The Book of Magic, Part 1

by Gardner Dozois (Editor)

Contents
The Return of the Pig / novelette by K.J. Parker
Community Service / novelette by Megan Lindholm
Flint and Mirror / novelette by John Crowley
The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable / novelette by Matthew Hughes
The Biography of a Bouncing Boy Terror, Chapter II: Jumping Jack in Love / novelette by Ysabeau S. Wilce
Song of Fire / novelette by Rachel Pollack
Loft the Sorcerer / novelette by Eleanor Arnason
The Governor / novelette by Tim Powers

Genres: Fantasy

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 17, 2019

About the author

Gardner Raymond Dozois was an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004. He won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, both as an editor and a writer of short fiction.
Wikipedia entry: Gardner Dozois

http://us.macmillan.com/author/gardne...

Reviews

[Ange · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book of Magic Part one
Editing by Gardner Dozois
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the Part 1 of 2 of the Book of Magic Anthology and I have to say what a great start!

Would I say holy shit you need to run out and get this now? No? Would I highly recommend it? Yes! Especially if you are like me at the moment and your reading is all over the place.

I think getting to read a few short stories instead of one longer one was exactly what I needed!

There really were some gems in here especially from some authors I have never read before which was great! There was also the Robin Hobb story which was nothing like any of her other works I’ve read! At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about it but by the end I was totally in love! It was kind of a cross between Supernatural and Sabrina and it was set in the modern world instead of a heavy fantasy setting, like every other Hobb book I have read.

My other two favourites were Jumping Jack in Love and Loft the Sorcerer where I learnt if a troll has a big nose he must have a big penis! 😂 you learn something new every day!

Anyways, here are my individual ratings for each story.


K. J Parker -The Return of the Pig
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Megan Lindholm (Hobb) - Community Service
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

John Crowley Flint and Mirror
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Matthew Hughes- The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Ysabeau S. Wilce -Jumping Jack in Love
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
My sweet cake encrusted boy

Rachael Pollack- Song of Fire
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Eleanor Arnason- Loft the Sorcerer
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Tim Powers- The Governor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Shmakhlooq]

DNFing this one I’m afraid. I found only two of these stories intriguing enough to continue with. I kept wanting to put it down and go back to my other books 😬
I didn’t vibe with the writing in some of them and with others I just wasn’t interested. I’ll give part 2 a try but I suspect it might be more of the same 💔

[Victoria Austen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not read all of them but skipped to the authors I wanted to read. Future me in 2022 needs to just stop buying these anthologies because they are often so very bad but they keep sucking me in. I think some hidden gem of an author is going to magically appear to me through them.

[Florence · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first part “The Book of Swords”, and I loved every single page of it. Sadly, The Book of Magic” was a huge disappointment - too much rambling and just plots not thick enough to hold my interest.

[Freya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come :)

[Susan Peak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good anthology with a wide range of writers

[Bethnoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightfully varied mix of stories linked by the theme of magic. I loved some, found others less enjoyable, but all were interesting.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked several of the stories within the anthology but I enjoyed the final story the most. It reminded me of Flowers for Algernon or it gave me at least a similar feeling of sadness despite a hint of positivity at the end of the story. As to why only three stars: There was only one that I truly did not like which styled itself like a children’s story with repetition and tone. Also the story utilizing Irish myth had little plot which left it feeling rather like a wasted effort to finish.

Overall, I enjoyed the cross-section of authors’ voices that this collection offered.

[Reece · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice homage to Gardner Dozois. I thoroughly enjoyed the story by Megan Lindholm who wrote a contemporary urban fantasy, Matthew Hughes' tale of Masquelayne the avaricious thaumaturge and the story of Loft the Sorcerer by Eleanor Arnason - an Icelandic folktale with a twist.