Warriors

I will admit that I purchased the Warriors anthology, edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois, almost entirely for the Dunk and Egg novella by George RR Martin. I do not generally like reading short stories or novellas unless they are set in an existing world. I feel that short stories can add and be added to by larger worlds and this is done effectively in both directions with Dunk and Egg and the aSoIaF novels.

The reason I tend not to like short stories that stand alone is that I despise getting to know a character and then a few pages later moving on. In the Legends anthologies, edited by Robert Silverberg, which contained the previous Dunk and Egg stories I read essentially only those stories either by authors I already knew or those I had an immediate interest in. With Warriors this was also my original intent.

However, after reading the foreword by GRRM I decided to stick it out for the whole anthology. In said foreword GRRM writes about how marketing and labeling of fiction has changed since he was a boy. GRRM posits that while such changes were inevitable that they were not necessarily good for the world of literature. GRRM goes into detail about how, in those days before mega-bookstores like Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and even when smaller scale booksellers were less available, all of the different genre’s bumped elbows in spinner racks at convenience stores.

The main notion of Warriors is just that sort of cross-genre elbow rubbing. The only real tie between the stories is that each centers on a warrior of some ilk. Within the anthology there are sci-fi, fantasy, western, mystery, historical fiction, and perhaps even some further subdivisions of literature. I must say this made for a unique reading experience.

Dozois and Martin managed to put together a fairly star-studded group of writers for this anthology. Some of them, like GRRM, work in their “home settings” others like Naomi Novik go far afield from the settings in which they usually write. I won’t go into detail about each story. I will say that some stories I loved, some were strong, a few were mediocre, and at least one I didn’t like at all. However, given the range of writing styles, genres, and settings employed here that is to be expected.

I enjoyed stepping back in time to the “spinner rack” with the aid of GRRM, Gardner Dozois, and all the authors who contributed stories to the volume. I would definitely pick up another such cross-genre anthology if it were to be produced. There are some amazing stories in Warriors, and as a result of reading some of them I will buy other works from authors I had never read before. I give this anthology a 4/5.

A Kiss of Shadows

Laurell K Hamilton’s A Kiss of Shadows begins her rollicking and fun take on the Faerie Courts, the Meredith Gentry series, with several bangs. This universe finds the Faerie in the public eye, but with waning power. Also the Faerie have, for reasons not wholly explained in this novel, been driven out of their historical home in Europe and now hold court in the Midwest region of the United States.

Meredith, or Merry, the titular character of the series is a princess of the Unseelie (or dark side) Court. She is looked down upon because she has mixed blood (full sidhe, brownie, and human (that last bit being the real downer)). Due to her human ancestry she is mortal, which makes the immortals feel she is weak. At the start of A Kiss of Shadows Merry has been in hiding from her aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, for three years. During this time Merry has been living in Los Angeles working for a supernatural detective agency.

As events at the start of A Kiss of Shadows unfold Merry is forced to come out of hiding. She is in fear for her life, for very good reasons, but must re-embrace her past. What follows is much political intrigue, numerous assassination attempts, and lots of sex. It seems that the faerie culture pretty much embraces and uses sex and lust as power, status, and fun.

The amount of fairly graphic sex scenes right from the start of the book was at first somewhat off-putting. I know this is a fairly standard part of Urban Fantasy or Romantasy as I like to think of it, but sometimes it can be a bit over the top. However, once I got into the storyline and Hamilton had time to build the world, the sex scenes became a necessary part of the backdrop, even having increasing political and social importance as the novel progresses.

I thoroughly enjoy Merry as a character. Her blend of power, both magical and political, is interesting. This is especially true as she grows during the novel, and as her status changes. Merry is used to seeing herself as other, because of how she was treated historically. During the novel she is required to not only embrace her otherness, but also learn to use it as a tool.

Hamilton is very skillful at both crafting a world that could very easily be our own, if magic were real and faeries existed, and doling out tidbits of mythology at just the right times to keep the reader hooked. Little bits of information are woven in throughout the novel, and even more is hinted at. This is a world that has lots of promise for future entries. Indeed at this time there are 8 novels in the Merry Gentry series.

After resolving my initial feelings about the graphic sex scenes in this novel I came to enjoy it a lot. Hamilton has a pleasant writing style and keeps the plot moving at a good pace. There is plenty of intrigue and danger involved, and most plot twists are not telegraphed or easily guessed at. I recommend this for anyone looking for a bit of light, fun reading. I give it a 3.5/5.

io9 Bookclub and Soul Stealers

Just a notice that the io9 Book Club is now in session for InfoQuake. On 5/6/10 Edelman answered questions and comments regarding this novel.

Also Soul Stealers is now available in the UK and Australia and worldwide as an ebook.