Night's Master - Tanith Lee

   1978; 244 pages.  Book 1 (out of 5) in the “Flat Earth” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres: Dark Fantasy; Anthology; Folklore.  Overall Rating: 7*/10.

 

    He is known by many titles: Lord of Darkness, Bringer of Anguish, Eagle-Winged, the Beautiful, the Unspeakable, the Prince of Demons, and the Master of Night.  Besides being a demon, he’s also a shape-shifter.

 

    He rules the Underearth from his capital city of Druhim-Vanashta, “The City of the Demons”, where the sun never shines.  He is the lord of the princely Vazdru, the worshipping Eshva, and the lowly Drin.

 

    He enjoys traveling to Upperearth, at least when it is nighttime.  He can cast spells, pronounce curses, conjure up foul beasts, and create new beings.  All of which wreaks havoc on the mortals up there.  But he despises the great orange sphere that rises in the east and bathes Upperearth with heat and light, and he is careful to scurry back to Underearth when rays of lightness begin to shine in the eastern sky.  His name is Azhrarn, and this is his story.

    Actually, it’s six stories about him and various creatures which have had the misfortune to cross his path.  I’m pleased to introduce you to the Night’s Master.

 

What’s To Like...

    Night’s Master is really three pairs of interrelated tales.  They all center around Azhrarn, of course, but each duad of stories also features at least one recurring character.  Ferazhin costars the first section, Zorayas in the second, and Janeve in the third.

 

    The “Flat Earth” appellation in the series' name caught my eye since I’m a devoted reader of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.  But Tanith Lee’s version isn’t circular and doesn’t have elephants standing on a giant turtle’s back.  It’s square, and the Sun apparently revolves around it.  I’m curious to see whether anyone ever reaches the edge and accidentally falls off.

 

    The world-building is fantastic.  The author utilizes a flowery style of writing.  For instance, at one point we meet a “pedlar”.  I looked it up; it is an archaic version of “peddler”.  There are also lots of descriptive passages that let you “see” Underearth and Upperearth.  In the hands of an amateur, this writing style could be irksome.  Here it works beautifully.

 

    The character-development is also masterful.  Yes, Azhrarn is the Prince of Demons. But the gods have a wry sense of humor, and at one point he’s forced to save mankind.  Zorayas is also deeply developed.  Events in her early life leave her scarred, turning an innocent child into a vengeful adult.

 

    Upperearth is filled mostly with humans, and Underearth has mostly demons.  But there are other creatures to meet and steer clear of, including witches, dragons, giants, magicians, gods, and even a unicorn.  It was also fun to see something called the Chair of Uncertainty; it's definitely an artifact I want to get my hands on.

 

    Each of the six tales has its own ending, but I didn’t sense anything tying together and closing the entire set of stories as a whole.  I suspect Tanith Lee’s main goal for Night's Master was to introduce the reader to Azhrarn and the two planes of Flat Earth.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.2/5 based on 293 ratings and 52 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.04/5 based on 2,816 ratings and 359 reviews

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Fane (n.) : a temple or shrine.

Others: jestling (v.); asphodel (n.); vulpine (adj.).

 

Excerpts...

    She called out: “Blessed be the name of the Dark Lord, and let him do me no harm.”

    To which Azhrarn, smiling, replied: “Time has harmed you enough with his claws.”

    “So indeed he has,” cried the witch, her eyes glittering greedily.  “May the Dark Lord grant me my youth again?”

    At that Azhrarn laughed coldly: “I do not often grant favors, hag.  But though I will not give you your youth, I will see to it you grow no older,” and a lightning slipped from his hand and struck the witch down.  It was never wise to ask a boon from a demon.  (loc. 269)

 

    “You may not drink,” said the first Guardian to Azhrarn, regarding him with this pitiless fearsome eye.

    “Indeed you may not,” said the other, regarding him also.

    “I am not here to drink,” said Azhrarn.  “Do you not know me?”

    “It is futile to know anything,” said the first Guardian, “since all things below pass, alter, decline and perish, and all things here above are unchanging.”

    “Humankind know me,” said Azhrarn.

    “Humankind,” said the second Guardian.  “What are they that we should be interested in their knowledge?”  (loc. 3072)

 

Kindle Details…

    Night’s Master currently sells for $6.99 at Amazon.  The other four books in this series are priced in the $7.99-$9.99 range.  Amazon offers a couple dozen Tanith Lee e-books for your reading pleasure, generally in the range of $1.99 to $12.99.

