Rescue a princess, meet a mermaid, win your reward.
The authors of the Fellowship of Fantasy tackle fairy tales from once upon a time to happily ever after. Explore twists on old tales and brand new magical stories. Meet feisty mermaids, friendly lampposts, and heroes who just might be monsters themselves.
This fourth anthology from the Fellowship of Fantasy will lead you on a quest for entertainment and storm the castle of your imagination. So make a wish and enter the deep dark woods to find stories that will make you laugh, shiver, and maybe even fall in love.
Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.
An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture.
Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.
She is the author of a four part fantasy/romance series entitled "The Dragon and the Scholar," the Award Winning (2016 Realm Award for Young Adult Fiction) Nyssa Glass Steampunk series, and MG/Fantasy "Cora and the Nurse Dragon," among others .
Note:I've only read 3 of the stories in this collection (so I feel kind of weird reviewing it), but I reviewed those three for the Tales of Ever After blog tour and am posting those here. I'll probably update this review someday when I read the rest of the stories in the collection, but I LOVED the 3 I read so far, so I feel like rating the overall collection 5 stars works, since it's definitely worth it at least for these. :D
CINDERS by Kendra E. Ardnek
Okay, that was adorable and enchanting! I have a new story to put on my growing list of top-favorite Cinderella retellings. :D I LOVED this one!
The thing about retellings is that you can't usually say much about the twists/plots/bits that make you really like them, without spoiling the story. XD So I won't. But I did LOVE the twists a ton. Some I suspected, others were a delightful surprise, and a few times I got worried about how it would turn out and then things worked PERFECTLY and made me absurdly happy.
There's also a cute kitten. And humor. And loveable characters! And... well... what more can be said? It's a classic Cinderella story flipped on its head and made fabulous all over again. I loved it so much! The perfect story to start out this collection. :)
So what are you waiting for? Go pick up this free collection and read Cinders! I'll be over here contemplating rereading it, and hugging it because I adored it. ^_^
***
AT THE CORNER OF ELM AND MAIN by H.L. Burke
What an utterly charming and perfect story! <3
GAH. *clutches heart* *clutches this story and hugs it* At the Corner of Elm and Main is SO ADORABLE. I love it so much! <3 I'm having a hard time explaining it, but how cool is the idea of a sentient lamppost? It makes me think of a Pixar short or something. Which of course is perfect. :)
I love the setting and "feel" of this one, feeling somewhat shadowy and cold with (probably) cobblestone streets and rain and a lamplighter going around lighting lamps, including our hero, Abner.
Abner the lamppost is MY FAVORITE THING. He's wonderful. I loved reading the story from his perspective. And I loved the mysterious old woman who sits on the bench, too.
This is a positively delightful original fairytale type story, with SO much heart and charm. It's a joy to read, but also has depth to it, and unexpected feels. Everything was so vivid and the delightful writing drew me right into it. It's going to sound weird but I really related to the lamppost character. ^_^
I'm definitely going to be reading this one again sometime. It lit a light in my heart and made me smile. :)
I can't say anything else without spoiling it, but basically, you need this adorable story in your life ASAP! Go forth and read it and have your heart melted like mine was! <3
***
BELIEVING FAIRY TALES by Arthur Daigle
Short stories are hard to review without spoiling, and I really don't want to spoil this one because it has an excellent plot twist, but I'll do my best. :P
Arthur Daigle is one of my new favorite authors I've discovered this year, due to just a couple of short stories in previous Fellowship of Fantasy anthologies. (Those two short stories featured one of my favorite-ever dynamic duos, Dana Illwind and Sorcerer Lord Jayden.)
So I was excited to review this short story! Despite not having said two favorite characters in it, this short story does contain Mr. Daigle's signature humor, fantastical setting (including monsters), twists, and a snarky main character who stands up for himself, as well as a mischievous goblin.
Nestor is a boy who spends his time keeping the shrine of the Brotherhood of Righteousness clean and reading old manuscripts -- and Gibber is a little goblin who loves to annoy him and prank people. Their relationship was fun. XD
Enter some problems in the form of some villains, a lot of hilarious conversations (with snarky lines like: “I would have lost my faith in humanity if I’d ever had it.”) and a plot twist that I started slightly guessing at (and had me going "OOH!"), and it's overall a delightful original fairy tale type story. :D
I loved the bits about people not getting fairytales right. XD
This story was a lot of fun, and the setting and humor reminded me of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. It's slightly scary (just fantasy violence) but awesome overall, and I loved it! I'm excited to read the rest of the stories in this collection, as well as more of Arthur Daigle's work!
Fantasy that makes me laugh is my favorite, and this absolutely qualifies! <3
I love fairy tales, especially reading retellings and learning new ones. I got to do both with this anthology! I’m super excited to share my opinions with everyone! Here goes!!!!!
#1 “Cinders” by Kendra E. Ardnek “Cinders” was a funny and cute story of Cinderella. It’s also the perfect way to start out this anthology. This story was also very original and I can definitely say that the author is very creative. Five stars!!!
#2 “At the Corner of Elm & Main” by H.L. Burke Cute, short, happy. The story teaches a good lesson, but the story was a little slow. It wasn’t really my thing and I have no idea what I would rate this. Somewhere slightly higher than a three, I guess.
#3 “Tears of the Sea” by Savannah Jezowski I honestly don’t know why I loved this story so much. I think it’s because it was mermaids and there was a little bit of romance. But I seriously went crazy over this story. It was great!!! “Tears of the Sea” was awesome and I really wish it hadn’t ended! MORE PLEASE. I give it 4.5 Stars out of 5.
#4 “Steelhand” by Ashley Capes This anthology has a diverse collection, which means there are a lot of stories for me and ones that aren’t for me. This is one of the ones that was not for me. Steampunk is not my thing and it never has been. I give this story a 2.
#5 “King or Beggar” by D.G. Driver I cannot decide between this story or “The Princess and the Stonepicker” over which was the best story in this collection. I LOVED this story. I’ve never heard of King Thrushbeard, but now I’m interested. This was so sweet and kind of funny. I enjoyed this story so much and just because of this one alone I’d reread the whole book. FIVE STARS.
#6 “The Girl Who Talked to Birds” by Kristen S. Walker Kind of funny, but also slow and not my thing. I don’t know why I read the ones I didn’t like all the way through. It just made me like the story even less than I already did. I guess I’m gonna go with a 2 star rating for this book. Not really sure how I even felt. Maybe it was a little coolish??? Oof.
#7 “The Princess and the Stone-Picker” by Sarah Ashwood This is the other book I was talking about where I couldn’t decide which story was the best. This original story was so sweet and heartwarming, I wanted to cry when it was over. I LOVED this story. Truly captivating and enchanting!!!! Of course, five stars.
#8 “Wake the Moon” by Annie Louise Twitchell To me, it appeared the author was going for some horror-type version of Sleeping Beauty. Mainly, the whole thing just confused me and kind of creeped me out. Super confusing. There were Native Americans and then there were special moon people and “The Father.” I’m guessing they were referring to God, but it was just supremely confusing. I honestly don’t know what was going on here!!! One star.
#9 “The Greatest Adventure” by J.M. Hackman Could’ve been worse, could’ve been better. 2.5 Stars. I’m not super into dragons and stuff, so that’s definitely a huge factor in my feelings for this story. I’d definitely recommend it, though. If you’re a fan of dragons, you’re in for a treat. If not, you should skip.
#10 “Third Princess” by Emily Martha Sorensen I know this author, actually. I do a lot of ARCs for her. I enjoy a lot of them. She writes very witty books and the readers can get a feel of her sense of humor. This story, though, was probably the best story I’ve read of her yet, and I wasn’t expecting it!!! “Third Princess” was outrageously funny and it’s probably the second best story in this anthology. For people who are looking for a more funny read, this story is it! (Four stars)
#11 “A Week After Midnight” by Alex McGilvery Started out okay, but got a little dull as it went on. 3.5 Stars. If I’m being totally honest, when I was reading over all my notes, I couldn’t even remember what this story was about. Reading the end couple sentences was enough to trigger a memory, and I do know this book is a little funny and very... idk. Maybe sweet? I enjoyed it, but I’m happy it’s over.
