is gay, how he is overbearing for his daughter. First year as a separated dad, arrives for Christmas morning too. He discovers what went wrong. 3
Astronaut Nick by Brad R Torgerson
Futuristic Martian holiday- Talk about the old Saint Nick story from Earth. Could he bring to the children that believe in him. Kid just wants to go home but doesn't yet understand that home is where the heart is. 3 1/2
The Longest Night
Drags at first
Jimmy Krinklepot
Midnight Trains
A Christmas Feast
A World Done In
Santa's Mortuary
Yes Virginia
Christmas Eve at Harvey
The Atmosphere for Miracles
A Sufficiently Advanced Christmas
Unappreciated Gifts
I love this short about a date Asil goes on because someone from the pack is setting him up on dating sites and challenging him to "complete" the dates, with qualifiers. This date starts wrong from the beginning as "Kelly" is not female and Asil prefers women but... he also prefers to win the challenge so... what could go wrong, it is dinner then a masquerade 'vampire' ball where humans pose as vampires with no knowledge of what is around them. Asil likes to dance so of to the ball they go.
_________________________
I don't know why I rated it and never reviewed or even change the shelf to read, since I'm not going to read the other shorts but I fell down on the job.
I read only Unappreciated Gifts- a short story in the Mercy/Alpha& Omega world involving Asil. Asil is talked into going on a number of "dates", they don't turn out as anyone had hoped or planned and one has consequences.
I loved how things played out with the last date. I'm not saying anything as there is a twist, and others players are involved. It is short, read it for yourself. But every short I read of Asil makes me like him more.
Ooo, one I missed. Has an Asil story from Mercy Thompson world that I missed.
[b:Fantastic Hope|52915421|Fantastic Hope|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1579737806l/52915421._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73686640] has the next date
________________________________
Reread- Not quite as I'm reading some of the other stories for the first time.
Naughty & Nice by Kevin J Anderson
Someone has stolen Santa's naughty list. A zombie PI with his ghost assistant get on the case, is it Elvis the naughty elf that is trying to capitalise on the holiday and take over Santa's business. How about the missing children? Then a werewolf couple comes to say that their adoptive child is missing. Could it be something to do with it.
Pretty quick and straight forward, 3 1/2 stars
Close Knit
Family magic, a movie and dinner, then talking to his kids on everything he missed. His son who is gay, how he is overbearing for his daughter. First year as a separated dad, arrives for Christmas morning too. He discovers what went wrong. 3
Astronaut Nick by Brad R Torgerson
Futuristic Martian holiday- Talk about the old Saint Nick story from Earth. Could he bring to the children that believe in him. Kid just wants to go home but doesn't yet understand that home is where the heart is. 3 1/2
The Longest Night
Drags at first
Jimmy Krinklepot
Midnight Trains
A Christmas Feast
A World Done In
Santa's Mortuary
Yes Virginia
Christmas Eve at Harvey
The Atmosphere for Miracles
A Sufficiently Advanced Christmas
Unappreciated Gifts
I love this short about a date Asil goes on because someone from the pack is setting him up on dating sites and challenging him to "complete" the dates, with qualifiers. This date starts wrong from the beginning as "Kelly" is not female and Asil prefers women but... he also prefers to win the challenge so... what could go wrong, it is dinner then a masquerade 'vampire' ball where humans pose as vampires with no knowledge of what is around them. Asil likes to dance so of to the ball they go.
_________________________
I don't know why I rated it and never reviewed or even change the shelf to read, since I'm not going to read the other shorts but I fell down on the job.
I read only Unappreciated Gifts- a short story in the Mercy/Alpha& Omega world involving Asil. Asil is talked into going on a number of "dates", they don't turn out as anyone had hoped or planned and one has consequences.
I loved how things played out with the last date. I'm not saying anything as there is a twist, and others players are involved. It is short, read it for yourself. But every short I read of Asil makes me like him more.
Ooo, one I missed. Has an Asil story from Mercy Thompson world that I missed.