What do you think?
Rate this book
Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane
They gather in darkness, sharing ancient and arcane knowledge as they manipulate the very matter of reality itself. Spells and conjuration; legerdemain and prestidigitation – these are the mistresses and masters of the esoteric arts. Magic comes alive in their hands. British Fantasy Award nominee, Jonathan Oliver, gathers together sixteen stories of magic, featuring some of today’s finest practitioners.
contents:
Introduction by Jonathan Oliver
If I Die, Kill my cat by Sarah Lotz
The Wrong Fairy by Audrey Niffenegger
Shuffle by Will Hill
Domestic Magic by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
Cad Coddeu by Liz Williams
Party Tricks by Dan Abnett
First and Last and Always by Thana Niveau
The Art of Escapology by Alison Littlewood
The Baby by Christopher Fowler
Do as Thou Wilt by Storm Constantine
Bottom Line by Lou Morgan
MailerDaemon by Sophia McDougall
Buttons by Gail Z. Martin
Nanny Grey by Gemma Files
Dumb Lucy by Robert Shearman
contents:
Introduction by Jonathan Oliver
If I Die, Kill my cat by Sarah Lotz
The Wrong Fairy by Audrey Niffenegger
Shuffle by Will Hill
Domestic Magic by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
Cad Coddeu by Liz Williams
Party Tricks by Dan Abnett
First and Last and Always by Thana Niveau
The Art of Escapology by Alison Littlewood
The Baby by Christopher Fowler
Do as Thou Wilt by Storm Constantine
Bottom Line by Lou Morgan
MailerDaemon by Sophia McDougall
Buttons by Gail Z. Martin
Nanny Grey by Gemma Files
Dumb Lucy by Robert Shearman
278 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 2012
25 people are currently reading
644 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Oliver
42 books34 followersJonathan Oliver is the British Fantasy Award winning editor of Magic, House of Fear, End of the Line, End of the Road, World War Cthulhu, Five Stories High and Dangerous Games. He is the author of the collection The Language of Beasts, out now from Black Shuck Books.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
October 30, 2012
As a hardcore fantasy reader magic is part and parcel of my reading and I consider a well-thought-out and realised magic system as a thing of beauty. So an anthology based around the concept of magic had to be something I enjoyed. So, you'll probably be unsurprised to discover that I did enjoy Magic: An Anthology Of The Esoteric And Arcane quite a lot. What surprised me was that, while magic is the common denominator in all of these stories, no two forms of magic are the same and in some of them it's more pervasive than in others. There is also a rather amazing diversity of settings and not all of these are fantasy, some are horror! Most, if not all, are set in the 'real' world, even if that world is pervaded by the magical or supernatural.
I first learned of this anthology when Solaris announced they had snagged Audrey Niffenegger to be one of its contributors. Her name drew my attention, not because I'd read any of her work before, but because she's one of those rare genre beasts, an author who is embraced by the mainstream. So much so, that I hadn't even realized that she was a genre writer. I do hope her inclusion here will prompt some non-genre readers to pick up this anthology and discover that speculative fiction isn't as scary a ghetto as they might think. Niffenegger's story The Wrong Fairy was inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle's father and, while enjoyable and well-written, it isn't my favourite out of the bunch. Another author with an outside-genre draw is Christopher Fowler. His story The Baby – about a teen girl that gets in over her head and her struggle with her unwanted pregnancy after being raped – was eerily timely given some of the utter bile that was spilled during the US Presidential campaign recently. Liz Williams' Cad Coddeu was a lovely fantasy, with mythical overtones, which I enjoyed very much. All three of these were solid, enjoyable stories, but they kind of stuck around in the middle for me.
Every anthology has hits and misses. Often these differ from reader to reader. The misses in this one for me were Will Hill's Shuffle, Thana Niveau's First and Last and Always, Gemma Files' Nanny Grey, and Robert Shearman's Dumb Lucy. Hill's Shuffle just confused me and while I liked the cards angle and the prose, I didn't get drawn in enough to try and make sense of the story. Robert Shearman's Dumb Lucy had a similar effect, though this time I liked the atmosphere and the characters, but was completely confused by the setting – was it Earth or second-world? Past or future? – and the ending. Thana Niveau's story had an interesting concept with its idea of love charms gone wrong, but it just didn't ring my bell; for some reason neither Tamsin nor Nicky made me care and thus the story's ending lacked impact for me. The one story that just didn't do it at all for me was Gemma Files' Nanny Grey. It just left me cold, the characters were unsympathetic and the twist in the story just turned into a knot for me.
Then there were several stories I connected to but where the ending just let them down, either because I wanted more from that final scene, I didn't want to leave the characters or the ending just confused me. Steve and Melanie Tem's Domestic Magic rather broke my heart and Felix got under my skin immediately, with his quite crackpot mum and his handful of a little sister, who he feels is very much his responsibility. I really loved this story and I just didn't want to leave Felix and Margaret. I wanted to follow along and find out that they were safe and they would have a happy ending. So Domestic Magic wasn't a bad story at all. On the contrary it did its job too well and didn't let me go. The ending to Alison Littlewood's Art of Escapology similarly left me wanting. I really enjoyed the premise and the haunting, but the final scene ended rather on a fizzle than a bang for me and I kind of felt deflated by it. Dan Abnett's Party Tricks played off its prestige too well. I thoroughly enjoyed the politicking and the rather old-fashioned feel of the writing, though that might be due more to the fact that our narrator is one of the upper class old-boys network and this is reflected in his manner of speech, than to the fact that Abnett meant it to feel old-fashioned. I was really drawn into the story and while I understood the twist end, it just left me going uh what? How did he do that? And this feeling of confusion stayed with me rather than the enjoyment I got from the rest of the story.
For me, the hits of Magic were the stories written by Sarah Lotz, Storm Constantine, Lou Morgan, Sophia McDougall and Gail Z. Martin. Lotz' South African crime scene cleaners were awesome and the story was many-layered, from the straight-up mystery itself, to the underlying themes of rejecting one's own heritage for another, to the wish to protect the innocent, in this case the cat. I think If I Die, Kill My Cat is a story that will lend itself to rereading beautifully, revealing more with repetition. Storm Constantine's Do as Thou Wilt is a gorgeous story of traditional witchery, a lover's revenge and a philanderer's just deserts. I really enjoyed Leah's cynical outlook on love and her way of making Carol's wish come true. From what I've read from Lou Morgan, I loved her novel Blood and Feathers , but her short story in Stories of the Apocalypse lost me with its ending, so I was curious to see how I would enjoy Bottom Line. This story of addiction, redemption and self-sacrifice was amazing and this time I followed Morgan all the way to a hallelujah. From the same Pandemonium anthology previously mentioned, came my only previous encountering of Sophia McDougall's writing. I fell in love with her story there and I loved her MailerDaemon here. McDougall reinforces her first impression of being a superb writer with a distinctive turn of phrase. Lastly I was taken by surprise by Gail Z. Martin's Buttons. What an absolutely charming story, that I couldn't help but love. I was pleased to read an interview with Martin on the Solaris' blog where she reveals having written numerous short stories in her Deadly Curiosities universe, which means there's more to discover with these characters and I can hold out hope for a Deadly Curiosities collection or even novel!
Overall the hits outnumbered the misses and I really enjoyed the time I spent with Magic: An Anthology Of The Esoteric And Arcane. Jonathan Oliver delivers a great collection of stories, that forms a great introduction to these writers and I know there are several whose other works I'll seek out given half a chance! For a diverse take on the idea of magic in all its incarnations, Magic: An Anthology Of The Esoteric And Arcane is as far as you need to look. It ranges far and wide on the thaumaturgical scale, but it has magic in spades.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
I first learned of this anthology when Solaris announced they had snagged Audrey Niffenegger to be one of its contributors. Her name drew my attention, not because I'd read any of her work before, but because she's one of those rare genre beasts, an author who is embraced by the mainstream. So much so, that I hadn't even realized that she was a genre writer. I do hope her inclusion here will prompt some non-genre readers to pick up this anthology and discover that speculative fiction isn't as scary a ghetto as they might think. Niffenegger's story The Wrong Fairy was inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle's father and, while enjoyable and well-written, it isn't my favourite out of the bunch. Another author with an outside-genre draw is Christopher Fowler. His story The Baby – about a teen girl that gets in over her head and her struggle with her unwanted pregnancy after being raped – was eerily timely given some of the utter bile that was spilled during the US Presidential campaign recently. Liz Williams' Cad Coddeu was a lovely fantasy, with mythical overtones, which I enjoyed very much. All three of these were solid, enjoyable stories, but they kind of stuck around in the middle for me.
Every anthology has hits and misses. Often these differ from reader to reader. The misses in this one for me were Will Hill's Shuffle, Thana Niveau's First and Last and Always, Gemma Files' Nanny Grey, and Robert Shearman's Dumb Lucy. Hill's Shuffle just confused me and while I liked the cards angle and the prose, I didn't get drawn in enough to try and make sense of the story. Robert Shearman's Dumb Lucy had a similar effect, though this time I liked the atmosphere and the characters, but was completely confused by the setting – was it Earth or second-world? Past or future? – and the ending. Thana Niveau's story had an interesting concept with its idea of love charms gone wrong, but it just didn't ring my bell; for some reason neither Tamsin nor Nicky made me care and thus the story's ending lacked impact for me. The one story that just didn't do it at all for me was Gemma Files' Nanny Grey. It just left me cold, the characters were unsympathetic and the twist in the story just turned into a knot for me.
