A review by riverwise
Fight Like a Girl by Juliet E. McKenna
Women and conflict is the theme of this anthology. Edited by Bristolians Joanne Hall and Roz Clarke, it features fifteen stories, all by female authors, spanning fantasy and SF. The overriding flavour is one of gritty combat - there's no cheesecake fluff here. Think Ellen Ripley
The nature of anthologies is that you're going to like some stories more than others, but there are no real duffers here. I'll highlight a few that stood out for me.
My favourite was probably Lou Morgan's "Archer 57", a tale of loss, revenge and desperation in a dystopian future. Joanne Hall's "Arrested Development" has a nasty sting in the tail that makes you reassess the protagonist and ponder the ethics of what she's doing. KT Davies' "The Quality Of Light" is more a vignette than a full story, but it's an evocative piece that conjures the sensations of medieval battle very effectively (like I would know). Danie Ware's "Unnatural History" is a bughunt, not a stand up fight, a gothic monster movie with hints of Lovecraft and Mieville. "Fire And Ash" by Gaie Sebold is rightly placed at the end of the book. It's about aftermath, surviving the wars and what comes next.
It's a good collection. My only caveat would be that reading all the stories in one splurge means the theme becomes a bit repetitive and restricting, but that's an issue with all themed anthologies, and one easily avoided by pacing yourself (if you can) and parcelling the stories out.
The nature of anthologies is that you're going to like some stories more than others, but there are no real duffers here. I'll highlight a few that stood out for me.
My favourite was probably Lou Morgan's "Archer 57", a tale of loss, revenge and desperation in a dystopian future. Joanne Hall's "Arrested Development" has a nasty sting in the tail that makes you reassess the protagonist and ponder the ethics of what she's doing. KT Davies' "The Quality Of Light" is more a vignette than a full story, but it's an evocative piece that conjures the sensations of medieval battle very effectively (like I would know). Danie Ware's "Unnatural History" is a bughunt, not a stand up fight, a gothic monster movie with hints of Lovecraft and Mieville. "Fire And Ash" by Gaie Sebold is rightly placed at the end of the book. It's about aftermath, surviving the wars and what comes next.
It's a good collection. My only caveat would be that reading all the stories in one splurge means the theme becomes a bit repetitive and restricting, but that's an issue with all themed anthologies, and one easily avoided by pacing yourself (if you can) and parcelling the stories out.