 

So there he sat.  And the stars grinned like naked daggers.  (loc. 401)

    I noticed only a couple of typos in Night’s Master: except/accept, wreck/wreak, and back/black.  I suspect these crept in when the book was converted into digital format.

 

    Amazingly, I didn’t note any cusswords in the text.  I can’t remember the last time that happened in a dark fantasy book.  There are a bunch of “intimate relations”, including those of the gay, hetero, forced, oral, and aroused varieties and occasionally involving gods with humans and dwarfs with spiders.  That last combination makes my head spin.  To be fair though, Tanith Lee alerts the reader to this degree of sexuality in her Introduction at the front of the book.

 

    Tanith Lee was a British author, which means occasionally American readers will run into strange spellings, such as travellers, grovelling, lustre, and a few others.  Curiously, both marvelous and marvellous were used.  I got the feeling that someone made an effort to Americanize the spelling for the e-book version and, for the most part, succeeded.

 

    That’s about it for the quibbles.  The Flat Earth series is an early effort by Tanith Lee (Wikipedia says she wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories), and I gather it is her most popular one.

 

    For me this was an interesting and well-written introduction to a fantasy world I’ve been meaning to explore for quite some time.  Alas, I’m not a big fan of anthologies, but in fairness, I knew this was one of those going in.  If Book 2, Death’s Master, crosses my path in the future, it’s even odds whether I’ll pick it up.  But if you happen to like books like 1001 Arabian Nights, then by all means give this series a try.

 

    7 Stars.  We'll close with a bit of trivia, courtesy of Wikipedia.  Night’s Master was nominated for the 1979 World Fantasy Award – Best Novel.   It didn’t win – Michael Moorcock’s Gloriana did – but to give you some idea of the competition, Stephen King’s The Stand was also nominated that year, and didn’t win either.

Sword of Destiny - Andrzej Sapkowski

   1993 (originally in Polish), 2015 (English translation); 374 pages.  Translator: David French.  Book 2 (out of 8) in “The Witcher” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Epic Fantasy; Anthology; Sword and Sorcery.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Six more tales of the early adventures of the Witcher.  Back before he was featured in comic books, video games, role-playing quests, board games, and even a Russian rock opera called The Road of No Return.  Back when the only language the stories were issued in was Polish.

 

    This was in the early 90s when tales of the Witcher were only penned as short stories.  After a dozen or so of those, Andrzej Sapkowski, moved up to writing full-length novels, and still later his tales were translated into many other languages, including English.

 

    The short stories would be combined into two anthologies, each containing a half dozen tales.  I’ve read the first collection, The Last Wish; it is reviewed here.  I’ve finally got around to reading the second volume of those short stories, which is titled Sword of Destiny.

 

What’s To Like...

    The six tales in Sword of Destiny are:

1.) The Bounds of Reason (81 pages)

2.) A Shard of Ice (46 pages)

3.) Eternal Flame (50 pages)

4.) A Little Sacrifice (65 pages)

5.) Sword of Destiny (66 pages)

6.) Something More (59 pages)

 

    Unlike the selections in the first anthology, the stories here all seem to take place in chronological order.  They have other recurring characters besides the Witcher, who of course is in them all.  The bard Dandelion appears in 4 of the 6 tales, the sorceress Yenefer appears in 3, and the waif of destiny, Ciri, who I don’t recall being in the first anthology at all, makes her debut here via 2 of the stories.  I have a feeling these three will all continue to be present in the full-length novels that follow.

 

    Our heroes cross paths with a host of critters, including basilisks, dragons, dwarves, zeugls, halflings, dopplers, gnomes, mermaids, dryads, and myriapods.  All of them are worthy to be wary of.  There is some magic, including the Witcher’s ability to invoke certain “signs”, but sorcery is not necessarily a cure-all against a hacking-&-slashing warrior.  I liked that.

 

    The paperback version I read is written in English (translated, actually), not American, so you can fight with sabres, eat vittals and molluscs, be as barmy and nosey as you wish, and even carry a child pick-a-back.  The stories are set in various medieval-era villages, including one, Novigrad, which I presume references a present-day town in Croatia.  I enjoyed joining in with the Beltrane celebration in the Story 6, smiled smugly when halflings appeared in Story 3, was impressed by the mayor who haggled with the Witcher in Story 2, and snickered at the mention of cannabis, also in Story 2, where it is used as a balm/elixir.  Sure.