Then there were several stories I connected to but where the ending just let them down, either because I wanted more from that final scene, I didn't want to leave the characters or the ending just confused me. Steve and Melanie Tem's Domestic Magic rather broke my heart and Felix got under my skin immediately, with his quite crackpot mum and his handful of a little sister, who he feels is very much his responsibility. I really loved this story and I just didn't want to leave Felix and Margaret. I wanted to follow along and find out that they were safe and they would have a happy ending. So Domestic Magic wasn't a bad story at all. On the contrary it did its job too well and didn't let me go. The ending to Alison Littlewood's Art of Escapology similarly left me wanting. I really enjoyed the premise and the haunting, but the final scene ended rather on a fizzle than a bang for me and I kind of felt deflated by it. Dan Abnett's Party Tricks played off its prestige too well. I thoroughly enjoyed the politicking and the rather old-fashioned feel of the writing, though that might be due more to the fact that our narrator is one of the upper class old-boys network and this is reflected in his manner of speech, than to the fact that Abnett meant it to feel old-fashioned. I was really drawn into the story and while I understood the twist end, it just left me going uh what? How did he do that? And this feeling of confusion stayed with me rather than the enjoyment I got from the rest of the story.
For me, the hits of Magic were the stories written by Sarah Lotz, Storm Constantine, Lou Morgan, Sophia McDougall and Gail Z. Martin. Lotz' South African crime scene cleaners were awesome and the story was many-layered, from the straight-up mystery itself, to the underlying themes of rejecting one's own heritage for another, to the wish to protect the innocent, in this case the cat. I think If I Die, Kill My Cat is a story that will lend itself to rereading beautifully, revealing more with repetition. Storm Constantine's Do as Thou Wilt is a gorgeous story of traditional witchery, a lover's revenge and a philanderer's just deserts. I really enjoyed Leah's cynical outlook on love and her way of making Carol's wish come true. From what I've read from Lou Morgan, I loved her novel Blood and Feathers , but her short story in Stories of the Apocalypse lost me with its ending, so I was curious to see how I would enjoy Bottom Line. This story of addiction, redemption and self-sacrifice was amazing and this time I followed Morgan all the way to a hallelujah. From the same Pandemonium anthology previously mentioned, came my only previous encountering of Sophia McDougall's writing. I fell in love with her story there and I loved her MailerDaemon here. McDougall reinforces her first impression of being a superb writer with a distinctive turn of phrase. Lastly I was taken by surprise by Gail Z. Martin's Buttons. What an absolutely charming story, that I couldn't help but love. I was pleased to read an interview with Martin on the Solaris' blog where she reveals having written numerous short stories in her Deadly Curiosities universe, which means there's more to discover with these characters and I can hold out hope for a Deadly Curiosities collection or even novel!
Overall the hits outnumbered the misses and I really enjoyed the time I spent with Magic: An Anthology Of The Esoteric And Arcane. Jonathan Oliver delivers a great collection of stories, that forms a great introduction to these writers and I know there are several whose other works I'll seek out given half a chance! For a diverse take on the idea of magic in all its incarnations, Magic: An Anthology Of The Esoteric And Arcane is as far as you need to look. It ranges far and wide on the thaumaturgical scale, but it has magic in spades.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
March 25, 2020
Review written in 2012.
Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane presents ‘fifteen new stories of the sorcerous arts’ from a series of different fantasy authors. Among the contributors are Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveller’s Wife, award winning comic book writer Dan Abnett, Sarah Lotz, a screenwriter with ‘a fondness for the macabre’, and Doctor Who writer Robert Shearman.
The volume has been edited by Jonathan Oliver, who states in his introduction that ‘you will find much about the magical arts that may not be familiar to you within these pages’. His aim is ‘not to fulfil your expectations but exceed and confound them’. A whole host of elements have been woven into the bare bones of the stories, from fairies to sibling rivalry, and from gambling to murder. They are told from the first person perspective and the third. They are modern and old fashioned in their form and style. Some feel realistic and some do not. Some of the stories jump out and grab you, and others merely make you jump. They are thought provoking, inventive, creative and often creepy.
The stories begin with ‘The Wrong Fairy’ by Audrey Niffenegger, who ‘takes the father of a very famous writer’, in this case Arthur Conan Doyle’s, ‘and explores the nature of his “illness”’. The said father, an alcoholic, is being looked after at the Montrose Royal Lunatic Asylum. Whilst the author’s prose is relatively simplistic at first, it becomes an incredibly useful mechanism to describe his ‘horrors’: ‘He was infested by insects that marched across the underside of his skin like directionless armies. He could feel each tiny foot as it touched each nerve… People stood by his bed and whispered. Someone said, “… seizures”. They put something cold and hard in his mouth’. Niffenegger builds up the terror of the situation incredibly well, and the world which shifts around the protagonist is clearly one which has been built by his own imagination. It is clever and creative with echoes rather reminiscent of the more bizarre twists and turns in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and provides a great way to start such a short story collection.
Will Hill’s story, ‘Shuffle’, is told in a series of short, separate paragraphs and revolves around the life of an unnamed casino worker. We as readers are drip fed information, some of it startling. A sleight of hand card trick is presented alongside an horrific event: ‘“I can’t remember anything”... No one who came up out of the cellar is talking. Erin and Adam are catatonic, Chris is on life support somewhere in the hospital, and Johnny and Alice are dead. My word is gospel’. The story is told out of sequence, so we are aware of the outcome of the situation before we learn what has happened to lead the characters to such an ending. Hill’s story is cleverly written and well plotted.
In their tale ‘Domestic Magic’, Melanie Tem and Steve Rasnic Tem create a story based around a young boy named Felix, who is irked by the very existence of his troublesome young sister, and by the world around him: ‘Felix didn’t believe in evil spirits but he did believe in germs’. The children’s mother – ‘too crazy for the crazies’ - is a witchlike being, the narrator tells us: ‘She preferred [to be called] “seer” or “person of powers”, so he [Felix] made a point of thinking “witch” in case she could maybe read his mind’. The characters in this story and the relationships between them have been so well drawn, and the negative effects of having no fixed abode and having to cope with very little money are discussed in surprisingly great detail for such a short piece of fiction.
As with such a collection, some of the stories are inevitably stronger than others, but the volume itself works well as a whole. The tales themselves have been well ordered.
Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane presents ‘fifteen new stories of the sorcerous arts’ from a series of different fantasy authors. Among the contributors are Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveller’s Wife, award winning comic book writer Dan Abnett, Sarah Lotz, a screenwriter with ‘a fondness for the macabre’, and Doctor Who writer Robert Shearman.
The volume has been edited by Jonathan Oliver, who states in his introduction that ‘you will find much about the magical arts that may not be familiar to you within these pages’. His aim is ‘not to fulfil your expectations but exceed and confound them’. A whole host of elements have been woven into the bare bones of the stories, from fairies to sibling rivalry, and from gambling to murder. They are told from the first person perspective and the third. They are modern and old fashioned in their form and style. Some feel realistic and some do not. Some of the stories jump out and grab you, and others merely make you jump. They are thought provoking, inventive, creative and often creepy.
The stories begin with ‘The Wrong Fairy’ by Audrey Niffenegger, who ‘takes the father of a very famous writer’, in this case Arthur Conan Doyle’s, ‘and explores the nature of his “illness”’. The said father, an alcoholic, is being looked after at the Montrose Royal Lunatic Asylum. Whilst the author’s prose is relatively simplistic at first, it becomes an incredibly useful mechanism to describe his ‘horrors’: ‘He was infested by insects that marched across the underside of his skin like directionless armies. He could feel each tiny foot as it touched each nerve… People stood by his bed and whispered. Someone said, “… seizures”. They put something cold and hard in his mouth’. Niffenegger builds up the terror of the situation incredibly well, and the world which shifts around the protagonist is clearly one which has been built by his own imagination. It is clever and creative with echoes rather reminiscent of the more bizarre twists and turns in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and provides a great way to start such a short story collection.
Will Hill’s story, ‘Shuffle’, is told in a series of short, separate paragraphs and revolves around the life of an unnamed casino worker. We as readers are drip fed information, some of it startling. A sleight of hand card trick is presented alongside an horrific event: ‘“I can’t remember anything”... No one who came up out of the cellar is talking. Erin and Adam are catatonic, Chris is on life support somewhere in the hospital, and Johnny and Alice are dead. My word is gospel’. The story is told out of sequence, so we are aware of the outcome of the situation before we learn what has happened to lead the characters to such an ending. Hill’s story is cleverly written and well plotted.
