The Not a Book Club Club discussion

So because this is an Anthology I'm going to mandate this a NO SPOILER zone.

Link your reviews (would be appreciated if you mention if your review contains spoilers).

List your favorite stories, that kind of thing.

Just please keep the details of each story to their appropriate thread.

Thanks!

As I roam through this vast sea of an anthology, I try to update my travel-log.
I try to keep it spoiler-free, but no guarantees given :)

I do think being familiar with an author can influence how you enjoy a short story written by the author. In my experience reading a short story from an unfamiliar author can be tricky. Even more so when the story belongs in a series that you're unfamiliar with.

I'm finished. Average of 3 stars for the stories. As an anthology it gets 4 stars. But read my review, it got huge :)

I won't be reviewing individual stories I don't think. Then again this book is on pause for me until I at least finish two others...

Rob wrote: "I won't be reviewing individual stories I don't think. Then again this book is on pause for me until I at least finish two others..."

Reviewing single stories is exhausting and takes a good portion from valuable reading time. On the other hand I need something to remember when I look back at the anthology in one or ten years. I'm very sure that I won't remember then why I enjoyed the Sykes story so much for example.

I tend to list/comment on my favorite stories and leave the rest.

I suppose I should post my review.

I finally finished. Or rather, I decided to finish. I skipped three stories. One because I couldn't get into it- Pronouncing Doom. Two because I've read the author before and didn't like her- Virgins. And three because I decided to tackle it later- The Princess and the Queen. I might go back later and read all three. Or I might not.

I probably liked more stories than I didn't like. But I felt like the theme of 'Dangerous Women' was all over the place. And too many authors used the theme to fit their stories instead of making their stories fit the theme. In my opinion. My favorite story, and one of the best uses of the theme, was Sanderson's Shadow for Silence... I also thought Abercrombie's fit the theme well. I really liked Hobb's tale of dementia as well but it was also one of the weakest in terms of the theme.

I have been making sure I write a little review after every story I read. I make sure to not continue to the next story so I can make sure its fresh in my mind and I don't get it convoluted with other stories.

"Some Desperado" by Joe Abercrombie - This was a good story. It drew you in. But it was anticlimactic. It left me wanting more. It ended with that seemed like a great beginning storyline. Never having read any previous books by the author, I feel robbed by Shy. This story is a teaser.

"My heart is either broken" Megan Abbott - I really liked the writing style of this one. It was easy to read and get into. Easy to not stop. And yet, the story isn't one of happiness. The only complaint I have about it is that the protagonist is a man. Though we do get to see the "Dangerous Women" thru his eyes.

“Nora’s Song” by Cecelia Holland - I feel like all these stories are teasers. I feel so far this is my least favorite story. I don't think there was any progress in the story. Maybe the whole thing is over my head. I don't understand who the dangerous woman was in this story.

"Bombshell" by Jim Butcher - This is why I bought this book. Jim has a special place in my heart. Or should I say, the Dresden Files do. I have yet to read his Codex Alera Series. But I regress. I liked this book, because... Well I bias. Its nice to see the world through Mollys eyes other then Harrys. (view spoiler)[ One of the more interesting things is a wizards relation to magic, and you get to see Mollys. I will most likely be reading it again. (hide spoiler)]

I'm going back reading the stories I skipped. And I ended up liking one more than I thought I would. Now I have only the Martin one to read and I'll get to it this weekend.

But I have to say I'm more than a little disappointed in this collection. And as a themed collection it totally failed for me. Only a few of the stories suited the title in my view. There were too many stories from the male perspective, which normally isn't a problem for me but when I read a book called Dangerous Women I'm expecting to read about bad @## women.

* I almost forgot about Bombshells. Butler's story was a good fit. It's funny, the stories I thought fit the theme the best were all written by male writers. I would've expected the female writers to be stronger here.

Nienna wrote: "There were too many stories from the male perspective, which normally isn't a problem for me but when I read a book called Dangerous Women I'm expecting to read about bad @## women."

Exactly how I felt about it.

It is interesting how some stories are more dedicated towards the existing fanbase while others seem to grab new readers as well.

Virgins, GRRM's and a couple others belong to the first category. Abercrombie's for example is just a teaser for Red Country.

Some authors manage to stay away from that first category:
Robin Hobb simply placed her story outside her usual fantasy universe (which was a little bit frustrating for me).
Jim Butcher's Bombshell is in the Dresden files but separates it in a way that reaches me as a non-fan.

Being a fan or not: I tend to like the stories in the second category better.

Andreas wrote: "Robin Hobb simply placed her story outside her usual fantasy universe (which was a little bit frustrating for me)."

To be fair, it's not a Robin Hobb story. That's the reason she still maintains two pen names, so readers will know what to expect.

Rob wrote: "To be fair, it's not a Robin Hobb story. That's the reason she still maintains two pen names, so readers will know what to expect."

She wrote fantasy as Megan Lindholm as well, e.g. the Windsinger trilogy starting with Harpy's Flight. In fact that's how I got to know Robin Hobb back in the 80s and that's why I expected (high) fantasy :)

I don't know what you mean with "that's the reason she still maintains two pen names", as they don't exactly set a specific expectation like "Robin Hobb writes High Fantasy and Megan Lindholm writes paranormal fantasy"

Ah ok. You called her Robin Hobb, so I assumed you were hoping for the Elderlings.

From her Lindholm FAQ

Why do you write as Robin Hobb?

Fantasy is a genre that covers quite a lot of territory, everything from alternate history to talking animal tales to the edge of horror. When I began the Hobb books, I recognized that I was writing in a different slice of the genre, venturing into territory outside of Megan Lindholm’s area. By using a different pseudonym, I was able to set those books apart from the Megan Lindholm books. I deliberately chose an androgynous name because the first Hobb books were written as first person male.

And from her Robin Hobb FAQ:

Question: Why do you write as both Megan Lindholm and Robin Hobb?

Answer:

It isn’t that uncommon in the writing world to have more than one pseudonym, especially if you write in more than one genre. In my case, Megan Lindholm and Robin Hobb both write fantasy, but in very different styles and in different ‘slices’ of the genre. By using two different pseudonyms, I am able to let the reader know which voice they are getting in a book. Some readers like both styles. Others most emphatically do not. For a comparison of the two voices, you might check out The Inheritance, a collection of shorter works by both Megan Lindholm and Robin Hobb.