A review by jcovey
Rogues, by Gardner Dozois, George R.R. Martin
3.0
Solid mix of stories. When I pick up a collection like this, it's usually because there's one or two stories I'm picking it up for, and this time there were three:
As a big Neverwhere fan, How the Marquis Got His Coat Back was the reason I bought this collection, and it did not disappoint.
The Lightning Tree is the first Rothfus I've read, and I was very curious to get a taste. Very cozy, very sexy, can see why he's so popular.
And the big draw, The Rogue Prince. To be honest this was slightly disappointing, but only because it very much reads like a short bit from a larger history, which I believe it is, but it's as sharp and clever and engrossing as any bit of Westeros.
But while those may have been why I started the book, the hope is always to discover something new and exciting that wasn't on my radar at all, and to my delight this book once again delivered with another trio of stories:
First was the energetic and delightful fantasy heist, A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch. This was my first taste of the Gentleman Bastard series, but it won't be my last.
Second was A Better Way to Die by Paul Cornell. A melancholic and psychedelic spy yarn, part of the Jonathan Hamilton short story sequence. Apparently these have just been collected into one book. Good timing.
Lastly was Caravan to Nowhere, part of the Alaric the Minstrel series, by Phyllis Eisenstein. A straightforward and earnest story in the classical fantasy mode, but captures perfectly all that makes the classical mode so enchanting. The romance of adventure, of the wonder of what's over the horizon.
Additional shout outs to Ill Seen in Tyre by Steven Saylor, a lovely ode to two classic heroes of the genre, Diamonds From Tequila by Walter Jon Williams, a charmingly oddball thriller in the vein of the sun-drenched neo-noirs of the 90s (a la Miami Blues), and Gillian Flynn's dark and twisty What Do You Do?
As a big Neverwhere fan, How the Marquis Got His Coat Back was the reason I bought this collection, and it did not disappoint.
The Lightning Tree is the first Rothfus I've read, and I was very curious to get a taste. Very cozy, very sexy, can see why he's so popular.
And the big draw, The Rogue Prince. To be honest this was slightly disappointing, but only because it very much reads like a short bit from a larger history, which I believe it is, but it's as sharp and clever and engrossing as any bit of Westeros.
But while those may have been why I started the book, the hope is always to discover something new and exciting that wasn't on my radar at all, and to my delight this book once again delivered with another trio of stories:
First was the energetic and delightful fantasy heist, A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch. This was my first taste of the Gentleman Bastard series, but it won't be my last.
Second was A Better Way to Die by Paul Cornell. A melancholic and psychedelic spy yarn, part of the Jonathan Hamilton short story sequence. Apparently these have just been collected into one book. Good timing.
Lastly was Caravan to Nowhere, part of the Alaric the Minstrel series, by Phyllis Eisenstein. A straightforward and earnest story in the classical fantasy mode, but captures perfectly all that makes the classical mode so enchanting. The romance of adventure, of the wonder of what's over the horizon.
Additional shout outs to Ill Seen in Tyre by Steven Saylor, a lovely ode to two classic heroes of the genre, Diamonds From Tequila by Walter Jon Williams, a charmingly oddball thriller in the vein of the sun-drenched neo-noirs of the 90s (a la Miami Blues), and Gillian Flynn's dark and twisty What Do You Do?