Season of Wonder

by Paula Guran (Editor), Dana Cameron, M. Rickert

Wonders abound with the winter holidays. Yuletide brings marvels and miracles both fantastic and scientific. Christmas spirits can bring haunting holidays, seasonal songs might be sung by unearthly choirs, and magical celebrations are the norm during this very special time of the year. The best stories from many realms of fantasy and a multitude of future universes, gift-wrapped in one spectacular treasury of wintertime wonder.

CONTENTS (alphabetical order)
Dana Cameron, “The Night Things Changed”
Orson Scott Card, “Wise Men”
Harlan Ellison, “Go Toward the Light”
Nina Kiriki Hoffman, “Home for Christmas”
Janet Kagan, “The Nutcracker Coup”
James Patrick Kelly, “The Best Christmas Ever”
Ellen Kushner, “Dulce Domum”
Charles de Lint, “Pal o’ Mine”
Robert Reed, “A Woman’s Best Friend”
M. Rickert, “The Christmas Witch”
Kristine Kathryn Rusch, “Loop”
Sarban, “A Christmas Story”
Ken Scholes, “If Dragon’s Mass Eve Be Cold and Clear”
James Stoddard, “Christmas at Hostage Canyon”
Evelyn Vaughn, “The Winter Solstice”
Connie Willis, “Newsletter”
Robert Charles Wilson, “Julian: A Christmas Story”
Gene Wolfe, “How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeen”

Genres: Fantasy, Christmas, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Anthologies, Collections, Holiday

382 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2012

About the author

Paula Guran is senior editor for Prime Books. She edited the Juno fantasy imprint from its small press inception through its incarnation as an imprint of Pocket Books. She is also senior editor of Prime's soon-to-launch digital imprint Masque Books. Guran edits the annual Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror series as well as a growing number of other anthologies. In an earlier life she produced weekly email newsletter DarkEcho (winning two Stokers, an IHG award, and a World Fantasy Award nomination), edited Horror Garage (earning another IHG and a second World Fantasy nomination), and has contributed reviews, interviews, and articles to numerous professional publications.

Reviews

[nimrodiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in a Prime Books bundle purchased to help the Worldbuilders fundraiser started by author Patrick Rothfus.

I was first drawn in by the cover art. It is gorgeous. Really, I am a sucker for good cover art. Then I noticed the authors whose stories were inside. Many of my favorite science fiction and fantasy authors were included.

this was perfect reading for the weekend before the Christmas Holidays. I seem to remember having read a couple of these stories before as all were first published elsewhere. Some were dark, some uplifting, some both at the same time.

The stories which stood out in my mind are: Pal O' Mine by Charles De Lint - which left me in tears. The Nutcracker Coup by Janet Kagan. How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeen by Gene Wolfe - which never gets any less spooky no matter how many times I have read it. Home for Christmas by Nina Kiri Hoffmann. Go Towards the Light by Harlan Ellison

All in all this collection of 18 stories centered around the winter holidays (Christmas, Yule, Solstice Hannukah, etc) is a very enjoyable collection

[Danielle Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover art is very misleading. I do not recall any story where a person rode a polar bear to an ice castle! Most of the stories in this collection were well written, but too strange for my taste (what with post apocalyptic robots and time travel). I was touched at the end of “If Dragons Mass be cold and clear” and “The Nutcracker Coupe” had a new interesting species. “Go toward the light” was pretty interesting regarding Hanukkah. I liked the idea behind “Christmas at Hostage Canyon.” “Newsletter” dealt with pod-people. My favorite story by far was “Home for Christmas” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.

Update: The stories stayed with me, I kept thinking about them, so I ended up ordering a copy to keep. That bumps the star rating up, that I kept thinking about the stories

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

All collections are a mixed bag, but this had more stories I enjoyed than ones I didn't. There's time travel, magic, something like androids, settings fantastical and real. Of especial interest to me:
Nutcracker Coup by Janet Kagan. This was the story I got the book for, and it's a fun story about Christmas on an alien planet, new traditions and old--and the power of a few to stand up to a tyrant.
The Night Things Changes; Dana Cameron. A story about vampires and werewolves who fight evil.
Christmas at Hostage Canyon; James Stoddard. 'Tis the season to be full of fear.
A varied view of the holiday season, to be sure.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of science fiction stories that take place during the winter holidays (mostly, Christmas). They're okay. My favorite was 'The Nutcracker Coup' and 'Loop'. 'The Christmas Witch' was intriguing.