In their tale ‘Domestic Magic’, Melanie Tem and Steve Rasnic Tem create a story based around a young boy named Felix, who is irked by the very existence of his troublesome young sister, and by the world around him: ‘Felix didn’t believe in evil spirits but he did believe in germs’. The children’s mother – ‘too crazy for the crazies’ - is a witchlike being, the narrator tells us: ‘She preferred [to be called] “seer” or “person of powers”, so he [Felix] made a point of thinking “witch” in case she could maybe read his mind’. The characters in this story and the relationships between them have been so well drawn, and the negative effects of having no fixed abode and having to cope with very little money are discussed in surprisingly great detail for such a short piece of fiction.
As with such a collection, some of the stories are inevitably stronger than others, but the volume itself works well as a whole. The tales themselves have been well ordered.
July 3, 2015
This is going to be a long one, as I'll be reviewing each of the 15 stories, individually and then my generalized thoughts on the book as a whole. *takes a deep breath* well, here we go!
-The wrong fairy~Audrey Niffenegger
2/5*~ So, it seems this was following the artist father of Arthur Conan Doyle (Tess of the Baskervills, Sherlock, etc) who was sen to another asylum for his alcohol abuse. Although I imagine it was supposed to be a haunting and sad, but beautiful, tale I think it was too short to be able to expand on that notion and I didn't understand much of what happened. I found this to be a poor start to this collection.
-If I die, kill my cat~Sarah Lotz
1/5*~ Another disappointing short story as again, I found there just was not enough time to build characters and the world, however, saying that Neil Gaimen's short stories never fail to impress me, so clearly time shouldn't be an issue. I didn't understand a lot of the terminology, the setting or the point in two complete different things being smooshed together. The story didn't go anywhere and it ended abruptly and unsatisfying.
-Shuffle~Steve Hill
3/5*~ This was a strange one, more enjoyable than the first two because I was definitely intrigued by the air of mystery surrounding out protagonist, his tattoos and the strange events of what happened to his friends and how his tattoos increased. I would like to know more about this.
-Domestic Magic~Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
3.5/5*~ This was actually quite a sad story surrounding a small family with a seemingly crazed by magic mother. I enjoyed it, even though I sometimes felt a little disorientated and detached. but thought that the story premise was rather unique. The fact that this witchcraft magic takes place in a very poor and dysfunctional family is really interesting and it was sweet that Felix looked after his eight year old sister, Margret, when she was troubled and tried to find the magic, knowing things were not right in their lives and wanting always to escape.
-Cad Codeu~Liz Williams
4/5*~ This was a really enjoyable red and more to the nature of the more traditional, fantastical pieces I prefer, due to the mythical feel to it. It did not have much of a strong plot, however I found myself really enjoying it, the writing style, the mystical creatures of the wood and the initial confusion of our protagonist.
-Party Tricks~Dan Abnett
2/5*~ Although this story was solely about politics and mysterious trickery, something I have no interest in at all, I did find it to be an easier read that I had anticipated. Nevertheless, I did glaze over quite a portion of this short story, again due to it's content just not sparking my interest.
-First and Last and Always~Thana Niveau
5/5*~ This didn't fit in with the more 'subtle' magic in this collection, but it's something I enjoyed all the same because of it's teenage, silly protagonist, being stalkerish... And then it got creepy. Yes, if it wasn't weird enough, wait until the ending. This story took a sinister turn and being longer than some of the other stories, I feel like it had the sufficient time for the plot to go somewhere, have some character building and end properly. For a short story, especially in comparison with the others in this collection, it was really good and I think the little synopsis at the beginning, written by the editor- the guy who compiled these stories together, really summed it up well.
-The art of escapology~Alison Littlewood
4/5*~ This seemed to be more aimed at younger children because of the style of writing used, but enjoyable nevertheless. It was cute seeing how full of belief Tommy was filled with for magic and rather dark and depressing to see it turn into fear, when situations aroused, and slowly turn to a dull and bitter indifference.
-The baby~Christopher Fowler
4.5/5*~ At first I thought I was going to be incredibly frightened by this story, but when I began to read how our main character, Sasha, immaturely felt about things and eagerly acted upon them I thought it was going to be a poorly written story, I was so very wrong! As events got darker and more menacing, I found myself gripped to this short story, that although short indeed, the way it was plotted out gave us time to explore the happenings. Although the events were disturbing, it was not near as 'horrifying' as the book's editor, Jonathan Oliver, claims it to be and I found the writing not as adult as I had expected.
-Do as thou wilt~Storm Constantine
4/5*~ This read was another enjoyable one and took more of an eerily revenge plot. I liked the characters in it as, given the subject matter, they all seemed realistic. I found myself confused if some of the terms the characters used had literal meaning or spiritual, metaphorical meaning though.
-Bottom line~Lou Morgan
5/5*~ What a great story! Morgan's writing was just liquid gold and the way this story was told was just splendid. The plot is about our main character having to tread carefully where magic in concerned, but also having to deal with the painful temptation gnawing at his mind- Oh, and the mafia-like-''magicians'' trailing after him. I haven't read anything like this before and found the story behind the magic just great when it was explained. It made for some great character development. I'll have to check out more stories from this author.
-Mailerdaemon~Sofia McDougall
5/5*~ This was a great read. AT first, I didn't really get where it was going and although I still carried this cloud of confusion- especially when programming was mentioned- I ended up loving this story about a young woman plagued by nightmares. I grew rather attached to Grace and Luke and I found the ending was satisfying, yet oddly sad because in a way, Grace is left with this Earthly eternal task and she is sometimes still troubled by her dreams. This stories pace was very regular for the most part, aside from situations (between Grace and Jawad) where I felt things were rushed.
-Buttons~Gail Z. Martin
4/5*~ What another enjoyable read! Despite the writing style not being spectacular the story was story was still endearing. I think I mainly enjoyed the premise surrounding our protagonist's work in an antique shop and how her magic assists her there. The story whittled own to one threatening plot and it was really strong, with an ending that had great closure.
-Nanny Grey~Gemma Files
2/5*~ This could have been really good with the type of theme used, however, I found it extremely nonsensical and ultimately, the direction it headed ended up nowhere.
-Dumb Lucy~Robert Shearman
4/5*~ I'm not really sure I understood this story. I feel as though it had some great depth to it that I just couldn't fathom. In saying this though, I found the writing and story beautifully sad~ It was one of those stories that made my heart ache and I wish I understood it on a larger level. A cool point is the author was the guy who wrote the episode where the Daleks were reintroduced, in Doctor Who.
I ended up quite liking this collection of short stories over all and it has broadened my reading horizons to some new authors I had never read from, before. I liked the pretty chapter headers, but not sure I get the illustrations/cover art- I could hazard a guess that they belong to a particular tale featured, but wouldn't be able to say which ones.
Pick it up, give it a go enjoy!
Gén
-The wrong fairy~Audrey Niffenegger
2/5*~ So, it seems this was following the artist father of Arthur Conan Doyle (Tess of the Baskervills, Sherlock, etc) who was sen to another asylum for his alcohol abuse. Although I imagine it was supposed to be a haunting and sad, but beautiful, tale I think it was too short to be able to expand on that notion and I didn't understand much of what happened. I found this to be a poor start to this collection.
-If I die, kill my cat~Sarah Lotz
1/5*~ Another disappointing short story as again, I found there just was not enough time to build characters and the world, however, saying that Neil Gaimen's short stories never fail to impress me, so clearly time shouldn't be an issue. I didn't understand a lot of the terminology, the setting or the point in two complete different things being smooshed together. The story didn't go anywhere and it ended abruptly and unsatisfying.
-Shuffle~Steve Hill
3/5*~ This was a strange one, more enjoyable than the first two because I was definitely intrigued by the air of mystery surrounding out protagonist, his tattoos and the strange events of what happened to his friends and how his tattoos increased. I would like to know more about this.
-Domestic Magic~Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
3.5/5*~ This was actually quite a sad story surrounding a small family with a seemingly crazed by magic mother. I enjoyed it, even though I sometimes felt a little disorientated and detached. but thought that the story premise was rather unique. The fact that this witchcraft magic takes place in a very poor and dysfunctional family is really interesting and it was sweet that Felix looked after his eight year old sister, Margret, when she was troubled and tried to find the magic, knowing things were not right in their lives and wanting always to escape.
-Cad Codeu~Liz Williams
4/5*~ This was a really enjoyable red and more to the nature of the more traditional, fantastical pieces I prefer, due to the mythical feel to it. It did not have much of a strong plot, however I found myself really enjoying it, the writing style, the mystical creatures of the wood and the initial confusion of our protagonist.
-Party Tricks~Dan Abnett
2/5*~ Although this story was solely about politics and mysterious trickery, something I have no interest in at all, I did find it to be an easier read that I had anticipated. Nevertheless, I did glaze over quite a portion of this short story, again due to it's content just not sparking my interest.
-First and Last and Always~Thana Niveau
5/5*~ This didn't fit in with the more 'subtle' magic in this collection, but it's something I enjoyed all the same because of it's teenage, silly protagonist, being stalkerish... And then it got creepy. Yes, if it wasn't weird enough, wait until the ending. This story took a sinister turn and being longer than some of the other stories, I feel like it had the sufficient time for the plot to go somewhere, have some character building and end properly. For a short story, especially in comparison with the others in this collection, it was really good and I think the little synopsis at the beginning, written by the editor- the guy who compiled these stories together, really summed it up well.
-The art of escapology~Alison Littlewood
4/5*~ This seemed to be more aimed at younger children because of the style of writing used, but enjoyable nevertheless. It was cute seeing how full of belief Tommy was filled with for magic and rather dark and depressing to see it turn into fear, when situations aroused, and slowly turn to a dull and bitter indifference.
-The baby~Christopher Fowler
4.5/5*~ At first I thought I was going to be incredibly frightened by this story, but when I began to read how our main character, Sasha, immaturely felt about things and eagerly acted upon them I thought it was going to be a poorly written story, I was so very wrong! As events got darker and more menacing, I found myself gripped to this short story, that although short indeed, the way it was plotted out gave us time to explore the happenings. Although the events were disturbing, it was not near as 'horrifying' as the book's editor, Jonathan Oliver, claims it to be and I found the writing not as adult as I had expected.
-Do as thou wilt~Storm Constantine
4/5*~ This read was another enjoyable one and took more of an eerily revenge plot. I liked the characters in it as, given the subject matter, they all seemed realistic. I found myself confused if some of the terms the characters used had literal meaning or spiritual, metaphorical meaning though.
-Bottom line~Lou Morgan
5/5*~ What a great story! Morgan's writing was just liquid gold and the way this story was told was just splendid. The plot is about our main character having to tread carefully where magic in concerned, but also having to deal with the painful temptation gnawing at his mind- Oh, and the mafia-like-''magicians'' trailing after him. I haven't read anything like this before and found the story behind the magic just great when it was explained. It made for some great character development. I'll have to check out more stories from this author.
-Mailerdaemon~Sofia McDougall
5/5*~ This was a great read. AT first, I didn't really get where it was going and although I still carried this cloud of confusion- especially when programming was mentioned- I ended up loving this story about a young woman plagued by nightmares. I grew rather attached to Grace and Luke and I found the ending was satisfying, yet oddly sad because in a way, Grace is left with this Earthly eternal task and she is sometimes still troubled by her dreams. This stories pace was very regular for the most part, aside from situations (between Grace and Jawad) where I felt things were rushed.
-Buttons~Gail Z. Martin
4/5*~ What another enjoyable read! Despite the writing style not being spectacular the story was story was still endearing. I think I mainly enjoyed the premise surrounding our protagonist's work in an antique shop and how her magic assists her there. The story whittled own to one threatening plot and it was really strong, with an ending that had great closure.
-Nanny Grey~Gemma Files
2/5*~ This could have been really good with the type of theme used, however, I found it extremely nonsensical and ultimately, the direction it headed ended up nowhere.
-Dumb Lucy~Robert Shearman
4/5*~ I'm not really sure I understood this story. I feel as though it had some great depth to it that I just couldn't fathom. In saying this though, I found the writing and story beautifully sad~ It was one of those stories that made my heart ache and I wish I understood it on a larger level. A cool point is the author was the guy who wrote the episode where the Daleks were reintroduced, in Doctor Who.
I ended up quite liking this collection of short stories over all and it has broadened my reading horizons to some new authors I had never read from, before. I liked the pretty chapter headers, but not sure I get the illustrations/cover art- I could hazard a guess that they belong to a particular tale featured, but wouldn't be able to say which ones.
Pick it up, give it a go enjoy!
Gén
January 14, 2015
Some good stories, some merely average (none were actually bad).
My personal favourites were by Dan Abnett, Thana Niveau, Alison Littleood, Sophia McDougall and Robert Shearman.
My personal favourites were by Dan Abnett, Thana Niveau, Alison Littleood, Sophia McDougall and Robert Shearman.
November 5, 2012
Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, edited by Jonathan Oliver, is a collection of 15 short stories of magical mayhem.
It's one of the most exciting anthologies I've picked up in a long time and is a must-have for any esoteric or occult fiction collection.
My favorite tale of the collection was by The Time Traveller's Wife author Audrey Niffenegger. Her story, The Wrong Fairy, is simply luscious, and details the conversations between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's father and a messenger from the fairy realm. Niffenegger's fairies reminded me of the beautiful and terrible creatures imagined by Susanna Clarke in her novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel which was just as sublime to read.
Another favorite was by fellow South African author Sarah Lotz. Her thrill-a-minute story, If I die, kill my cat, drew on everything from African magic to paganism. The scriptwriter and crime author has a knack for keeping readers hooked from start to finish with her action packed scenes and punchy dialogue.
A third story that stood out for me was First and last and always by Thana Niveau which provided a brilliantly wry example of why people shouldn't dabble in magic. The twist will stay with you long after you've put the book down.
Other contributors include, among others, Will Hill, Dan Abnett, Storm Constantine and Gemma Files.
Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane is a carefully compiled; smart read that you will probably pick up again and again.
It's one of the most exciting anthologies I've picked up in a long time and is a must-have for any esoteric or occult fiction collection.
My favorite tale of the collection was by The Time Traveller's Wife author Audrey Niffenegger. Her story, The Wrong Fairy, is simply luscious, and details the conversations between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's father and a messenger from the fairy realm. Niffenegger's fairies reminded me of the beautiful and terrible creatures imagined by Susanna Clarke in her novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel which was just as sublime to read.
Another favorite was by fellow South African author Sarah Lotz. Her thrill-a-minute story, If I die, kill my cat, drew on everything from African magic to paganism. The scriptwriter and crime author has a knack for keeping readers hooked from start to finish with her action packed scenes and punchy dialogue.
A third story that stood out for me was First and last and always by Thana Niveau which provided a brilliantly wry example of why people shouldn't dabble in magic. The twist will stay with you long after you've put the book down.
Other contributors include, among others, Will Hill, Dan Abnett, Storm Constantine and Gemma Files.
Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane is a carefully compiled; smart read that you will probably pick up again and again.
November 21, 2012
As a real lover of reading about magic in any way, shape or form in, any sort of setting, I was pretty excited at the concept of 16 different writers all contributing into one collection, including names that I hold in very high regard. The fact that Jonathan Oliver is the editor is also very noteworthy to me too considering how good a job he done in another collection called 'House of Fear using a haunted house to work along the same sort of lines.
The different takes on magic by each author are allvery much a stand alone effort in setting, ranging from love, superstition, the dark arts, Satanic influences, and a very romantic take on whether an experience was magic or the set in of a mental health problem, through to some more expected and traditional looks at the subject.
The problem I always tend to find in collections of short stories is the obvious possibility of a wide variety in quality, 'Magic' luckily does not suffer from any dips in this department at all, there are some surprising stand outs in there though, for me Audrey Niffenger's 'the wrong fairy' which is not the sort of tale I would have expected to be so taken by, a very short piece looking at the last days in the life of Conan Doyle's Father was by far the most memorable. All of this understandably will depend on personal taste but to my opinion if you are interested in novels based in any way on the subject of magic I can't see how you would be at all disappointed.
The different takes on magic by each author are allvery much a stand alone effort in setting, ranging from love, superstition, the dark arts, Satanic influences, and a very romantic take on whether an experience was magic or the set in of a mental health problem, through to some more expected and traditional looks at the subject.
The problem I always tend to find in collections of short stories is the obvious possibility of a wide variety in quality, 'Magic' luckily does not suffer from any dips in this department at all, there are some surprising stand outs in there though, for me Audrey Niffenger's 'the wrong fairy' which is not the sort of tale I would have expected to be so taken by, a very short piece looking at the last days in the life of Conan Doyle's Father was by far the most memorable. All of this understandably will depend on personal taste but to my opinion if you are interested in novels based in any way on the subject of magic I can't see how you would be at all disappointed.
November 27, 2012
An excellent collection, ranging from the bizarre to the downright threatening. Inevitably, within an anthology, some stories stick in the mind more than others. I particularly liked 'The Wrong Fairy' by Audrey Niffenegger (author of The Time Traveller's Wife), and 'Mailer Daemon' by Sophia McDougall, both of which were very well crafted and required minimal suspension of disbelief. Don't be put off by the ghoulish cover; there's quality writing inside.
January 5, 2014
Quick thoughts: This was picked up from the library on a whim. There were no weak links here. Every story was strong and gripping. I'm going to look into more collections by Jonathan Oliver and more work by some of the authors. I highly recommend this collection.
February 4, 2016
A really lovely collection of excellent and creepy shorts that don't take the obvious routes. Well worth looking up
January 10, 2016
This is Horror, Not Fantasy.
There is nothing wrong with horror as a genre. I'm just surprised that no one mentioned it in the descriptions. The editor talks a lot about "genre" fiction, and I was a bit confused at first because these stories are not like the fantasy genre I am used to. But once I realized they were horror genre I could see how they fit perfectly. Maybe it's just because I am a real Witch that the words: magic, esoteric, and arcane do not mean horror to me.
"The Wrong Fairy" by Audrey Niffenegger. I bought this book because it contained a story by her. This story is about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's father, who was an alcoholic and painted pictures of fairies. In the story a fairy appears to him while he is committed to a lunatic asylum to dry out, and the Queen of Fairies commissions him to paint pictures of her children. Which he does, until he dies. The facts of the story are essentially true. Charles Doyle was committed to Sunnyside for alcoholism and did draw and paint fairies.
"If I Die, Kill My Cat" by Sarah Lotz. A South African cleaner specializing and cleaning up after dead bodies finds a small black cat in the home of a dead Austrian Druid, and a strange note saying "If I die, kill my cat." She takes in the cat and soon people around her begin to have dangerous accidents. It seems that the government has hired Druids to remove bad luck from dangerous roads and that bad luck has to go somewhere.
"Shuffle" by Will Hill. This story has three parts. In the first part a young man and his friends summon a demon as joke that ends with with two of them dead. In the second part he plays blackjack in a casino and wins a lot of money. In the third part he plays three card Monty in the street and deliberately loses all the money he won. In the end we see what the demon gets out of it.
"Domestic Magic" by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem. A teenage boy complains that he has to take care of both his little sister and his crazy mom. But when his crazy mom puts his little sister in danger he has to do something to stop her.
"Cad Coddeu" by Liz Williams. A wild man who can't remember his own name sees a shape changer being chased by tree warriors and helps her escape an evil Druid.
"Party Tricks" by Dan Abnett. Political party politics is easier to manipulate if you are an immortal shape changing sorcerer.
"First and Last and Always" by Thana Niveau. Never do love spells!!! Ever!!!
"The Art of Escapology" by Alison Littlewood. I'm not sure that anyone really escapes in this story. If it were a hopeful fantasy story maybe the father wanted to escape and so he did. But it seems more like the father was possessed and kidnapped and never managed to escape.
"The Baby" by Christopher Fowler. I hope this story is a snapshot of how things used to be, and modern young girls don't have to go through this. This young girl makes bad choices and suffers the consequences. But really it's the adults who should have known better and are really responsible for what they do to her.
"Do as Thou Wilt" by Storm Constantine. I was pleasantly surprised by this story. A mature woman is recovering from a relationship with a man who is a psychic vampire. No fangs or blood. He just leaches the life force out of his victims. She got away but a friend of hers tells her the man is still out there doing the same thing to other women. At first she doesn't want to get involved, but in the end she takes steps to stop him. What I liked about this story is that it is entirely plausible. This sort of thing does happen in modern Wiccan circles and it would be handled in pretty much this way. The only part that was the least bit "supernatural" was the vision that the wife has at the end. And that is probable too. People do have visions like that. Whether you believe in them or not.
"Bottom Line" by Lou Morgan. I was a bit disappointed by this story. Magic as a destructive addiction. And one man's attempt, and failure, to escape.
"MailerDaemon" by Sophia McDougall. Grace is an unemployed computer programmer who suffers from nightmares. Her online friend Seven Magpies offers to send her a demon named Mr Levanter-Sleet who likes "girls in trouble" and doesn't like other demons, or boys. Grace accepts, and her nightmares go away. But when her boyfriend spends the night he gets nightmares and tries to kill himself. If Grace wants to be in a long term relationship with a man she needs to get rid of Mr Levanter-Sleet. I thought Seven Magpies was unnecessarily Fae. I mean was she really a child? or some supernatural creature? And why?
"Buttons" by Gail Z. Martin. Apparently this is a short story about some existing characters who live in Atlanta, Georgia, and dispose of dangerous artifacts for a living. In this case a button from a Civil War uniform leads to a haunted house and old magic gone wrong. Nice use of Voudoun as a solution to a problem.
"Nanny Grey" by Gemma Files. An unscrupulous young man gets fed to the family demon of a woman he tries to rob. Lots of hints at a back story but no explanation of what exactly the woman is getting out of her relationship with Nanny Grey, or why Nanny Grey is bound to her.
"Dumb Lucy" by Robert Shearman. A magician wanders a wasteland with a silent little girl doing magic tricks for what people they can find. Maybe. Or maybe he went insane after he abandoned his wife. I have no idea what is going on in this story.
There is nothing wrong with horror as a genre. I'm just surprised that no one mentioned it in the descriptions. The editor talks a lot about "genre" fiction, and I was a bit confused at first because these stories are not like the fantasy genre I am used to. But once I realized they were horror genre I could see how they fit perfectly. Maybe it's just because I am a real Witch that the words: magic, esoteric, and arcane do not mean horror to me.
"The Wrong Fairy" by Audrey Niffenegger. I bought this book because it contained a story by her. This story is about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's father, who was an alcoholic and painted pictures of fairies. In the story a fairy appears to him while he is committed to a lunatic asylum to dry out, and the Queen of Fairies commissions him to paint pictures of her children. Which he does, until he dies. The facts of the story are essentially true. Charles Doyle was committed to Sunnyside for alcoholism and did draw and paint fairies.
"If I Die, Kill My Cat" by Sarah Lotz. A South African cleaner specializing and cleaning up after dead bodies finds a small black cat in the home of a dead Austrian Druid, and a strange note saying "If I die, kill my cat." She takes in the cat and soon people around her begin to have dangerous accidents. It seems that the government has hired Druids to remove bad luck from dangerous roads and that bad luck has to go somewhere.
"Shuffle" by Will Hill. This story has three parts. In the first part a young man and his friends summon a demon as joke that ends with with two of them dead. In the second part he plays blackjack in a casino and wins a lot of money. In the third part he plays three card Monty in the street and deliberately loses all the money he won. In the end we see what the demon gets out of it.
"Domestic Magic" by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem. A teenage boy complains that he has to take care of both his little sister and his crazy mom. But when his crazy mom puts his little sister in danger he has to do something to stop her.
"Cad Coddeu" by Liz Williams. A wild man who can't remember his own name sees a shape changer being chased by tree warriors and helps her escape an evil Druid.
"Party Tricks" by Dan Abnett. Political party politics is easier to manipulate if you are an immortal shape changing sorcerer.
"First and Last and Always" by Thana Niveau. Never do love spells!!! Ever!!!
"The Art of Escapology" by Alison Littlewood. I'm not sure that anyone really escapes in this story. If it were a hopeful fantasy story maybe the father wanted to escape and so he did. But it seems more like the father was possessed and kidnapped and never managed to escape.
"The Baby" by Christopher Fowler. I hope this story is a snapshot of how things used to be, and modern young girls don't have to go through this. This young girl makes bad choices and suffers the consequences. But really it's the adults who should have known better and are really responsible for what they do to her.
"Do as Thou Wilt" by Storm Constantine. I was pleasantly surprised by this story. A mature woman is recovering from a relationship with a man who is a psychic vampire. No fangs or blood. He just leaches the life force out of his victims. She got away but a friend of hers tells her the man is still out there doing the same thing to other women. At first she doesn't want to get involved, but in the end she takes steps to stop him. What I liked about this story is that it is entirely plausible. This sort of thing does happen in modern Wiccan circles and it would be handled in pretty much this way. The only part that was the least bit "supernatural" was the vision that the wife has at the end. And that is probable too. People do have visions like that. Whether you believe in them or not.
"Bottom Line" by Lou Morgan. I was a bit disappointed by this story. Magic as a destructive addiction. And one man's attempt, and failure, to escape.
"MailerDaemon" by Sophia McDougall. Grace is an unemployed computer programmer who suffers from nightmares. Her online friend Seven Magpies offers to send her a demon named Mr Levanter-Sleet who likes "girls in trouble" and doesn't like other demons, or boys. Grace accepts, and her nightmares go away. But when her boyfriend spends the night he gets nightmares and tries to kill himself. If Grace wants to be in a long term relationship with a man she needs to get rid of Mr Levanter-Sleet. I thought Seven Magpies was unnecessarily Fae. I mean was she really a child? or some supernatural creature? And why?
"Buttons" by Gail Z. Martin. Apparently this is a short story about some existing characters who live in Atlanta, Georgia, and dispose of dangerous artifacts for a living. In this case a button from a Civil War uniform leads to a haunted house and old magic gone wrong. Nice use of Voudoun as a solution to a problem.
"Nanny Grey" by Gemma Files. An unscrupulous young man gets fed to the family demon of a woman he tries to rob. Lots of hints at a back story but no explanation of what exactly the woman is getting out of her relationship with Nanny Grey, or why Nanny Grey is bound to her.
"Dumb Lucy" by Robert Shearman. A magician wanders a wasteland with a silent little girl doing magic tricks for what people they can find. Maybe. Or maybe he went insane after he abandoned his wife. I have no idea what is going on in this story.
March 12, 2023
This book holds spooky stories written by various authors. Some of the tales are really good, but not the majority.
March 25, 2013
Described as "an anthology of the esoteric and arcane", this collection delivers just that, with settings ranging from out-and-out fantasy worlds where magic is accepted by all as part of life ("Cat Coddeau", "Buttons"), to the modern everyday ("The Art of Escapology", "Party Tricks"), where it is an unexpected disruption (welcome or not).
In the final story, "Dumb Lucy", these strands are brought together magnificently to create a setting that is less defined, an in-between world which could be either a "real" or a "magical" world.
Briefly, "Magic" contains 15 stories.
In "The Wrong Fairy" (Audrey Niffeneger) an alcoholic artist committed to a Victorian asylum finds freedom in drawing what the fairies show him.
"If I Die, Kill my Cat" (Sarah Lotz) focusses on a conjunction of apparently very different magical cultures in modern South Africa.
"Shuffle" (Will Hill) is set in London and features a gambler playing a dangerous gamem, which is not what it seems.
