You may have noticed I don’t read many short story collections, but I enjoyed Endless Worlds Volume 1, so I checked this out… and guess what? It was even better!! Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this review, I want to give a shoutout to one of the writers for this- Matthew Wright– for bringing this to my attention- highly recommend checking out his super informative blog! Now onto each of these stories…
The Last Citadel of the Innocent – Matthew Wright
Everyone knows how hard it is to write a convincing world in any fantasy novel, let alone a short story- yet this was so well done that I truly felt transported. The level of detail was perfectly balanced and neatly woven into the story, without being overdone. It was entirely gripping and had a great amount of action to balance this out too. The only reason I couldn’t give this first one 5 bananas was that it wasn’t an entirely contained story- to put it simply: I want more!!
Rating: 4½/5 bananas
Lorelai – Ken Mann
I thoroughly enjoyed the distinctive fairy tale vibe in this one. The writing style for the story was spot on. Plus, it was dramatic and twisty from beginning to end.
Rating: 4½/5 bananas
The Liar’s Tale – James Peters
With a great humorous tone, the Liar’s Tale was just the ticket for me. I was already really enjoying this hilarious tale and then the twist at the end cemented my love. I l really appreciated the Russian doll layers to this too, with multiple stories being told at once. Very clever and well executed story!
Rating: 5/5 bananas
Gil and the Mystic Quill – Peter Koevari
I’ve always loved these types of “magical pen” stories and this had a great setup. I truly appreciated the complexity here. Strangely enough though, while this had some of the most beautiful writing of all the stories, it also had some clumsier wording.
Rating: 4/5 bananas
RavenDark – N. R. Marxsen
This was inspired by 12 brothers and as I know the original, I can confirm this was a great retelling 😉 Structurally, this was very similar, yet it was way way darker. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I had the thought while reading it that this was so grim, I almost wonder why it wasn’t written this way in the first place, because this perfectly mirrors the vibe I get from a lot of original fairy tales.
Rating: 4½/5 bananas
The Blacksmith and the Beast – Anita Templer
Funnily enough, I wasn’t initially all that crazy about this one- for some reason or other, I wasn’t connecting with the writing. However the twists and turns were literally so amazing that it ended up being one of the best. Once it got into the action, I got very into the adventurous feel and then the ending was so good that it blew me away. All I can say is *wow!*
Rating: 4½/5 bananas
The Witch’s Song – Francis Burns
Yes- another one that I loved! But seriously, this one was great- the setup was so unique and tinged with a creepy atmosphere. I especially liked the writing in this one and the poetry really worked for me here. It was also so gripping that I couldn’t tear my eyes away (hence the fact that my notes ran out here…)
Rating: 5/5 bananas
Fairy Tale Hunter’s – Renee Marski
This last one was certainly the most unique, but because of that it was also much stranger and harder to follow. So I didn’t end up connecting with it as much- all credit for the intriguing premise though.
Rating: 3½/5 bananas
Overall, this collection was intriguing, dramatic and unique- I recommend it for all fans of fantasy!
Rating: 4½/5 bananas
So do you think you’ll check this out? Let me know in the comments!
Great review. I will add to my TBR.
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Thank you!
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what’s the target audience?
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Hiya, I’d say it’s adult fantasy, hope that helps.
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it does. thanks.
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Oh Wow! Except for one, all received 4-5 bananas? I’m in!😊
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Yes!! Totally recommend it!! 😊
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That cover looks nice. Great review.
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Thanks very much!!
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I am definitely impressed when an author can build a fantasy world in a short story. Sounds like a great collection!
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Yes, it was super impressive- they’re all by different authors, but I think they all did a great job of it 😀
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Fantasy short stories??? Wow, that takes a shitload of talent! I mean, some million pages fantasy books don’t manage to grab my attention, so I admire the collection!
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I know right!!! I was super impressed with it. They were really well done and a lot of them were like updated fairy tales, which is very much up my street 🙂
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That sounds so cool! I love dark tales!! Will definitely check it out!
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Ah awesome!!
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Update 2min later: I bought it Hahahha couldn’t resist, sounds too good.
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Oh that’s brilliant- I really hope you enjoy them, they ended up being great for me 🙂
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I do love me some short stories… I have read general fiction and paranormal short stories but never any that fit into fantasy, yet… I have to say, it does intrigue me, knowing that fantasy has been put into a short story and that they’re actually so good… praise coming from you is something I trust, so I best check it out some time 😉
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Brilliant! I’m glad this has caught your interest- I was really pleasantly surprised with this collection (though not too surprised cos I already liked the sci fi edition) 😀
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Impressive! I’ll have to check these out! ❤
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Thank you! I really hope you like them if you do check them out! 😀
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Ravendark definitely looks intriguing!
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It was really cool!! 😀
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Sounds like the whole volume was pretty solid. Glad to see how much you enjoy them. 😀
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Thank you! 😀
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