1. The Best Christmas Ever by James Patrick Kelly - 3/5 - Interesting premise. The last man on Earth, 57, after an apocalypse falls into a depression when his neighbor dies. The world is populated by robots trying to please him and keep him alive. The last woman alive is crazy. His head keeper, Aunty Em, plans a Christmas to raise his spirits. The robots seem to appreciate / treasure human culture, but not really understand it. Eventually, it works, and he breaks out of his funk.

2. Go Toward the Light by Harlan Ellison - 3/5 - A coworker annoys a time traveler enough to see what really happened on the first Chanukah, and he ends up finding the guy who was suppose to have the special oil did not have it. So... he brought some altered oil back from the future... and 'as a messenger from God', got a holy man to lie about it.

3. If Dragon's Mass Eve Be Cold and Clear - 3/5 - Sweet story. Weird world. An alternate world where Christmas is Dragon's Mass. I don't know if I can really describe what happened. A woman loses her father, and her grief causes her to muse about their relationship, tradition, and religion. Eventually, she decides to have a child via a one night stand to experience the love her father wished for her.

4. Pal o' Mine by Charles de Lint - 3/5 - Sad story about a friend, who retained the innocence and magic of childhood, who commits suicide. Then randomly, a her dog starts talking. Apparently, there is a myth that animals can talk for an hour on Christmas day because Jesus.

5. The Nutcracker Coup by Janet Kagan - 4/5 - A sharing of Christmas traditions accidentally teach civil disobedience via mockery to the Rejoiners (some sentient alien with quills), and result in political reform -- free speech and trial by jury.

6. How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeen by Gene Wolfe - 2/5 - I have no idea what happened. A Christmas ghost story, I guess.

7. Dulce Domum by Ellen Kushner - 3/5 - That sure took a weird turn. A frame story? of a guy trying to lose himself in meaningless sex to avoid facing his family on Christmas. It sounds like his gay step-dad got turned a vampire? When it turns, and the story explains that he's avoiding home because home isn't home (a reference to a chapter in the Wind in the Willows), it's really sad. Then it gets real weird with the vampire twist.

8. Julian: A Christmas Story by Robert Charles Wilson - 3/5 - Interesting world. Hugo-award nominee. Post-apocalyptic in a Christian dictatorship. Adam and Julian are unlikely friends. Julian is 'next in line' for the Presidency (of the United States), but the current President sees his existence as a threat. Adam is a lower working class kid, who happens to share Julian's love of books and learning. In learning, the two skirt the edges of allowable thoughts in society. They (and their tutor) flee town when the President introduces a draft.

9. Loop by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - 4/5 - A woman creates a time loop and changes her own present / future. After her husband dies, she travels back in time to their first Christmas together. She ends up stuck, cycling through past, present, and future, but her fate warns her husband and prevents it from coming to pass. He still dies, but they have a child, which gets her through the grief the second time around.

10. The Christmas Witch by M. Rickert - 3/5 - It was really engrossing and evoked sadness and frustration, but also, so weird. I didn't really get what happened at the end. Rachel is troubled and misunderstood. She somewhat innocently copies the world around her, and it leads to unintended consequences, like being taken away from child services. She's also fairly detached and non-comprehending. There's some weird potentially aspect of the supernatural in a collection of bones which somehow dance and once hurt her. It might be all in her mind.

11. Wise Men by Orson Scott Card - 4/5 - A sorta science fiction alternate history / reality for Jesus. The three wise men are aliens, and their gifts enabled Jesus to come back to life. Lucifer tries to interfere, but fails. The twist at the end is he's telling the story to the reader, who he maybe has corrupted.

