Delia Sherman
The Fall of the Kings with Ellen Kushner (2002)
This book is set in the same world as Swordspoint, about two generations later. The story begins at the University, where Basil St Cloud is a young Doctor of History at the University. It is there that he meets Theron Campion, son of the Mad Duke and heir to Tremontaine.
I liked this book far less than I liked Swordspoint, which means that it's still a good book, although not a great book. What kept it from being great is that I just didn't care as much about the main characters as I did in Swordspoint. I was fond of some of the secondary characters, especially Justis, but I just couldn't get really attached to the main characters. I almost felt as if the author(s) knew that she (they) was (were) going to do bad things to some of the characters, and so didn't want to get too attached, so that she (they) could go through with it.
The other problem I had was that there was just too much sex for my tastes. Sure it may necessary to describe the sexual relationship between characters, because of the relationship between Kings and Wizards in history; I just don't care to read about all the details. Of course it wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound, I just would have preferred more detailed sword fights and fewer detailed sex scenes. (Which right there tells you plenty about me I suppose.)
Tied in, is the fact that when some of the characters made claims of being in love, I just didn't believe it. Lust I could believe. Obsession I could believe. But love? The story would have been far stronger if I could have believed it was a love story. I just didn't.
Oddly enough, I enjoyed the bits about research and scholarship, but then I do work in academia, so that shouldn't come as a huge surprise I suppose.
But, all in all, the book had political intrigue, romantic intrigue, and a fantastic plot, so the it is is well worth reading, despite my misgivings.
Rating: 7/10
The Essential Bordertown (1998) edited by Terri Windling & Delia Sherman
The Essential Bordertown is a collection of short stories set in Bordertown, the land between our world and Faerie. The stories are written with a teenage audiences in mind, with primarily teenage characters, and parts of a “traveler’s guide” appearing before each chapter.
Bordertown strikes me as a cross between Sanctuary of Thieves’ World and the world created by Charles de Lint. It’s the area where faerie and the world of humans meets, and it’s a strange place where neither magic or technology works properly, and although there are some places where elves and humans meet and get along, there are roving gangs of elves and humans who rule different parts of town, and woe to the opposite race who wanders into their territory.
Some of my favorite authors contributed to this anthology: Charles de Lint, Steven Brust, Ellen Kushner. I particularly liked Charles de Lint’s story “May This Be Your Last Sorrow”, but then I think that he has his own magic in that he is able to write the most wonderful short stories.
Although all the stories in this anthology were good, I did like some more than others. As I mentioned, I particularly enjoyed Charles de Lint’s “May this Be Your Last Sorrow”. I also very much liked Carloline Stevermer’s story “Rag”, whose characters were adults, but they were adults deal with the friendships of childhood and adolescence. The story “Half Life” by Donnard Sturgis was particularly good–I had no idea where the story was going, and was pleased with how it ended.And Delia Sherman’s story “Socks” was also particularly good, although there was much that was unresolved.
As a whole, the anthology was pretty good. Unlike Thieves World the authors didn’t write each others characters, but they did have a shared world, which did tie the stories together, making it something more than a simple anthology.
I would love to read the original Borderland anthologies, however, they’re out of print and I’ll have to find them used if I want them. But I do recommend The Essential Bordertown to anyone who likes antholgies or any fan of the Charles de Lint.
Rating: 8/10
Naked City (2011) edited by Ellen Datlow
This collection of urban fantasy stories has several of my favorite authors, so it was a no-brainer to get. The bad thing is that I’ve been reading this collection for several months, so I now have no idea what the stories at the start of the anthology were about, which is dangerous, because it means I may end up accidentally rereading several of them.
First up was Jim Butcher‘s HarryDresden story “Cursed.” I’ve become frustrated by the Dresden Files series the past couple books, so a nice short story about baseball was a pleasant change. Harry is asked to find out about a possible curse on the Chicago Cubs.
Delia Sherman‘s story was next, “How the Pooka Came to New York City.” It’s 1855 and tells how a pooka came to NY with a human, Liam O’Casey.
Worth the cost of the anthology alone was Ellen Kushner‘s “The Duke of Riverside.” I love Swordspoint, and the chance to read more about St. Vier and Alec met? Bliss.
I love Christopher Fowler‘s Bryant & May mystery series. This is an unrelated stand-alone story about, well… in theory it’s about a hold up, but it isn’t. Not really.
Patricia Briggs story “Fairy Gifts” is a vampire story, but it’s not one of those vampire stories. It’s of a boy who was forced to become a vampire, and more.
Pat Cadigan’s story “Picking Up the Pieces” was another story about fairy, but it’s also about family, and a woman looking after her sister.
Peter S. Beagle‘s story, “Underbridge” was unexpectedly dark, almost more horror than fantasy. It’s about a troll. And it isn’t a nice troll.
Naomi Novik, who wrote the Temeraire series, has a non-dragon entry–another vampire story, only this one about the problems of the housing market in New York city.
I’m not certain I’d classify Matthew Kressel’s story, “The Bricks of Gelecek” as urban fantasy. It’s not a modern setting, and it’s not especially urban. It is interesting and depressing.
Lavie Tidhar’s story, “The Projected Girl” was meloncholy. A boy discovers a magician’s diary, and wants to learn more about the magician and the trick he reads about in the book.
Holly Black’s story “Noble Rot” is a ghoul love story. Really.
The last story in the anthology is Elizabeth Bear’s “King Pole, Gallows Pole, Bottle Tree.” It’s a story of Las Vegas and memory and magic. It’s also extremely good.
Although there were several stories I didn’t care for, I believe that was more a matter of personal taste than quality. And the stories I did like, I liked very much.
Rating: 8/10
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin
The Essential Bordertown (1998), The Fall of the Kings (2002)
Anthologies: Naked City (2011)
Delia Sherman's website
