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Imaginary Friends
Thirteen original stories about friends conjured in times of need
We’ve all had them. We’ve all needed them. In this fun fantasy anthology, readers are given thirteen variations on what kinds of friends come in handy indeed in times of need. From a toy Canadian Mountie who suddenly comes to life, to a boy and his dragon, to a young woman held captive in a tower and the mysterious being who is her only companion, these highly imaginative tales entertainingly explore the nature of what constitutes a “real” friendship.
We’ve all had them. We’ve all needed them. In this fun fantasy anthology, readers are given thirteen variations on what kinds of friends come in handy indeed in times of need. From a toy Canadian Mountie who suddenly comes to life, to a boy and his dragon, to a young woman held captive in a tower and the mysterious being who is her only companion, these highly imaginative tales entertainingly explore the nature of what constitutes a “real” friendship.
324 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 2, 2008
3 people are currently reading
321 people want to read
About the author
John Marco
36 books418 followersHello. Thanks for visiting my author page here on Goodreads. In case you don't know me, I'm John Marco and I'm a fantasy writer. My work includes the Tyrants and Kings trilogy and the books of the Bronze Knight Lukien.
My latest book, THE BLOODY CHORUS is now available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRTHJ768
My latest book, THE BLOODY CHORUS is now available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRTHJ768
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 9, 2008
I recently finished the DAW anthology Imaginary Friends edited by John Marco and Martin H. Greenberg. If you give a gaggle of authors a single topic to write about, you'll get a gaggle of completely different stories. This is true for the most part in this anthology, although I was surprised at how many of the stories seemed to have the same "twist" in the end. I don't want to ruin that twist, so I won't reveal it here. As the Soup Nazi would say, "NO SPOILERS FOR YOU!" As usual though, there was the full range of story types here, from the fun and frivolous to the deadly serious, even with a topic like imaginary friends. Was it a good anthology? You betcha! I have to say I wavered a little bit for a while there (when that twist seemed to be a kind of pattern), but the last few stories in the anthology in particular really kicked ass.
For the most part, I'd say the anthology starts off with the purely fun stories and slowly skews itself into the serious stories at the end. Which means, based on my statement above, that apparently I really like serious stories. Who'd have thunk? But I ENJOY fun stories, so that's OK. Here's my rundown on the stories in this anthology:
"A Good Day for Dragons" by Rick Hautula: This is the most blantant use of what everyone probably thinks of in terms of imaginary friends from childhood, especially if you had such a friend yourself. Here a boy and his dragon are off having adventures, battling evil while secretly hoping not to get interrupted by that pesky creature called Mom.
"Stands a God Within the Shadows" by Anne Bishop: OK, this one was rather serious. A woman is trapped in a tower with her keeper watching only from the shadows near the door, allowing her to only look through a single window out onto the world. But humans can only remain in prisoners for so long before they start to fight back, and this woman is no exception.
"Neither" by Jean Rabe: A vagrant, a dog, and a bartender walk into Nashville . . . *grin* This story was interesting, especially with regard to the music, how it is felt by the vagrant and the dog, and the vagrant's perspective on the world around him.
"Walking Shadows" by Juliet McKenna: This story was interesting because it was set in a fantasy world (medieval in feel) and used the idea of the imaginary friend as part of the magical system in that world. I thought it was a great twist on the theme of the book. Here, a young girl is tested when her magical powers present themselves in the form of an imaginary friend. But is her belief in herself enough for her to survive?
"Say Hello To My Little Friend" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: The concept of this story will make you laugh. The story, not just the title. At least, I laughed out loud while reading it. A very nice addition to the anthology because even though it's a "light" story in the sense that the setup is all fun, it has a serious twist at the end. Hard to talk about it without giving things away, but think bar, gorgeous guy, and what appears to be the worst possible pick-up line ever.
"Justine and the Mountie" by Kristen Britain: A woman with a severe case of vertigo suddenly begins to see an imaginary mountie in real life in this story. Except perhaps the vertigo isn't quite natural, and the mountie not as unnatural as it may seem.
"Suburban Legend" by Donald J. Bingle: This is the first of what I consider the more serious stories with a take on the imaginary friend theme. And I REALLY liked the twist on the theme for this one. While you're reading this, you'll think one thing, but at the end it gets twisted completely around in a totally unexpected way (at least for me). The story centers around Michael and the disappearance of his wife. The rather suspicious disappearance of his wife, let's say.
"Best Friends Forever" by Tim Waggoner: In this story, the imaginary friend comes in the form of a stuffed animal, something I think almost everyone can associate with. The stuffed dog in question attempts to help the main character cope with a rather traumatic event in his life.
"Greg and Eli" by Paul Genesse: Another story in which the imaginary friend helps the main character, Greg in this case, deal with some rather traumatic events in his life. In fact, it's the upheaval of Greg's entire life that needs to be dealt with.
"An Orchid for Valdis" by Russell Davis: I thought Russell Davis did a spectacular job of getting us into the two main characters fast in this story. At least I was drawn in fast. A postmaster is drawn into the life of one of the residents on his route when a letter is returned after the resident's death. Does he read the letter or send it to the dead letter office? What would you do? Obviously he reads it . . . and is drawn into that resident's life in a rather meaningful way.
"The Big Exit" by Bill Fawcett: Another rather serious story about a U.S. trooper in Iraq and how his long forgotten imaginary friend returns in his time of need. I really, really liked this story, because Bill Fawcett paid as much attention to the imaginary friend's backstory as he did the main character's. I'd have to say that this is my favorite story of the entire anthology.
"Whether 'Tis Nobler in the Mind" by Fiona Patton: This story comes off as lighter fare in its tone but has a rather serious and important thoughtful question left to the reader to answer at the end. The main character, George, is facing old age and trying to cope with all its issues. But certain powers run rather strong in his family and he soon discovers that many of his relatives have used those powers to cope with their own emotional traumas. Will he succumb to the same temptation?
"Images of Death" by Jim C. Hines: The last story in the anthology is also one of the more serious notes of the group. Here, a woman is dealing with her son's illness and that child's imaginary friend is not necessarily one that every mother would be willing to embrace. Once again, the imaginary friend is present to help one of the character's cope with some serious issues, although we see that not every character will react to the imaginary friend in the same way.
Overall, a very strong set of stories. Definitely worth reading. So for those of you who have read the anthology, what did you think? What was your favorite story and why? And go ahead and share YOUR imaginary friend from *cough cough* childhood. You know, if you feel like it. *grin*
For the most part, I'd say the anthology starts off with the purely fun stories and slowly skews itself into the serious stories at the end. Which means, based on my statement above, that apparently I really like serious stories. Who'd have thunk? But I ENJOY fun stories, so that's OK. Here's my rundown on the stories in this anthology:
"A Good Day for Dragons" by Rick Hautula: This is the most blantant use of what everyone probably thinks of in terms of imaginary friends from childhood, especially if you had such a friend yourself. Here a boy and his dragon are off having adventures, battling evil while secretly hoping not to get interrupted by that pesky creature called Mom.
"Stands a God Within the Shadows" by Anne Bishop: OK, this one was rather serious. A woman is trapped in a tower with her keeper watching only from the shadows near the door, allowing her to only look through a single window out onto the world. But humans can only remain in prisoners for so long before they start to fight back, and this woman is no exception.
"Neither" by Jean Rabe: A vagrant, a dog, and a bartender walk into Nashville . . . *grin* This story was interesting, especially with regard to the music, how it is felt by the vagrant and the dog, and the vagrant's perspective on the world around him.
"Walking Shadows" by Juliet McKenna: This story was interesting because it was set in a fantasy world (medieval in feel) and used the idea of the imaginary friend as part of the magical system in that world. I thought it was a great twist on the theme of the book. Here, a young girl is tested when her magical powers present themselves in the form of an imaginary friend. But is her belief in herself enough for her to survive?
"Say Hello To My Little Friend" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: The concept of this story will make you laugh. The story, not just the title. At least, I laughed out loud while reading it. A very nice addition to the anthology because even though it's a "light" story in the sense that the setup is all fun, it has a serious twist at the end. Hard to talk about it without giving things away, but think bar, gorgeous guy, and what appears to be the worst possible pick-up line ever.
"Justine and the Mountie" by Kristen Britain: A woman with a severe case of vertigo suddenly begins to see an imaginary mountie in real life in this story. Except perhaps the vertigo isn't quite natural, and the mountie not as unnatural as it may seem.
"Suburban Legend" by Donald J. Bingle: This is the first of what I consider the more serious stories with a take on the imaginary friend theme. And I REALLY liked the twist on the theme for this one. While you're reading this, you'll think one thing, but at the end it gets twisted completely around in a totally unexpected way (at least for me). The story centers around Michael and the disappearance of his wife. The rather suspicious disappearance of his wife, let's say.
"Best Friends Forever" by Tim Waggoner: In this story, the imaginary friend comes in the form of a stuffed animal, something I think almost everyone can associate with. The stuffed dog in question attempts to help the main character cope with a rather traumatic event in his life.
"Greg and Eli" by Paul Genesse: Another story in which the imaginary friend helps the main character, Greg in this case, deal with some rather traumatic events in his life. In fact, it's the upheaval of Greg's entire life that needs to be dealt with.
"An Orchid for Valdis" by Russell Davis: I thought Russell Davis did a spectacular job of getting us into the two main characters fast in this story. At least I was drawn in fast. A postmaster is drawn into the life of one of the residents on his route when a letter is returned after the resident's death. Does he read the letter or send it to the dead letter office? What would you do? Obviously he reads it . . . and is drawn into that resident's life in a rather meaningful way.
"The Big Exit" by Bill Fawcett: Another rather serious story about a U.S. trooper in Iraq and how his long forgotten imaginary friend returns in his time of need. I really, really liked this story, because Bill Fawcett paid as much attention to the imaginary friend's backstory as he did the main character's. I'd have to say that this is my favorite story of the entire anthology.
"Whether 'Tis Nobler in the Mind" by Fiona Patton: This story comes off as lighter fare in its tone but has a rather serious and important thoughtful question left to the reader to answer at the end. The main character, George, is facing old age and trying to cope with all its issues. But certain powers run rather strong in his family and he soon discovers that many of his relatives have used those powers to cope with their own emotional traumas. Will he succumb to the same temptation?
"Images of Death" by Jim C. Hines: The last story in the anthology is also one of the more serious notes of the group. Here, a woman is dealing with her son's illness and that child's imaginary friend is not necessarily one that every mother would be willing to embrace. Once again, the imaginary friend is present to help one of the character's cope with some serious issues, although we see that not every character will react to the imaginary friend in the same way.
Overall, a very strong set of stories. Definitely worth reading. So for those of you who have read the anthology, what did you think? What was your favorite story and why? And go ahead and share YOUR imaginary friend from *cough cough* childhood. You know, if you feel like it. *grin*
February 7, 2010
When I was younger I had a lot of imaginary friends. In Kindergarten I imagined that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (plus April) were my friends on the playground, calling me for help whenever they were in the area. Then it became the Ghost Busters and later when we moved to a new town I imagined that I had a girl friend named Jacie. My younger sister, for years upon years, had an imaginary friend named Maria--we still tease her about Maria because she insists she was real. I think its a normal childhood thing to have an imaginary friend, just like talking to your dolls or pretending to play War with your friends.
Of the 13 stories in this volume I think I only really enjoyed 3 of them: 'A Good Day for Dragons' by Rick Hautala, 'Stands a God Within the Shadows' by Anne Bishop and 'Walking Shadows' by Juliet E. McKenna. Hautala's, though I guessed the twist fairly quickly, was just a cute story. Dragons, Pirates and choices when growing up--what's not to love? Bishop's is, as I've come to expect from her fiction, twisty and dark with small rays of sunshine poking out. I was genuinely surprised at who the imaginary friend turned out to be and the end, while sad, is speaks highly of the main character.
