The River Keeper and Other Tales

by Nancy Joie Wilkie

This collection of seven short stories takes the reader to the Kingdom of Imlay, a coastal realm still filled with magic and mythical creatures great and small. Characters such as the inquisitive Ya, the precocious Aurora, and an ambitious, future-seeking King face monumental decisions that will affect those they hold dear.

Along the way, they are challenged by the need to make personal sacrifices for the greater good, use the power of truth to break through hurtful intentions, call upon magic to help people, and choose between possible future lives. Original and thought-provoking, these tales will stimulate the intellect and engage the imagination.

Genres: Fantasy

248 pages, Paperback

Published February 18, 2025

About the author

Nancy Joie Wilkie worked for over thirty years in both the biotechnology industry and as part of the federal government’s biodefense effort. She served as a project manager, providing oversight for the development of many new products. Now retired, she composes original music, plays a variety of instruments, and has recorded many of her original compositions. She also created a series of greeting cards that display her artwork and photographs. “Faraway and Forever—More Stories” is her second collection of stories. “Seven Sides of Self” was published by She Writes Press in November 2019. She will be releasing a third collection of short stories, “The River Keeper and Other Tales,” in early 2024. She is also working on a science fiction novel and a children’s story. She resides in Brookeville, MD.

Reviews

[holland.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

The River Keeper and Other Tales is a sprawling, modern take on the fables and stories we loved as children. The writing is simple and digestible, while the themes and lessons are applicable to readers of all ages and walks of life. The characters are charming and the world of Imlay is imaginative and magical.
As a teacher, I found myself brainstorming ways to use these stories to teach topics such as ethics, coming of age, and theme. It would be a welcome addition to any English classroom.
Overall, this book was a charming, innovative take on the fable and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of short stories that all take place in the world of Imlay, where we see stories from seven different points of view. First we start with The River Keeper, which gives us a first look at the world where a giant river makes its way across it. The river is sick though, as Ya, a young girl in a village on the river finds out. Her mother and a few others from the village go in search of the fabled River Keeper, but Ya heads out after them, knowing in her gut that something is going to go wrong.

The seven stories were quick to read, and some of them where quite engaging. I can't say I was in love with all of them, but they were certainly unique. There is one story where a dog plots to take away a farmer's farm, a story where a King can see two days in the future, a story where an evil witch takes children and adults away from each other and makes them forget.

All told, I thought that The River Keeper and Other Tales was a great afternoon of reading. The world was interesting, with its different kinds of magic, talking animals, powerful rings, and costly spells. I had 4/5 stars of fun with this collection of stories!

[Kaileigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

- [ ] The River Keeper
- [ ] ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- [ ] The tale of a girl whose love for nature has the ability to save her friends and family. This story was beautiful and wholesome. I loved the ending.😌

- [ ] The Morning Song
- [ ] ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- [ ] This is a story of compassion, forgiveness, and coming together for one another. Another lovely ending. ☺️

- [ ] A Dream For A Dream
- [ ] ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- [ ] Wow, this story was right up my alley! Very dystopian, children live in their own community, adults live in their own community. Each does not have a recollection of the other(their child,parent,sibling). This was a great story with a great ending 🫶🏻

- [ ] Aurora’s Ring
- [ ] ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- [ ] This was much like The Hobbit and I absolutely loved it!! Dragons, adventure, action, what’s not to love?

- [ ] The Pit Of Truth
- [ ] ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- [ ] This was not at all what I was expecting but not in a bad way! The ending had me so confused and shocked 😬😅

- [ ] The Day After Tomorrow
- [ ] ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- [ ] A great tale of why you should be careful what you wish for.

- [ ] The Innkeeper
- [ ] ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- [ ] Although this was not my favorite story, it was thought provoking.


- [ ] Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It has BEAUTIFUL illustrations for each story 🥹
It had a little bit of everything; great sci-fi, fantasy, action, love and maybe an adventure with a fire breathing dragon 😬

[Fidihey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Net-Galley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book is just poorly written. If I hadn’t been reading it as an ARC I would have put it down before finishing the first story. Instead I read it all the way through and just became more disappointed as the book went on.

The writing is juvenile and unable to decide whether it wants to be old-timey or modern. The age-old crime of telling rather than (or worse: as well as!) showing is present on every page.

The advance praise says that Wilkie captures the simple language and romantic ethos of fables, but I found that Wilkie managed to capture the vague sexism of many fables without any of the lesson-leaning, timeless language, or beauty that a fable should be able to invoke. The reader is expected to sit through moralistic writing with no morals…but still be subjected to random moments of otherwise completely undeveloped characters making small talk about wine pairings.

I have more specific notes on my disappointment with each story but feel the most important to highlight is The Morning Song, the second story in the book. I briefly thought the author was about to redeem herself with an interesting plot but the story ended up with a cheap and extremely ableist conclusion. The villain of the story, it seems, was Deafness. There were so many ways that this story could have been thought-provoking and creative and the author decided to go with “Being Deaf is bad and should be cured with magic.”

I was glad for the illustrations, they were nice.

[Avery]

The River Keeper and Other Tales was such a cozy, enjoyable read. I have found myself really liking collections of short stories, and this book has a great collection of tales touched by a bit of magic. This is definitely a book people should read together and the stories would be enhanced by being read aloud.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC!

[Becky Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The River Keeper and Other Tales by Nancy Joie Wilkie is an enjoyable collection of seven stories set in an imaginary land. Each story has a different set of characters trying to overcome obstacles. The stories are written in the style of tales from my childhood. Not every one has a happy ending but they are all intriguing.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for fans of short stories. I really loved a dream for a dream and aurora's ring the best.

I won this book from a goodreads giveaway.

[Zuzanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories with fable/fairy tale qualities. In each story the characters had to overcome emotional challenges, which was intriguing. I also enjoyed the fantasy elements woven throughout. I would have liked a little more worldbuilding and development, as the stories are supposed to be set in the same world, but they didn’t feel very connected.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc.