Faed

by Shannon Iwanski (Editor), Adrean Messmer, Aubrey Campbell

The good neighbors, the folk under the hill, the fae. Spirits, ghosts, and outsiders, often thought to be gods. They step into the real world to play, not caring or knowing how humans live.


And like children playing with dolls, they have the power to completely change the story.


Featuring stories from Theric Jepson, Jack Campbell, Jr., Matthew M. Bartlett, Nicole Tanquary, Franklin Charles Murdock, Aubrey Campbell, Thomas Mead, Adan Ramie, Adrean Messmer, Betsy Phillips, Amanda C. Davis, Sophia Rose, Alexis A. Hunter, Shannon Iwanski, Kristin J. Cooper, Alex Shvartsman, James Michael Shoberg, Guy J. Jackson, Sandra M. Odell, Deborah Walker, Lynda Clark, Robin Wyatt Dunn, Stephen S. Power, Erin K. Wagner, Tracy Fahey, Samantha Kymmell, Diandra Linneman, Preston Dennett, and Senoa Carroll-Bradd, Faed will take you back to the fairy tales of your youth and into realms where no child would dare to tread.

Genres: Fantasy

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2015

About the author

Shannon Iwanski is the author of Ride the Train, A Body to Die For, and short stories that appear in several anthologies. He is a member of the Bartlesville WordWeavers writing group and a member of Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc. (OWFI)

Shannon has lived in Oklahoma his entire life. He graduated from Gage High School and attended the University of Oklahoma and OSU-OKC, working on degrees in English and American Sign Language.

Shannon currently lives in Tulsa with his husband.

Reviews

[Joel Hacker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice departure from my usual fair...not in terms of genre or subject matter as much as included authors. While Matthew Bartlett does have a piece in this collection, which I won't deny is why I picked it up, the vast majority of the authors are new to me. It was also nice to support a number of authors in Oklahoma where I currently live, as a number of the 'Murder of Storytellers' group is located here as well. Though it does take a small amount of digging for that information as the collection breaks with most modern multi-author short fiction anthologies and explicitly does not include an 'about the authors' section. These are, on the whole, nice quick reads, ranging in length from literally a single page to no more than 16 pages for the lengthiest entry. So quickly digestible singly, even for the most time-pressed amongst us. In addition to the short fiction, there are also a number of poems scattered throughout. I've said this in some other reviews, but while I do love poetry, I am rarely a fan of 'genre' poetry or its inclusion in mixed author short fiction collections. It requires a different mindset and I find shifting between it and prose of multiple tones a bit off-putting.
As the name implies, this volume collects stories involving fairies, though they cross genres from science fiction, to urban fantasy, to horror as is demonstrated by the very first entry, a fun sf/urban fantasy mashup called, 'High Tech Fairies and the Pandora Perplexity'. This is shortly followed by 'Wild, Wild Humans', another urban (if you can call modern ships urban?) fantasy/detective story that is equally entertaining. Tracey Fahey's 'Under the Whitethorn' is a beautiful written, sadly tragic, slice-of-life tale...if that life included the supernatural and Sandra Odell's 'Wings' though quite brief brought tears to my eyes.
Jack Campbell's 'The Polka Man' fits right alongside Matthew Bartlett's (much later appearing) 'Pharaoh' both as a more horror leaning inclusion, and in certain other themes. F. Charles Murdock's 'Not Light' and Adrean Messmer's 'Down to Bones' are equally horrific, and like Barlett's story, be prepared for it to involve children to adolescents in their events.
Samantha Kymmell-Harvey's 'The Corbie Lass' and Shannon Iwanski's 'Afternoon Tea' were some of my favorites here, and couched more in traditional fantasy and legends. Though with different outcomes, both lean dark, and have a similar feel of the protagonist overcoming challenges posed by otherworldly forces. 'Sequins' by Nicole Tanquery is, if anything, darker still...really verging on horror as well as having the feel of a survival tale and protagonist of questionable ethics. A real standout inclusion.
Do you love Puppetmaster or just possessed toy tropes in general? Then Aubrey Campbell's 'The Toy Maker' is right for you!
Adan Ramie's 'Mary Pickford' is a good mix of comedy and suspense, and feels like a leadup to a much more erotic story. It wouldn't be out of place in one of Scott Jone's Martian Migraine collections in that regard.
'The Price' by Thomas Mead is one of the longest entries, and integrates fairies into the fine tradition of dark/horror stories about haunted, cursed, or otherwise supernatural films.
Overall a good collection for fans of horror or fairy stories, and light enough not to place huge demands on the reader. I'll certainly be looking for more by a few of these authors.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the majority of these stories, and have come away with a list of authors to further look into! I found a lot of the stories were somewhat "tamer" than I'd expected, though perhaps I'm just becoming more accustomed to the genre (I wouldn't complain if that's the case!). Regardless, it was a pleasant surprise. There were a few stories I didn't quite "get," but I think a second reading (when I'm less tired and more focused) would probably remedy that. Still, I'd say this is one of my favourite anthologies overall :)