McKenna's was another sad story of choices when growing up that I would have enjoyed so much more if there hadn't been a niggling editorial lapse. In first 2/3rds of the story a character's name is Rasun--he's never actually seen, only spoken of by various characters as a 'lesson learned move on' sort of thing, but still he's important at the end. So I couldn't understand why, in the last third, his name suddenly becomes 'Rusan'. Not just once, which I tend to overlook, but at least four different times! It ruined the story for me a bit because I had to consciously remember who that was supposed to be. As for the story itself--the twist at the end is intriguing and I wouldn't mind reading more in that universe.
The rest of the stories fell rather flat for me, or just bored me. There's really no other way to explain it. Marco has an introduction that made me excited--he explains that for a college paper he was going to academically discuss Imaginary Friends influence, but couldn't find enough academic material to draw from (apparently no one does studies of this nature?). Years later the idea kept niggling at him until he finally decided to call upon fantasy writers to explore the idea and the ramifications. Some of the authors I think took it a lot looser than he meant while others I think didn't grasp why imaginary friends are important.
I would say to read this if you happen upon it at the library or a friend lends it to you, I'm not entirely certain its worth its cover price.
Of the 13 stories in this volume I think I only really enjoyed 3 of them: 'A Good Day for Dragons' by Rick Hautala, 'Stands a God Within the Shadows' by Anne Bishop and 'Walking Shadows' by Juliet E. McKenna. Hautala's, though I guessed the twist fairly quickly, was just a cute story. Dragons, Pirates and choices when growing up--what's not to love? Bishop's is, as I've come to expect from her fiction, twisty and dark with small rays of sunshine poking out. I was genuinely surprised at who the imaginary friend turned out to be and the end, while sad, is speaks highly of the main character.
McKenna's was another sad story of choices when growing up that I would have enjoyed so much more if there hadn't been a niggling editorial lapse. In first 2/3rds of the story a character's name is Rasun--he's never actually seen, only spoken of by various characters as a 'lesson learned move on' sort of thing, but still he's important at the end. So I couldn't understand why, in the last third, his name suddenly becomes 'Rusan'. Not just once, which I tend to overlook, but at least four different times! It ruined the story for me a bit because I had to consciously remember who that was supposed to be. As for the story itself--the twist at the end is intriguing and I wouldn't mind reading more in that universe.
The rest of the stories fell rather flat for me, or just bored me. There's really no other way to explain it. Marco has an introduction that made me excited--he explains that for a college paper he was going to academically discuss Imaginary Friends influence, but couldn't find enough academic material to draw from (apparently no one does studies of this nature?). Years later the idea kept niggling at him until he finally decided to call upon fantasy writers to explore the idea and the ramifications. Some of the authors I think took it a lot looser than he meant while others I think didn't grasp why imaginary friends are important.
I would say to read this if you happen upon it at the library or a friend lends it to you, I'm not entirely certain its worth its cover price.
February 26, 2009
I really only liked Anne Bishop's story in this anthology, "Stands a God Within the Shadows." I thought Bishop's story was both a very interesting take on the what-constitutes-imaginary? theme, which pretty much threads the entire anthology, and a very clever reimagining on more familiar story tropes. Four stars for that story.
A couple other stories were cute, but they weren't great: maybe three stars for these. I enjoyed Jean Rabe's "Neither," but, as the story followed closely after Rick Hautala's "A Good Day for Dragons" and both stories had the same twist ending, "Neither" fell a little flat (which is a pity, as I thought Rabe wrote a better take on the twist and should therefore have been placed before Hautala's story within the anthology). I also found Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Say Hello to My Little Friend" kind of fun, but Rusch's protagonist was pretty one-note and the story itself didn't really go anywhere. (For a much better and far more interesting take on a bartender tale, track down Tanya Huff's "I Knew a Guy Once." It's in both the anthology Space Inc. and Huff's story collection Finding Magic .)
None of the other ten stories held my interest and generally failed to attract it. Two stars for the overall anthology.
