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Chamber of Music
Violins, pipes and cellos,
Orchestras, choirs and solos,
Songs to remember,
Songs to forget,
Songs to unmake the universe...
And songs to put it all right.
Have a seat in the Chamber of Music. These thirteen stories will take you to distant lands of faerie lords, lovelorn angels, plucky skyship pilots and plague-ravaged scavengers. They will guide you through our dark histories, our heartbreaks, our losses and revenges; our triumphs, escapes, recoveries and redemptions. No matter where, when, or whose story is being told, this collection will inspire and thrill you with the transformative power of music.
This, the second annual short story collection from PSG Publishing, contains the work of thirteen authors from seven countries writing in a variety of genres and styles. Featuring new stories from Charlotte Ashley, J.D. Carelli, Emerald Delmara, Dorchi Dreen, Kim Fry, Yzabel Ginsberg, Tim McFarlane, Ken Magee, Miloš Petrik, J.B. Roger, C. M. Rosens, Natasha Rowlin, and Adam Sigrist.
Proceeds from sales of the Chamber of Music will be donated to Musicians Without Borders, a global network organization using the power of music for healing and reconciliation in areas torn by war and conflict. For more information, visit http://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/.
Orchestras, choirs and solos,
Songs to remember,
Songs to forget,
Songs to unmake the universe...
And songs to put it all right.
Have a seat in the Chamber of Music. These thirteen stories will take you to distant lands of faerie lords, lovelorn angels, plucky skyship pilots and plague-ravaged scavengers. They will guide you through our dark histories, our heartbreaks, our losses and revenges; our triumphs, escapes, recoveries and redemptions. No matter where, when, or whose story is being told, this collection will inspire and thrill you with the transformative power of music.
This, the second annual short story collection from PSG Publishing, contains the work of thirteen authors from seven countries writing in a variety of genres and styles. Featuring new stories from Charlotte Ashley, J.D. Carelli, Emerald Delmara, Dorchi Dreen, Kim Fry, Yzabel Ginsberg, Tim McFarlane, Ken Magee, Miloš Petrik, J.B. Roger, C. M. Rosens, Natasha Rowlin, and Adam Sigrist.
Proceeds from sales of the Chamber of Music will be donated to Musicians Without Borders, a global network organization using the power of music for healing and reconciliation in areas torn by war and conflict. For more information, visit http://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/.
252 pages, Paperback
First published November 12, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 19, 2015
Finally, it's time for some long-overdue reviewing!
I really enjoyed this volume, even better than last year's "Library of Dreams". The stories were captivating, evocative, a bit philosophical in many cases and mostly well written. And great cover art too!
"Bone Music" was an interesting introduction to the collection. It gave off a sad, kinda desolate atmosphere that really hit the spot and made me empathize with the people involved in the story. It ended abruptly, but I didn't mind much, since it was in par with the theme, and made me crave for more to come.
"Her Song" was beautifully portrayed. I could really feel the anguish of the protagonist, his struggle and his sorrow over his lost mother and his final resolution really brought tears to my eyes.
"The Snake Charmer's Pipe" had a good pace and flavor to it, a familiar, yet freshly polished take to it, but it did leave me thinking that it needed more details in order to feel complete. I would have liked more info as to how the girl uses the pipe to her advantage in the end; the explanation given by the original piper was more of a hint imho, since I was given the impression that the specifics work differently for each person (after all, it is the Fae, we're talking about, one way or another, yes?). In other words, I would have liked an account of how it felt for the girl herself, trying to "tame" the snakes under her skin, how she became familiar with the particular music needed to accomplish that. Other than that, though, it was a very interesting idea.
"The Cello Room' was my absolute favorite in this collection! It actually had me in tears at its climax. It was bitter-sweet and intense and sad and I completely identified with the protagonist. It was brilliant!
"Drink Down the moon" was also one of my top favorites. Sweet, distant, cerebral, archetypical to no end, just lovely! The backdrop of the story was a perfect mirror of what the angelic protagonist was going through, his gradual metamorphosis consisted an eloquent metaphor for the agonies of Man in the metaphysical sense and the ending gave me a renewed sense of peace and transcendence, as well as some extra measure of hope.
"Sing me the Song of Madness" was also an interesting idea! I could see it being applied regardless of genre or time-period, really. The loss implied in it was a great analogy of what's happening in today's society concerning music and the danger of what this loss may cost us all is quite real, indeed. Yet, hope remains. And that is good.
"Song to the Moon" was a fun one too. It felt autumn warm to me. And it was subtly given, this feeling of finding a new love over the loss of a previous one. Given in the little things, the ones you can't always make out until it may be too late, simply because you're in too much pain to be able to tell the difference. And yet, if, or when you manage it, it's breathtaking!
'What Goes Around Comes Around" was the first weird story of the compilation for me. Weird in a good way, mind you. What I got out of this story was a subtle but definite way for someone -very likely predisposed- to start losing grip with reality as commonly perceived. This story could make an excellent introduction to a serial killer psychological thriller. I was given just enough info to guess at what may happen after the story ended and that kept me on my toes for more!
"All Our Futures" was the second weird story, then. The Faustian undertone was very much to my liking, the laconic writing complemented the weirdness of the story very well, as did the emotional distance of Campion and the Smiling Man (=Slender Man in my eyes - no really!), the audacity of them both, the cat-and-mouse game being played and all the unbearable gravity of that little sentence: "Is that what you want?". I really enjoyed it!
"Morgan's Songs" was a powerful one. Magical, mystical, with a dash of good-ol' folklore on the side, it was an excellent take on the Rite of Passage and the Circle of Witches theme and the power of Will and all that. This could well enough be the beginning of a sassy new urban fantasy series, much like the "Iron Druid Chronicles" by Kevin Hearne.
"Scheherazade" was the one with the the extra twist, I guess. And a crafty one, to boot! I really felt for the poor (boy) pianist. And I really heaved with relief when the protagonist decided to do what she did. I suppose the whole deal was for her to make the particular decision, despite the way she felt. The underlying message of listening without judging and forgiving and taking responsibility for one's actions -the way I perceived it, at least- was given in strong and ample tones and I really enjoyed the whole journey, as well as its final overture.
Last but not least, "Pipe Dream" was another one of my favorites. A sort of steampunk theme, with airships and crazy cool crew, the magical and necromantic twist and brilliant cinematic action and vivid portrayal of scenes and characters -they all felt very real to me-, not to mention the Screeching Pipes of Doom! An extra thing that I very much enjoyed in this story was the pronounced accents of a mixed fictional British crew. It was quite fun to read, and even imitate their accents out loud! I would love to read more about the crew's adventures and I would love to see them flying around in their very own series, too! They're a lovely bunch - Captain included!
All in all, I have to say that the collection was very much like a score of music. It had its intro, ups, downs, crescendo and it flowed effortlessly to the end. It had tempo, accent(s) and I believe any reader could identify with at least one of the stories in there.
The only down side was of technical nature, and it had nothing to do with the actual stories. And it only applies to the printed version of the book which I got as a contest prize from PSG.
There were a few stray dashes here and there left-over from the editing process, I suppose. And that other, annoying -for me- thing, the stray single lines at the beginning of a page every so often. I'm only mentioning these because designing books in and out is my actual day job, so I've been trained to spot such things ahead of time. The dashes problem is only human, obviously, so I'm only mentioning it for future caution.
The stray lines is something that I've seen, alas, in many books for it to be an actual problem. It is nothing more than a stylistic asymmetry that bothers me *personally*. I mean, think of it like this: a book is like a person who recites a beautiful story in a most eloquent way, with feeling, rhythm, proper dramatic pausing and has you all hooked up in their world. And then they get the hiccups. *That* is what those stray lines do to me and that is why my slightly autistic reader self makes such a fuss over it.
I fully acknowledge that the e-book version of the book may bear no such mishaps, but being a book-designer myself, I really needed to share this view with fellow designers.
That's it. I hope this helps some.
I'm looking forward to next year's collection, everyone!
I really enjoyed this volume, even better than last year's "Library of Dreams". The stories were captivating, evocative, a bit philosophical in many cases and mostly well written. And great cover art too!
"Bone Music" was an interesting introduction to the collection. It gave off a sad, kinda desolate atmosphere that really hit the spot and made me empathize with the people involved in the story. It ended abruptly, but I didn't mind much, since it was in par with the theme, and made me crave for more to come.
"Her Song" was beautifully portrayed. I could really feel the anguish of the protagonist, his struggle and his sorrow over his lost mother and his final resolution really brought tears to my eyes.
"The Snake Charmer's Pipe" had a good pace and flavor to it, a familiar, yet freshly polished take to it, but it did leave me thinking that it needed more details in order to feel complete. I would have liked more info as to how the girl uses the pipe to her advantage in the end; the explanation given by the original piper was more of a hint imho, since I was given the impression that the specifics work differently for each person (after all, it is the Fae, we're talking about, one way or another, yes?). In other words, I would have liked an account of how it felt for the girl herself, trying to "tame" the snakes under her skin, how she became familiar with the particular music needed to accomplish that. Other than that, though, it was a very interesting idea.
"The Cello Room' was my absolute favorite in this collection! It actually had me in tears at its climax. It was bitter-sweet and intense and sad and I completely identified with the protagonist. It was brilliant!
"Drink Down the moon" was also one of my top favorites. Sweet, distant, cerebral, archetypical to no end, just lovely! The backdrop of the story was a perfect mirror of what the angelic protagonist was going through, his gradual metamorphosis consisted an eloquent metaphor for the agonies of Man in the metaphysical sense and the ending gave me a renewed sense of peace and transcendence, as well as some extra measure of hope.
"Sing me the Song of Madness" was also an interesting idea! I could see it being applied regardless of genre or time-period, really. The loss implied in it was a great analogy of what's happening in today's society concerning music and the danger of what this loss may cost us all is quite real, indeed. Yet, hope remains. And that is good.
"Song to the Moon" was a fun one too. It felt autumn warm to me. And it was subtly given, this feeling of finding a new love over the loss of a previous one. Given in the little things, the ones you can't always make out until it may be too late, simply because you're in too much pain to be able to tell the difference. And yet, if, or when you manage it, it's breathtaking!
'What Goes Around Comes Around" was the first weird story of the compilation for me. Weird in a good way, mind you. What I got out of this story was a subtle but definite way for someone -very likely predisposed- to start losing grip with reality as commonly perceived. This story could make an excellent introduction to a serial killer psychological thriller. I was given just enough info to guess at what may happen after the story ended and that kept me on my toes for more!
"All Our Futures" was the second weird story, then. The Faustian undertone was very much to my liking, the laconic writing complemented the weirdness of the story very well, as did the emotional distance of Campion and the Smiling Man (=Slender Man in my eyes - no really!), the audacity of them both, the cat-and-mouse game being played and all the unbearable gravity of that little sentence: "Is that what you want?". I really enjoyed it!
"Morgan's Songs" was a powerful one. Magical, mystical, with a dash of good-ol' folklore on the side, it was an excellent take on the Rite of Passage and the Circle of Witches theme and the power of Will and all that. This could well enough be the beginning of a sassy new urban fantasy series, much like the "Iron Druid Chronicles" by Kevin Hearne.
"Scheherazade" was the one with the the extra twist, I guess. And a crafty one, to boot! I really felt for the poor (boy) pianist. And I really heaved with relief when the protagonist decided to do what she did. I suppose the whole deal was for her to make the particular decision, despite the way she felt. The underlying message of listening without judging and forgiving and taking responsibility for one's actions -the way I perceived it, at least- was given in strong and ample tones and I really enjoyed the whole journey, as well as its final overture.
Last but not least, "Pipe Dream" was another one of my favorites. A sort of steampunk theme, with airships and crazy cool crew, the magical and necromantic twist and brilliant cinematic action and vivid portrayal of scenes and characters -they all felt very real to me-, not to mention the Screeching Pipes of Doom! An extra thing that I very much enjoyed in this story was the pronounced accents of a mixed fictional British crew. It was quite fun to read, and even imitate their accents out loud! I would love to read more about the crew's adventures and I would love to see them flying around in their very own series, too! They're a lovely bunch - Captain included!
All in all, I have to say that the collection was very much like a score of music. It had its intro, ups, downs, crescendo and it flowed effortlessly to the end. It had tempo, accent(s) and I believe any reader could identify with at least one of the stories in there.
The only down side was of technical nature, and it had nothing to do with the actual stories. And it only applies to the printed version of the book which I got as a contest prize from PSG.
There were a few stray dashes here and there left-over from the editing process, I suppose. And that other, annoying -for me- thing, the stray single lines at the beginning of a page every so often. I'm only mentioning these because designing books in and out is my actual day job, so I've been trained to spot such things ahead of time. The dashes problem is only human, obviously, so I'm only mentioning it for future caution.
The stray lines is something that I've seen, alas, in many books for it to be an actual problem. It is nothing more than a stylistic asymmetry that bothers me *personally*. I mean, think of it like this: a book is like a person who recites a beautiful story in a most eloquent way, with feeling, rhythm, proper dramatic pausing and has you all hooked up in their world. And then they get the hiccups. *That* is what those stray lines do to me and that is why my slightly autistic reader self makes such a fuss over it.
I fully acknowledge that the e-book version of the book may bear no such mishaps, but being a book-designer myself, I really needed to share this view with fellow designers.
That's it. I hope this helps some.
I'm looking forward to next year's collection, everyone!
April 6, 2015
This collaborative work is breathtaking. There is fun and cheeky, eerie and reverent, light and dark. The works flow well creating a world we feel like we know in a time that aches to be remembered. Many different stories centered around sound, feeling, longing. A fantastic rainy day read!!!
Read
February 4, 2015(Same old, same old: I don't allow myself to review/rate works I contributed to.)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews