ginnikin's review
3.0
I think this would've got a worse rating from me if not for Monette's story (or even if Monette's hadn't been the last one). Mild spoilers follow, but how can you discuss a short story without them?
Lynn Kurland's "A Whisper of Spring" was fine. It was a bit of a romp love story between a human and a fairy. I was pleased that she was active in her rescue and didn't sit around wailing while the men did all the work. However, the flashbacks of the two first seeing each other were rather irritating. Could we have a little more substance than "shiny!"?
Sharon Shinn's "When Winter Comes" was pretty good. Aside from not seeing too much chemistry between the main characters, it told a pretty good story. I found the religious persecution pretty tired. The story of intolerance is an important one to tell, but if it's told often enough and same enough to be almost cliché, does it have any power any more?
Claire Delacroix's "The Kiss of the Snow Queen" had some troublesome things going on: the maiden told to protect her chastity to keep her power, the mysterious helper with a bit of a sex fixation, the powerful sorceror who saw a pretty woman and said, "baby, I'ma make you mine!", and a bad bad woman (you can tell because she's cold). *sigh* On the other hand, the mysterious helper was kind of nifty. He helped OH strengthen herself so that he could use her to achieve his goal. I don't mind that: you make your weapon strong and true; you don't mistreat it. However, the memory trick irks me something fierce. It's a giant takeback and I want people to stop doing it.
Sarah Monette's "A Gift of Wings" is Sarah Monette doing what she does. I was a little "sigh" over yet another damaged man. However, the damage wasn't suddenly cured by LOVE. Love played its part but didn't work miracles. Agido (Our Heroine) is pleasantly active. She's in danger, but she works to get out of it. She doesn't wait for a man to rescue her. Also, bonus points for older heroine who knows the value of sex for fun.
Lynn Kurland's "A Whisper of Spring" was fine. It was a bit of a romp love story between a human and a fairy. I was pleased that she was active in her rescue and didn't sit around wailing while the men did all the work. However, the flashbacks of the two first seeing each other were rather irritating. Could we have a little more substance than "shiny!"?
Sharon Shinn's "When Winter Comes" was pretty good. Aside from not seeing too much chemistry between the main characters, it told a pretty good story. I found the religious persecution pretty tired. The story of intolerance is an important one to tell, but if it's told often enough and same enough to be almost cliché, does it have any power any more?
Claire Delacroix's "The Kiss of the Snow Queen" had some troublesome things going on: the maiden told to protect her chastity to keep her power, the mysterious helper with a bit of a sex fixation, the powerful sorceror who saw a pretty woman and said, "baby, I'ma make you mine!", and a bad bad woman (you can tell because she's cold). *sigh* On the other hand, the mysterious helper was kind of nifty. He helped OH strengthen herself so that he could use her to achieve his goal. I don't mind that: you make your weapon strong and true; you don't mistreat it. However, the memory trick irks me something fierce. It's a giant takeback and I want people to stop doing it.
Sarah Monette's "A Gift of Wings" is Sarah Monette doing what she does. I was a little "sigh" over yet another damaged man. However, the damage wasn't suddenly cured by LOVE. Love played its part but didn't work miracles. Agido (Our Heroine) is pleasantly active. She's in danger, but she works to get out of it. She doesn't wait for a man to rescue her. Also, bonus points for older heroine who knows the value of sex for fun.
tomokizu's review
4.0
Four very different and entertaining short stories by four bestselling authors
I especially loved Claire Delacroix's "The Kiss of the Snow Queen", very philosophical and deep, though sometimes a little confusing. I also loved Lynn Kurland's "A Whisper of Spring", which is why I bought this book. It's one of her Nine Kingdom's stories that I enjoyed very much.
The other two stories by Sarah Monette and Sharon Shinn were also great, though not as good in my opinion.
A very good read for inbetween, or if you just want to get your mind off another story in your head.