A couple other stories were cute, but they weren't great: maybe three stars for these. I enjoyed Jean Rabe's "Neither," but, as the story followed closely after Rick Hautala's "A Good Day for Dragons" and both stories had the same twist ending, "Neither" fell a little flat (which is a pity, as I thought Rabe wrote a better take on the twist and should therefore have been placed before Hautala's story within the anthology). I also found Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Say Hello to My Little Friend" kind of fun, but Rusch's protagonist was pretty one-note and the story itself didn't really go anywhere. (For a much better and far more interesting take on a bartender tale, track down Tanya Huff's "I Knew a Guy Once." It's in both the anthology Space Inc. and Huff's story collection Finding Magic .)
None of the other ten stories held my interest and generally failed to attract it. Two stars for the overall anthology.
May 9, 2012
This was a fairly good selection of short stories with an interesting theme to tie them all together. Perhaps the most interesting part of the book for me was seeing how each author put a different spin on the imaginary friends idea and made it his/her own. Some stories contain the traditional idea of an imaginary friend, some twist it totally around, while still others go on an entirely different track altogether. Stories that stood out the most for me were: A Good Day for Dragons by Rick Hautala, Best Friends Forever by Tim Waggoner, and The Big Exit by Bill Fawcett. Overall, the stories included in this collection are decent, but it's not as strong as "Army of the Fantastic" also edited by John Marco (who I might add also writes a very strong introduction in this book explaining the idea behind the theme of the book.)
June 6, 2010
As with all anthologies this book has both good stories and less interesting stories, but all in all it was a great read, although at times very sad as you could expect from a subject like this.
My favourite stories were:
- ‘Stands a God Within the Shadows’ by Anne Bishop - An original and touching take on the Lady of Shalott story
- ‘Say Hello to My Little Friend’ by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - A disaster dating story, very funny in my opinion
- ‘Suburban Legend’ by Donald J. Bingle - About the nastiest imaginary friends you can have
- ‘Greg and Eli’ by Paul Genesse - A young boy finds the best friend he could ever have
- ‘Images of Death’ by Jim C. Hines - A woman’s struggle to deal with Death
My favourite stories were:
- ‘Stands a God Within the Shadows’ by Anne Bishop - An original and touching take on the Lady of Shalott story
- ‘Say Hello to My Little Friend’ by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - A disaster dating story, very funny in my opinion
- ‘Suburban Legend’ by Donald J. Bingle - About the nastiest imaginary friends you can have
- ‘Greg and Eli’ by Paul Genesse - A young boy finds the best friend he could ever have
- ‘Images of Death’ by Jim C. Hines - A woman’s struggle to deal with Death
June 12, 2010
I wasn't so sure about the concept of the collection, thinking it might be a bit too full of bittersweet childhood experiences to be of lot interest to me, but some of the authors made up for the average writing of others by a long shot. Its not what i would call light reading but its really not too muddled up and trying to impress with big words of philosophy without offering the enjoyment of a good read.
April 22, 2010
I picked up this book because it had a short story by Anne Bishop in it, which turned out to be completely different (yet excellent) than I expected. Each story is about an imaginary friend/creature of some sort, of the power of imagination vs reality, and about relationships. If you like short stories - and don't mind creepy/sad ones - this is a really good anthology.
July 14, 2013
I was surprised at how creepy some of the stories were. Gee, so much for the cover promoting "fond memories" of imaginary friends. No wonder I found it in the dollar rack at a salvage store.....
Regardless of my disapointment at the lack of "fondness", the stories offer a wide variety of writers interpretations of the theme that are indeed often compelling and entertaining. I did enjoy it!
Regardless of my disapointment at the lack of "fondness", the stories offer a wide variety of writers interpretations of the theme that are indeed often compelling and entertaining. I did enjoy it!
October 14, 2011
I enjoyed many of the stories in this book immensely, and some were just so so. The ones at the end seemed to not be as good as the ones in the begining but there are some real gems here. I recommend if you like short stories.
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August 28, 2012My story in this anthology, "Suburban Legend," is longer and darker than most of my stories.
July 3, 2016
Stands a God Within the Shadows - Anne Bishop
(in the anthology Imaginary Friends, ed. John Marco)
Short story; Fantasy; 7/10
(in the anthology Imaginary Friends, ed. John Marco)
Short story; Fantasy; 7/10
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews