The Essential Peter S. Beagle, Volume I: Lila the Werewolf and Other Stories

The Essential Peter S. Beagle #1

by Peter S. Beagle, Jane Yolen (Introduction), Stephanie Pui-Mun Law (Illustrator)

The essential first volume of bestselling author Peter S. Beagle’s (The Last Unicorn) short stories demonstrates why he is one of America’s most influential fantasists. With his celebrated versatility, humor, and grace, Beagle is at home in a dazzling variety of subgenres. Evoking comparison to such iconic authors as Twain, Tolkien, Carroll, L’Engle, and Vonnegut, this career retrospective celebrates Beagle’s mastery of the short-story form.

An unlikely friendship based on philosophy develops between an aging academic and a mythological beast. A mysterious, beautiful attendee who attends a ball thrown in her honor chooses whether or not to become mortal. A dysfunctional relationship is not improved by the consequences of lycanthropy. One very brave young mouse questions his identity and redefines feline wiles.

From heartbreaking to humorous, these carefully curated stories by Peter S. Beagle show the depth and power of his incomparable prose and storytelling. Featuring an original introduction from Jane Yolen (Owl Moon) and gorgeous illustrations from Stephanie Pui-Mun Law (Shadowscapes), this elegant collection is a must-have for any fan of classic fantasy.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Collections, Anthologies, Urban Fantasy, Short Story Collection

352 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2023

About the author

Peter Soyer Beagle (born April 20, 1939) is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. He is also a talented guitarist and folk singer. He wrote his first novel, A Fine and Private Place , when he was only 19 years old. Today he is best known as the author of The Last Unicorn, which routinely polls as one of the top ten fantasy novels of all time, and at least two of his other books (A Fine and Private Place and I See By My Outfit) are considered modern classics.

Reviews

[carol. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve long been a fan of Peter S. Beagle. I’ve read all of his fiction and most of his short story collections, but this was in the pre-Goodreads days. I had been meaning to go back and re-read, when along comes the first of a two-volume collection of some of his short stories. The Universe (and Tachyon Publications) oblige! But I make no secret of my terrible memory; in fact, one of the reasons I joined Goodreads was to track the books I’ve read so that I could avoid that disconcerting experience of discovering I’ve read something before–a third into the book. But Beagle’s stories–ah, there’s nothing déjà vu about them–I remember them. Professor Gottesman, Lady Death, Lila the Werewolf, and The Stickball Witch have all stuck in my memory despite reading decades ago, if not for the plot, than for the sentiment behind so many of them.

Beagle excels when his stories hit the intersection in the Venn diagram of memory, emotion, and feeling. One direction becomes a little more maudlin, another, more visceral. Professor is one of my favorites here, and will likely be more amusing to those who recognize classical philosophers. The combination of a possibly deluded rhinoceros and the eccentric professor will never not amuse me, and I will always prefer its sweet ending.

“He would pour himself a glass of wine and sit down in the living room to debate philosophy with a huge mortar-colored beast that always smelled vaguely incontinent, no matter how many baths it had taken that afternoon.”

The Stickball Witch slides slightly into the other direction, a little less sweet and a little more… umami, I think. Not quite bitter, but both rich and with a bite. I liked it, even more as an older reader. Despite being rooted in memory, it does a nice job of capturing an eleven year-old voice, cycling in and out.

“You couldn’t walk away from a double-dare, even from a dumbshit like Stewie. I mean, you could, but the rest of your life wouldn’t ever be worth living after that. I knew that then. Not believed. Knew.”

Speaking of endings, We Never Talk About My Brother is probably one of the best entries here. Like The Last Unicorn, it is a gut-punch to the feels. Framed as an interview, it’s a very different voice than the other stories.

“‘Declare to goodness,’ he said, and it wasn’t the smooth TV voice at all, but more like the way his mouth was born, as we say around here.”

El Regalo is a different version of a similar tale, if things had gone differently, and feels easier to read. Beagle writes about his intention to turn it into a book. As a more modern young-adult urban fantasy, about a teenager and her younger brother who discovers he’s a witch, I’m sure it has a spot in the commercial market, but like The Last Unicorn, there’s a sense of age and consequence here that might miss the younger readers.

“Marvyn was utterly businesslike about lies: in a crisis he always told the truth, until he thought of something better. He said, ‘I’m warning you right now, you won’t believe me.'”

King Pelles follows that morality tale too far and lands a little outside the sweet spot for me, but it’ll work for some as a twist on the fairy-tale setting. The Four Fables are a miss for me, mostly because fables have always missed me. I only read them as a youth because I had exhausted the fairy-tale section of the library. I like Beagle’s vividness, of course, but the inherent morality/consequence is too simple for his writing.

Spook and Lila are shorts nominally featuring Joe Farrell, of The Folk of the Air, and while it was sort of nice to see him again in Spook, the battle of wits verged a bit too far into the bitter for my taste. Lila, on the other side, feels too much of a wallowing in sexuality and is triggering for animal deaths–no doubt why it retained a negative feeling for all these years. Although Farrell's problems in dating sound strangely familiar, so there may be an element of discomfort there.

“The trouble is that I know her. That was the real mistake. You shouldn’t get to know people if you know you’re not going to stay with them, one way or another. It’s all right if you come and go in ignorance, but you shouldn’t know them.”

As a final note, that introduction by Jane Yolen–yikes. While I usually admire her writing, she includes mention of a school shooting in it. How this slipped past editing–such a strange and non-sequitur way for her to work on her own catharsis, apparently–I do not understand. It’s a discordant note in an anthology about people who are one one-step removed from the world, or about a world that is open to the possibilities of the mystical.

Stephanie Law’s drawings are the perfect companion to his works. I’ve long been a follower of her art on Instagram and recognized the style as soon as I saw it here. I wish I could see it in color, however, and not my black-and-white screen. Definitely not optimal. (Watch her do gold-leafing on Insta sometime. It’s wonderful).


Table of contents for the completionists in the house:

-Peter Beagle: Bottling Talent by Jane Yolen
-Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros
-Come Lady Death
-Lila the Werewolf
-Gordon, the Self-Made Cat
-Four Fables:
The Fable of the Moth
The Fable of the Tyrannosaurus Rex
The Fable of the Ostrich
The Fable of the Octopus
-El Regalo
-Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel
-We Never Talk About My Brother
-King Pelles the Sure
-The Last and Only; or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French
-Spook
-The Stickball Witch
-A Dance for Emilia


Three and a half stars. Rounding up, because that writing.

Links to Law's work at my wordpress review. https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2022/...

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications. All opinions always my own.

[Hannah Greendale (Hello, Bookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful addition to my collection of Peter S. Beagle's work.

This book features in my Spring TBR video on BookTube.🌷



This collection opens with my favorite short story by Beagle, "Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros", and it's followed by a new favorite, "Come Lady Death". "Gordon the Self-Made Cat" is an adorable story about a mouse who trains to be a cat. And "Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel" proved a pleasant surprise (in which an angel volunteers to be an artist's muse). For me, these stories encompass what makes Beagle's writing so alluring: lyricism, whimsy, and a thin veil between fantasy and reality.

Many of the stories that follow are more grounded in reality, and I found myself skimming some of them. The illustrations are lovely, but I wish they'd have been relevant to the stories. Also, the introduction from Jane Yolen mentioning a school shooting with 19 deaths and how news of it "could have been written (with more elegance and truth) by Beagle himself" is woefully incongruous. Nonetheless, this is a gorgeous book (both outside and inside), and I'm thrilled to add it to my collection.

--

ORIGINAL POST 👇

Oooh goody goody, an illustrated collection of short stories from Peter S. Beagle. 🥰

And this is volume one of two! 😍

I'm a longtime fan of Beagle's work. It's no secret that my favorite book by him is The Last Unicorn, and I recently read and enjoyed an ARC of his upcoming book I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons.

This collection is comprised almost entirely of short stories by Beagle that I've never read before, so I'm keen to explore this book soon However, it includes my favorite short story from him that I have read: "The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche". Really looking forward to revisiting that one.

[PlotTrysts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of Beagle stories! Standouts include:

Come Lady Death - historical fantasy perfect for anyone who likes a touch of the morbid in their ballrooms

We Never Talk About My Brother - an exploration of what it would really mean to be a superhero

King Pelles the Sure - a spare antiwar allegory that's both funny and touching (like all great Peter S. Beagle stories, really!)

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the anthology.

[Theo Logos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Beagle has a talent, a knack, for delving right to the heart of human emotion. His specialty is showing the world honestly, as dark, as broken, as messed up as it can be. He shows humans with all their frailties, imperfections, their lost and broken dreams. And despite all of that (sometimes perhaps, because of all of that) he paints a brilliant picture of just why we go on, why it’s worth going on, why having the chutzpah to go on living our simple yet extraordinary lives amidst all of it is kind of the point.

The tools he uses are cleverness, humor (often with a pronounced Yiddish accent) nostalgia, and occasionally, irony. He tells his stories using slipstream/fantasy elements because often this technique expresses heart truth more accurately than do naked facts.

There are several absolutely brilliant stories in this collection — miniature masterpieces. There are no bad ones. A few don’t quite measure up to the brilliance of their fellows, and a couple go on for a beat or two too long, but each is worth your time. The best of these will touch your heart and stay fresh in your memory until you inevitably return to read them again.


Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros 3 1/2 ⭐️
A gently amusing story in which a talking rhinoceros (who absurdly claims to be a unicorn) follows the good professor home from the zoo and moves in with him, debating philosophy and taking baths.

”Of course, Augustine and the rest never did quite come to terms with such pagan survivals as unicorns. The best they could do was associate us with the Virgin Mary, and to suggest that our horns somehow represented the unity of Christ and his church. Bernard of Trèves even went so far as to identify Christ directly with the unicorn, but it was never a comfortable union. Spiral peg in square hole, so to speak.”


Come Lady Death 4 ⭐️
Lady Neville throws the most exclusive balls in London — her invitations (or lack there of) can make or break one’s social status. But she is absolutely bored with her own parties until she has the inspiration to invite Death, whose presence will make her next ball the event of the season. Death, it turns out, is a lovely lady, and she dances all night with the mesmerized and cowed crowd. But in the morning, a bargain must be made.
Predictable, but well told with great atmosphere.


Lila the Werewolf 5 ⭐️
Joe Farrell is a real cool cat, (a character Beagle has returned to often, in his novel The Folk of the Air, and the stories Julie’s Unicorn and Spook) and here he finds himself in an awkwardly complicated relationship. This story is clever, funny, and just a little bit horrible.

”Look, she goes to her psychiatrist three afternoons a week, and she’s got her guitar lessons one night a week, and her pottery classes one night, and she cooks eggplant maybe twice a week. She calls her mother every Friday night, and one night a month she turns into a wolf…It’s still Lila, whatever she does, and I just can’t get terribly shook about it…
I hate confrontations. If I break up with her now, she’ll think I’m doing it because she’s a werewolf. It’s awkward, it feels nasty and middle class.”


Gordon, The Self-Made Cat 4⭐️
A curious and ambitious mouse, who, not willing to accept the unequivocal rule of nature that he was to be the hunted, decides to go to cat school. A charming little tale.

”He was forever asking why everything had to be the way it was, and never satisfied with the answer…Most mice don’t ask many questions, but Gordon never stopped.”


The Fable of the Month 3 1/2 ⭐️

One: Like moths to a flame
”Once there was a young moth who did not believe that the proper end for all mothkind was a zish and a frizzle.”

Two: Queen of the dinosaurs
”Asteroid,” the tyrannosaurus pondered. “What is an asteroid?” Before the little creature she held could answer, she asked, “Come to think of it, what’s Thursday?”

Three: Ostrich hide & seek
”Stupidity always wins, as long as it’s stupid enough.”

Four: Octopus philosopher
”This particular octopus spent a great deal of time in profound wondering and pondering…He planned eventually to write a book of some sort…to be called Concerns of a Cephalopod, or possibly Mollusc Meditations.”


El Regalo 3 1/2 ⭐️
A 12 year old girl and her 8 year old brother dabble in witchcraft. Beagle gets kids, and this story has a gentle charm and real cleverness, but it drags on for too long.


Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and The Angel 5 ⭐️
A crotchety painter, his formidable wife, an angel that crashes his studio proclaiming itself his muse, a doomed dybbuk, and a compassionate young rabbi, all seen through the eyes of a ten year old. Comic tragedy capturing life — oy vey! A masterpiece!

”What,You got sent down here like a punishment? You talked back, you didn’t take out the garbage? I could believe it. Your boy Yawweh, he always did have a short fuse.”


We Never Talk About My Brother 5 ⭐️
An unusual interview with the brother of a former celebrity newsman. A struggle between brothers Jake and Esau over a miraculous family heritage. The flashy Angel of Death opposed by a simple, stolid, stubborn good man. Beagle has a knack for writing about the darkness of the world and how to live in it anyway.

Well, I wasn’t planning to go into the god business myself…Piss-poor job, you ask me. No benefits, no paid vacations. And damn sure no union.


King Pelles the Sure 3 ⭐️
A parable of peace and war, with an unwise king and his faithful grand vizier.


The Last and Only: Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French 3 ⭐️
An odd tale of an unassuming American librarian who transformed into the world’s only true Frenchman.


Spook 3 1/2 ⭐️
Another Joe Farrell story, and another bizarre situation for him. This one finds him in a formal duel with a ghost, the stakes the right to stay in his loft, the weapons bad poetry at dawn. This one owes a debt to Douglass Adams Vogon poetry.


The Stickball Witch 4 ⭐️
An absolutely charming, nostalgic story of childhood in a world now gone.

Stickball is street baseball, played with broomsticks and a specific kind of ball…a Spaldeen — and was made of a particular kind of pink rubber and smelled indescribably of spring…of laundry drying on apartment building roofs and on lines strung between apartment windows, and sunlight lasting a little longer every day. In the Bronx in 1950, spring smelled like Spaldeens.


A Dance for Emilia 4 1/2 ⭐️
A life-long friendship. An October/May romance. A tragic loss. A funeral. And a possessed, dancing cat.

Writing usually at night, often when I was weary enough that memory and language both tangled into dream, the stories I told of Sam and myself were true as phoenixes, as imaginary as computers.

[Elentarri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars

This collection of short stories by Peter S. Beagle (of The Last Unicorn fame) is something of a mixed bag for me.  The man can write, but he does tend to go on and on when he should rather have not.  I suspect that some of these short stories were the beginnings of novels that just didn't get there.  I would read a novel about the Indian Rhinoceros, but not about Stickball.

Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros 5/5
A charming and vaguely funny unicorn story.  It's not everyday that one finds a Rhino that insists it's a unicorn wallowing in one's bath tub.  This is the best story in the collection. 

Come Lady Death 4/5
Historical fantasy in which Death gets invited to a party hosted by a very old, very bored, obnoxious and very rich woman...  with interesting consequences.

Lila the Werewolf 3.5/5
The story of a man with a werewolf girlfriend. 

Gordon, the Self-made Cat 4/5
An amusing kiddies story about a young mouse that wants to be a cat, so he goes to cat school.  This story was fun.

Four Fables 3/5
A quartet of very short fables with a moral at the end. So-so. A bit silly - some more than others.
- The Fable of the Moth
- The Fable of the Tyrannosaurus Rex
- The Fable of the Ostrich
- The Fable of the Octopus

El Regalo 4/5
An entertaining story about pre-teen Korean-American siblings in which the 8 year old younger brother is a witch. Genteel mayhem ensures... and a run in with a very old witch. 

Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel 3/5
An angel appears in front of Uncle Chaim the painter, insisting that he paint her portrait and that she is to be his muse.  Aunt Rifke is not amused. There is too much filler before getting to the meat of the story.  Interesting ending.

We Never Talk About My Brother 2/5
"Esau turns people into ghosts". I didn't enjoy this story. Too rambling and too long.  Interesting concept though.

King Pelles the Sure 4/5
Anti-war story. King Pelles wishes to be immortalised in legend as a "Great King" and thinks fighting a war is a good way to go about it. So he invites a weaker country to attack his little county. Things do not go as he has planned.

The Last and Only; or, Mr. Moscowitz becomes French 2/5
I didn't enjoy this story. Mr. Moscowitz has a mental disorder in which he progressively becomes more French.

Spook 4/5
An entertaining and funny ghost story involving an unusual duel.

The Stickball Witch 3/5
Too much "street baseball" aka stickball, which does not interest me in the least.  Kids knock the ball into the local "witch's" garden and one of the boys has enough courage to get it back and gets caught by the witch. The story starts getting interesting when the witch shows up.

A Dance for Emilia 3.5/5
Two people come together over their reminiscence of a dead friend/lover, with unintended consequences. Maudlin.

[Alex Sarll · Rating 5 out of 5]

An anthology of choice short work by the great fantasist best known for The Last Unicorn, and stymied in recent years by far too much legal bullshit. I was struggling to sum up what makes him so special without resorting to entirely worn out words like 'classic', before I hit on at least part of it: there are still all manner of people writing great short fiction, but often it's fiddly to describe – either you have to spoil something too far in, or talk in terms of a riff on X, told in the style of Y, in response to Z. Whereas with Beagle, the simple single sentence does it, same as with a fairytale: an academic is befriended by a rhinoceros, which insists it's a unicorn. A great lady invites Death to her ball. A New Yorker learns something he wishes he hadn't about his girlfriend, but fears confrontation more than werewolves. And I was a little surprised at that last example being the title story here, because it feels dated in its specifics in ways the others mostly don't, but under those it's still a scenario that's perfect in its tilted plausibility. Not that he's just a master of the pitch, or the plot; he can weave a spell with his words too, such that even the animal fables, probably the most cynical stories here (at their heart, I mean – many of the others have cynical characters, but that's another matter) have moments of sheer beauty, like the octopus wondering whether the fleetingly glimpsed albatross, "So splendid and so alone", might be God, or the class at cat school which teaches them about "the enchanting things all cats can see that no one else ever does – the great, gliding ancestors, and faraway castles, and mysterious forests full of monsters to chase." I think my favourite tale might be the one in which the no-nonsense New York Jewish artist finds himself with an angel for a model, but apart from anything else that's one of the few I've read before; ask me next month and you'd likely get a different answer. Sure, some of the stories are slighter than others, but there's not a one which doesn't feel like it's achieved exactly what it intended, even if in one case that's mainly an excuse to expose readers to some of the worst poetry ever perpetrated by non-Vogons. It all wraps up beautifully with A Dance For Emilia, which possibly torpedoes my theory about Beagle's stories being easily pitched, in that I'd need to give too much away to say more than that it's a story about losing a friend too soon, but doesn't it always feel too soon? Still, it's the piece here which has been least widely available, and even if you're an assiduous follower of Beagle's, the collection would be well worth it just for this.

(Netgalley ARC)

[Beth Cato · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance copy of this book (and its companion) from the publisher via NetGalley.

Peter Beagle really needs no introduction. He's one of the greats of the fantasy genre, and this book is a clear demonstration of way. I expected this collection to be good, mind you, but I didn't expect it to be such an emotional journey. Every single story is fantastic (not something I can say about many collections or anthologies) but some of them--wow. "Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel" is up there among my favorite stories of all time with its gentle yet harsh story of an artist, an angel, and sheer goodness. Also profound were "Come Lady Death," "The Stickball Witch," and the astonishing finale, "A Dance for Emilia." I think it's fair to say that, based on Beagle's introductory notes, his stories that tended to touch me the most were the ones that were semiautobiographical for him--drawn from his own life, with a magical twist.

Superb. Just superb.

[Brok3n · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Frédéric Chopin of literature

The name Peter Beagle is familiar to every reader of fantasy, yet somehow I had never read any of his work (no, not even The Last Unicorn). These regrettable gaps in ones essential education do occur. Thus I was pleased to see the release of The Essential Peter S. Beagle, Volume I: Lila the Werewolf and Other Stories and Volume II. The ARC begins with a Press release in which fantasy authors such as Ursula LeGuin, Madeleine L'Engel, and Seanan McGuire are joined by unnamed critics at the New York Times Book Review and Saturday Review in praising Beagle in almost superhuman yet still personal terms. The book proper begins with an Introduction "Peter Beagle: Bottling Talent" in which Jane Yolen praises Beagle in similar terms but at greater length.

This all felt somehow familiar to me. Then I realized what it was! It's like hearing musicians talk about Frédéric Chopin! Chopin was, of course, one of the greatest of classical composers. In my experience, however, when a person who is not a musician wants to play classical music, works by Chopin come up less frequently than other composers of similar stature. Praise for Chopin comes mostly from people who themselves play piano. It is, I think, MUCH more fun to play Chopin than to listen to him. Beagle is similar in this sense: that he is most appreciated by his writer colleagues, who appreciate his craft.

Chopin is not one of my favorite composers. And, for similar reasons Beagle will never be one of my favorite authors. Both of them are a little too refined for me. Oddly, Beagle himself, in the final story in this book, expresses quite accurately what I miss in Chopin and Beagle

What I did somehow understand, bright and blind as I was, was that he was dancing for his life.

What I want most, from a dancer or a composer or a writer, is to understand that, at the moment of performance, what they're doing is the most important thing in the world -- the thing that is going to save the world, if done with everything the artist has. I don't feel that in Beagle. Now, I'm sure some readers will argue that's MY problem -- that Beagle is writing over my head, and that I'm too dense to feel the passion.

That may be true, but that is the opposite of how it feels to me. As I read Beagle, I see how cleverly he does this, and how skillfully that. I clearly feel his deft touch on the strings. I see the skill with which he flicks them and pulls on my heart and mind. But you see, that is not what it feels like to be under the influence of a master puppeteer. If you perceive the puppeteer, then he/she is not a master. The master puppeteer is the one who completely vanishes, and who makes the puppet vanish.

I'm protesting too much, in trying to be clear. I like this book, and I like Peter Beagle. If my appreciation is more a matter of intellect than pathos, well, intellectual appreciation is something. And it'll be more for other readers.

I thank NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for an advance reader copy of The Essential Peter S. Beagle, Volume I. This review expresses my honest opinions.

Blog review.

[Sai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see why he has legend status in the urban fantasy realm, some of these really took me back to what it was like to read a fantasy story as a kid (Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros, El Regalo) and will be floating around in my head forever probably. I guess my only issue is that I feel the introduction to this collection kind of misses the mark at points but hey ho.

Thanks to netgalley for the arc

[Mer Mendoza (Merlyn’s Book Hoard) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Essential Peter S. Beagle, Volume 1: Lila the Werewolf and Other Stories from Tachyon Publications
(* favorites)

*Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros -

Maybe we should talk about the Rhino in the room. And maybe, when you come across true magic, you have to pretend it’s something more mundane. Or, you could spend your life debating philosophy with a mostly invisible rhinoceros (unicorn).

Come Lady Death -

Death has been invited to a party by the most callously rich lady you might ever meet. Lady Neville is a bit awful, a bit bored, a bit human and a lot rich; she needs her party to be a sensation.

Lila the Werewolf -

So many dogs were brutally killed. I also highlighted many lines of beautifully evocative prose. But then the dogs kept dying and it was too much for me. I think the story will stick with me though—so much to say about what it means to know someone

Gordon, The Self-Made Cat -

“Once upon a time to a family of house mice there was born a son named Gordon. He looked very much like his father and mother and all his brothers and sisters, who were gray and had bright, twitchy, black eyes, but what went on inside Gordon was very different from what went on inside the rest of his family.”

The Fable of the Moth -

“MORAL: Everybody knows better. That’s the problem, not the answer”

The Fable of the Tyrannosaurus Rex -

What is a Thursday, anyways?

The Fable of the Ostrich -

ok, the morals for these fables have all been 5 star fantastic, but this one had me rolling: “MORAL: Stupidity always wins, as long as it’s stupid enough.”

*The Fable of the Octopus -

the octopus of a philosopher, and he learns things can be different than he thought or expected, and he finds and creates meaning in his world.

*El Regalo -

Angie discovers magic and it’s *wild *. Easily more innovative than certain other big wizard stories you might name.


***Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and The Angel -

I didn’t mean to accidentally quite some scraps of faith while reading short fiction today, but here I am watching my worldview shift a little to one side as I read about an middle aged Jewish man repeatedly painting an Angel.

****We Never Talk About My Brother -

holy shit. I think I just witnessed my entire worldview change a little bit more. Second time in one short story collection.

King Pelles the Sure -

I think the best anti-war story I’ve ever encountered is actually (of all things) “Gunpowder Tim v. The Moon Kaiser” by the Mechanisms

The Last and Only; or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French -

No context spoilers: think of that scene in Lilo and Stitch where Lilo is drawing that silly picture of Stitch’s “badness level” filled in with red crayon. Except it’s French.

[Zandt McCue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I come to Peter S. Beagle not as a fan of The Last Unicorn, because I've never read it, but instead as someone who has seen other Authors cite Peter S. Beagle as being among the greats. The issue has always been time. When I was given the chance to read his two collections of Short Stories I decided that enough was enough. I had to find out what makes Beagle so unique.

To summarize my feelings I'd say that Beagle is a Writer's writer. The tone instantly sent me back to the types of books you would read in High School. Something so great that it would be read over and over for generations. I was worried at first that all the stories would lean towards being like fairy tales. As I said, I haven't read The Last Unicorn and I came Six years after the movie. If all you know about someone is that they wrote a very popular book about a unicorn you might have apprehensions too. I was surprised, to say the least. What was crazy was that the more modern of the stories of which I would count Lila the Werewolf and El Regalo were the ones I liked the least.

Still, that's not to say I didn't like them. They were all great stories. Every one of them was a masterclass on storytelling. I believe that with the right narrator, these stories would make the comfiest of audiobooks.

[Peter Tillman]

Jo Walton has a preview, https://www.tor.com/2023/01/13/jo-wal... (scroll down)
"I really do think Peter Beagle has written some of the best fantasy short stories of the last century, and a lot of them are in this volume and there are more in volume 2. He has such an authentic voice, and he blends the numinous so well into the reality. So there’s one story here where some kids are playing ball in the street, and the ball goes into the witch’s garden, and the kid tries to get it back, and then the witch comes out to play—and it’s all in the way you tell it, when you summarize it then it all falls to shards in your hands, but Peter Beagle knows how to tell it just the way it happened, whether it’s this world or another world. He writes about the numinous with a surprising authenticity. I think his short work is even better than his novels. This will be out this spring, and I recommend it very highly."

[Dr. des. Siobhán · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

I have to be honest first: I only know Beagle's "The Last Unicorn" and that's it. "The Essential Peter S. Beagle, Volume I" introduced me to his short stories + some context. While some short stories were a bit me, others were really cool. I especially loved “Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros” where a philosophy professor encounters an Indian Rhinoceros which nobody else can see. The story was very sweet and interesting, I loved it, especially when philosophers were dissed.

If you like short stories, I recommend you pick this up but maybe not in one go, but story by story.

3.5 stars

[Nicole (bookwyrm) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up, I loved the animated version of The Last Unicorn, but I never read anything written by Beagle until I was an adult. This collection of short stories is the first time since I was a kid where I was able to immerse myself in his storytelling.There's a wide variety of topics here, but each story has the same feeling of truth and realness. Only a few of the author's notes call out an autobiographical aspect to the stories, but you get the sense that Beagle put a little bit of himself in each piece. Even the completely fictional pieces feel somehow real.

Contents:
“Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros”
Very sweet and touching story, and I love Beagle's writing style as shown here. I think this is a perfect opener for this collection.

“Come Lady Death”
I liked reading this story, though few of the characters were likable. (But I think that was the point of the story, and it worked. I liked Death a lot; Death was a fun character.)

“Lila the Werewolf”
Bittersweet werewolf story that didn’t go the way I expected it to at all. Still not sure what I think of it.

“Gordon, the Self-Made Cat”
This is a really cute story. I think it’s one of those stories that could be enjoyed equally by kids and adults, though each will get something different out of it.

Four Fables
“The Fable of the Moth”
“The Fable of the Tyrannosaurus Rex”
“The Fable of the Ostrich”
“The Fable of the Octopus”
These short fables are amusing, though (like most of Aesop) I don’t think they’ll stick with me long. Fun reads, though.

“El Regalo”
I’m very curious to see what else Beagle ends up writing in this universe, if anything. It feels like this world is very well developed and I’m interested in reading more.

“Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel”
I enjoyed reading the author's background notes on this story. I also enjoyed the story itself, which was as much about the way we see things differently as kids and adults as it was about the religious themes.

“We Never Talk about My Brother”
Oooh, I liked this story. It didn't go anywhere near the direction I had expected it to go, but I liked it a lot. The way it was told (aka you hear one side of an interview and have to assume the questions and interruptions) worked really well for me.

“King Pelles the Sure”
This one's very bittersweet. I found it a very interesting story to read, but it wasn't always a "comfortable" one.

“The Last and Only; or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French”
This is a bit of an odd story. Neat concept, and yet it didn't really do anything for me. I was more interested in Mrs. Moscowitz than her husband, personally.

“Spook”
I loved the concept on this one, but I think it would be much better listened to instead of read in print.

“The Stickball Witch”
I didn't expect to like this one based on the first few paragraphs, but it turned into something magical once our narrator actually met The Stickball Witch. I liked it a ton more than I had hoped.

“A Dance for Emilia”
This story is lovely and sad and touching and real. It is hard to describe the feeling that it evokes in words—and I'm certainly not going to give any spoilers about the plot—but it is worth the price of the book all on its own. This is the perfect way to close out the collection.

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my recent review of 84-year-old Peter Beagle's latest book, 'The Way Home', I conclude by saying that 'the master hasn't lost his touch'.

These two volumes of 'The Essential Peter S. Beagle' show you why he is a master.

Peter Beagle's fantasies will warm your heart with their grace, style and humanity. Even the ones that chill you, such as 'We Never Talk About My Brother', show you the struggle for a person trying to do the right thing, making the world better by doing a horrible act.

People have taken to 'hopepunk' authors such as Becky Chambers lately, for writing hopeful and human stories. Beagle was here first, though, and anybody who loves Chambers should read Beagle. There's a lot to enjoy.

His early stories such as 'Lila the Werewolf' and 'Come Lady Death' showed his great promise and laid the foundation for his development, but it's later stories like the aforementioned 'Brother' and 'Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel' that show a darker yet more poignant side to his writing. 'King Pelles the Sure' may be one of the greatest anti-war stories ever written.

The concluding novella 'A Dance for Emilia' is a bittersweet story of loss, life after death, and the memory of a cherished loved one.

There are some lightweight stories here too, humorous ones Beagle wrote for fun. He draws from his New York childhood in which 'The Stickball Witch' has a surprising lesson for a group of street kids. 'The Last and Only, or Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French' is an extended gag about nationalism. Finally, 'Spook' is a celebration of the worst poetry in the world, some of which is wincingly reproduced.

Beagle's first book was published when he was 19, which means he's been writing for about 65 years. He is lauded for his novels such as 'The Last Unicorn' and 'The Innkeeper's Song', but I believe he is more the master of short fiction. This 'Essential' collection shows why.

[Carrie Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with Peter S. Beagle’s writing last year when I read The Last Unicorn for the first time. It was exciting to see this and the second volume of stories on Netgalley, and I had to request them both. This collection was a delight to read, and I loved seeing the very different stories throughout. My favorites from the volume were “Come Lady Death,” “Gordon, the Self-Made Cat,” and “Four Fables” (The Fable of the Moth, The Fable the Tyrannosaurus Rex, The Fable of the Ostrich, and The Fable of the Octopus).

My favorite aspect of this collection is that each of the stories feels so different from each other. There are children’s, young adult, and adult stories. You get a collection of stories like “Four Fables,” which were simple tales with humorous morals at the end, and then a story like “Come Lady Death.” I loved this gothic and suspenseful tale that kept me wondering what would happen next. Also, I enjoyed the introductions before each of the stories that give the reader context.

This was a wonderful collection of fantasy stories that would have something to appeal to many readers.

*Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC of the book. All opinions are my own.*

[Steph Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge fan of both Peter S. Beagle and unicorn fiction generally, this short story collection did not disappoint!

Of course, it doesn’t just contain unicorn stories. Within these pages you will find stories about death, werewolves, time travel, angels, magic and cats (and mice). There are fairy tales and folk tales, and even a quartet of Aesop-style animal fables.

The writing is superb throughout, whether the author is working with realism or the outright surreal, or magical realism where the story is in the human drama and the fantastic is incidental.

With plenty of humour and tragedy and everything between the two, there is something for every fantasy reader in this collection, making it a great introduction to the shorter works of this master storyteller.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Various stories in this made me cry. Incredibly charming collection.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter S Beagle is a very common and well known name in Fantasy and I’m going to be honest - I’ve barely read him. I have read, once The Last Unicorn, but nothing else and after reading this collection I’m ashamed. This first volume of this collection covers a wide spread of themes and interesting styles of stories, and I definitely recommend it for fans of Fantasy or short stories.

Mr. Beagle’s range in this collection was probably the most impressive part for me. The stories ranged from short fantastical stories, to mundane magic in the everyday, to urban fantasy with a darker edge. Throughout the collection all of these had a cozy and very classic feel to them. Fans of cozy fantasy would be right at home here.

The themes were all treated with respect within each story as well. Grief, loss, loneliness, aging, family, and respect for just life itself were covered. I cannot believe how well these all worked. Overall there was only one story that didn’t captivate me and had me emoting, and reading excerpts to my patient partner.

This was an amazing collection, and I cannot recommend it enough for existing fans of Mr. Beagle or fans of fantasy shorts or cozy fantasy.

4 out of 5 Dive Bombing Ghosts

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Yolen's utterly craven and insensitive Foreword is a disservice to Beagle's works. Her use of the Uvalde, TX, massacre is despicable here. It was bad enough that she started off with some self-deprecation--ha ha, I'm jealous--but to put murdered children and adults to work as a way of making a point about one of Beagle's stories is horrifying.

That said, Beagle's own introductions to his stories--full of memories and ideas told in a gentle tone--are charming, and I was happy to read many old favorites and a few new-to-me stories here. Five stars to Beagle, but zero to Yolen.

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read The Last Unicorn a long time ago, and only vaguely remember thinking that it was a little out there for me. I have recently read some of his recent novel length works, and loved them, so I was very happy to give the first volume of the Essential stories a try - and there is no doubt I will be getting a copy of Vol 2, and trying to find a copy of The Last Unicorn.
The stories (at least in Vol 1) are fairy tale style or fables, very much in the Once Upon a Time way. Some are modern day setting and some are fantasy worlds but all are told in matter of fact way. From the mouse who wants to learn to be a cat (to prove a point) to the story of a newsreader who has too much sway over unpleasent events (and doesn't this story have some nasty little chills), these stores absolutely show the charm that Beagle has over the short story form. Bring on Vol 2.

[Groucho42 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved The Last Unicorn and I've enjoyed other of his work. However, much of this collection isn't fantasy, it's just "slice of life" stories focused on lives and people for whom I couldn't care less. It's not bad, just truly boring. Wonderful illustrations.

[JKC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was lovely but I overdosed on the author about midway and put it down.

[Ola G · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5/10 stars

My full review on my blog.

[...]

I present to you Peter S. Beagle’s first volume of collected short stories, a book well worth a read even if you’re not a fan of the short form. If you are, however, it’s a required reading. The stories are varied, in length, themes, style, age, what have you – but Beagle’s skill shines in all of them (even the ones I didn’t like ;)). His prose is evocative, poetic, sometimes transcendent, and generally surprisingly gentle – but with a bite. You’ll never know what hit you with Beagle’s stories, but you’ll feel it anyway. Some of them will stay with you for a while, their mythopoetic quality making you look for the uncanny in the mundane around you.

Beagle’s storytelling techniques bring to my mind Isaac Bashevis Singer much more than any of the names listed in the blurb, but I guess Singer might not be as catchy a name these days as Tolkien or L’Engle. These stories might be set in modern New York, not a stetl from the past century, but nevertheless my other strongest association of Beagle’s prose is with the paintings of Marc Chagall. Yes, blue angels might have something to do with it 😉

Maybe because some of the hardest hitting stories were at their core personal memories, with the weight of emotions and rememberance making them somehow more solid in my mind, I felt there was a nostalgic quality to Beagle’s narrative: a realization of the time that has passed; a gentle form of pining for the past that might have been if not easier, then maybe a bit brighter; a delicate appreciative laughter at one’s own expense, at how we had been before. Beagle excels in stories that could be called magical realism if the term wasn’t so bound to the South American literature of the mid-20th century: the inexplicable is simply an accepted and unquestioned part of everyday life.

As usual, I’ll give a short review and rating on each story before I sum it all up.

Profesor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros (10/10)
One of my favorites in the collection, a whimsical, nostalgic tale slightly reminiscent of Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, full of compassion, forebearance, and a little ironic smile at the little idiosyncracies filling our lives. I absolutely loved this one.

Come Lady Death (5/10)
Glittering and seemingly sharp, but not as cutting as it aspires to be, Come Lady Death comes close to the lofty levels of satire but lacks the final resolve to achieve them – in the end, it’s its high ambition that lays it low.

Lila the Werewolf (3/10)
Ouch. Didn’t like this one at all, reminded me of a Seinfield episode – and that’s not a compliment. The whiny, well-meaning but put-upon narrator describing his girlfriend problems to his supportive but not very bright friend, the problematic girlfriend herself, together with her obnoxious mother… And the final twist, that makes the entire piece really distasteful. Surprisingly sexist, in a seemingly unaware way, which doesn’t make it any better.

[...]

Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel (10/10)
My second favourite, a wonderful story almost long enought to be called a novellette, very Chagallian in themes and mood. Utterly captivating, poetic and moving, this intimate portrait of the creative process, guilt and compulsion and fear will stay with me for a long time. An absolute gem.

We Never Talk About My Brother (9/10)
Ooh, another great, absolutely fascinating story, quite dark and punchy, with a perfect narrative style that lures you in and then exposes you to the double twist. I don’t want to say too much, but this is how UF should look like.

[...]

All in all, while there were some duds, the great stories more than made up for the weaker ones. I very much enjoyed this collection of Beagle’s short pieces and would happily recommend it to all interested in thoughtful, well-written literature. While the fantasy aspect is slight, it nevertheless forms the core of all those stories. Beagle’s true skill lies in his ability to merge the uncanny with the real in a seamless, seemingly perfectly natural way – there’s no room for doubt, only appreciation of the unknowable around us. Hence my rating for the entire collection, higher than just a simple average.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks.

[Suncerae · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Good: Short story collection of quiet comforting magical realism
The Bad: Lots of different things here; it’s best to give a little time between each piece of fiction
The Literary: Personal chapter introductions from the author

Peter S. Beagle, best known for the The Last Unicorn, is one of my favorite authors. With an ability to seamlessly move from reality to fantasy, his stories possess and authenticity of truth. They seem more real than most fiction, as straightforward plots unfold with deft and often intricate prose.

This collection of stories will surprise in its breath—from children's to adult stories, fairy tales to urban fantasy, with unicorns, werewolves, witches, angels, and ghosts. These stories are about as far away as you can get from theatric or genre though, and fall firmly onto the side of contemplative magical realism.

The stories in order:

Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros - 5 stars - A philosophy professor befriends a rhinocerous who claims he's a unicorn. Clever and touching.
Come Lady Death - 5 stars - An aging socialite invites death to her party. Gothic, suspenseful, and satisfying.
Lila the Werewolf - 3 stars - A young man discovers his girlfriend is a werewolf, but doesn't break if off because he hates confrontation. With unrealized potential and lots of dead dogs, this titular story was my least favorite.
Gordon, the Self-Made Cat - 5 stars - A mouse goes to cat school. An innocent and playful children's story.
Four Fables (The Fable of the Moth, The Fable of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, The Fable of the Ostrich, The Fable of the Octopus) - 5 stars - Simple fairy tales with cheeky morals
El Regalo - 4 stars - Angie's stupid little brother finds out he is a witch. Captivating for it's accurate depiction of frustrating little brothers who don't follow the rules, with unrealized novel potential.
Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel - 5 stars - An angel appears in the studio of a New York Jewish painter, claiming to be his new muse.
We Never Talk About My Brother - 5 stars - The second story about a sibling with magical powers and another with unrealized potential, except here, the brother is a grown TV anchorman with the ability to alter reality with his words. A harsh critique of the news and a satisfying conclusion.
King Pelles the Sure - 4 stars - An anti-war story about a monarch of a small, wealthy, and peaceful kingdom who only dreams of war. A little long and meandering.
The Last and Only; or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French - 5 stars - A middle-aged American librarian contracts a disease that slowly turns him French. A silly concept delivered with startling reality.
Spook - 4 stars - A man's house is haunted by a ghost, and with the help of an intermediary, they decide a duel is in order to decide who gets the house, and the girlfriend. The manner of the duel and it's finish is a delightful ode to bad poetry.
The Stickball Witch - 5 stars - A group of young boys playing stickball in the street accidentally hit a ball into the witch's yard. As youthfully magical as the best Bradbury.
A Dance for Emilia - 5 stars - A man's best old friend dies suddenly, and his grief becomes a magical force. Without giving too much away, this story is a weight of emotional release.

And don't forget to take a few moments with the  gorgeous illustrations from Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. Highly recommended for fans of Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Susanna Clarke!

[Metaphorosis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
A collection of fantasy stories by Peter S. Beagle.

Review
In my review of Peter Beagle’s Summerlong , I mentioned that perhaps I should go back to his short stories and try them again. In this and the successor volume, I’ve had the chance to do just that, including specifically re-reading two stories I’d seen previously, “Lila the Werewolf” and “Come, Lady Death”.

