katje's review against another edition
4.0
A really good anthology of urban fantasy -- that is, fantasy that takes place in cities, not fantasy about vampires and werewolves. ;) The stories are diverse and well-penned; many are filled with deep thought, most leave you wanting more, and several are downright haunting -- the images they evoke and characters they bring to life staying with you for weeks, months.
While some stories weren't as well-done as the others, that's what happens when you have an anthology by so many different authors. You take the bad with the good.
Must-reads in this anthology, in no particular order: "Somnambulist" by David Schwartz, "Sammarynda Deep" by Cat Sparks, "Palimpsest" by Catherynne M. Valente, "Painting Haiti" by Michael Jasper, "Courting the Lady Scythe" by Richard Parks, "Promises: A Tale of the City Imperishable" by Joseph E. Lake, Jr., "The Funeral, Ruined" by Ben Peek, and "Down to the Silver Spirits" by Kaaron Warren.
I thoroughly enjoyed my foray through this rich landscape of words, and I'll be buying this one in hardcopy to add to my permanent bookshelf.
While some stories weren't as well-done as the others, that's what happens when you have an anthology by so many different authors. You take the bad with the good.
Must-reads in this anthology, in no particular order: "Somnambulist" by David Schwartz, "Sammarynda Deep" by Cat Sparks, "Palimpsest" by Catherynne M. Valente, "Painting Haiti" by Michael Jasper, "Courting the Lady Scythe" by Richard Parks, "Promises: A Tale of the City Imperishable" by Joseph E. Lake, Jr., "The Funeral, Ruined" by Ben Peek, and "Down to the Silver Spirits" by Kaaron Warren.
I thoroughly enjoyed my foray through this rich landscape of words, and I'll be buying this one in hardcopy to add to my permanent bookshelf.
sandeestarlite's review against another edition
2.0
Somehow I came to this book with the preconceived notion that the stories would be about modern cities. However, most of the stories are set in a more Victorian time period. Some good, some not so good - I would have given a 2.5 rating if possible.
jeregenest's review against another edition
2.0
An okay, at times brilliant, collection of short stories that really left me wondering what any of them had to do with Urban fantasy. I really hate the term urban fantasy as I want to like the subgenre (or mode or mood or what have you) but usually find myself just annoyed. None of these stories really captured the city as a character, and most fell into the camp of weird to be weird, not weird to evoke that I find annoying in so called new weird authors.
deejsylvis's review against another edition
3.0
A really mixed bag of stories, unfortunately. There are a few that are beautiful, well-written, touching and exquisite ... and, unfortunately, more than a few that don't come anywhere near the same level of quality.
donfoolery's review against another edition
3.0
The collection has quite a few gems, but a few disappointments from writers I've enjoyed in the past. When the stories work, they worked! The ones I didn't enjoy seem to have one thing in common--IMO, they seemed too "writerly" in the wrong places.
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