Reviews
To Weave a Web of Magic by Claire Delacroix, Patricia A. McKillip, Sharon Shinn, Lynn Kurland
tomokizu's review
3.0
Not sure if I liked it or not!
I bought this book because of the Lynn Kurland story and I wasn't disappointed in it. But the other stories didn't (f)hit my fancy. I can't say why for sure.
Still, if you enjoy the respective authors this anthology is something you shouldn't miss out on. I'm just not a fan of the other authors, I guess.
I bought this book because of the Lynn Kurland story and I wasn't disappointed in it. But the other stories didn't (f)hit my fancy. I can't say why for sure.
Still, if you enjoy the respective authors this anthology is something you shouldn't miss out on. I'm just not a fan of the other authors, I guess.
erintby's review
3.0
I always thought I didn't like short stories very much, but to my surprise, I was able to get into these and enjoyed them. However, my favorites were Kurland's and Shinn's (4 stars), perhaps since I was already familiar with the worlds they were set in because of their other books. Delacroix's and McKillip's were not exactly my favorites, but still well written (2 stars).
cmbohn's review
3.0
I enjoyed this collection. I have read another one with stories from most of the same writers, I think. This one was a little uneven. I didn't really love the story about Melusine. My favorite was the one by Lynn Kurland.
nin275's review
3.0
There are 4 stories in total. I detested one, liked two and found the other one to be okay.
The first story is "The Gorgon in the Cupboard" and I seriously don't know what this thing was about. There's a painter who thinks absurdly. There's his community and stuff and a talking mouth(!). This is the first story of the book and made me want to DNF it. But I had no other option at that time so had to continue. Anyway, 1 star.
The second one, "The Tale of the Two Swords" was a good read, but I can't fathom that they got married after knowing each other for two days. 3 stars anyway.
The third, "Fallen Angel" tried to put a lot of twists, but was predictable nonetheless. I felt the story dragged for no reason. 2 stars.
The last one, "An Elegy for Melusine" was pretty creepy in my opinion and I had fun while reading it. 3 stars.
Overall, an okay read.
The first story is "The Gorgon in the Cupboard" and I seriously don't know what this thing was about. There's a painter who thinks absurdly. There's his community and stuff and a talking mouth(!). This is the first story of the book and made me want to DNF it. But I had no other option at that time so had to continue. Anyway, 1 star.
The second one, "The Tale of the Two Swords" was a good read, but I can't fathom that they got married after knowing each other for two days. 3 stars anyway.
The third, "Fallen Angel" tried to put a lot of twists, but was predictable nonetheless. I felt the story dragged for no reason. 2 stars.
The last one, "An Elegy for Melusine" was pretty creepy in my opinion and I had fun while reading it. 3 stars.
Overall, an okay read.
tyrshand's review
3.0
I hate to give this book only three stars because the McKillip and Shinn stories were so good -- five star stories, for sure. The other two stories were not terrible, but they didn't really have that... spark.
I checked this book out from the library and now feel like I need to buy it so I can own McKillip's "the Gorgon in the Cupboard" -- I would lump this story in with her "Stepping From the Shadows" as far as style and type of story (they really need to re-release that book, come to think of it, because I actually had to interlibrary loan THAT one!). The level of magic is fairly low and of the type where the reader could believe that it's more psychology than mysticism.
The Shinn story was just full of that Shinn wonderfulness that I've come to expect of her. Well thought out story and culture and characters.
I checked this book out from the library and now feel like I need to buy it so I can own McKillip's "the Gorgon in the Cupboard" -- I would lump this story in with her "Stepping From the Shadows" as far as style and type of story (they really need to re-release that book, come to think of it, because I actually had to interlibrary loan THAT one!). The level of magic is fairly low and of the type where the reader could believe that it's more psychology than mysticism.
The Shinn story was just full of that Shinn wonderfulness that I've come to expect of her. Well thought out story and culture and characters.
seitherin's review
3.0
"Four stories of fantasy and exquisite romance..." says the cover of this book. Notice the modifier for romance and the lack thereof for fantasy? The McKinley story, which I expected to like the most, is the one I like next to least. It was missing all the charm and magic of most of her other works. It was rather drab and straight forward. The Shinn story I liked the least. There was nothing "exquisite" about the romance in this one. It actually seemed juvenile and not in a good way. I can't decide which of the two remaining stories I liked more, although the only one I would tag with "exquisite" is the Delacroix story. It was very much a romantic fairy tale with a not happily ever after ending.
More...