A review by michaeldrakich
Swords & Dark Magic by Michael Shea, C.J. Cherryh, Garth Nix, K.J. Parker, Michael Moorcock, Jonathan Strahan, Greg Keyes, Bill Willingham, Scott Lynch, Gene Wolfe, Caitlín R. Kiernan, James Enge, Steven Erikson, Robert Silverberg, Tanith Lee, Tim Lebbon, Glen Cook, Joe Abercrombie
4.0
I went through and rated each story and came out with a combined average of 3.4 stars. There are, in my mind, four pieces that I gave 5 stars to and a number of stories where I was hard on them because they relied on the reader already knowing the characters. I decided to rate things on the basis of having never read any previous works by any of the authors. For example, having read everything featuring Elric of Melnibone, I understood the premise of his character. A novice reader would have none of this previous knowledge and not get the same enjoyment. This ran true with other stories such as dealt with the Black Company and others. For those readers who are aficionados of this genre, their enjoyment would be higher, hence the four star overall rating.
Breaking down the stories one by one in order.
To begin, I'm adding a comment about the preface by Lou Anders & Jonathan Strahan, the editors. The preface is entitled, Check Your Dark Lord At The Door. This 8 page manifesto about the history of Sword & Sorcery fantasy as a genre, although detailed, is of little use to the reader unless they are looking for a history lesson. 3 out of 5 stars for it."
Goats of Glory by Steven Erikson. A classic blood and guts swords and demons story. A touch cliché, but entertaining, nevertheless. 5 stars"
Tides Elba by Glen Cook. Way too many characters to follow in a short story. I suppose if you are a follower of his books it may work, but not for the first time reader. 3 stars"
Bloodsport by Gene Wolfe. Difficult dialogue and a storyline that is hard to follow. In its attempts to draw parallels to the game of chess, it loses itself. 2 stars"
The Singing Spear by James Enge. Something you see quite often in modern sword & sorcery, a main character with a huge failing - in this case, drunkenness. Standard overcoming of failing to win out. 4 stars"
A Wizard In Wiscezan by C, J, Cherryh. I wonder whether the first few pages that serve like a prologue were necessary in this short story, they were the only negative. The tale was entertaining and flowed. 5 stars"
A Rich Full Week by K. J. Parker. Easy, enjoyable read with an ending leaving you guessing. 5 stars"
A suitable Present For A Sorcerous Puppet by Garth Nix. Too short a tale that needed fleshing out some. 2 stars"
Red Pearls by Michael Moorcock. A standard Elric of Melnibone tale. Having read all the novels before, the story is fine, but again, a novice would get lost in it. It reads like part of a novel, not a stand alone tale. 3 stars"
The Deification Of Dal Bamore by Tim Lebbon. I liked the story with a nice twist at the end. Only the cheesy modern dialogue made me groan now and then. 4 stars"
Dark Times At The Midnight Market by Robert Silverberg. An easy read tale of things gone wrong in a simple love potion. Entertaining, although ending somewhat predictably. 4 stars"
The Undefiled by Greg Keyes. I don't know. I read through this story twice, parts of it three times. At the end I still had some confusion on what happened. 2 stars"
Hew The Tintmaster by Michael Shea, This story trundles along without and real sense of value. Many things are left unexplained and the ending lacked any punch. 2 stars"
In The Stacks by Scott Lynch. Here is the crown jewel of the collection. A masterpiece. One of the best shorts I have read in a very long time. 5 stars"
Two Lions, A Witch, And The War-Robe by Tanith Lee. The title immdiatley made me think of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, but there is no relation after that. Not an exciting piece. 3 stars"
The Sea Troll's Daughter by Caitlin R. Kiernan. It started well with a predictable story line that ended so-so. Still, I found it flowed well enough. 4 stars"
Thieves Of Daring by Bill Willingham. Short, direct, somewhat comical. 4 stars"
The Fool Jobs by Joe Abercrombie. It started slow, ran a predictable course and ended exactly as how I thought it would. 2 stars"
In summation, more good than bad, and "In The Stacks" by Scott Lynch made the purchase of this book worthwhile.
Breaking down the stories one by one in order.
To begin, I'm adding a comment about the preface by Lou Anders & Jonathan Strahan, the editors. The preface is entitled, Check Your Dark Lord At The Door. This 8 page manifesto about the history of Sword & Sorcery fantasy as a genre, although detailed, is of little use to the reader unless they are looking for a history lesson. 3 out of 5 stars for it."
Goats of Glory by Steven Erikson. A classic blood and guts swords and demons story. A touch cliché, but entertaining, nevertheless. 5 stars"
Tides Elba by Glen Cook. Way too many characters to follow in a short story. I suppose if you are a follower of his books it may work, but not for the first time reader. 3 stars"
Bloodsport by Gene Wolfe. Difficult dialogue and a storyline that is hard to follow. In its attempts to draw parallels to the game of chess, it loses itself. 2 stars"
The Singing Spear by James Enge. Something you see quite often in modern sword & sorcery, a main character with a huge failing - in this case, drunkenness. Standard overcoming of failing to win out. 4 stars"
A Wizard In Wiscezan by C, J, Cherryh. I wonder whether the first few pages that serve like a prologue were necessary in this short story, they were the only negative. The tale was entertaining and flowed. 5 stars"
A Rich Full Week by K. J. Parker. Easy, enjoyable read with an ending leaving you guessing. 5 stars"
A suitable Present For A Sorcerous Puppet by Garth Nix. Too short a tale that needed fleshing out some. 2 stars"
Red Pearls by Michael Moorcock. A standard Elric of Melnibone tale. Having read all the novels before, the story is fine, but again, a novice would get lost in it. It reads like part of a novel, not a stand alone tale. 3 stars"
The Deification Of Dal Bamore by Tim Lebbon. I liked the story with a nice twist at the end. Only the cheesy modern dialogue made me groan now and then. 4 stars"
Dark Times At The Midnight Market by Robert Silverberg. An easy read tale of things gone wrong in a simple love potion. Entertaining, although ending somewhat predictably. 4 stars"
The Undefiled by Greg Keyes. I don't know. I read through this story twice, parts of it three times. At the end I still had some confusion on what happened. 2 stars"
Hew The Tintmaster by Michael Shea, This story trundles along without and real sense of value. Many things are left unexplained and the ending lacked any punch. 2 stars"
In The Stacks by Scott Lynch. Here is the crown jewel of the collection. A masterpiece. One of the best shorts I have read in a very long time. 5 stars"
Two Lions, A Witch, And The War-Robe by Tanith Lee. The title immdiatley made me think of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, but there is no relation after that. Not an exciting piece. 3 stars"
The Sea Troll's Daughter by Caitlin R. Kiernan. It started well with a predictable story line that ended so-so. Still, I found it flowed well enough. 4 stars"
Thieves Of Daring by Bill Willingham. Short, direct, somewhat comical. 4 stars"
The Fool Jobs by Joe Abercrombie. It started slow, ran a predictable course and ended exactly as how I thought it would. 2 stars"
In summation, more good than bad, and "In The Stacks" by Scott Lynch made the purchase of this book worthwhile.