Okay first off I am going to say we all know I love fantasy. I adore it and I adore short stories. It is what got me started as a writer.
But! And there is a but. You see one of the things that drives me nuts is a story where the author is taking themselves too seriously. They are not writing a story to entertain the reader, but to get themselves into collections like this one.
While there are some good stories in this collection (and i will review them over on my google blog) most of these stories are just the writers attempts to seem literary.
While fantasy can be amazing, it can be deep and touching and important, it generally is not literary to the literary snobs out there. This book is filled with stories that literary snobs would adore!
Anyone who knows me knows that I can finish a five hundred page book within a day or so. So the fact that I have yet to finish a book that I bought years ago should tell you something. Many of the tales in this book are just...not worth the effort.
Yes i have given this book overall a three star review. That is because there are tales in here well worth the read. Once that make me want to read them again. but over all...no, I would pass it by.