Mini Reviews: Fantastic Hope and Where the Lost Wander

Fantastic Hope
Edited by Laurell K. Hamilton and William McCaskey
Release: April 7, 2020
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A collection of sixteen sci-fi and fantasy stories edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton and author William McCaskey.

A child’s wish for her father comes true. The end of the world has never been so much fun. Conquering personal demons becomes all too real. It’s not always about winning; sometimes it’s about showing up for the fight. It’s about loving your life’s work, and jobs that make you question everything.

In this anthology, seventeen authors have woven together brand-new stories that speak to the darkness and despair that life brings while reminding us that good deeds, humor, love, sacrifice, dedication, and following our joy can ignite a light that burns so bright the darkness cannot last.

Laurell K. Hamilton and William McCaskey are joined by Kevin J. Anderson, Griffin Barber, Patricia Briggs, Larry Correia, Kacey Ezell, Monalisa Foster, Robert E. Hampson, John G. Hartness, Jonathan Maberry, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., Jessica Schlenker, Sharon Shinn, M. C. Sumner, Patrick M. Tracy, and Michael Z. Williamson in this collection.

Review:
I quite enjoyed this anthology and its variety in the kinds of stories it contained. It was also an opportunity to read work from a lot of authors I've never read before. In fact, Laurell K. Hamilton, Patricia Briggs, and Jonathan Maberry were the only authors in this collection I've read before.

I'll be honest the whole reason I picked it up was because of the Patricia Briggs story, Asil and the Not-Date. It also ended up being my favorite story of the whole collection. I love reading about Asil and his not-dates! And just like the others, this one was so good and had a surprise twist at the end! I enjoy Asil's not-dates almost as much as he does.

My other favorites in this collection were Last Contact by M.C. Sumner, Not in This Lifetime by Sharon Shinn, Mr. Positive, the Eternal Optimist by Larry Correia, Bonds of Love and Duty by Monalisa Foster, and Working Conditions by Patrick M. Tracy. I loved all of these so much! They were all so different from each other!

The only story I didn't like was Fallen by L.E. Modesitt Jr. It was confusing and time jumpy and it didn't hold my attention at all. I was a little bit meh about the Anita Blake story but I'm not a fan of the series. The rest of the stories in the collection were fun and I enjoyed them a lot!

Overall, I'd recommend picking this anthology up based on the variety of the stories alone but there's also quite a bit of quality in this collection.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

   

  4 / 5 Stars

Where the Lost Wander

Amy Harmon

Release: April 28, 2020

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In this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss.
The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.

But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.

When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually…make peace with who they are.

Review:

I was so excited to get this book for review! I love a good Oregon Trail historical fiction! Even better if it has romance! I hadn't read an Amy Harmon book before but I've heard nothing but excellent things about her work.

For full transparency, I put this book aside around the 54% mark. I don't often write reviews like this but it is very much a "It's not you. It's me." situation when it comes to this book and my reading experience with it was very much not the book's fault. I've loved what I read of this book. My problem is that I tried to read it while under a stay-at-home order for Covid-19 and I couldn't enjoy the reading experience like I would have under different conditions. 

The research that went into this book was phenomenal and I felt like I was there because of the quality and excellence of Harmon's writing. The pacing of this book was just too slow moving for me and the challenges the characters faced were just too traumatic, heavy, and heartbreaking for my mindset during a global pandemic.

I bought myself the ebook of this book and I'm planning on picking it up again when I can handle the sadness and trauma in the story. So far the story rates a solid 3.5 stars but I'm sure that I'll rate it higher once I finish the book.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

   1/2

3.5 / 5 Stars

Really Short Review: The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales Anthology

The Starlit Wood
Edited by Dominik Parisien
and Navah Wolfe
Release: October 18, 2016
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An all-new anthology of cross-genre fairy tale retellings, featuring an all-star lineup of award-winning and critically acclaimed writers.

Once upon a time. It’s how so many of our most beloved stories start.

Fairy tales have dominated our cultural imagination for centuries. From the Brothers Grimm to the Countess d’Aulnoy, from Charles Perrault to Hans Christian Anderson, storytellers have crafted all sorts of tales that have always found a place in our hearts.

Now a new generation of storytellers have taken up the mantle that the masters created and shaped their stories into something startling and electrifying.

Packed with award-winning authors, this anthology explores an array of fairy tales in startling and innovative ways, in genres and settings both traditional and unusual, including science fiction, western, and post-apocalyptic as well as traditional fantasy and contemporary horror.

From the woods to the stars, The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales takes readers on a journey at once unexpected and familiar, as a diverse group of writers explore some of our most beloved tales in new ways across genres and styles.

Review:
Thanks to growing up with Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, I have been obsessed with fairy tales since I was little. I read all the fairy tale collections and retellings I could get my hands on. I loved everything from the dark originals to Disney's gentle reimaginings. When I first heard about this anthology and the authors that were apart of it, I was all in.

This collection features eighteen reimagined fairy tales by authors like Seanan McGuire, Max Gladstone, Garth Nix, and Naomi Novik. And it is awesome! These are our favorite old fairy tales made new for a modern age and a lot of them have a feminist angle. Things that have always bothered me about certain fairy tales were turned on their heads. I loved that the heroines have been empowered and some of them even save themselves in some of these stories. I also loved the variety of settings found in this collection. Several were taken "out of the woods" and were set in places from the Old West to Outer Space.

Overall, I loved this collection and can't recommend it enough! It's the fairy tale collection I never knew I needed until I read it. Also, the physical copy is absolutely gorgeous!

My favorites from this collection were:
"In the Desert Like a Bone" by Seanan McGuire
"Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-mohtar
"Giants in the Sky by Max Gladstone
"The Briar and the Rose" by Marjorie Liu 
"Penny for a Match, Mister" by Garth Nix
"Spinning Silver" by Naomi Novik

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

   

  4 /5 Stars

Really Short Reviews: Star-Touched Queens and Summer Days

Summer Days and Summer Nights
Edited by Stephanie Perkins
Release: May 17, 2016
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Maybe it's the long, lazy days, or maybe it's the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom. Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

Featuring stories by Leigh Bardugo, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Brandy Colbert, Tim Federle, Lev Grossman, Nina LaCour, Stephanie Perkins, Veronica Roth, Jon Skovron, and Jennifer E. Smith.

Review by Rose Red:

How do you review an anthology without spoiling any of the stories? The only way I could think of was to make my review a short one. 

I'm going to honest. I thought Summer Days & Summer Nights was just okay. I probably would have like it more if I had read the companion anthology, My True Love Gave To Me. At least one of the stories in this book was a continuation of the author's story in the companion. I only loved three of the stories. Most of the rest of the stories I thought were good and there was only one that I completely skipped. Several of the stories would have been better if they would have been a little bit longer.

The beautiful thing about this anthology is that it is a diverse collection of stories. It has LGBT couples and mental health and mental conditions like autism and relationships that don't end with a happily ever after. It's quite the diverse collection and there are enough different stories that there should be something for everyone. 

My favorites in this collection were Leigh Bardugo's and Libba Bray's stories. While my least favorite (aka the one I skipped) was the one by Francesca Lia Block. 

I'd definitely recommend picking it up if you're looking for a YA anthology with a diverse set of stories.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

   

  3 / 5 Stars

The Star-Touched Queen

(The Star-Touched Queen #1)
Roshani Chokshi

Release: April 26, 2016

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Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you’re only seventeen?

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar’s wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire…

But Akaran has its own secrets—thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most…including herself.

Review by Rose Red:

The Star-Touched Queen was a wonderful read! The writing is straightforward and for once, we have a strong YA heroine who does not turn into a twitterpated mess around the love interest. I adored that the story was heavily influenced by Indian mythology. It was a breath of fresh air in comparison to the typical retellings we see in YA. I also loved that the story is quite lovely and without the drama and logic issues that are prevalent in a lot of YA books recently. Even though it's based upon Indian mythology, there seems to be a bit of influence from the fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast, in it. The thing that made this book for me is that it wasn't a normal YA tale of love and loss. It was unapologetic in its telling and it had enough detail that it wasn't overly simplistic or info dumpy.

Maya was very down-to-earth heroine and I enjoyed seeing the story unfold through her eyes. She is very brave and uses her intelligence to follow the dictates of her conscience. I loved the demonic horse that acted as a sounding board for Maya and their scenes were probably my favorite part of the book. The love interest wasn't bad either. :) The Indian culture felt authentic in the story from the harems of the Raja to the political squabbling to the reliance on horoscopes. The culture was treated reverently and lovingly and I really enjoyed exploring it through Maya's story.

The writing is smooth and straightforward but has the occasional clunky analogy after a particularly beautiful worded line. The world building was excellent and it was easy to become carried away in the story. This book itself is a stand-alone with a complete story arc but it has a companion novel set to come out next year sometime. I would highly recommend picking it up if you're looking for a out-of-the-norm retelling.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

   

  4 / 5 Stars