Wizards, Inc. by Loren L. ColemanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
A more or less light-hearted anthology of stories about the working wizard in the contemporary world - with one exception from the inimitable and always fantastic Esther Friesner - this is a middling assembly of stories. None of them are terrible; none of them are particularly exceptionable.
Particularly early in the anthology, some of the stories have supernatural worlds overlaid on our real world that feel rushed and inorganic. However, the general light tone of the anthology is enjoyable.
One story that snuck up on me and entirely made me smile was Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Disaster Relief." One of my least favorite stories was the closing tale, Michael Stackpole's "No Rest For The Wicked." It felt like parts of a too-grey mystery novel.
Because this is an anthology, not just fifteen separate stories, and thus meant to be read (mostly) as a whole, I want to comment on that as well. This anthology is very well ordered; there's often a thematic link between one story and the one that follows it, presenting a different perspective on an idea such as magic chocolatiers. It creates a nice sense that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
View all my reviews >>
2 comments:
Wow, an anthology with links between all the stories, that must have taken a lot of planning!
Well, I wouldn't say it was strongly linked, but the sense was there. Organic enough that I don't think it was deliberate: the editor just studied the stories and put those with similar elements next to each other.
Post a Comment