Derek Bailey’s Reviews > When Swords Fall Silent: An Assassination Anthology > Status Update

Mission of Mercy was intense in a very different way from the rest of the stories. I saw the final twist coming from a mile away, but I think there was a certain degree of dramatic irony intended with that. I also really enjoyed the interactions between Malbarus and Lulea. Not the type of story I expected the collection to end on, but it was ultimately quite a special choice and a good note to end on.

A Simple Thing was quick and intense. This was an assassin story in the purest sense and such a fascinating read over all. I also liked the reflective, journal style of the prose. The climax of the story was superb as well.

Ghost of the White Woods is by far one of the strongest stories in this collection. It's on the longer side but so entertaining throughout and nicely formatted into five chapters and an epilogue. The character interactions between Melia, Evay, and Bastian were the deepest and most compelling of any character moments in the rest of this collection. Some nice action here too.

Even though I was not all that impressed with the first Dalglish book I read, I had a good time with The Axe of Lahreed. I'm still not a massive fan of this author's writing, but the story was gripping throughout and Stasia and Mari served as interesting mainly characters. Just a fun, punchy rebellion story that was structured in a very satisfying way.

Thankfully, Sword and Shadows is on the shorter side. It's written in kind of an unengaging way and I had a pretty hard time tracking what was even going on. Eric and Stephen are also not particularly compelling or likeable main characters. Overall, just kind of a forgettable entry in this collection.

Wow, sons of nightfall was an absolute banger! I'd gladly read a whole collection of just Asher's adventures. Doran and Russel made for great supporting characters too though I wish there was a stronger sense of brotherhood between the three of them since they clearly care for one another even if that doesn't come off super clearly in their interactions.

Why I'm Tired of Stones and Symphonies is a very twisty and fun time. I feel like there are some things that have a lot of unexplored potential in terms of the characters and world (unless this is part of something bigger), but the episode told her is quite satisfying all on its own regardless.

Pearl's Price was a convoluted mess. There's a gimmick centering around some kind of tarot card system where the tenses of each chapter switch up. It's a neat idea, but comes off strangely in execution. There's also a polyamorous relationship that I never had much reason to be invested in and a rebellion that wasn't all that engaging. It sucks that the longer stories in this anthology are such a miss for me so far.

Dead Run played out a little more like a fantasy horror sort of story. The Boy and Tall Man were compelling main characters and I enjoyed their interactions with the rest of their warband. I think this could have worked as a longer piece of fiction, but it was also quite satisfying being as short as it was.

Even though I'm a pretty avid gamer, game fiction just does not do anything at all for me. Tabula Rasa: Training Day was extremely unengaging for me even though it was action packed. I kept waiting for there to be some super interesting twist or something, but it never came and the story just kind of ends almost like it's the prelude to something bigger (if it is, I honestly have zero interest in checking that out).