I especially loved Claire Delacroix's "The Kiss of the Snow Queen", very philosophical and deep, though sometimes a little confusing. I also loved Lynn Kurland's "A Whisper of Spring", which is why I bought this book. It's one of her Nine Kingdom's stories that I enjoyed very much.
The other two stories by Sarah Monette and Sharon Shinn were also great, though not as good in my opinion.
A very good read for inbetween, or if you just want to get your mind off another story in your head.
cmbohn's review
4.0
This was a little collection of short fantasy/romance stories, by 4 women writers, that I picked up at the library book sale. I had never tried any of the authors before, so I thought it would be a fun experiment.
And it was fun. The first story, A Whisper of Spring, was by Lynn Kurland and it was a tale of a kidnapped elven princess and a wizard human prince who goes to rescue her. Nothing especially deep, but I just loved it. I liked the characters and the storytelling itself. I wish it had been longer, because I really wanted to read more about the characters.
The only story I wasn't especially happy with was the one by Claire Delacroix, a twist on the Snow Queen story that didn't really fit in with either the collection or the fairy tale itself.
But as always, part of the fun in a collection like this is that you discover some new authors - ones you like, ones you don't - and everyone else has a different opinion about it. I will look for more by Kurland and by Sharon Shinn.
And it was fun. The first story, A Whisper of Spring, was by Lynn Kurland and it was a tale of a kidnapped elven princess and a wizard human prince who goes to rescue her. Nothing especially deep, but I just loved it. I liked the characters and the storytelling itself. I wish it had been longer, because I really wanted to read more about the characters.
The only story I wasn't especially happy with was the one by Claire Delacroix, a twist on the Snow Queen story that didn't really fit in with either the collection or the fairy tale itself.
But as always, part of the fun in a collection like this is that you discover some new authors - ones you like, ones you don't - and everyone else has a different opinion about it. I will look for more by Kurland and by Sharon Shinn.
ejimenez's review
4.0
The four stars are for the two novellas I liked, the one by Sarah Monette and the one by Sharon Shinn. The Sharon Shinn novella is set in her Mystic and Rider universe and was mostly enjoyable because it was fun to spend more time with some of the minor characters from that series. The Sarah Monette story was clever and excellent, as is to be expected from Sarah Monette.
The other two novellas were not at all to my taste, and would each merit 2 stars from me. (One I finished, since I got halfway through and it felt like a waste to give up on it. The other I quit after just a few pages.)
The other two novellas were not at all to my taste, and would each merit 2 stars from me. (One I finished, since I got halfway through and it felt like a waste to give up on it. The other I quit after just a few pages.)
blue_squishie's review
2.0
I mostly bought this for the short story by Sharon Shinn (who I love). The rest of the stories were pretty good, the last one was a little weak.
tc_mill's review
3.0
Like a lot of reviewers, I thought Monette's story was the standout. A genuinely strong heroine (not "feisty" and not merely physically strong, although unapologetic physical strength in a heroine is always nice to see too) and a hero recovering with his own strength. My facetious "toppy-heroine-yay" doesn't quite capture the tone of this one, but it was a very refreshing from a gendered-trope standpoint.
Of the other stories, I honestly don't remember much. I've since read stories by both Kurland and Shinn that I've also forgotten, although I think I tracked them down because their writing here impressed me positively. Claire Delacroix I've read elsewhere too, mostly because she's omnipresent on my library's shelves. Not that any of the stories were bad, it's just that only one was good enough to remember 7 years later. (That's probably not a bad batting average, though.)
Of the other stories, I honestly don't remember much. I've since read stories by both Kurland and Shinn that I've also forgotten, although I think I tracked them down because their writing here impressed me positively. Claire Delacroix I've read elsewhere too, mostly because she's omnipresent on my library's shelves. Not that any of the stories were bad, it's just that only one was good enough to remember 7 years later. (That's probably not a bad batting average, though.)
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