I managed to fit in two more books of short stories this summer, bringing my total to four books and dozens of stories.
I have read Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things more than once but hadn't yet read Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions. This book of stories and poetry covered a wide variety of styles and themes but the only thing that didn't vary was the quality of the writing. (No duh, right? It's Neil.) There are a few stories in this collection that I'm sure I'll revisit regularly.
I had started this collection, Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories by Diana Wynne Jones, a few times but hadn't progressed past The Plague of Peacocks. This time through, I skipped a couple of stories that I had just read in another collection, reread a couple of favorites (The Girl Jones, What the Cat Told Me and Dragon Reserve, Home Eight) and took my first trip down Everard's Ride. I adored these stories (and one novella) so much that I can't even find words to explain. My journal has little hearts next to all of the story names. I even think that Jenny's Law (DWJ is always better on reread) is going to be proven wrong for once because there's no way that I could love Everard's Ride more. I already love it the most possible. And why did Dragon Reserve, Home Eight never become a full novel or series?!
This was a really fun project and I cleared four books off of the TBR. Yay! I deem this Short Story Summer a success.
Briefly,
K
Everard's Rise is just fantastic. I have sometimes wondered if Dragon Reserve, Home Eight might be set in the Hexwood universe...
ReplyDeleteI thought about that too and couldn't decide. :)
DeleteI have so many short story collections that I really should consider devoting more time to them. Maybe Short Story September or something, especially considering I'm heading back to work next month and that may be all my attention span will handle!
ReplyDeleteI tend to not grab the collections unless I have a specific reason so I really needed this. Short stories when you are busy seems like a good idea!
DeleteYou know, Kristen, I have several of Neil's books and have yet to read them! *sigh* So glad you mentioned these short stories :D
ReplyDeleteHis short stories are actually a good place to start. They show off the breadth of his writing and what topics he likes. If you like them, you'll like his novels. If you are uncomfortable with the stories or don't like them, his books probably won't work for you either. Good luck once you start!
DeleteEverard's Ride, hooray! I am with you on Everard's Ride -- that is a story that is just perfect from the get-go.
ReplyDeleteI was like a third of the way through it and already in love. By the end, I was sad I already had to leave the characters.
DeleteOne of my prized possessions is the original edition of Everard's Ride that was published when Diana was the guest of honor at the NESFA convention. I will forever regret that I didn't get to go but at least I have the book! It also has The True State of Affairs, an interesting Dalemark-like story that I think was not published elsehwhere...not sure about that. Anyway, I'm glad you got to enjoy ER -- and I loved Dragon Reserve too! I'm not usually a big fan of short stories (they are just too SHORT!), but it was a good one.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome book to have! And I don't think I've seen The True State of Affairs anywhere. Lucky!
DeleteI also love Everard's Ride. It's definitely up there in a list of my top favourite DWJs. You've now got me itching to read it again.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy that I still had little gems like Everard's Ride to discover. :)
DeleteI knew that I had left a lot of DWJ's backlist unread, but I now NEED to read that short story collection posthaste. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteYes! This one is definitely worth picking up because you can enjoy the stories over and over. :)
DeleteCongratulations! Now I want to read both collections.
ReplyDeleteSince they're two of my very favorite authors, I'm a bit biased ... but yes, you should read both. ;)
DeleteSometimes I think I like Gaiman's short stories even MORE than his novels - they are just such perfect little bits of magic.
ReplyDeleteYou're right -- some of his short stories are absolutely perfect.
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