Reviews

The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest by Ellen Datlow

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pine_wulf's review against another edition

4.0

Favorites were Somewhere in My Mind There is a Painting Box, Among the Leaves So Green, Grounded, The Pagoda of Ciboure. Also really enjoyed Daphne, Remnants, and Joshua Tree. Another four were ok. Four more missed their mark. And three poems, which I don't feel fit to judge. Overall, a pretty good collection.

Introduction: There is some neat information presented. It's made me excited for the rest of the anthology.
Going Wodwo: A poem. And I'm not one for poems. I have no idea what this one is about.
Grand Central Park: I liked this story, but I'm conflicted about the telling of it. It's written like your friend is telling you a story.
Daphne: Pretty short, but I liked it.
Somewhere in My Mind There is Painting Box: Really liked this one. Not surprised, I usually like Charles De Lint's short stories. I should probably try his Newford novels too. (Amusingly, I read two sentences to my partner that described the plants and he instantly says Virginia, which according to the A/N is exactly right. And all I imagine are random leaves.)
Among the Leaves So Green: Really enjoyable. I thought I knew straight off where this was going but, turns out, I didn't.
Song of the Cailleach Bheur: Another short poem, but I liked it better than Gaiman's. I know what's going on.
Hunter's Moon: Not bad. Nothing stands out about it.
Charlie's Away: A nice story about moving on and growing up.
A World Painted by Birds: Didn't care for this one at all. It was too fantastical/weird for my taste.
Grounded: A lovely story with an underlying feeling of horror. I didn't know which way it would swing until the end.
Overlooking: Didn't care for it. Vague and not much plot.
Fee, Fie, Foe, et Cetera: Jack and the Beanstalk from another's perspective. Liked a bit of it, but other parts were weird and not to my taste.
Joshua Tree: Liked the writing and the character. Wish there was a little more plot.
Ali Anugne O Chash (The Boy Who Was): Told very much in the style of myth. Not for me.
Remnants: The imagery reminded me of Garbage Town in Norfolk, which was pretty cool. The story was a bit sad.
The Pagodas of Ciboure: Never heard of the French pagodas and the author note is right about info being hard to find. This was a really nice little tale that weaves myth with real life.
Green Men: Another short poem.
The Green Word: Good story, but didn't really grab me.

delz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

The GreenMan :Tales from the Mythic Forest is a very nice collection of fantasy stories. The stories that stood out for me were; “Somewhere in My Mind there is a Painting Box” by Charles DeLint. Lily discovers a painting box hidden under brush in the forest. The box leads her to a well known naturalist who has been lost and believed to be dead for years, but for him it’s been days.

“Grounded” by NINA KIRIKI HOFFMAN, a young woman living with her divorced mom, leading a normal life. The mom works as a hospice nurse and she’s exceptionally good at her job. She’s recently met a man online and really hit off, so 6 months in they’ve decided to meet up. The girl and her mom fly to California to meet this mystery man and the story takes a very lovely turn.

“Joshua Tree” by Emma Bull takes place in Arizona near a military base. Tabetha a teenage girl who makes herself small so she doesn’t stand out and get bullied by the military brats. She’s in for a life changing surprise when she heads into the desert for a rave.

“THE PAGODAS OF CIBOURE”

by M. SHAYNE BELL, The author took Maurice Ravel, an actual person whose childhood is mostly unknown and the Pagodas who were a mythical European creature, mostly unknown and combined them to create a really sweet story.

Anthologies can be hit or miss and this one is definitely a hit. I highly recommend.

yetimantra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

jsmithborne's review

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4.0

Holling and Jaden brought this home from McKays a while back. Jaden read it about 3 times, I've read most of the stories, but most amazing, Holling has been reading it. He even asked if I could recommend some other fantasy books like the stories. I gave him [b:Od Magic|19823|Od Magic|Patricia A. McKillip|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309197018s/19823.jpg|21023] by [a:Patricia A. McKillip|25|Patricia A. McKillip|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1220752490p2/25.jpg]--I think he started reading it but I don't think he got very far. Still, pretty impressive for the Green Man, to get Holling reading fantasy at all!

catnipped's review

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4.0

I really enjoyed the first several stories in this book. The middle was okay. I wasn't as drawn in with the characters or their stories, until the very last one that captured my attention again. I enjoyed The Faery Reel more, but if you're a fan of the authors in this book, it's a definite must read.