#12 “Being Seen” by Gretchen E. K. Engel Beautiful and heartwarming! A happy story, although a tid bit confusing at the very beginning before everything was explained. I loved the ending and I give the story a 3.5 star rating overall.
#13 “The Quest for the Wide-Awake Princess” by Lia London For me, this story sounded better than it actually was. It sounded great, but the actual story was a bit of a let down. I did like how everything worked out in the end for the characters and it was a cute little story. 3 Stars seems like a good number for this one.
#14 “How to Hide a Prince” by E.J. Kitchens Very funny title and a very unexpected ending. Uh oh, my notes says that I was very bored half way through... But now, I don’t think it was that bad. Kind of cute. My notes also say I gave the book a 2 star rating, but I’d be willing to up it to maybe a 3😉😉😉
#15 “Believing in Fairy Tales” by Arthur Daigle This story is the reason it took me so long to finish the book. I didn’t want to read this because of how long and boring it was to me! My dad probably would’ve liked this, so I think it’s just a case of it not being for me. It’s just that, the story had sounded SO GOOD and I insisted that it would get better! It didn’t for me... I give it a one star, but recommend others try it because I feel that it’s meant for someone else’s tastes.
#16 “The Loathly Princess of Edimor” by L. Palmer A truly fantastic way to end the whole anthology!!!! To say it moved me and made me smile is an understatement. It kind of reminded me of an E.D. Baker book. I believe the title is something like “Unlikely Magic?” I don’t know, but it was good and this was good. A fun story with a good ending. It left me wishing there were more short stories to read from this. 4.5 Stars Out of 5.
That’s all for now folks! I hope all you Fairy tale lovers try this book out and have as much fun as I did reading all these takes on classic tales as well as new stories that didn’t come from any fairy tales.
This is a well-written collection of stories written by different authors. I enjoyed each and every story in the book. Of course, most, if not all, of the stories involved a princess and some kind of magic.
This is a fun and thoughtful collection of fairy tales, but nothing like Disney even though they're all clean. Many original, clever stories are found within these pages, and every one of them has something special to recommend! Usually when I read an anthology, one or two become special favorites, but I can't say that about this one; I liked all of them!
I really enjoyed reading this collection. It's clean and delightful fantasy retelling of a variety of classic fairy tale stories that can be read and enjoyed by readers of any age. If you enjoy fairy tale retellings and prefer stories without harsh language or deviant situations, you will enjoy reading this collection.
A solid set of stories, some better than others. My favorite was Savannah Jezowski's mermaid tale. The anthology is currently free on Amazon and elsewhere... who knows what new authors you might discover? ;)
Not quite consistently good all throughout the stories it contains, but with enough good stories to be one of the better anthologies out there.
The retellings I liked best were:
Tears of the Sea by Savannah Jezowski A take on "The Little Mermaid" that was my absolute favourite. It's not like the original by Andersen at all, maybe the mermaid's fascination with humans is about the only element in common or so, and it could qualify as its own mermaid fantasy story instead of going out as a retelling of an existing one. It'd make for a great full novel, too. Great characterisation and great prose.
The Loathly Princess of Edimor by L. Palmer Not a retelling proper, it's a story inspired by (I'm assuming mostly, because of the elements in common) the Arthurian tale of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady. It reads like a mix of knightly tale with fairy tale, and is very hilarious. The knight in the story is a decent fellow, very likable and honest, and the princess, though a textbook royal brat in the start, also grows as a character eventually.
I give the two above a 5-star rating each, they were that good for me. Aside these, I'd mention the following for the honours roll: Cinders by Kendra E. Ardnek, a "Cinderella" retelling with the original twist that the cinder girl is, uh, a cinder-cat? Heh; The Princess and the Stone-Picker by Sarah Ashwood, not sure which tale inspired this one as it appears to be an original with motifs from many than a retelling proper, it threatened to become too preachy and the message often overtook the writing and storytelling, but it was nice on the whole; Third Princess by Emily Martha Sorensen, which wasn't a retelling of anything but a spoof of the fairy tale trope of the youngest child succeeding where the eldest children failed, it's very hilarious and light; and How to Hide a Prince by E. J. Kitchens, that retells "The Frog Prince" with a twist on the identity of the real frog and the real prince, very creative.
A bit of a mixed bag. The story by Lia London was wonderful, laugh-out-loud material. How could I not enjoy descriptions such as, “This time, the vicious creatures swarmed, taking to the air around Jack in a swirling snarl of matted fur and pointy bits that showed a complete disregard for all respectable laws of physics?”
I also appreciated the tales by Kendra E. Ardnek, H.L. Burke, and Emily Martha Sorensen.
This is a free novel in Amazon book four of six. Oh how I love 💘 those free books 📚!
Sixteen will written fantasy world 🌎 rewrite of fairy tales by various authors. Each story is different with interesting well developed characters of fairy tales with lots of action and misdirection leading to each conclusion. I would recommend this series and various authors to readers of fantasy world 🌎novels. 2023 😀👒☺😮
1. Cinder by Kendra E. Ardneck 🌟🌟🌟🌟 A Really cute story about a little kitten who wants the help of a fairy godmother so that she could live with the Prince but there's a twist at the end. I really enjoyed this one
2. At the corner of Elm & Main by H.L.Burke🌟🌟🌟🌟 A unique and sweet story about a lamppost who is alive.
3. Tears of the Sea by Savannah Jezzowski🌟🌟🌟🌟 I love the story take on Mermaids or Mer people.
4. Steelhand by Ashley Capes🌟🌟🌟🌟 A unique twist on Sleeping Beauty.
5. King or Begger by D.G. Driver 🌟🌟🌟🌟 This one I enjoyed very much a spoiled princess gets more than she bargain for.
6.The Girls Who Talked To Birds by Kristen S. Walker 🌟🌟🌟🌟 I liked the story about the girl who can talk to birds.
7.The Princess and The Stone Picker Sarah Ashwood.🌟🌟🌟🌟 I really enjoyed this story about the princess willing to change herself for her people.
8. Wake The Moon by Annie Louise Twitchell 🌟🌟🌟🌟 This one was by far my favorite love the originality of the story and the main character Jesse.
9. The Greatest Adventure by J.M. Hackman 🌟🌟🌟🌟 I love stories about Dragons and enjoyed the action and adventure in this one.
10. Third Princess by Emily Martha Sorenson 🌟🌟 Didn't enjoyed this one.
11. A Week After Midnight by Alex McGilvery 🌟🌟🌟🌟 I love this take on Cinderella and shows what could've have been after the Prince asked her to marry him. I really enjoyed this story the characters felt real.
12. Being Seen by Gretchen E.K. Engel 🌟🌟🌟 This was okay but to many info dumping for a short story.
13. The Quest for a Wide Awake Princess by Lia London🌟 This one was a bit to weird for me.
14. How to Hide a Prince by E.J.Kitchens 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I really loved this retelling of The Frog Prince there was mystery, danger, dragons, shifters and magic. And the characters were really great I'm definitely going to read more by this Author.
15. Believing Fairy tales by Arthur Daigle🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I really enjoyed Nestor story and his dry sense of humor. And love the dark twist of the the take of the fairytale story.
16.The Loathly Princess of Edimor by L.Palmer 🌟🌟🌟🌟 A lovely story about a Princess who wants a curse and gets more than she wished for. A great story and great characters.
I really wasn't for sure about this anthology before I started reading it because of it being basically fairy take retellings , not an I glad I did . I enjoyed this book from start to finish and the authors did a fantastic job with their versions and I think a few originals . If I remember correctly this book is kind of short less than 300 pages , so before you know it you've read all the stories and when your done I'm pretty sure you spend like me glad you read it . So go pick this up and give it a try , with 16 stories in sure you will find plenty you like . Oh it's free on Amazon so go get it you have nothing lose .
Tales of Ever After is the fourth anthology from the Fellowship of Fantasy. This multi author collection is connected by the theme of fairytales. Featuring both retellings of your favorite classics and original stories with a fairytale flare
Whether you like your fairytales with heart or snark there is something for everyone.
Let me just say, these were adorable. I don't really have another way to describe all the sweet little warm fuzzies I got from story after story. And, if I'm not mistaken, every single author that is published in this book is an indie author, so this is a great way to be introduced to your next favorite author. There were 16 of these wonderful fairy tales in here, so obviously I can't review them ALL. Therefore I'm going to highlight my three favorites, in no particular order
The Princess and The Stone Picker- An Original Fairy Tale by Sarah Ashwood This one was so sweet you guys! I think out of all of them, this one actually made me cry. I cried happy tears because it was just really sweet. It felt like it was a classic fairy tale, it had all the charm of one. But obviously I had never heard it before.
The Quest for a Wide-Awake Princess by Lia London This one made me laugh out loud a few times. This one was a spoof on a few classic fairy tales and it had a very light-hearted tone and a "don't take yourself too seriously" attitude. I especially liked the kissing scenes. They might have made me giggle a little bit because they succeeded in being both funny and cute.
Being Seen by Gretchen E. K. Engel Being Seen actually really impressed me. While it's technically a short story, it feels like a longer story, and I mean that in a good way. Engel built a whole fantasy steampunk world with a culture and history that I found really intriguing. It felt like this story should be a novel, but it also didn't feel rushed. More so than any other story, this one made me want to go look up the author and see what else she might have written. So there you have it! I give this book high marks, and since the ebook is free on Amazon I highly recommend you going to check it out for yourself. Happy reading!
I bought this anthology the minute I heard it was out--loved the previous anthology and loved this one as well. Okay, not every story was a favorite, but most were great. You can't beat witty, thought-provoking, twisty tales and these deliver on that. For instance, Believing Fairy Tales, by Arthur Daigle (my personal favorite) says "Some fairy tales are true. The dangerous ones are partly true." The fun is discovering which ones ARE dangerous and which parts ARE true! So it you enjoy fairy tales at all and like seeing tales morphed with intriguing new outcomes, this is a great volume to enjoy.
A sweet collection of fairy tale based short stories. My personal favorite was "The Princess and the Stone-Picker", but there were several gems in here. Highly recommended to fans of happily ever afters, and I'm excited to read more by several of these authors.
This is one of a series of modern and old-fashioned stories in the fairy tale genre. I enjoy them so much that I wish wrote this kind of work so that I could be a part of this game. But since I don't, I can rejoice in reading them.
I love fairytales, so it came as no surprise that this is my favorite Fellowship of Fantasy Anthology. I skimmed a few of the stories, but here's a list of the ones I enjoyed:
At the Corner of Elm and Main by H. l. Burke -- The main character is a lamppost...
Tears of the Sea by Savannah Jezowski -- Everything I've read by Savannah Jezowski is incredible, but this Little Mermaid retelling touched me more deeply than I could have expected.
Steelhand by Ashley Capes -- steampunk retelling of Sleeping Beauty
King or Beggar by D. G. Driver -- Hilarious yet sweet King Thrushbeard retelling
The Princess and the Stone-Picker by Sarah Ashwood -- "Those whose eyes are nearest to the ground are those who see it's treasures."
The Greatest Adventure by J. M. Hackman -- a dragon tale
Third Princess by Emily Martha Sorensen -- Everyone knows that the youngest of three is the lucky child, the one who succeeds after the miserable failures of the other two. But maybe the older two refuse to fail.
How to Hide a Prince by E. J. Kitchens -- Kissing the frog may be a bad idea.
The Loathly Princess of Edimor by L. Palmer -- At least she doesn't remain loathly forever.
I really enjoyed most of these fairytale retellings. They were fun and different to read. I especially liked the cat Cinderella, Princess Fiona and the frog, the stone-picker, and the last story. Two other honorable mentions was King or Beggar and Believing Fairytales. Definitely recommend.
Some of these stories were wholly original, and some were retellings of classic fairytales. I found (almost) all of them to be enjoyable reads. Some of my favorites (in no order) are... -Believing Fairy Tales by Arthur Daigle (half of this story is highlighted bc it's too funny) -Tears of the Sea by Savannah Jezowski (I loved her story in A.E. Stengl's Beauty and the Beast collection, and this story only furthered my good opinion of her work) -King or Beggar by D.G. Driver (I've always loved King Thrushbeard, so no shock) -Wake the Moon by Annie Louise Twitchell (more mature themes, not recommended for younger readers, but was an amazingly written story nonetheless) -Third Princess by Emily Martha Sorensen (I was basically snickering at the queen during the whole thing) -Quest for the Wide Awake Princess by Lia London (it ended exactly as I predicted, but I don't care bc it was perfect)
Recommended for anyone who enjoys a twist on your average fairytale story.
Lots of fun introductions to new authors through their short stories. I especially enjoyed "The Princess and the Stone-Picker"; "The Greatest Adventure"; "Third Princess"; "Being Seen"; "How to Hide a Prince"; and "The Loathly Princess of Edimor".
This isn't usually my go to genre, but I do enjoy reading short stories in the evening. These short stories are rewritten fairytales. I really enjoyed the unique twist that some of the authors put on these tales. Some I recognized as classics, others I couldn't identify, but I enjoyed a good portion of them. These stories are written so that adults will enjoy them, but they are all still appropriate to share with your children. (They may just not understand some of the humor. Once again, nothing inappropriate.)
My 2 favorite stories were "King or Beggar" by D.G. Driver and "Being Seen" by Gretchen E K Engel.
I don't often give five star reviews to anthologies, but this one was awesome. There was so much diversity in the stories, all bearing the fairtale theme.
These altered fairy tales were great! I liked the modern viewpoints and character studies of many of them. Some of the endings were a surprise, which was fun.
Guys I got an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) and it’s one of the most exciting things that’s ever happened to me! And all they want in exchange is an honest review, so here we are.
Basically this one reads like a fun treasury of fairy tales, except they are set in such drastically different worlds and told in such contrasting styles that it feels a little like a patchwork quilt. But I love patchwork quilts! While a luxurious sheet of silk may be a beautiful work of art, a patchwork quilt has so may different parts that there is almost more to love.
I really enjoyed some stories, like the one about a lamppost, the one about a see-through girl, and the one based on King Thrush-beard. The one about the stone-picker and the one about the girl trapped under a spell because of her ungratefulness were amazingly thought provoking. The unique perspectives and fascinating themes throughout were beautifully treated, and give the stories depth. I loved the variety of the worlds and the characters. As with all short stories, I am constantly amazed by how authors can create a relationship between the reader and the characters with so few words.
I must admit that I did not enjoy the one about the girl and the moon and the knife and the demons, because I found it thoroughly confusing and even possibly wrong spiritually (although like I said, I was confused). There was also an exceedingly snarky one about a prince who was searching for his princess, set in a world that was a strange mix of present-day and stereotypical fairy tale land, which was not my cup of tea. However, I realize it’s supposed to be satire, and I’m sure some would love it. That’s probably one of the biggest strengths of this collection – there’s really a story for everyone.
I really enjoyed this collection, and it was an amazing introduction to a lot of authors. It also makes me want to start writing my own stories someday… we shall see.
Speaking of authors, here is the list of all the authors who are part of the “Fellowship of Fantasy” and contributed to this book: H.L. Burke Alex McGilvery Sarah Ashwood Emily Martha Sorensen Savannah Jezowski Lia London E.J. Kitchens Kendra E. Ardnek J.M. Hackman D.G. Driver Arthur Daigle Annie Louise Twitchell Ashley Capes Gretchen E.K. Engel Kristen S. Walker L. Palmer
Review originally published on my blog, Nothing Creative