 

    All six stories were good, but my favorite was the first one, The Bounds of Reason, which is also the longest tale.  Without giving any spoilers, let us simply make the point that, while putting together a gang of thrill-seekers to go find and kill a dragon and divvy up the treasure trove it presumably is guarding, one of the group always has to confront the dragon first, and that poor soul almost always ends up burnt to a crisp.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Snug (n.) : a small, comfortable public room in an inn or pub (a Britishism).
Others: Kilim (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 30,294 ratings and 1,195 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.28/5 based on 168,483 ratings and 9,356 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “The Holy Book says,” Eyck said, now yelling loudly, “that the serpent, the foul dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, will come forth from the abyss!  And on his back will sit a woman in purple and scarlet, and a golden goblet will be in her hand, and on her forehead will be written the sign of all and ultimate whoredom!”

    I know her!” Dandelion said, delighted.  “It’s Cilia, the wife of the Alderman of Sommerhalder!”

    “Quieten down, poet, sir,” Gyllenstieren said.  (pg. 53)

 

    “I love her,” Agloval said firmly.  “I want her for my wife.  But for that she must have legs and not a scaly tail.  And it’s feasible, since I bought a magical elixir with a full guarantee, for two pounds of exquisite pearls.  After drinking it she’ll grow legs.  She’ll just suffer a little, for three days, no more.  Call her.  Witcher, tell her again.”

    “I’ve already told her twice.  She said absolutely no, she doesn’t consent.  But she added that she knows a witch, a sea witch, who is prepared to cast a spell to turn your legs into a handsome tail.  Painlessly.”

    “She must be insane!  She thinks I would have a fishy tail?  Not a chance!”  (pg. 184)

 

“To me, frankly speaking, you are equally loathsome.”  “Thank you.”  (pg. 40)

    It’s hard to find anything to grouse about in Sword of Destiny.

 

    There’s a moderate amount of cussing: I noted 27 instances in the first 20% of the book, and I’m curious as to how a translator handles Polish-to-English cusswords.  I imagine scatological and copulative vocabulary exists in both languages, but what about eternal judgment ones?

 

    That’s all I can complain about.  Yes, it is an anthology, and those are rarely as good as an author’s full-length novels.  But that just makes me anxious to start in on Book 3 of the series, Blood of Elves, which is not an anthology, and which I have on my Kindle.

 

    Summing up, Sword of Destiny was a pleasant reading surprise for me.  The writing/translating was masterfully done, and the dialogue was once again rich in Andrzej Sapkowski’s wit and humor.  None of the stories dragged, and deeper subjects, such as destiny and honor, are explored without the text becoming preachy.

 

    I’m tempted to take a look at the Netflix adaptation of the series, just to see how well the author’s literary skills segue onto the silver screen.

 

    8 Stars.  Sword of Destiny was the winner of the 2012 Tahtifantasia Award for Best Foreign Fantasy book released in Finland.  You say you’ve never heard of that?  Me neither, but it is nice to see that Wikipedia has a posting for it, and that Finland appreciates the labors of those who do Polish-to-Finnish translations.

A Second Chance at Eden - Peter F. Hamilton

     1998; 420 pages.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Science Fiction; Genetic Engineering; Space Opera; Anthology.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.

 

    Here’s a bit of recommended reading for those who are into epic space-opera: Peter F. Hamilton’s The Night’s Dawn Trilogy.  I read it back in 2011, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

    There are some caveats.  My science fiction tastes may not be the same as yours, thus you might not be as enamored by Peter F. Hamilton’s writing as I was.  There’s also the small matter of that trilogy being 3,563 pages long (1094, 1137, 1332 pages per tome).  The books are not standalones; you’re committing to all three when you begin the series.

 

    Ah, if only there was some way to get a smaller taste of this trilogy and the author’s writing style.  Or, if you’ve already read this series, perhaps a brief aftertaste of the fascinating 27^th-century universe Hamilton creates in this series.

 

    Well, that’s where A Second Chance at Eden enters in.  Seven short stories set at various stages between now and the 27^th century, and a total of only 420 pages.  That's more than a big enough sample to see if Peter F. Hamilton’s novels are your kind of sci-fi before committing several months of reading time to it.

 

What’s To Like...

   The seven tales in A Second Chance at Eden are:

01) Sonnie’s Edge (Earth-2070, 24 pages, dueling bots)

02) A Second Chance at Eden (Jupiter-2090, 175 pages, whodunit)

03) New Days Old Times (Nyvan-2345, 25 pages, killing for God)

04) Candy Buds (Tropicana-2393, 42 pages, virtual reality in 400 years)

05) Deathday (Jubarra-2405, 20 pages, sauropod shapeshifters)

06) The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa (Tropicana-2447, 62 pages, fun with parthenogenesis)

07) Escape Route (Sonora Asteroid-2556, 69 pages, the worth of gold vs. salvage)

 

    A couple of the stories are written in the first-person POV, but most are in third-person.  Between each tale, Peter F. Hamilton lists a short timeline to let you know what technological and exploratory advancements have been made.  The book is written in “English”, not “American”, so distances are in kilometres, words like speciality and aluminium have an extra “i” in them, and I had to suss out what narked meant.

 

    My favorite tale was the eponymous A Second Chance at Eden, which had a clever murder-mystery plotline that kept me turning the pages and guessing (incorrectly) who the perp was.  It is also by far the longest tale, comprising more than 40% of the text.  It should be noted that in almost all cases when I’m reading an anthology, my favorite happens to be the longest entry.

 

    I enjoyed reading the backstory to the vital ability of “affinity” in The Night’s Dawn universe.  This is a psychic bond between people, or with animals (think: “spirit animal”), or even between a human and a spaceship or orbiting space colony, which is what the titular “Eden” is this book.  It’s a great way to carry on secret conversations, and here we learn about the person who first developed it.  I can’t wait for it to be invented in our present time.

 

    Interspersed among all the excitement are some keen insights into more serious topics.  Is there some way to still exist after we die?  Can different religions, particularly the three main Western ones, learn to coexist?  Can tarot cards give us insight into what lies ahead for us?  But rest assured, such musings never overshadow the main storylines in these stories.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Narked (v.) : annoyed, exasperated.  (Britishism).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.3/5 based on 469 ratings and 78 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.04/5 based on 4,889 ratings and 107 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “I think the personality memory of her death is perfectly accurate.  She walked out to the lake, and the chimp shot her.”

    “Thanks.  Now what can you tell me about Penny Maowkavitz herself?  So far all I’ve heard is that she could be a prickly character.”

    Corrine’s face puckered up.  “True enough; basically, Penny was a complete pain.  Back at the university hospital where I trained we always used to say doctors make the worst patients.  Wrong.  Geneticists make the worst patients.”

    “You didn’t like her?”

    “I didn’t say that.  And you should be nicer to someone who’s scheduled to cut your skull open in an hour.”  (pg. 53)

 

    Guy climbed up the low wall and sat on top, his skinny legs dangling over the other side.  “I didn’t like today,” he said solemnly.

    She leant forward against the wall, and put her arm round his shoulder.  “Me neither.”

    “Was the fat woman really a police officer?”

    “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

    “She didn’t like anybody.  Are all police officers like that?”

    “No.  You don’t have to be a police officer to hate other kinds of people.  Everybody on Nyvan does it.”  (pg. 220)

 

I tried to tell myself the day couldn’t get any worse.  But I lacked faith. (pg. 42)

    There are a couple of quibbles.  There’s a moderate amount of cussing: 16 instances in the first 10% (42 pages) of the book.  There are at least three rolls-in-the-hay and, more disturbing, one clear allusion to intimate relations with a minor.

 

   None of the characters carry over from one tale to the next, so you have a whole new slate of people to keep track of every time a new story begins.  This of course, is inherent with reading any anthology, and that's why I don’t read them very often.

 

    My least-favorite stories are #1 and #3, which are among the shorter entries, and which is also the norm for me.  They just didn’t fit well into the Night’s Dawn timeline.  But to be fair, Peter F. Hamilton addresses this in the Introduction section: “As to the stories themselves, some are new, some have appeared in magazines before, in which case I’ve altered them slightly so they fit into the Confederation timeline.”