12. The Night Things Changed by Dana Cameron - 2/5 - Too unsupported / not reconciled with common mythology of vampires and werewolves. Vampires and werewolves are recessive traits, and can appear in the same family. They are always good, and hunt evil. Well, until now, where they discover the first evil werewolf. Claudia (vampire) and Gerry (werewolf) are a brother/sister evil fighting PI team. It just seemed really dumb.

13. Home for Christmas by Nina Kiriki Hoffman - 4/5 - Very sweet. A strange woman who can talk to objects finds a lonely divorced man missing his child on Christmas. They have a lovely Christmas where she gives him a glimpse of magic and he gives her a glimpse of family.

14. A Christmas Story by Sarban - 3/5 - A reprint of a short story written in 1951. I didn't get the reference? TIL Samoyeds are named about the place/people; which I guess figures after Maltese and so many others. A community of European diplomats in Saudi Arabia celebrate Christmas. One drunken Russian guy tells a weird story about a meeting a mythical creature that I did not recognize.

15. A Woman's Best Friend by Robert Reed - 3/5 - An interesting story / concept. Infinite worlds / parallel dimensions. Suicide *may* cause you to switch worlds if someone feels like saving you.

16. Christmas at Hostage Canyon - 3/5 - Weird. Creepy elf wanted the younger brother to sacrifice the older brother, but warrior Santa saves the day.

17. The Winter Solstice by Von Jocks - 3/5 - I'm not really sure what happened in the end? A depressed Wiccan tries to get evidence of magic on the Winter Solstice via ritual, but it gets interrupted by a stranger at the door. They... 'battle' in a very love and peace way. He believes he is the personification of the Holly King and she is the Oak King, but also... something to do with Ivy girl(?). (Her name is Ivy.) He wins, but doesn't?

18. Newsletter by Connie Willis - 4/5 - This was really fun! Nan is having trouble writing her Christmas newsletter; a both treasured and dreaded family tradition. Then, people everywhere start getting... nicer... too nice... She and a coworker figure out they're being body snatched, and that the parasites or... symbiotes?? need it cold and are hidden by hats / wigs. They turn up the thermostat and free the world. The 'twist' in the end is that the story was the newsletter.

[Mari Mendoza · Rating 3 out of 5]

sword-wielding Santas who fight evil fae,
Time-travel to make Hanukkah miracles possible,
Stuck in time loops at Christmas parties…

this collection of winter short stories has a bit of everything. Some of the stories were absolutely fantastic while others were total duds. So my rating of 3 stars is the middle ground.

And no, in case you were wondering, no stories about warriors riding polar bears as depicted on the cover.
😂

[Leilani · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent mix of holiday-themed stories, with only a couple that left me unmoved. I had read some of them before in the magazines or anthologies they first appeared in, but they were worthy of re-reading and collecting in one place. During the holidays I often read Connie Willis' collection of Christmas stories; now I have another place to turn!

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides]

It disappoints me a little that none of the stories are original to this collection. But the selection is interesting.

[Kristenn Royer]

DNF @ page 176. I dreaded picking up this book every time I attempted to get through it, and I don’t 100% know why. I’m not opposed to the short form writing, I think the main issue was that majority of the short stories were boring and not really what I wanted to get out of the story. I was hoping for more of what the introduction talked about, more stories surrounding different wintertime celebrations, with more of a folk fantasy feel, but instead I was given barely Christmas-related stories with no real cohesive purpose. None of them are extremely bad, but I’m not connected enough with the book as a whole to even be interested in continuing reading.

[Susana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect Christmas/Winter Holiday gift for the Science Fiction or Fantasy reader. Warning these aren't cozy tales. They are excellent short stories in the genre that will leave a mark on your memory. There are also some very funny stories in the collection which left me laughing aloud.

