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Tales From The Guild, Music to Your Ears
There are few things in this world that can invoke the range of emotions that music can. It can bring its listeners close together; it can drive its listeners apart. It is a core mechanic in what makes us human, but what about in those that aren’t quite human? Tales from the Guild, Music to Your Ears features a collection of stories from veteran and newcomer authors alike that spans several universes, but show that no intelligent creature is immune to the power of music.
- GenresFantasy
142 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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September 25, 2014Not rating this, as I'm a contributor, but I did enjoy it very much. The standout stories for me were Mark Neeley's 'Echoes from the Consort Box', a tale of bats and spiders, and M. H. Payne's 'Deep Down among the Dagger Dancers', which features cats as interdimensional monsters of legend and squirrels as critters who just love a good hoedown. Styles and interpretations of the theme vary a great deal, though, and most furry readers should find something to their tastes. Also, check out that beautiful cover!
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May 3, 2015Disclaimer: I have a story in this anthology.
There's a lot of variety in this anthology for how small it is. A number of the stories have very unusual and interesting world-building. Then there are a couple of down-to-Earth stories that are more character driven. My favorite piece is Nathanael Gass's "Nocturne," a beautiful and haunting story about a vampire bat.
There's a lot of variety in this anthology for how small it is. A number of the stories have very unusual and interesting world-building. Then there are a couple of down-to-Earth stories that are more character driven. My favorite piece is Nathanael Gass's "Nocturne," a beautiful and haunting story about a vampire bat.
March 19, 2015
It is no stretch of imagination to say that the world could not thrive without music. It’s what keeps the people going, that soulful artform that knows exactly what mood to hit or what itch to scratch. Without music, we would probably be aimlessly wandering in some mundane lives. There would just be something lacking to the world. So it was a joy to pick up an anthology that focuses its collection on the theme of music and how it can affect the world around us.
Recently, I purchased a copy of Tales from the Guild: Music to your Ears, a furry anthology featuring eight short stories around the topic of music. Now, to those who don’t know what Furry Literature is, it is essentially fiction featuring anthropomorphic animals (AKA Humanized Animals). I won’t lie, the furry writing community has not been something I have been following for awhile, though I have been a silent observer writing poetry in my little corner of this particular world. Tales from the Guild is an anthology put out by the Furry Writers Guild, a guild that seeks to “support, inform, elevate, and promote quality writing and writers of anthropomorphic fiction.” They help several furry writers with publishing opportunities and advice for writing, and are a wonderful resource that authors of furry fiction should look into.
I suppose one should say that you could really feel the music in this collection. Although each piece went off in its own direction with the theme, there was a unity in the collection that made the experience rather enjoyable. Anthologies are difficult to manage as you have maintain the ethos of the collection, but I found no issues here. Transition between the works was well managed, and the selections were very well written and memorable. Which isn’t something I come across too often in anthologies. Usually I find a few good stories or poems and forget the rest, but with Tales I felt that every story had a good amount of value to the collection. There were no placeholders.
Tales from the Guild is an excellent introduction to the world of furry writing, one I would highly recommend. Having knowing a little bit about the community, I found this book to be inviting and fun, and I’m sure other readers are likely to get the same experience out of it. You can purchase a copy of this collection through Rabbit Valley, which also shelves a Weasel Press title. If you’re interested in learning more about writers of furry fiction or to get a good introduction of that world, visit the Furry Writers Guild!
Recently, I purchased a copy of Tales from the Guild: Music to your Ears, a furry anthology featuring eight short stories around the topic of music. Now, to those who don’t know what Furry Literature is, it is essentially fiction featuring anthropomorphic animals (AKA Humanized Animals). I won’t lie, the furry writing community has not been something I have been following for awhile, though I have been a silent observer writing poetry in my little corner of this particular world. Tales from the Guild is an anthology put out by the Furry Writers Guild, a guild that seeks to “support, inform, elevate, and promote quality writing and writers of anthropomorphic fiction.” They help several furry writers with publishing opportunities and advice for writing, and are a wonderful resource that authors of furry fiction should look into.
