Rite: Short Work

Otherland #4.5

by Tad Williams, Mark A. Nelson (Illustrator)

Short Work gives ample evidence of Tad Williams as an accomplished practitioner of the short form! Within you'll find a knockout novella later expanded to novel length (Child of an Ancient City), riffs on the great fantasist Michael Moorcock (The Author at the End of Time, Go Ask Elric), along with excursions into some of his most popular creations and beyond.

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

350 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Tad Williams is a California-based fantasy superstar. His genre-creating (and genre-busting) books have sold tens of millions worldwide, in twenty-five languages. His considerable output of epic fantasy and science fiction book-series, stories of all kinds, urban fantasy novels, comics, scripts, etc., have strongly influenced a generation of writers: the ‘Otherland’ epic relaunches June 2018 as an MMO on steam.com. Tad is currently immersed in the creation of ‘The Last King of Osten Ard’, planned as a trilogy with two intermediary novels. He, his family and his animals live in the Santa Cruz mountains in a suitably strange and beautiful house. @tadwilliams @mrstad

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look, Tad Williams is my favorite author. Pretty much everything he writes just gels immediately with me. Like there are thoughts and ways of speaking that sound familiar in your head, like they are your own, and there are thoughts and ways of speaking that are alien or difficult to wrap your mind around. Tad Williams' writing is always the former and never the latter for me.

This collections has some very fun and well-written pieces. It has an excellent story that's a postscript to Otherland that brought me right back to when I read it nearly 15 years ago and reminded me how much I loved it.

Mostly it contains writing that exemplifies what I love best about Tad Williams--his ability to write about big, thought-provoking things with a wonderful sense of humor. Not just like funny ha-ha, although I more often than not have to tell my boyfriend what I'm laughing so hard about from the other room. But also the type of sense of humor that makes it possible to get through this difficult life with grace and acceptance and perhaps even a little bit of understanding.

[Matt Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite one or two throwaways, these are entertaining and satisfying stories even if you are unfamiliar with TW's clever and brash presentation. As a fan, I enjoyed this and wish he was able to write more short fiction. He does such good work with character and pacing; he plays the reader so well.

"Child of an Ancient City" is certainly among the best vampyr stories I've read; "Not With a Whimper, Either" is a nice AI origin tale that either Bradbury or Zelazny could have been party to; "Go Ask Elric" is a hysterical and yet frankly reverent Moorcock riff; "Some Thoughts re: Dark Destructor" gives the publishing industry (and any other construction-by-committee) the treatment it deserves, and....drumroll...."The Happiest Dead Boy in the World" is indeed the coda that this Otherland devotee hoped for. It's wonderful.

Further, in the touching and eloquent "Three Duets for Virgin and Nosehorn," TW shows that a story can include Albrecht Dürer, ancient Cambodia, and a rhinoceros and not lose a whit of gravitas. Well played!

[Andrea Weil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tad Williams kannte ich vorher nur von seinen epischen Werken, die immer Trilogien werden sollen und in vier Bücher ausarten, weil er die Tinte nicht halten kann. Umso mehr freue ich mich, ihn experimentellen Kurzgeschichten zu erleben. Er hat mich dazu gebracht, andere Autoren zu lesen, für die er hier eine Hommage geschrieben hat. Dagegen hat mich die Fortsetzung seine eigenen Geschichte Otherland am wenigsten interessiert. Sie wirft grundsätzlich eine interessante Frage auf, aber eigentlich nichts, was in der ursprünglichen Serie nicht bereits behandelt worden wäre. Wie immer in Anthologien gefällt einem nicht alles gleich, am meisterhaftesten finde ich wahrscheinlich the writer's child, auch wenn sie gleichzeitig die schrecklichste ist (CN Kindsmissbrauch, angedeutet). Ich weiß noch dass ich mir gewünscht habe nach der ersten Lektüre, er würde noch mehr Anthologien herausbringen. Bis ich dann "A stark and wormy knight" vorliegen hatte und es sich Lars, als hätte er auf Drängen seines Verlags jedes Fitzelchen aus seiner Schublade gekehrt, ob fertig oder nicht. Hier bekommt ihr also zwei Rezensionen zum Preis von einer: die zweite Sammlung von Kurzgeschichten lohnt sich überhaupt nicht, diese hier schon.

[Leons1701 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough one to evaluate. Most short story collections have at least one really mind blowing good piece that defines them. But Rite really doesn't. Oh a couple of works come close, especially The Happiest Dead Boy in the World but nothing really grabbed me. That said, none of it was exactly bad either (although some of the stuff in the nonfiction section was pretty darn weak). I guess Tad Williams is still going to remain the guy who writes really long four book series in my mind.

[Nux · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Tad Williams book. Enjoyed it hugely. Varying themes and stor telling styles, but consistently very enjoyable intriguing stories. I think I'll look out for his other books. Might even try his epic sagas. :)

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compilation of Tad Williams short stories and essays. Some were interesting, some were not. It's interesting to read his more casual work, though - I'm so used to the serious, heavy stuff he writes.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid collection of short stories, many which were about stories themselves. Good stuff.

[Keke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the Otherland story but the rest was not as interesting.