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was an interesting (some stories may scare!) winter-holiday sci-fi/fantasy anthology.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

So everything was well written and this collection is all previously published stories. I had my favorites; The Nutcracker Coup, If Dragon’s Mass Eve be Cold and Clear, Wise Men, Home for Christmas, The Loop, Newsletter, The Winter Solstice and Christmas at Hostage Canyon. So overall a good anthology.

The Best Christmas Ever James Patrick Kelly
Its about the last humans on earth and the robots that care for them. Not really my cup of tea
2 stars

Go Toward the Light Harlan Ellison
A time travel finds himself facilitating the miracle of Hanukkah to prove a colleague wrong. I found this story funny.
3 stars

If Dragon’s Mass Eve be Cold and Clear Ken Scholes
This was if the legend of Santa Claus got turned into scripture and became the basis for a world. It was interesting and I liked it. I just wish that there was more. It felt a little unfinished and the potential for more there.
4 stars

Pal of Mine Charles de Lint
Gina is soul of the fantastic and believes that animals can talk on Christmas Eve. Told through the eyes of her best friend and her dog. So I didn't even remember this story and had to go back and look at it to figure out what it was about.
2.5 stars

The Nutcracker Coup Janet Kagan
An ambassador shares Christmas with the natives of the world she has been assigned and accidentally brings about a revolution. This was awesome and I just had this image of hedgehogs with decorated spines.
5 stars

How the Bishop Sailed to InniskeenGene Wolfe
A writer is stuck near Inniskeen for Christmas and investigates a local legend. This was creepy and I really wanted more of the creepy. It was just too short for me and needed more of a point.
3 stars

Dulce Domum Ellen Kusher
A young man can't go home for christmas because it doesn't feel like home, also his stepfather might be a vampire. This one was weird and not in a good way.
2.5 stars

Julian: A Christmas Story Robert Charles Wilson
In a dystopian future that has gone back to before cars a peasant boy and his aristo friend find themselves trying to dodge the draft.
This story just dragged on and on and on. I could not wait for it to end.
1 stars

The Loop Kristine Kathryn Rusch
A blend of Its a Wonderful Life and time travel, a scientist goes back to see the man she loves and gets stuck. I liked this one and the bouncy back and forth. I just wish it had been a little longer.
4 stars

The Christmas Witch M. Rickert
A little girl moves to a new town after her mother dies and becomes fascinated by the local witch legend with bad consequences. This one was creepy, the bones and I didn't like it very much. It also wasn't really christmasy.
2 stars

Wise Men Orson Scott Card
Told from the perspective an evil spirit, this scif fi take on the magi at Christ's birth was neat. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale.
4.5 stars

The Night Things Changed by Dana Cameron
A vampire and a werewolf have to deal with an evil infecting their one of their own.
Turns out I've read this one before. I wish it was longer and that the plot had been more invovled. It was good.
3 stars

Home for Christmas by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Matt can talk to inanimate objects and while returning a wallet ends up spending Christmas with an architect. I found this one cute and the idea that rooms and the objects can talk was cool. I really wanted more of this one.
4.5 stars

A Christmas Story by Saban
An old Russian tells the story of two lost pilots who encounter a mammoth. This story was weird and didn't make much sense and I couldn't really find any plot in it at all. Plus I read it yesterday and I had to go look up it to remember it.
1 star

A Woman’s Best Friend Robert Reed
It's a Wonderful Life meets moving parallel universes. I didn't like this one at all
1 star

Christmas at Hostage Canyon by James Stoddard
A boy can see the evil elf stalking his house and discovers that he is all that stands between his brother and that evil. This story was awesome. It has sibling relationships and the legend of Santa Claus and how love for your siblings can change everything.
5 stars

The Winter Solstice Von Jock
The Holly King and the Oak King battle every year and Ivy, a witch looking for magic, gets caught in their fight. I loved the idea of this one. The twist was awesome and the plot interesting. My only quibble is that there wasn't enough of it.
4.5 stars

Newsletter Connie Willis
An Alien plot to take over earth is discover by Nan and her divorced coworker that she's crushing on. This story was funny and I liked it.
4 stars

So turns out I either really liked the story or was indifferent to it or hated it.
3 Stars

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Season of Wonder is a winter holiday themed anthology, bringing together fantasy and science fiction stories centred around the darkest months. Christmas isn’t the only holiday contained in these stories, but it is the most prominent. Still, as a whole, I think this is a great festive read.

The stories vary enough to give a little something for everyone, with a mixture of science fiction, fantasy, and even some horror elements thrown in. There’s robots caring for the last man on Earth, a post-apocalypse society ruled by religion, a young boy who stands against an evil elf, a young woman who gets caught in the battle between the Holly and Oak king, a woman on a distant planet introduces the inhabitants to Christmas, and a story of mental health, a woman who believes in magic, told through the eyes of her best friend.

The absolute stand out story for me was The Christmas Witch, a story which uses horror and fantasy to do one of my favourite things those genres are capable of; drawing parallels to very real situations, and reflecting issues often faced, especially by younger people. In this story, a young girl grieves the death of her mother, and lashes out in her own way, but the adults all seem to turn a blind eye. Her father tries to help, but not in the best way, and no one actually listens to her. It’s a fantastic read, and one hard to forget.

Pal Of Mine was also particularly good, one of those stories where the fantastical element is in doubt, right until the very end. It was wonderfully written, and very bittersweet.

Home for Christmas is a very sweet story, about a young woman who can talk to objects. It’s wonderfully written, draws you right in with the MC and her unusual ability, and shows how even small acts of kindness can have a lasting impact.

Others I particularly enjoyed, and would have liked to have read more about their worlds, were The Night Things Changed and The Nutcracker Coup. Both wonderful tales with fantastic world building, especially for short stories.

Everytime I think I’ve listed the ones I really liked, more pop into my head. Okay, last one, I swear. Newsletter, the final story in the anthology, is another great read – it’s witty and engaging and had me laughing out loud at the last line. And it’s a really interesting way of telling the story, combined with an uncertainty at the end, leaving the reader with multiple questions, and no answers except for whatever they decide in their head.

I really do recommend this collection. It has interesting portrayals of Christmas and the various aspects associated with the holiday, with more than one take on Santa Claus and the legend of. It was an enjoyable, fun, sometimes downright dark collection, with stories to both warm your heart on these cold winter evenings, and make you snuggle under the covers, glad you’re safe in your bed.

(Review originally appeared on elleturpitt.com)

[Ambrosia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Christmas-themed short stories with a genre bent. As with most collections, this was hit-or-miss for me, but (as with most collections) I appreciated the chance to sample some authors I'd never heard of, whose work I might not otherwise have picked up. Particular standouts for me were Robert Charles Wilson's "Julian: A Christmas Story", which transcended its shopworn genre tropes through strong worldbuilding and its narrator's strength of character, and Connie Willis' "Newsletters", a humorous take on the alien-abduction story. And Janet Kagan's "The Nutcracker Coup" entertained me to no end; I'm always a sucker for a story about engineering social change through refusing shame.

[Carl V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw the wintery blue glow of Nick Deligaris’ cover image for Prime Books’ Season of Wonder anthology I knew it would have to be an early Christmas gift to myself. And why not? Seasonal genre reading to celebrate the holidays? This one was a no-brainer. Given the fact that most of our Christmas season has felt like early Spring, immersing myself in winter-themed short fiction seemed like the right prescription for an injection of Christmas spirit. And in many ways it was.

I read the first third of the book during these warmer days and Paula Guran’s selections (mostly) did an admirable job of making me feel as if I were being told tales on a cold winter’s night. The last two thirds of the book were read after winter finally arrived (just in time for Christmas). While there were a few selections that I felt did not fit well with the proposed theme of the anthology, there were several really nice stories and a few outstanding ones that make me pleased with the time spent reading.

For non-spoiler thoughts on individual stories, please visit here:

http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.co...

[Julien Masterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this at Chapters on the 5$ table. I was like, science fiction AND Christmas?! Score! I had never read a book full of short stories, so I said why not. It was December and I was in a Christmas mood.

