connorjdaley's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
3.0
This is an anthology featuring retelling of myths and legends. The introduction states the main idea behind the choices was hope. I received a copy to judge for the Indie Ink Awards for Best book cover, best illustrator, prettiest book interior, best light read, side character mvp, and funniest book. Because of some of the things I was judging for, I also decided to grab a physical copy. As you can see, the cover is gorgeous and there are definitely some nice interior things.
As this is an anthology, the only thing for me was shortness, it’s hard to fall into a story when every time you do, it ends. Then the next one is a new author with a new style of writing. It makes it hard to hit that stride with a typical light read. The stories were enjoyable though, I just couldn’t get super into reading mode with it.
For the most part, the retellings all took on a scifi approach. I’m not sure if that was a requirement, because it wasn’t noted in the intro, but if it wasn’t, I would have liked to see some other things thrown in. There was one that was like a scifi/western Robin Hood, and I kept wondering why it wasn’t just a western, cause that is a retelling in itself!
Regardless, this is a fun anthology full of unique myth and legend retellings by various indie authors.
Featuring Works By:
- Daniel Quigley
- Jess L. Tong
- Laura Jayne McLoughlin
- Stephen Howard
- Chris Durston
- Madeline Dau
- Michael J. Mullen II
- Douglas Jern
- Matthew Siadak
- R. Raeta
- Jaecyn Boné
- Dina S.
- Dewi Hargreaves
- Carter Hutchison
Personally a 3/5* for me.
hellaevateinn's review
5.0
The stories in this are terrifically well-thought-out retellings of old myths and stories about heroes. I am honestly crap at writing reviews. I generally like something or I don't, with nothing in between. But I just had to say how much I enjoyed this anthology. Every story in it was fantastic. Seriously. If you like stories about heroes - and who doesn't - you should really give this book a try.
(Edited to add an actual review. I was sick when I read this and was too exhausted to actually write the review.)
(Edited to add an actual review. I was sick when I read this and was too exhausted to actually write the review.)
dharmlost's review
5.0
This review is as unbiased as possible, and more so. Being upfront, I am one of the authors in this anthology and read a copy in advance as part of the review crew where we get advance copies of the book for fair and honest reviews.
First and foremost, the bad: my own knowledge around some of the heroes and legends told here was drastically lacking. And that's a me problem and not a problem with the anthology. When I came across something I did not know, I used the key provided in the index to know who the Hero in question was so I could break off to do some research. I wanted to know what was, so I could see the genius and skill the authors used to twist and reshape the legend in their retelling.
Every story took their hero and ran with it in a different way. The smorgasbord of genres, and genres within genres, left me amazed at how each hero fit seamlessly into the story told.
From Lab R Inc making my heart absolutely race, to The Call making my heart soar even as it ripped me to pieces, to Codename: Viking making me feel like I was right there with the characters.
No story failed to deliver and each and every one seemed like a slice of something bigger and left me hungry for so much more.
Highly recommend this journey through the retelling of fourteen heroes and their legends retold.
First and foremost, the bad: my own knowledge around some of the heroes and legends told here was drastically lacking. And that's a me problem and not a problem with the anthology. When I came across something I did not know, I used the key provided in the index to know who the Hero in question was so I could break off to do some research. I wanted to know what was, so I could see the genius and skill the authors used to twist and reshape the legend in their retelling.
Every story took their hero and ran with it in a different way. The smorgasbord of genres, and genres within genres, left me amazed at how each hero fit seamlessly into the story told.
From Lab R Inc making my heart absolutely race, to The Call making my heart soar even as it ripped me to pieces, to Codename: Viking making me feel like I was right there with the characters.
No story failed to deliver and each and every one seemed like a slice of something bigger and left me hungry for so much more.
Highly recommend this journey through the retelling of fourteen heroes and their legends retold.
snaildad's review
4.0
I think I would have enjoyed this more if I knew all the stories they were based on. I enjoyed the ones that I recognized!
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