"Domestic Magic" (Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem) is the story of a destitute but magical family, and asks magic will help or hurt them.
"Cad Coddeau" (Liz Williams) is set in a myth-imbued Celtic magical landscape. It reminded me of Alan Garner at his most perplexing (and satisfying).
"Party Tricks" (Dan Abnett), narrated by a fixer in the world of high politics, reads as if HP Lovecraft had rewritten Michael Dobbs. Great fun, and thought provoking.
In "First and Last and Always" (Thana Niveau) an obsession gets out of control.
"The Art of Escapology" (Alison Littlewood) features a circus - a good choice for a sinister setting - and a troubling transformation. I wasn't sure whether the more disquieting aspect was the magic or the underlying family tension that seemed to feed it.
"The Baby" (Christopher Fowler" is a particularly horrific story, again rooted in family tension and breakdown.
"Do as thou Wilt" (Storm Constantine) teases to the end about what magic has actually occurred.
"Bottom Line" (Lou Morgan) is another story set in a world where magic is accepted and explores how that would affect crime.
"MailerDaemon" (Sophia McDougall), ostensibly about a young woman's search, in hard times, for a job, features another intrusion - this time into her dreams.
"Buttons" (Gail Z Martin) could easily foreshadow an urban fantasy series, focussing on the business of clearing nasty magical messes.
"Nanny Grey" (Gemma Files) is disturbing, featuring a damaged posh girl and her very scary Nanny.
"Dumb Lucy" (Robert Shearman) is haunting and remained with me after reading the story. A darkness is upon the face of the earth, and a stage magician flees it with his mute assistant, Lucy. Yet the destruction which rages across continents seems somehow personal to him. How did it begin, and whay?
In all these stories, magic has a tendency to go adrift, giving neither those who seek it, nor those who don't what they expect.
This is a strong collection. While, inevitably, tastes differ and readers will each separate stories differently, I would give everything in this volume 4 stars individually, and many 5, including those I especially enjoyed - "Domestic Magic", "Party Tricks", "The Art of Escapology", "MailerDaemon" and "Dumb Lucy", all of which had a shade of ambiguity about them and left me wondering what was really going on and what might happen next.
An excellent collection for a dark winter evening.
In the final story, "Dumb Lucy", these strands are brought together magnificently to create a setting that is less defined, an in-between world which could be either a "real" or a "magical" world.
Briefly, "Magic" contains 15 stories.
In "The Wrong Fairy" (Audrey Niffeneger) an alcoholic artist committed to a Victorian asylum finds freedom in drawing what the fairies show him.
"If I Die, Kill my Cat" (Sarah Lotz) focusses on a conjunction of apparently very different magical cultures in modern South Africa.
"Shuffle" (Will Hill) is set in London and features a gambler playing a dangerous gamem, which is not what it seems.
"Domestic Magic" (Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem) is the story of a destitute but magical family, and asks magic will help or hurt them.
"Cad Coddeau" (Liz Williams) is set in a myth-imbued Celtic magical landscape. It reminded me of Alan Garner at his most perplexing (and satisfying).
"Party Tricks" (Dan Abnett), narrated by a fixer in the world of high politics, reads as if HP Lovecraft had rewritten Michael Dobbs. Great fun, and thought provoking.
In "First and Last and Always" (Thana Niveau) an obsession gets out of control.
"The Art of Escapology" (Alison Littlewood) features a circus - a good choice for a sinister setting - and a troubling transformation. I wasn't sure whether the more disquieting aspect was the magic or the underlying family tension that seemed to feed it.
"The Baby" (Christopher Fowler" is a particularly horrific story, again rooted in family tension and breakdown.
"Do as thou Wilt" (Storm Constantine) teases to the end about what magic has actually occurred.
"Bottom Line" (Lou Morgan) is another story set in a world where magic is accepted and explores how that would affect crime.
"MailerDaemon" (Sophia McDougall), ostensibly about a young woman's search, in hard times, for a job, features another intrusion - this time into her dreams.
"Buttons" (Gail Z Martin) could easily foreshadow an urban fantasy series, focussing on the business of clearing nasty magical messes.
"Nanny Grey" (Gemma Files) is disturbing, featuring a damaged posh girl and her very scary Nanny.
"Dumb Lucy" (Robert Shearman) is haunting and remained with me after reading the story. A darkness is upon the face of the earth, and a stage magician flees it with his mute assistant, Lucy. Yet the destruction which rages across continents seems somehow personal to him. How did it begin, and whay?
In all these stories, magic has a tendency to go adrift, giving neither those who seek it, nor those who don't what they expect.
This is a strong collection. While, inevitably, tastes differ and readers will each separate stories differently, I would give everything in this volume 4 stars individually, and many 5, including those I especially enjoyed - "Domestic Magic", "Party Tricks", "The Art of Escapology", "MailerDaemon" and "Dumb Lucy", all of which had a shade of ambiguity about them and left me wondering what was really going on and what might happen next.
An excellent collection for a dark winter evening.
December 7, 2012
You can find the full review over at The Founding Fields:
http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/12/...
Shadowhawk reviews the Halloween special anthology Magic, published by Solaris Books. This review is part of Shadowhawk’s Advent Calendar, which can be found here( http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2012... ).
“Quite a fun anthology with some really fun contributions from some of the most talented authors.” ~The Founding Fields
Solaris released this anthology to coincide with Halloween, which, given the inner content, ably reflects on the horror holiday. As the subtext proclaims, this is an anthology where magic isn’t the grand sweeping stuff found in your typical high or low fantasy novels, or in some of the tie-in fiction franchises such as Forgotten Realms and Warhammer. No. Magic is an anthology about weird magic, where the portrayal is one to shock and awe the reader, in a good way, and also to present some really interesting interpretations of what exactly is magic. Some of these stories are urban fantasy tales involving druids, others are horror stories involving “interrupted” pregnancies and Chucky’s Bride-style newborn babes. Some are about magics in high-level governmental politics, while others are of the true, good-old sleight of hand variety. In short, the diversity is simply astounding, and is a major strength of the anthology, even though some of the stories contained therein did not necessarily work for me, and I found those to be dull and boring.
Audrey Niffenegger’s The Wrong Fairy and Sarah Lotz’s If I Die, Kill My Cat kick off the anthology. While one is set in a lunatic asylum in London and features a supposedly demented old man, the other is set in Cape Town, South Africa and features a pair of official crime scene cleaners, and a cat. The contrast could not be any more different. Editor Jonathan Oliver set out to present this kind of diversity in writing styles and content, and I’d say that he succeeded in his objective. I found The Wrong Fairy to be a bit of slog to get through, but If I Die, Kill My Cat was highly entertaining. I’ve never laughed so much at a short story, even though the ending is quite grim.
Will Hill’s Shuffle is all about the sleight of hand with a bit of mystery to it, one that requires a careful eye on the narrative. I think I got the twist of the story but even if I’m wrong, this is easily one of the best short stories on display, given how well it is written, and how entertaining it is. Domestic Magic by Steve Rasnic Tem/Melanie Tem however was as much of a slog as Niffenegger’s contribution, mostly because it seemed to be a story that is dragged out unnecessarily. I had to reread several sections of the story just to be sure I understood what was happening since the twists are sudden and often disorienting.
http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/12/...
Shadowhawk reviews the Halloween special anthology Magic, published by Solaris Books. This review is part of Shadowhawk’s Advent Calendar, which can be found here( http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2012... ).
“Quite a fun anthology with some really fun contributions from some of the most talented authors.” ~The Founding Fields
Solaris released this anthology to coincide with Halloween, which, given the inner content, ably reflects on the horror holiday. As the subtext proclaims, this is an anthology where magic isn’t the grand sweeping stuff found in your typical high or low fantasy novels, or in some of the tie-in fiction franchises such as Forgotten Realms and Warhammer. No. Magic is an anthology about weird magic, where the portrayal is one to shock and awe the reader, in a good way, and also to present some really interesting interpretations of what exactly is magic. Some of these stories are urban fantasy tales involving druids, others are horror stories involving “interrupted” pregnancies and Chucky’s Bride-style newborn babes. Some are about magics in high-level governmental politics, while others are of the true, good-old sleight of hand variety. In short, the diversity is simply astounding, and is a major strength of the anthology, even though some of the stories contained therein did not necessarily work for me, and I found those to be dull and boring.
Audrey Niffenegger’s The Wrong Fairy and Sarah Lotz’s If I Die, Kill My Cat kick off the anthology. While one is set in a lunatic asylum in London and features a supposedly demented old man, the other is set in Cape Town, South Africa and features a pair of official crime scene cleaners, and a cat. The contrast could not be any more different. Editor Jonathan Oliver set out to present this kind of diversity in writing styles and content, and I’d say that he succeeded in his objective. I found The Wrong Fairy to be a bit of slog to get through, but If I Die, Kill My Cat was highly entertaining. I’ve never laughed so much at a short story, even though the ending is quite grim.
Will Hill’s Shuffle is all about the sleight of hand with a bit of mystery to it, one that requires a careful eye on the narrative. I think I got the twist of the story but even if I’m wrong, this is easily one of the best short stories on display, given how well it is written, and how entertaining it is. Domestic Magic by Steve Rasnic Tem/Melanie Tem however was as much of a slog as Niffenegger’s contribution, mostly because it seemed to be a story that is dragged out unnecessarily. I had to reread several sections of the story just to be sure I understood what was happening since the twists are sudden and often disorienting.
May 7, 2013
I'm not really sure how to rate this book. I think I'd say 2.5 overall, but not sure if I should round up or down.
Like any short story collection, it's a mixed bag. None of them were really bad, but a lot of them just didn't leave that much of an impression on me. I did like the general idea - the different ways that magic was used and portrayed, from classical, to UF-ish, to horror. But I can't say that there are any which make me want to run out and get more by the author.
That said, one of my favorites of the lot was 'Buttons' by Gail Z. Martin. I'm not sure whether I'm predisposed towards it a bit, since she's the only author I'm already familiar with and enjoy. But I have read a few other reviews which thought this was one of the better stories, so I'm going to say it's not entirely a bias thing.
Hers was also one of the more "teaser" stories. What I mean is there seem to be two types of short stories - those which are self-contained, and those which feel like little glimpses, or prologues, into bigger worlds/stories. I would like to keep going in the world Martin created - even though it's standard-ish UF, I liked the characters.
The other story that left the biggest impression was 'The Baby'by Christopher Fowler, but that was more from how disturbing it was than anything. (It could also be a bit triggery... so... )
Aside from those, I guess here's the general breakdown:
3-stars:
First and Last and Always
Do as Thou Wilt
MailerDaemon
2.5:
If I Die, Kill My Cat
Shuffle
Party Tricks
The Art of Escapology
Nancy Grey
Dumb Lucy
2 stars:
The Wrong Fairy (I barely remember this one, to be honest)
Domestic Magic
Cad Coddeu
Bottom Line
I think I might go 2, more for the sheer forgetability factor. I mean, even some of the stories I think were ok I had to flip through to remind myself what they were about, just a mere day later.
But I will say part of it is a "it's not you, it's me". I keep picking up these types of anthologies with high hopes, but I think, maybe, it's just not the right format for me. Meh.
Like any short story collection, it's a mixed bag. None of them were really bad, but a lot of them just didn't leave that much of an impression on me. I did like the general idea - the different ways that magic was used and portrayed, from classical, to UF-ish, to horror. But I can't say that there are any which make me want to run out and get more by the author.
That said, one of my favorites of the lot was 'Buttons' by Gail Z. Martin. I'm not sure whether I'm predisposed towards it a bit, since she's the only author I'm already familiar with and enjoy. But I have read a few other reviews which thought this was one of the better stories, so I'm going to say it's not entirely a bias thing.
Hers was also one of the more "teaser" stories. What I mean is there seem to be two types of short stories - those which are self-contained, and those which feel like little glimpses, or prologues, into bigger worlds/stories. I would like to keep going in the world Martin created - even though it's standard-ish UF, I liked the characters.
The other story that left the biggest impression was 'The Baby'by Christopher Fowler, but that was more from how disturbing it was than anything. (It could also be a bit triggery... so... )
Aside from those, I guess here's the general breakdown:
3-stars:
First and Last and Always
Do as Thou Wilt
MailerDaemon
2.5:
If I Die, Kill My Cat
Shuffle
Party Tricks
The Art of Escapology
Nancy Grey
Dumb Lucy
2 stars:
The Wrong Fairy (I barely remember this one, to be honest)
Domestic Magic
Cad Coddeu
Bottom Line
I think I might go 2, more for the sheer forgetability factor. I mean, even some of the stories I think were ok I had to flip through to remind myself what they were about, just a mere day later.
But I will say part of it is a "it's not you, it's me". I keep picking up these types of anthologies with high hopes, but I think, maybe, it's just not the right format for me. Meh.
partially-read-was-enough
August 30, 2014I got this book from the library because I'd reserved Gail Z. Martin's new book Deadly Curiosities and I knew if I liked it if want to read the short stories she's publishing in the series as well. I guess she's writing two different short story series and publishing a new story in one series or the other every month. Sounds lucrative. Since she'd already published several of the stories in the Curiosities series in anthologies, that was the only way I could try them. I liked her story in this book a lot. I'd have liked it equally well if I hadn't read the book. It was pretty short, but it captured the city and characters well and it was very intriguing. It certainly would have made me want to find out more about her work and that series if possible. I'd also hoped to read more of the stories in the book. I've been very into short fiction lately and I was interested to find an anthology with so many different authors than the ones I seem to be starting to see over and over again in magazines and anthologies. But I keep getting distracted by other priorities and the book really needs to go back to the library. Audrey Niffenger's story was just OK. And that's sadly as far as I got. Maybe another time.
January 7, 2013
I'm not 100% sure about my rating, but I feel like there are enough stories I liked here to give it four stars. A few of the stories were uninteresting because they didn't do much. The last story was okay, but I felt like it was aiming a bit too high, and it didn't quite work for me. However, most of the stories were enjoyable. First and Last and Always and The Baby were good horror tales, though the latter was perhaps a bit too disturbing for my tastes. I really want to see more with the characters from Buttons, and perhaps also Bottom Line. If I Die, Kill My Cat was fun, and I loved the protagonist. Domestic Magic felt like it should be the opening to a novel rather than a short story, and if this was the case, I'd probably have liked it more. MailerDaemon was fun, and though I didn't quite like the ending, Morgane especially was an interesting character. All in all, I enjoyed this collection and would definitely recommend it to fantasy fans.
February 14, 2013
I'm a big fan of the multi-author short story collection: these are usually a good way to get to know authors that are new to me. This collection, edited by Jonathan Oliver, doesn't disappoint.
Within this volume, we have 15 tales on the theme of magic, most of which have a contemporary setting ("magic realism"/"urban fantasy"/whatever it's called this week....!)& all of a very high standard. I'm not going to critique each individual tale; suffice it to say that the stand-out stories were "Shuffle" by Will Hill (an excellent political satire),"Bottom Line" by Lou Morgan (magician gets called upon by a gangster for 1 last favour...) & the frankly horrifying "The Baby" by the always excellent Christopher Fowler.
Docked 1 star for not getting Charles de Lint in there- any of de Lint's "Newford" short stories would fit perfectly in this collection....! That aside, this is an interesting collection, well worth a look.
Within this volume, we have 15 tales on the theme of magic, most of which have a contemporary setting ("magic realism"/"urban fantasy"/whatever it's called this week....!)& all of a very high standard. I'm not going to critique each individual tale; suffice it to say that the stand-out stories were "Shuffle" by Will Hill (an excellent political satire),"Bottom Line" by Lou Morgan (magician gets called upon by a gangster for 1 last favour...) & the frankly horrifying "The Baby" by the always excellent Christopher Fowler.
Docked 1 star for not getting Charles de Lint in there- any of de Lint's "Newford" short stories would fit perfectly in this collection....! That aside, this is an interesting collection, well worth a look.
November 16, 2014
As with all short story collections good enough to get published and into mainstream book shops, the stories in here are of a minimum quality and there will be, as long as this is something you would choose to read, some you'll like, and probably some you will not.
The ones I particularly liked? "The Wrong Fairy", which imagined the life of Richard Dodds. "If I Die, Kill My Cat", a cautionary tale but much more hopeful that it sounds. "Shuffle", again, a take heavy in the warnings of messing with things one does not understand. And "Domestic Magic" that shows once again that family is always embarrassing.
I did not like the introductions to each story, that I felt said too much and we're just too smart-arsed. The story I liked least was "Buttons" which felt like it was nothing other than a pitch for a TV series.
However, if you like short stories themed around magic this is a collection of short stories themed around magic and so should fit the bill :-)
The ones I particularly liked? "The Wrong Fairy", which imagined the life of Richard Dodds. "If I Die, Kill My Cat", a cautionary tale but much more hopeful that it sounds. "Shuffle", again, a take heavy in the warnings of messing with things one does not understand. And "Domestic Magic" that shows once again that family is always embarrassing.
I did not like the introductions to each story, that I felt said too much and we're just too smart-arsed. The story I liked least was "Buttons" which felt like it was nothing other than a pitch for a TV series.
However, if you like short stories themed around magic this is a collection of short stories themed around magic and so should fit the bill :-)
February 5, 2014
Magic is, almost by definition, esoteric and arcane; something known only to a few, kept secret from the masses, practiced only by initiates. Still, the grandiose title of this themed anthology of original stories may oversell it slightly, since many of the tales here are quite conventional. Jonathan Oliver gathered a shining collection of talent, though, and with fifteen stories spanning fantasy, dark fantasy, urban fantasy and horror, most readers will find something to enjoy.
The book has a lovely cover by Nicolas Delort. It’s a simulated woodcut. A Victorian-era woman holds an infant with horns, while a hooded demonic figure stands guard, and the cover is replete with lilies, skulls and ravens. Editor Jonathan Oliver opens the... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
The book has a lovely cover by Nicolas Delort. It’s a simulated woodcut. A Victorian-era woman holds an infant with horns, while a hooded demonic figure stands guard, and the cover is replete with lilies, skulls and ravens. Editor Jonathan Oliver opens the... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
August 21, 2013
A dark anthology of well-written and intelligent tales of magic. And when I say dark I don't mean scary horror stories. There is very little horror in this book. By dark I mean gloomy and depressing. None of the stories put a smile on your face, few have happy endings, and all in all, they leave you feeling a little uneasy. As strange as it sounds, I really did enjoy reading this book, even if I had to do something to cheer myself up afterwards. Like all anthologies you have amazing stories and then a few duds, this one had a couple of unimpressive tales, but the majority were great.
I'd recommend this to someone who enjoys the darkness.
I'd recommend this to someone who enjoys the darkness.
December 9, 2014
Jonathan Oliver's 'Magic's sub heading is quite a mouthful & can be a bit off putting thinking it's a highbrow read that will require a degree in thaumaturgy or a background in the works of Aleister Crowley? Far from it as this great collection of stories of magic are grounded with wonderful what-ifs into a magical twilight zone. After reading this I immediately sought out Jonathan's other collections and ordered a couple as the standard of story choice like this one must be a sign of great books to come?
January 23, 2013
Nice little varied collection this, with the contributions ranging from fantastical and quirky, to downright chilling. 'Shuffle' by Will Hill is worth the entry fee alone in terms of sheer quality, and I've got a feeling that story is going to stay with me for quite a while. A very entertaining collection. My expectations were surpassed and then some.
September 3, 2022
Edited by Jonathan Oliver, Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane brings together a wide (and surprising) variety of authors from across the world, and across the genre shelves. Advertised as a "perfect read for Hallowe’en and the long autumn evenings ahead," it went right to the top of the review pile when I was fortunate enough to snag an early paperback review copy.
This is a very dark, very grim collection of tales. It's also a very efficient collection, with some stories approaching the point of abruptness with their brevity. The Wrong Fairy, by Audrey Niffenegger, open the anthology with a tale of magic and insanity that's interesting, but which never quite manages to set its hooks in the reader. It's If I Die, Kill My Cat, by Sarah Lotz that really kicks the anthology off, succeeding as both a character piece and as a tale of magic. Shuffle, by Will Hill, was a stumbling block for me (likely due to my boredom with card tricks), but Domestic Magic, by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem, really uped the ante with its tale of magic-fused (or, perhaps, excused) parental neglect.
Neither Cad Coddeu, by Liz Williams, nor Party Tricks, by Dan Abnett, made much of an impression on me, despite the authors being near the top of my must-read pile. First and Last and Always, by Thana Niveau, however, more than renewed my interest with its fascinating tale of gothic horror, while . The Art of Escapology, by Alison Littlewood, put an interesting twist on reader expectations with its tale of childish obsessions and mature possessions. The Baby, by Christopher Fowler, was perhaps the most disturbing tale of the lot, adding a supernatural edge to an already controversial subject.
Do as Thou Wilt..., by Storm Constantine, was another story that failed to make an impression, despite coming from an author I admire significantly. Bottom Line, by Lou Morgan, and MailerDaemon, by Sophia McDougall, round out a rather soft centre, succeeding to intrigue, but falling short of entertaining. Fortunately, Buttons, by Gail Z. Martin comes along to redeem things with what was, by far, the strongest tale in the anthology for me. Nanny Grey, by Gemma Files, would have been a perfect tale with which to end things, a cruel, dark, and mysterious tale of magical deception that left me all-but cackling with glee. Dumb Lucy, by Robert Shearman, isn't a bad tale, but it suffers from heightened expectations due as much to its place at the end of the collection as its proximity to two of the strongest tales in the collection.
Creative, original, and even inspired (at times), Magic truly is An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane. No matter your tastes regarding what magic is, or your expectations as to what magic should be, odds are there's something here that will cast its spell over you and make the hours just . . . disappear.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
This is a very dark, very grim collection of tales. It's also a very efficient collection, with some stories approaching the point of abruptness with their brevity. The Wrong Fairy, by Audrey Niffenegger, open the anthology with a tale of magic and insanity that's interesting, but which never quite manages to set its hooks in the reader. It's If I Die, Kill My Cat, by Sarah Lotz that really kicks the anthology off, succeeding as both a character piece and as a tale of magic. Shuffle, by Will Hill, was a stumbling block for me (likely due to my boredom with card tricks), but Domestic Magic, by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem, really uped the ante with its tale of magic-fused (or, perhaps, excused) parental neglect.
Neither Cad Coddeu, by Liz Williams, nor Party Tricks, by Dan Abnett, made much of an impression on me, despite the authors being near the top of my must-read pile. First and Last and Always, by Thana Niveau, however, more than renewed my interest with its fascinating tale of gothic horror, while . The Art of Escapology, by Alison Littlewood, put an interesting twist on reader expectations with its tale of childish obsessions and mature possessions. The Baby, by Christopher Fowler, was perhaps the most disturbing tale of the lot, adding a supernatural edge to an already controversial subject.
Do as Thou Wilt..., by Storm Constantine, was another story that failed to make an impression, despite coming from an author I admire significantly. Bottom Line, by Lou Morgan, and MailerDaemon, by Sophia McDougall, round out a rather soft centre, succeeding to intrigue, but falling short of entertaining. Fortunately, Buttons, by Gail Z. Martin comes along to redeem things with what was, by far, the strongest tale in the anthology for me. Nanny Grey, by Gemma Files, would have been a perfect tale with which to end things, a cruel, dark, and mysterious tale of magical deception that left me all-but cackling with glee. Dumb Lucy, by Robert Shearman, isn't a bad tale, but it suffers from heightened expectations due as much to its place at the end of the collection as its proximity to two of the strongest tales in the collection.
Creative, original, and even inspired (at times), Magic truly is An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane. No matter your tastes regarding what magic is, or your expectations as to what magic should be, odds are there's something here that will cast its spell over you and make the hours just . . . disappear.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
March 17, 2020
Uggggggggghhh...this is why I don't read Anthologies by multiple authors.
Imagine you're standing in front of a gumball machine. The glass has been completely blacked out, but sitting out in front of the machine is a free bowl of quarters. You pop in the first quarter and pop the gumball in your mouth. It shatters on the first bite, almost cutting your cheek.
You frown, but you figure, that's fine I've got plenty of other chances. Each time, you find yourselves underwhelmed at best, disgusted at worst. When the bowl of quarters is empty, all you are left with is a sore jaw and a feeling like the cards were stacked against you from the very beginning.
That's what reading this book was like.
Imagine you're standing in front of a gumball machine. The glass has been completely blacked out, but sitting out in front of the machine is a free bowl of quarters. You pop in the first quarter and pop the gumball in your mouth. It shatters on the first bite, almost cutting your cheek.
You frown, but you figure, that's fine I've got plenty of other chances. Each time, you find yourselves underwhelmed at best, disgusted at worst. When the bowl of quarters is empty, all you are left with is a sore jaw and a feeling like the cards were stacked against you from the very beginning.
That's what reading this book was like.
April 13, 2019
The premise of this anthology is fairly wide, but it does result in a entertaining read, with the scope meaning that you're sure to find something that you like. It may not be one of the major fantasy short story collections but there was enough to keep me interested. Multi-author collections are always a gamble and you won't be pleased by everything, but with the talent involved there will be something.
My personal favourites:
If I Die, Kill my Cat by Sarah Lotz
Domestic Magic by Steve Rasnic and Melanie Tem
Party Tricks by Dan Abnett
The Art of Escapology by Alison Littlewood
MailerDaemon by Sophia McDougall
Dumb Lucy by Robert Shearman
My personal favourites:
If I Die, Kill my Cat by Sarah Lotz
Domestic Magic by Steve Rasnic and Melanie Tem
Party Tricks by Dan Abnett
The Art of Escapology by Alison Littlewood
MailerDaemon by Sophia McDougall
Dumb Lucy by Robert Shearman
October 11, 2018
A good mix of very atmospheric stories, hard to pick a favourite!
June 28, 2020
good parts, some not so good ones,audrey niffenegger had the wrong fairy, it was good, the cat and houndini was good, so good read all in all
April 23, 2021
I loved this book of short stories all with magic theme.
July 14, 2024
A solid collection overall, though--like all anthologies--it had its hits and misses. Robert Shearman's Dumb Lucy was my favorite by far.
February 20, 2017
Like most short story collections, this one has selections that fall all over the place. I picked it up primarily for the Audrey Niffenneger short story. It's been a while since I've read anything by her, and this brief story was a quick dose of her lovely voice and writing.
5 stars: Shuffle
4 stars: The Wrong Fairy, Cad Coddeu, The Art of Escapology, MailerDaemon
3 stars: If I Die Kill My Cat, Domestic Magic, Do As Thou Wilt..., Dumb Lucy
2 stars: Party Tricks, First and Last and Always, The Baby, Bottom Line, Buttons, Nanny Grey
5 stars: Shuffle
4 stars: The Wrong Fairy, Cad Coddeu, The Art of Escapology, MailerDaemon
3 stars: If I Die Kill My Cat, Domestic Magic, Do As Thou Wilt..., Dumb Lucy
2 stars: Party Tricks, First and Last and Always, The Baby, Bottom Line, Buttons, Nanny Grey
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews