Creature Fantastic

I like short stories, so I read a great deal of short story books. This was not a bad collection. It offered quite a bit of breadth from the creatures showcased in the story (from the typical unicorns, dragons and phoenixes to the Questing Beast from Arthurian legend to the horses of the valkeries) to the writing styles (from typical fantasy narrative to "Unicorn Stew" which has a medieval morality play flavor to "Yes, Virginia, there IS a Unicorn," which reminded me a lot in style to most romance novels). My only issue with this book was the editing. I found at least one major typo and/or grammar mistake per story (sometimes more). It was very jarring for me whenever I came across one and gave the book a more lower quality feel than it should have. Over all, this was an enjoyable read and I will definitely reread some of the stories (especially Rosemary Edgehill's excellent "A Gift of Two Gray Horses"). It's not stellar, but well worth picking up to pass a afternoon or plane flight.

Good - excellent story content, indifferent copyediting. Braunbeck, Gary: The narrator had never seen "The Fields, the Sky" until Theseus, leaving him for dead in the Labyrinth, failed to re-seal the secret entrance after his own escape. This interpretation of the Minotaur is more complex than the typical man-with-bull's-head. Imprisoned from birth for sins not his own, rejecting the gods whose erratic compassion failed to succor him, his bitter loneliness as the only one of his kind between the fields and the sky leads him to seek worship, however pathetic. Edghill, India: "A Phoenix Too Frequent", as the one creature created to evade the rule that all things must die in their season, finds that immortality carries its own punishment. Edghill, Rosemary: Despite his noted tightfistedness, after a particularly rich haul the raider Fadring makes "A Gift of Two Gray Horses" to the old woman and boy of Owl Farm, living in lonely poverty at the edge of human settlement. A cruel gift - they can barely keep their goats alive, let alone horses. Only one thing isn't explained by Fadring's cruelty: his fear... Elrod, P.N.: Ellen's cardboard villain ex seeks to take away her one financial support - her tea room - while hiding his own assets, adding insult to injury with a smear campaign. However, one of her customers knows enough magic to call up "The Tea Room Beasts" - a matched quartet of elemental spirits who can achieve some 'balance' for Ellen. (Elrod pays lip service to the threefold rule of magical consequences only long enough to brush it aside, on the theory that Ellen's former pain can offset HUGE payback.) Hightshoe, Carol: The narrator, an immortal werewolf whose curse drove him to despair long ago, has come to sing his "Midnight Song" at his wife's grave. Jocks, Von: "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Unicorn", embodying an ideal. The story revolves around The Maiden and the Unicorn, an independent shop in a small mall protected by a *real* unicorn, whom few have eyes to see. The 3rd person viewpoint switches between the unicorn, on maiden patrol (e.g., petty thieves have a rough life here), and the two shop assistants, on the day their boss deals with yet another attempted buyout. *Not* sappy. Luzier, Pamela: "The Dragon and the Maiden" Wenda saved herself for marriage, hoping to better her lot. Unfortunately, the knight who looked so promising turns out to have a jealous fiancee, so Wenda is left as an offering for the dragon who has just settled into the neighbourhood. But he, as it happens, is an exile from China. "I don't eat humans. What kind of people are you, anyway?" Nye, Jody Lynn: "Father Noe's Bestiary" is his collection of *very* realistic monster paintings. He says he's a priest who turned wizard in the Middle Ages, and calls himself the first conservationist. The neighbourhood thinks he's a holy man, and crazy, and watches out for him. See also "Through the Needle's Eye" in Norton's HIGH SORCERY. Rabe, Jean: "In Quest of the Bea

CREATURE FANTASTIC is an excellent mix of stories about mystical creatures, both the standard (dragons, unicorns, phoenixes) and some you aren't as likely to see elsewhere (the Questing Beast, for example, and a fairy dog). True; I'm biased--my story, "Yes, Virginia, there IS a Unicorn," allowed me to have some fun with the blitz of unicorn products out there and still, I hope, keep the ideal alive. But I thoroughly enjoyed the other stories in the anthology as well. Another "Fantastic" book!

Forget those mighty wizards and unbeatable sorceresses, and ignore those Hobbits and Orks all of whom magically make the fantasy genre what it is. Instead this anthology concentrates on the mythological and the mundane animal kingdom that enables fantasy writers to make their worlds seem real. The stories are wonderful and quite surprising yet each one bewitches the reader. The tales include a trip to the mall to find unicorns, listen to a Kierkegaard quoting a familiar, an endangered species candidate - dragons not protected by the EPA, a Phoenix sick of the life and death cycle, and even cats and dogs. Regardless of the creature each tale is fantastic, as genre fans will agree that Yes, Virginia, there is animal magic in this collection.Harriet Klausner