So the stories were decent. This is the first time I read a book filled with short stories, and I find it trickier to get into a story or get to love characters if you know it will all end in a few pages. That said, there were a couple that I liked and that stuck out. "The Nutcracker Coup" was pretty cool. About aliens and celebrating Christmas on another planet. It was a bit longer too so I got to get into the story.

There was one about Hanukkah, about time travel, about a Christmas witch, about Santa fighting evil elves, one by Orson Scott Card that I don't think made sense to me, ummm.... I don't even remember them all... so it was alright. Oh, and one about a girl who could speak to objects, that one was pretty good. I'm more into novels though so I don't think I'll read something like this again.

It was alright but I won't recommend it unless you want short stories and Christmas-themed stories. The sci-fi was pretty good but again, sci-fi with Christmas twists.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for scifi/fantasy themed holiday stories, this is not a bad choice. Although there were a number of stories I didn't enjoy, there were also many I did. In particular, I liked "If dragons eve be cold and clear," "The nutcracker coup," "Loop," "Home for christmas," "A woman's best friend," "Christmas at hostage canyon," "The winter solstice," and "Newsletter."

If you want a much darker holiday themed fantasy story, I recommend the novel "Krampus: The Yule Lord" by Brom.

[Anna Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories about the Christmas/ Winter Solstice written from the 1950's to 2010's. One of them on a distant planet where Christmas & Fourth of July coincide, what better than fireworks with presents.

Some of them are thought provoking, letting you "walk a mile" in a stranger shoes. Others are flights of fantasy but still entertaining. You might not like all of them but you should be able to find a few you'll enjoy.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection of short stories loosely based on Christmas/Winter Solstice type holidays. Some of these tales I had encountered elsewhere, but still it is nice to see old "fiends" in new settings. Plenty of dark and uplifting tales. The retelling of It's A Wonderful Life" was both. The "Newsletter" was a nice comedy piece to end the book.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of Christmas-themed fantasy and sci-fiction stories. Ken Scholes provided my favorite. Some of these stories have been around for decades, such as Gene Wolfe's "How the Bishop came Innisfree" (I know I got the title wrong), or Janet Kagan's "The Nutcracker Coup," or "The Night that Changed Everything," or Connie Willis' "Newsletters."

[Jennifer Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of stories by science fiction and fantasy writers. Many of these I had read before, but I enjoyed revisiting them. Connie Willis' story is a fun way to end the anthology, and stories by Nina Kiriki Hoffman and Charles deLint were among my favorites.
Recommended to anyone who enjoys a good story & isn't adverse to fantasy.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ok. Like all anthologies some of the stories are good and some are just meh. I was a little disappointed that a lot of the stories just seem to have the word Christmas in them and aren't really about Christmas or a winter holiday.

[Tyrannosaurus regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this one up for holiday reading thinking it would be nice and a little frothy and I couldn't have been more wrong. This is a solid and very diverse collection of stories, all at least tenuously attached to the holiday season but very rarely what you might expect.

[Jeannine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An anthology of stories that involve Christmas, but are not necessarily ABOUT Christmas. My favorite of the group was "If Dragon Mass Eve Be Cold & Clear" by Ken Scholes. It was a nice read during my Christmas holidays.

[M.L.D. · Rating 2 out of 5]

An anthology chock-full of stories that mean something!

In other words, not fun. And in some cases, the stories have very tenuous connections with seasonal celebrations--the editor must have had a hard time finding holiday stories.

[Carolyn]

Please Santa, may I have a copy? I promise to be a good girl...and review the book! ;-)
(It sounds sooooo good!!!)

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several of the stories are only slightly related to Christmas and the season, but there are some absolutely wonderful stories in this collection.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of sci-fi/fantasy short stories with connections to various winter holidays.
I'll be purchasing this book to read every year in December!
Fabulous!!

[Catherine]

Includes a short story by one of my favorite authors--Connie Willis

[Peter Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Amazon Review -

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1VJW16V...

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of Christmas plus other Holiday stories. Some of them I'd read before, but enjoyed meeting them again.