 

    7 Stars.  I found the seven stories in A Second Chance at Eden to be a mixed-bag in quality.  The majority were good-to-fantastic, but a couple were so-so.  But that’s the usual spread for anthologies.  If you’re wavering as to whether to plunge into The Night’s Dawn trilogy, this book will be a great help in making your decision.  And personally, my recommendation is to dive into it.

The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin, Volume 1 - published by Charles F. Millhouse

   2022; 308 pages.  New Authors? : No.  Genres: Anthology; Pulp Fiction; Action & Adventure; Short Stories.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

    Captain Steven Hawklin!

    His daring feats, which  have saved the world from an assortment of bad guys, are chronicled in Charles F. Millhouse’s New Pulp series titled “The Captain Hawklin Adventures”.  The series has reached ten full-length novels now, and it’s taken just ten years to do so, which is no small feat.  This calls for a celebration.  What shall we do?

 

    Hey, how about having five veteran writers from Stormgate Press (the publishing house that’s responsible for bringing Captain Hawklin’s exploits to life) each write a short story as tie-ins to the series?  It would be neat to see how other authors portray our hero.  All we need is a catchy title for the endeavor.  How about: The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin?

 

    That sounds good, but let’s add Volume One to the title as a hint that it would be neat to see more short story collaborations by the talents at Stormpress Press spring up about our intrepid  Captain. 

 

What’s To Like...

    The titles of the five stories (and authors) in The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin, Volume 1 are:

  1.) The Skyhook Remnant – Brian K. Morris

  2.) The Banshee Barnstormer – Clyde Hall

  3.) Smuggler’s Run – Bobby Nash

  4.) The World Asunder – Charles F. Millhouse

  5.) The Night Raiders – Marlin Williams

 

    The tales vary in length from just under 40 pages to just under 100 pages.  All of them are set in the 1930s, but there’s a nice range of settings, some real, some fictional, one over the Atlantic coast, another in the middle of the Pacific.

 

    Captain Hawklin does a lot of flying, sometimes in conventional aircraft for that time period, sometimes via his trademark jetpack strapped to his back (see the cover image above),  Our hero often gains the element of surprise advantage with that jetpack, but it doesn’t make him invincible.  Enemy planes can ram him or shoot him down, and some of the baddies are developing their own version of the rocket-propelled gizmo.  It adds a touch of realism to the adventures, and I like that.

 

    The writing is professional in all five tales, which came as no surprise since I’ve read short stories by all these authors in Pulp Reality 2, another anthology published by Stormgate Press.  A couple of the stories set up sequels, and one is a sequel of an earlier Captain Hawklin installment.  I read the fifth story, The Night Raiders, as an e-book single late last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Its review is here.

 

    Here’s a “non-spoiler” teaser for each tale:

The Skyhook Remnant:  not all Pulp Fiction adventures close with a “happily ever after” ending.

The Banshee Barnstormer: is Hawklin fighting a natural or a paranormal foe?

Smuggler’s Run: when you’re outgunned, try stealth.

The World Asunder: when you don’t have your jetpack, use your wits.

The Night Raiders: when’s the last time you saw Eva Braun cast as a feminist?

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  *.*/5 based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews.

    Goodreads: *.**/5 based on 0 ratings and 0 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “So, what do you guys do for fun on these long, slow rides?” he asked.

    “Funny you should mention that, Steven,” Cannonball said.  “Mr. Brick and a couple of the boys are getting a poker game together.  Thought you might like to sit in.  It’s been too long since we had that big pilot money in the game.”

    Hawklin harumped again.  “What makes you think I’m going to lose?”

    “Because you don’t want to swim home,” Cannonball joked as they headed back inside.  (pg. 154)

 

    The second man snorted and spoke as if he had a cold in the back of his throat.  “He sounds like a dandy,” he said.

   “I took a wrong turn,” Hardy said backing up the way he came.

    “We’re on a train,” the boxer said.  “There aren’t no turns.”

    “That’s a metaphor,” Hardy explained.

    “What did you call us?” the second man said., as he snorted and spat on the floor.

    “Why is it, when a bad guy wants to hire thugs, they are always dimwitted?” Hardy asked.  (pg. 174)

 

“Did you call me in to hunt down a ghost plane?”  (pg. 59)

    Anthologies with different authors are usually up-and-down reads, but here the writing is consistently good.  The years within the 1930s and the plotlines are varied, but each author’s “take” on the Captain Hawklin character was remarkably consistent.  There’s plenty of thrills-&-spills in all five stories, and the secondary characters were surprisingly well-developed. 

 

    The cussing was sparse, which is the norm for Pulp Fiction: thirty-five instances in the whole book. Some authors employed it more than others, but there were no f-bombs and I don’t recall any “adult situations”.

 

    The biggest issue is the editing.  Some of the stories had very few typos; others were in dire need of another round of proofreading.  I’m not sure if each author was responsible for the editing of his manuscript or not.

 

    Enough of the quibbles.  This was my introduction to Captain Hawklin, and I enjoyed getting introduced to a new pulp hero.  Here’s hoping The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin, Volume 1 spawns annual sequels.  I had fun tagging along with him, especially when I was hanging on for dear life as he was soaring through the skies via his jetpack.

 

    8½ Stars.

The Witcher: The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

   1993 (in Polish), 2007 (English translation); 281 pages.  Translator: Danusia Stok.  Book 1 (out of 8) in “The Witcher” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres: Fantasy; Anthologies; Sword and Sorcery.  Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

 

    I hear your question: what's a “Witcher”?  A wizard?  A druid?  A healer?  A sorcerer?  A cleric?  None of the above?  All of the above?

 

    Well, anyone who asks that must be living under a rock.  Netflix airs a TV series of it, and I’m 99% certain the book cover image to the left is from there; the show's one of their many megahits.

 

    The Netflix shows are based on an 8-book series that started it all, penned by Andrzej Sapkowski.  If he’s not your cup of tea, there are a bunch of spin-off books by other authors (with Sapkowski's permission) set in the same fantasy world.  If you prefer pictures with your reading, there’s also a line of Witcher comic books/graphic novels.

 

    Even if reading isn’t your shtick, you still have lots of options: there are video games, role-playing computer games, and even card games and board games, all based on the Witcher universe.  So the question is: how could anyone NOT know what a witcher is?

 

    Well, I didn’t.  That’s why I read the first book in the series, titled The Witcher: The Last Wish.

 

What’s To Like...

    The title The Witcher: The Last Wish is a bit misleading – the book is actually a collection of six short stories, all set in the Witcher world, with a seventh tale interspersed throughout the book in a “Frame Story” format.  What is a frame story, you ask?  Well, think of a Canterbury Tales or 1001 Arabian Nights format, where a bunch of "mini-tales" are set within a larger, overall “frame” story.

 

    To answer the question posed in the introduction, a witcher is primarily a hired monster-eliminator.  In most cases, that means slaying the critter, but our protagonist witcher, Geralt of Rivia, seems to specialize in finding more humane methods.  That’s of great importance if, say, the monster is really your daughter who’s been transformed by an evil curse.

 

    Geralt knows a modicum of magic – mostly reciting incantations while doing a finger-manipulation to make “signs”, such as the “Sign of Axii” (good for calming horses), the “Sign of Heliotrope”, etc.  But a witcher usually prefers fighting with a sword instead of a wand, and wizards and witchers mostly don’t like each other.  Indeed, witchers don’t get along with most people.

 

    There’s no shortage of fantasy creatures in these tales,  We meet dwarves, elves, strigas, rusalkas, vampires, a kikimora (already dead, thankfully), a deovel (devil), plus many others at least getting mentioned.  No hobbits/halflings have shown up yet, but I fully expect them to.  There are also gods and goddesses, although the only one here is a goddess called Melitele.  We also get a few references to well-known fairytales such as Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Aladdin, and the Troll Under the Bridge. 

 

    So what separates these Witcher stories from the other gazillion fantasy books out there?  Well, here, monsters can talk and be polite.  Dandelion, Geralt’s bard buddy, prefers to play the bagpipes, not some stringed instrument.  We learn some words in Elvish, admittedly a nod to the Lord of the Rings, but here it was even more fun to learn to cuss in Dwarvish.

    The title of the book, which is also a name of one of the short stories, references the “third” of three wishes that every genie is forced to grant if you gain possession of him.  And what I liked most of all in these stories was the subtle strand of humor running throughout all the fantasy "epic-ness".

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Voivode (n.) : a military leader; a warlord (Slavic).
Others: Rosace (n.); Castellan (n.); Demijohn (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 19,823 ratings.

    Goodreads: 4.12/5 based on 227,899 ratings and 15,250 reviews

 

“Things That Sound Dirty, But Aren’t…

    “Carrypebble! Into the cesspool with the monster!”  “As you command.”  (loc. 1344)

 

Excerpts...

    “Two years ago peasants from some godforsaken hole near Mahakam were plagued by a dragon devouring their sheep, They set out together, battered the dragon to death with stanchions, and did not even think it worth boasting about.  But we in Wyzin are waiting for a miracle and bolting our doors every full moon, or tying our criminals to a stake in front of the palace, praying the beast stuffs herself and returns to the sarcophagus.”

    “Not a bad method.”  The witcher smiled.  “Are there fewer criminals?”

    “Not a bit of it.”  (loc. 237)

 

    “They’ve gone completely mad – the villages are teeming with girls, but they want humanoids.  Another asks me to kill a mecopteran and bring him a bone from its hand because, crushed and poured into a soup, it cures impotence-“

    “That’s rubbish,” interrupted Dandelion.  “I’ve tried it.  It doesn’t strengthen anything and it makes the soup taste of old socks.  But if people believe it and are inclined to pay-“  (loc. 2700)

 

Kindle Details…

    Right now, The Witcher: The Last Wish sells for $7.99 at Amazon.  Book Three in the series, Blood of Elves, sells for that price as well; the other six books in the series each go for $9.99.  Andrzej Sapkowski has also penned the first book in a new fantasy series called “The Hussite Trilogy”, The Tower of Fools, and it goes for $9.99, and Book Two of that series, Warriors of God, is scheduled to be released this coming October 19.

 

“I hope you die, you son-of-a-catfish.”  (loc. 3626)

    There are some quibbles.  I’m not the first one to pick this book up, expecting an epic fantasy tale, only to find out it’s a bunch of short stories.  Furthermore, to be honest, the first one left me unimpressed, and I was wondering what all the hoopla about this series was, and whether the rest of the books were also going to use this “frame story” template.

 

    Even worse, the seven tales are not story-chronological.  I suspect they’re in the order that Andrzej Sapkowski wrote them, and it made for some confusion.  An example: early on, Geralt bemoans the parting of the ways between him and a backstory-less female named Yennefer.  Then, much later on, we read about when the two of them first meet.  The timeline of Geralt and Dandelion meeting and teaming up is similarly non-linear.

 

    But the stories get longer as the book progresses, and the writing (translating?) gets better as well.  And although Book Two in the series, Sword of Destiny, is also a collection of short stories, the other six books are in standard epic-fantasy format.  I’m tempted to skip directly to Book Three.

 

    7½ Stars.  Despite the quibbles, The Witcher: The Last Wish accomplished exactly what I desired: it gave me a “feel” for the Witcher universe.  Most of the praise I’ve heard about it references the Netflix series (though I’ve been warned that its storyline is also non-linear), and I’m now prepared to give it a try.  But I still prefer reading to spectating, so I’m still going to be on the lookout for a discounted e-book or used paperback version of the third book, Blood of Elves.

The Holiday Collection - The Eclective

   2011; 142 pages.  New Authors? : For the most part, no.  Genres: Anthology; Christmas Fiction; Short Stories.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

   Nine talented indie authors were tasked with writing a short story with a  "December Holiday” theme.  For the most part that means Christmas, but it could also apply to Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and even the Winter Solstice.

 

    I doubt the authors were given any other guidelines.  The length of a short story is ill-defined, and here the longest one is just over 30 pages, while the shortest ones are a mere seven pages or so.  Two of the tales are written from the first-person point of view, the rest are in the third-person.  Each of the tales has at least one twist in it to keep the reader entertained.

 

    At 142 pages (so sez my Kindle), The Holiday Collection is a quick and easy read.  So if you’re looking for a bunch of fast-moving festive tales, this book may just be your cup of eggnog.

 

What’s To Like...

    The titles of the nine stories (and authors) in The Holiday Collection are:

  1.) St. Claws – Alan Nayes

  2.) Snow Whisperers – Lizzy Ford

  3.) Saving Grace – Julia Crane

  4.) O Christmas Cactus, O Christmas Cactus – M. Edward McNally

  5.) Fred’s Best Christmas – P.J. Jones

  6.) Fresh Snow – Talia Jager

  7.) Let’s Ride – Shéa MacLeod

  8.) A Very Shero Christmas – Jack Wallen

  9.) The Darkest Night – Heather Marie Adkins

 

    There’s a decent amount of variety to the tones of these stories, which was a welcome respite from the slew of Hallmark Christmas Movies my wife watches every December.  A couple of the tales have a somewhat “dark” tint to them, which in no way detracts from their holiday themes.  Among the others, one has a  romance theme, three felt “warm-&-fuzzy” to me, one left a lump in my throat, one was a innovative take-off of  A Christmas Carol, and one , believe it or not, was a sci-fi thriller.  My favorites were 2, 4, 5, and 9; but honestly, I enjoyed them all.  Your faves will almost certainly be different.

 

    You’ll meet some cross-dressers, empaths, talking snowmen, and a Jedi knight along the way.  You can help celebrate the Winter Solstice, see auras, and help thwart a “hit” that’s been put on Santa.  I only recall one music nod – to Katy Perry of all people.  There’s a brief author’s bio at the end of each story, and I liked those.  

 

    O Christmas Cactus, O Christmas Cactus resonated with me because it’s set in my present environs.  Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport (from which you get a lovely view of the harbor as you land) really is a rat’s maze to get out of.  And if the protagonist has trouble visualizing the famed Camelback Mountain nearby, he’ll have an even tougher time seeing the lesser-known “Monk of the Mountain” on the northern part of the camel’s head, who once a time, on a psychedelic night, turned his head and stared threateningly at me.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Blahniks (n., plural) : a high-end shoe brand.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  3.4/5 based on 32 ratings.

    Goodreads: 3.70/5 based on 125 ratings and 11 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    He watched the big man open a refrig and pull out a cold beer and pop the top.

    “How’d you know my name?” Matt asked.

    “I know everybody that comes to St. Claws.  I’m the town’s founder.”

    “Whoopee-do.  Everybody?”

    “Yup.”  He poured a double shot from the Patron bottle.

    “My wife and boy?”

    “Jenny and Billy.”

    Matt eyed the man suspiciously.  “This is getting weird.  Where’s my tequila?”  (loc. 309)

 

    Garth Vader, Intergalactic Ambassador and Jedi Knight, walked up to them, carrying his tinfoil lightsaber in one hand and a carton of orange juice in the other.  Garth’s few strands of graying hair were gelled back and he’d even shaved his scraggly beard.

    Garth’s gaze swept over the room as patients quietly opened stockings and stuffed their faces with candy.  “I sense a change in The Force.”  (loc. 1086)

 Kindle Details…

    ANAICT, The Holiday Collective is always free at Amazon.  The Eclective has five other short story anthologies available for your Kindle, with the labels Celtic, Pride, the Apocalypse, Haunted, and Halloween.  All of those are likewise free right now.

Her boyfriend of two years had just given her the “it’s not you, it’s me … and my new girlfriend” speech, two days before Christmas.  (loc. 522)

    There’s not much to quibble about in The Holiday Collection.  Most of the stories have a small amount of cussing in them, which might come as a surprise for a Christmas-themed anthology.  One tale was cussword-free, while three others had more than fifteen instances apiece.  I don’t recall any R-rated stuff besides that.

 

    The editing was overall quite good, with most of the errors occurring in just one of the tales.  This makes me believe that each contributing author was responsible for his/her own proofreading.  Most anthologies have an editor-in-chief, and I wonder if that would have been helpful here.  One other author seemed to have trouble with the use of commas when dialogue is directed to a specified person; sometimes it was done correctly, sometimes not.

 

    All in all, The Holiday Collection was a short but pleasant read.  I’ve read other stories by most of these writers, and so the polished storytelling was not unexpected.  Kindle gives an estimated reading time of 2 hours and 48 minutes, although as usual, I broke that up into four or five nights to prolong the fun.

 

    8 Stars.  Sadly, it appears that The Eclective, aka The Indie Eclective has been mothballed.  They put out these six anthologies in 2011-12, but none since.  One of the authors, Heather Marie Adkins, put out three more anthologies, apparently all Wiccan-oriented, in 2016-18, but I don’t see any more of those after that.  I'm guessing that the career path of an independent author is a tough road to travel.