Cadence Writing Fantasy Anthology: Volume 1: Hope in the Darkness

by Ryan VandePanne, D.T. Powell, Kathleen Bird

The first anthology for Cadence Writing

Genres: Fantasy

111 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 31, 2023

Reviews

[Gabriel Bloor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book full of short interesting stories! I loved reading them.

[M.L. Dunker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very mixed collection of short stories from various authors. The strongest story in the collection is by D.T. Powell, These Eternal Tides which appears to be either excerpted or a prequel to "A Tale of Eschtalon." I loved the world building in this story. The magic system is based on music, there are unicorns with healing powers, and women warriors. It's a satisfying story and one I look forward to reading more of.
Kathleen Bird's Message in a Bubble is a delightful middle-grade/juvenile fantasy story of two sisters waiting for the return of their father who had left to carry out a commission for the King. The girls are very different in temperament, but all of their skills were needed to bring their father home. The magic is a little uneven, but there is a very cute dragon. This story would also work as a read-aloud to younger children.
The worldbuilding in The King of Xandez is based upon a chessboard with characters taking on the skills and names of chess pieces. I loved the idea of this although Donatello R.S. had a rather simplistic ending.
The remaining stories seemed very unfinished and felt like they were just added on to create a book of publishable length (although at 89 pages, this is a very very slim volume.)

Keep your eye out for DT Powell and the children's books of Kathleen Bird. I think these two have some great stories ahead of them!

[Jessica Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wide variety of talent - some really good, some full of promise and needing a little more polish. Overall: I enjoyed it!

Some of the creatures inside:
-purple dragon
-unicorns
-elemental hounds
-sapphire whale