A review by kristinasshelves
The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities: New Stories About Mythic Heroes, by Rick Riordan
4.0
I will be amending this review in the future, as I only read 6 of the 10 stories included. I'll read the remainder after I read their respective series. My star rating reflects the average of my read short stories (3.9).
The stand-out by far is the story following Sikander Aziz by Sarwat Chadda, following the events of [b:City of the Plague God|43517256|City of the Plague God|Sarwat Chadda|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581959802l/43517256._SX50_.jpg|67680875]. His story was exactly what I expected from the entire collection- one that both expanded the world of the character by adding a new mythological element, as well as fitting to the spooky theme of the collection. I found the moral lesson, to not judge an individual based on preconceived notions about an entire group, to be fantastically woven into the story and ADORED the snippet of Sal and Gabi's story that was worked into the multiverse theory in Sik's world. Rabisu, a demon from the underworld comes to Sik, whose mother tells him to help the creature her return to her home. What unfolds is a story about the Annuna, or The Old Ones, beings who existed before the gods of Mesopotamian mythology, who threatening to come into and destroy our world.
My other favorite story, unsurprisingly, was that of Sal and Gabi by Carlos Hernandez, following the events of [b:Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe|41712668|Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe (Sal and Gabi, #2)|Carlos Hernandez|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581960906l/41712668._SX50_.jpg|65059257]. The Sal and Gabi books are my favorites in the Riordan-verse, with the story in this collection containing the same adventure, multiverse traveling and humor that I've come to expect from the characters. Sal and Gabi are called to a section of their school full of unicorn vomit, learning their friend Gladis has gone missing in the multiverse. They embark on a universe hopping adventure, full of alternative versions of themselves, talking unicorns, thrown chickens and their favorite AI toilet.
The biggest letdown in the collection was the story from Rick Riordan, My Life as a Child Outlaw. This is clearly an introduction to a forthcoming series, complete with a pronunciation appendix for ancient Celtic. The main character, Demne, is an eight year old boy in Ancient Ireland. He is constantly on the run as the son of the late chief of the Fiana clan. While the story was entertaining, it did not fit into the theme of the collection. I would be open to reading more about the characters introduced, but am hoping there will be more world building in a full book, as the reader is thrown into a complex world with no context
The stand-out by far is the story following Sikander Aziz by Sarwat Chadda, following the events of [b:City of the Plague God|43517256|City of the Plague God|Sarwat Chadda|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581959802l/43517256._SX50_.jpg|67680875]. His story was exactly what I expected from the entire collection- one that both expanded the world of the character by adding a new mythological element, as well as fitting to the spooky theme of the collection. I found the moral lesson, to not judge an individual based on preconceived notions about an entire group, to be fantastically woven into the story and ADORED the snippet of Sal and Gabi's story that was worked into the multiverse theory in Sik's world. Rabisu, a demon from the underworld comes to Sik, whose mother tells him to help the creature her return to her home. What unfolds is a story about the Annuna, or The Old Ones, beings who existed before the gods of Mesopotamian mythology, who threatening to come into and destroy our world.
My other favorite story, unsurprisingly, was that of Sal and Gabi by Carlos Hernandez, following the events of [b:Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe|41712668|Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe (Sal and Gabi, #2)|Carlos Hernandez|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581960906l/41712668._SX50_.jpg|65059257]. The Sal and Gabi books are my favorites in the Riordan-verse, with the story in this collection containing the same adventure, multiverse traveling and humor that I've come to expect from the characters. Sal and Gabi are called to a section of their school full of unicorn vomit, learning their friend Gladis has gone missing in the multiverse. They embark on a universe hopping adventure, full of alternative versions of themselves, talking unicorns, thrown chickens and their favorite AI toilet.
The biggest letdown in the collection was the story from Rick Riordan, My Life as a Child Outlaw. This is clearly an introduction to a forthcoming series, complete with a pronunciation appendix for ancient Celtic. The main character, Demne, is an eight year old boy in Ancient Ireland. He is constantly on the run as the son of the late chief of the Fiana clan. While the story was entertaining, it did not fit into the theme of the collection. I would be open to reading more about the characters introduced, but am hoping there will be more world building in a full book, as the reader is thrown into a complex world with no context