I suppose one should say that you could really feel the music in this collection. Although each piece went off in its own direction with the theme, there was a unity in the collection that made the experience rather enjoyable. Anthologies are difficult to manage as you have maintain the ethos of the collection, but I found no issues here. Transition between the works was well managed, and the selections were very well written and memorable. Which isn’t something I come across too often in anthologies. Usually I find a few good stories or poems and forget the rest, but with Tales I felt that every story had a good amount of value to the collection. There were no placeholders.
Tales from the Guild is an excellent introduction to the world of furry writing, one I would highly recommend. Having knowing a little bit about the community, I found this book to be inviting and fun, and I’m sure other readers are likely to get the same experience out of it. You can purchase a copy of this collection through Rabbit Valley, which also shelves a Weasel Press title. If you’re interested in learning more about writers of furry fiction or to get a good introduction of that world, visit the Furry Writers Guild!
November 23, 2016
It is a close call between "Echoes from the Consort Box" - the story that lends itself to the anthology's gorgeous cover - and "Shreddy and the Silver Egg" for my top picks in this collection. Both are worthy of five stars, mindful of the limitations that apply to short fiction. Whereas "Echoes from the Consort Box" is very clever, original and well written, "Shreddy and the silver Egg" is the one that really tugged at my heart strings. Kudos to the author for managing to shoehorn a story about a cat raising a griffin into a music theme of the anthology. I really felt a connection to Shreddy there.
"Deep Down Among the Dagger Dancers" and "Night of a Thousand Songs" add a mythological flavour to the anthology, whilst "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out" is anchored squarely in our familiar world (albeit with anthropomorphic animals). I enjoyed reading these, though they did not grab me like the prior.
"Melody of a Street Corner" is well written, though a tad predictable and at times sentimental. I managed to figure out where the story was heading about half-way through and was spot-on.
Not much happens in "Sugar Pill". I would have liked to get a bit more intimate with the protagonist to truly understand the transition that takes places in the course of the story. Having gone through a similar mind-shift about noisy clubs (albeit over a much longer period of time) I think there is a lot of lost potential here. The "It's hard" joke made me chuckle.
"Nocturne" I found hardest to get into. Darker and edgier than the other stories, it almost feels like this piece would have done better in longer format, or perhaps with a different themed anthology. There are many unanswered questions in this one. Most pertinent - what is vampire-bat blood used for, and why is it so expensive? A bit more context of the world in which the story takes place would greatly add to my enjoyment thereof.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this anthology. Bonus points for it's proceeds going towards a good cause.
"Deep Down Among the Dagger Dancers" and "Night of a Thousand Songs" add a mythological flavour to the anthology, whilst "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out" is anchored squarely in our familiar world (albeit with anthropomorphic animals). I enjoyed reading these, though they did not grab me like the prior.
"Melody of a Street Corner" is well written, though a tad predictable and at times sentimental. I managed to figure out where the story was heading about half-way through and was spot-on.
Not much happens in "Sugar Pill". I would have liked to get a bit more intimate with the protagonist to truly understand the transition that takes places in the course of the story. Having gone through a similar mind-shift about noisy clubs (albeit over a much longer period of time) I think there is a lot of lost potential here. The "It's hard" joke made me chuckle.
"Nocturne" I found hardest to get into. Darker and edgier than the other stories, it almost feels like this piece would have done better in longer format, or perhaps with a different themed anthology. There are many unanswered questions in this one. Most pertinent - what is vampire-bat blood used for, and why is it so expensive? A bit more context of the world in which the story takes place would greatly add to my enjoyment thereof.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this anthology. Bonus points for it's proceeds going towards a good cause.
March 28, 2015
A fantastic anthology from start to finish.
I enjoyed every one of the stories, and they all felt like they belonged.
It's hard to point out any stand-outs as they were all of such high quality, but Sugar Pill and Melody of a Street Corner were my personal favourites. The latter one especially drawing quite an emotional response.
I enjoyed every one of the stories, and they all felt like they belonged.
It's hard to point out any stand-outs as they were all of such high quality, but Sugar Pill and Melody of a Street Corner were my personal favourites. The latter one especially drawing quite an emotional response.
January 21, 2015
Something for everyone. A bit uneven at times, and an unexpected number of typographical errors of the sort that pass through a spelling checker unscathed, but certainly readable and has a number of high spots. Which story will be your favorite depends a lot on your point of view. All are worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews