In the Shadow of Evil

by Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), John Helfers (Editor), Rick Hautala (Contributor)

The Embrace of the Serpent • short story by Tim Waggoner
Few of Us • short story by Jean Rabe
The Angel Chamber • short story by Russell Davis
Ineffable • short story by Isaac Szpindel
Flint and Iron • short story by Rick Hautala
Reel • short story by Julie E. Czerneda
Comes Forth • short story by Jane Lindskold
Climb, Said the Crow • short story by Brooks Peck
Red Star Prophecy • short story by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Rekindling the Light • short story by Jody Lynn Nye
Iraqi Heat • short story by Gregory Benford
Slow Poison • short story by Tanya Huff
The Weapon • short story by Michelle Sagara West
The Captain of the Dead • short story by Fiona Patton

Genres: Fantasy, Anthologies, Short Stories, Horror

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Martin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.

For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.

Reviews

[Kasia]

Short stories can be a guilty pleasure, like a satisfying snack for the imagination they can contain a lot of flavor in very little space. This collection was decent and I didn't feel guilty skipping the stories that weren't up my alley since I didn't like all of them , some were too heavy and clunky, even too modern and not enticing enough, but skipping around turned out to be a stress free option. I got this book from the library, but some stories were good enough that I would get the book if I ever ran across it.

Best story that set the mood was the well chosen first tale "Embrace of the serpent" by Tim Waggoner, which fit the book cover and the theme. It had a heavy dose of fantasy with the feel of a bright painting but I would have loved to read a whole novel dedicated to the topic, that's when you know the short story is good, when you get so engaged you wish there was more. When the meat of the tale is better than the variety of the "new" that awaits next (which is the real kicker for getting a short story collection to start with!) you know it's a good read. I also enjoyed "Climb said the crow" by Brooks Peck, which was extremely vivid, almost cartoon like yet strangely satisfying. "Slow poison" by Tanya Huff made me very hungry, that's one thing that strikes me about it, the food described and then ways it was used ( which was a surprise) made it for such a different read that it has stuck itself in my memory like a piece of sweet caramel on a tooth. I didn't enjoy the modern stories too much, considering how everyone has different taste it's probably best that the book has variety, I just didn't think that few that were chosen meshed well, in my mind it created gaps in the perfect setting, I like holes in cheese but they don't really provide anything other than a novelty, same for a few tales. Overall a nice ready, something that can be read in one day or slowly savored.

[Steven]

These stories are all set where evil may not actually win, but it's where "good" is clearly not ascendant, and people struggle to live in a wicked, wicked world.

The stories are all good (or better), with enough variety in their approach to the theme to keep it from being repetitive. (Even when Nazis show up more than once, the stories are quite distinct in tone, mood, and outcome.) The stories range from the supernatural to the utterly naturalistic, all while keeping the same tone.

While all the stories are good, there are several that are exceptional. Tim Waggoner's "To Embrace the Serpent" is chilling and utterly believable. Gregory Benford's "Iraqi Heat" is an excellent character portrayal. Tanya Huff's "Slow Poison" had me grimly smiling along with the cook, and Michelle West's "The Weapon" somehow packs a novel's worth of story into an intense short story.

[Steven Jay]

A good set of stories here.

Different types of evil, from human to alien & not much repetition as to the level of evil. One story even makes it so that not even the side of the resistance to evil is so innocent.


To Embrace the Serpent - Tim Waggoner: A man sacrifices family in a world where humans are subjugated by snake-like creatures. So-So

Few of Us - Jean Rabe: The king & surviving members of his people launch a last-ditch effort to retake their castle & island from genocidal invaders. Good

The Angel Chamber - Russell Davis: A journal of a little girl tells the tale. Unidentified soldiers take away people because of their religion & are never seen again. (Very depressing story) Good

Ineffable - Isaac Szpindel: A Rabbi creates a golem to use against German civilians & German military in Nazi-occupied Prague following the deaths of his family. But killing the innocent weighs on the golem. Good

Flint and Iron - Rick Hautala: A small spark can feed a rebellion. Good

Peel - Julie E. Czerneda: A woman in a seemingly well-manicured & yet bland world. But it’s all a lie. So-So

Comes Fourth - Jane Lindskold: A clan of an enslaved people gives shelter to a group belonging to those who are their masters. A deathbed prophecy is somehow involved. Dull/Bad

Climb, Said the Crow - Brooks Peck: Hell is about to be unleashed on a world by the supernatural dictator in charge. A talking crow convinces a climber to climb a mountain the dictator’s castle is on & take out the tyrant. Good

Red Star Prophecy - Mickey Zucker Reichert: A young girl’s brother is the key to the overthrow of violent rulers. Good

Rekindling the Light - Jody Lynn Nye: A sorcerer with powerful winged creatures rules over a world. One race of people who rely on a symbiotic connection with the forces of nature through "celestial songs" & singing is restricted from singing. One woman finds a way to adapt. Good

Iraqi Heat - Gregory Benford: Besides the insurgents, there are deadly crocodiles. Told through a soldier’s letters home. (Doesn’t really fit with the theme of the anthology to me) So-So

Slow Poison - Tanya Huff: A cook uses a clever method of bringing down a conqueror. Good

The Weapon - Michelle West: A religious order is forced to play caretaker to an evil ruler’s young daughter. So-So

The Captain of the Dead - Fiona Patton: With swords & sorcery, a world-dominating force takes over until it runs into a people with power that rivals its own…power which includes bringing back the dead. Good

[Susan]

Julie Czerneda, Jane Lindskole, Tanya Huff & Fiona Patton, Mickey Zucker Reichert... names that practically guarantee a good read.

To Embrace of the Serpent • shortstory by Tim Waggoner
Few of Us • shortstory by Jean Rabe
The Angel Chamber • shortstory by Russell Davis
Ineffable • shortstory by Isaac Szpindel
Flint and Iron • shortstory by Rick Hautala
Peel • shortstory by Julie E. Czerneda
Comes Forth • shortstory by Jane Lindskold
Climb, Said the Crow • shortstory by Brooks Peck
Red Star Prophecy • shortstory by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Rekindling the Light • shortstory by Jody Lynn Nye
Iraqi Heat • shortstory by Gregory Benford

"Slow Poison" by Tanya Huff collected in Finding Magic and re-collected in Nights of the Round Table reread 3/10/2015
The Weapon • shortstory by Michelle West
The Captain of the Dead • shortstory by Fiona Patton

[S.M.M. Lindström]

An interesting gathering of short stories. I don't feel they all kept completely to the theme (i.e. weren't as beyond the hope heroic rescue) but that doesn't mean they were bad stories.

My favorite was the one about the snake god. Very depressing but fitting the theme oh so well!