I said previously that I was unimpressed by Beagle’s short stories, and that remains true of the two mentioned above – the ones I had read before. I was pleasantly surprised by several others. I know little about Beagle’s career, but I was surprised by how many of these stories are relatively recent – something I usually find suspect in an ‘essential’ collection – indicative of padding or an attempt to get some attention to later work by stacking the deck with some classics. In this case, however, the later stories were the ones that caught my attention.

The stories are generally low key – somewhat contemplative, somewhat conversational – and I think I could safely say that Beagle is a master of the conversational story. Many of these also lean toward reminiscences, and effectively.

My favorite stories:
“El Regalo” – A young girl’s brother is a witch and gets into trouble. Beagle says he’s interested to expand this story, and I hope he does. While it works nicely at this length, the characters are engaging, the tone perfect.
“Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and The Angel” – A grouchy painter is blessed/cursed by an angel turning up to be his muse. A really nicely done story from a young boy’s point of view.
“We Never Talk About My Brother” – The narrator’s brother is a big success, but maybe not deservedly. The first story in the collection that struck me that wasn’t from a young person’s point of view. A touch long, but effective.

As noted, several of the stories are from a child’s point of view, and they’re among the most effective. The more adult stories tend to run a bit on the long side (and especially the closing story, “A Dance for Emilia”), but many of them also work well. Despite my initial reservations, a good introduction to the short work of a talented writer.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Essential Peter S. Beagle, Volume I: Lila the Werewolf and Other Stories is a collection of short(er) fiction by perennially beloved author Peter S. Beagle. Released together with its sister volume 16th May 2023 by Tachyon, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a wonderfully curated collection of 16 pieces, all of which I had previously read, but which still had the power and relevance to render me breathless. There simply isn't a lesser or unworthy story in the entire lot. Mr. Beagle is a superlative writer with a sublime and consummate command of English as well as being a master of written fiction and he is here in top artistic form.

Each of the stories contains a short introduction by the author himself. The collection is also enhanced by the intricate chapter headings and line drawings of artist Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, whose art is ethereal and reminiscent of Sulamith Wülfing and calls to mind P. Craig Russel as well, without being the slightest bit derivative of either.

Five stars. This would be an excellent choice for public or school library acquisition, for home use, and for gift giving purposes. For connoisseurs of speculative fiction, this is required reading.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

[Ric Cheyney · Rating 4 out of 5]

ACCIDENTAL DELIGHT

I didn't mean to read this book! Or at least, not just now. I only read the first story while waiting for my next book to arrive, but I stuck with the Beagle and ended up reading the whole thing and really enjoying (most of) it.

This shows what a strong writer Peter Beagle is. I love reading but I find it hard work and effortful, so it's a tribute to Beagle's skill that I carried on through 330 big pages.

Like many, I guess, I read his famous classic as a teenager and took it to my heart. This anthology does not wander often into that literary territory, but it covers a broad spectrum of fantastical styles and topics.

Most of these stories proved enthralling, entertaining, funny and/or atmospheric. 'Come Lady Death' was a standout for me, with its mix of suspense and wry humour. And I loved 'The Stickball Witch', a tale of childhood that was spooky and warmly funny too.

Any anthology will be a bit of a mixed bag, and this one has two long stories that did not suit me: 'Lila The Werewolf' was just too dark and earthy for my taste, and the mawkish final story, 'A Dance For Emilia', should never have been published, in my opinion; it is evidently too close to Beagle's heart, and towards the end it is embarrassing to see him labouring so incredibly hard just to conjure up lame sentimentality!

But the rest of this book is remarkable in its deployment of wide-ranging skills, presenting many different characters and settings and managing to make them all appealing and successful. Yes, there is a second volume, and yes, it's on my bookshelf waiting for me, and I don't think it'll be too long till I'm back in Beagle's wonder-filled worlds.

[M. K. French · Rating 4 out of 5]

While most people know Peter Beagle for The Last Unicorn, he has quite a body of work in a similar vein, with a career beginning in the 1960s. Volume one opens with "Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros," where the professor sees the rhinoceros at the zoo and can hear it talk; it says it's a unicorn, and the two argue philosophy and the naming of things. No one else can see it, though the professor's best friend saw some evidence of its presence. The story plays the fantastic elements straight, and never once makes Gus seem like a joke. As Jane Yolen puts it, Peter Beagle invented urban fantasy long before the genre had a name, and this sets the tone for the rest of the volume. Werewolves in New York City is a fun concept, though the visual of Lila changing and attacking dogs is a visceral one that was a bit uncomfortable to read. Gordon the mouse made an excellent cat, and it isn't what he thought it would be. That particular story made me a little sad, because many who try to go beyond expectations are treated like he was. To make up for it, his fables are hilarious. His tale "Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and The Angel" is my favorite in the book. A little over thirty pages, it's the tale of the painter Chaim and the blue angel ordered to become his muse. It feels very much like a love letter to the NYC art scene, painting, family and Jewish traditions. It isn't until the end of the story that we understand the purpose of becoming a muse, and we see how pain and suffering becomes a hell of its own.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Essential Peter S. Beagle Volume 1 is a sparkling short story collection spanning an illustrious career, and a long time coming. Beagle’s works are being steadily reissued following a lengthy court battle with his former manager, and we readers are benefitting richly. This spring, Tachyon will publish two volumes of short stories, some collected in previous collections, in rich hardcovers illustrated by Stephanie Law.

I’ve read most of the stories in Volume 1 before, but it’s always a pleasure to revisit them. No matter the subject, whether it’s stickball in the Bronx or wartime in an imaginary kingdom, Beagle’s unique voice can be heard throughout. Not only is Beagle a strong prose stylist with a gift for character and plot, but he also possesses an undeniable storyteller’s voice that makes you want to keep reading no matter the subject.

Each story is a gem. Particular stand-outs for me are “A Dance for Emilia,” “King Pelles the Sure,” “Come Lady Death,” and “Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros.”

Highly recommended not only to readers of speculative fiction but anyone who enjoys a tale well-told.

Thank you to Tachyon and NetGalley for providing an electronic reading copy. I’ve also pre-ordered the hardcover for my personal library.