I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Never After
by
Laurell K. Hamilton, Marjorie M. Liu, Sharon Shinn, Yasmine Galenorn
paranormal fantasy, urban fantasy in Paperback edition that was published by Jove on October 27, 2009 and has 393 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Hit List, Bloody Bones, Killing Dance, Burnt Offerings, Narcissus in Chains, Obsidian Butterfly, Bite, Incubus Dreams, Micah, Danse Macabre, The Harlequin, Blood Noir, Skin Trade, Flirt, Bullet, Kiss the Dead, The First Death, Affliction, Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned, "Shutdown", A Kiss of Shadows, Lunatic Café, A Caress of Twilight, Seduced by Moonlight, A Stroke of Midnight, Mistral’s Kiss, A Lick of Frost, Blue Moon, Dead Ice, Jason, Crimson Death, Serpentine, "Wounded", Fantastic Hope, Cerulean Sins, A Terrible Fall of Angels, Slay, Swallowing Darkness, Darkness Calls, A Wild Light, In the Dark of Dreams, Huntress, Wild Thing, Within the Flames, An Apple for the Creature, Mortal Bone, Holidays are Hell, The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination, "A Dream of Stone & Shadow", Labyrinth of Stars, Angels of Darkness, Hexed, Witchling, Changeling, Darkling, Demon Mistress, Dragon Wytch, Bone Magic, Night Huntress, Harvest Hunting, Blood Wyne, Courting Darkness, Shaded Vision, Shadow Rising, Haunted Moon, Night Myst, Night Veil, Night Seeker, Autumn Whispers, Night Vision, Night’s End, Priestess Dreaming, Panther Prowling, "Flight From Hell", Flight From Death, Souljacker, Legend of the Jade Dragon, Darkness Raging, Fury Rising, Murder Under a Mystic Moon, Ghost of a Chance, Once Upon A Curse, A Harvest of Bones, One Hex of a Wedding, Starlight Hollow, Moon Shimmers
An anthology of four much-too-obvious short stories about women and marriage. The wrong man at the time, the right one in the end.
The only reason I’ve bumped it up to a “3” is the twists…thank god the poor writing in this at least tried a tiny bit…
Series:
“Shadow of Mist” (Otherworld / Sisters of the Moon, 6.5)
The Stories
Laurell K. Hamilton‘s “Can He Bake a Cherry Pie?” stands the usual fairy tale ending on its ear as Elinore thwarts her father’s plans while using her mother’s teachings to breach the castle and choose her very own happily ever after. Who knew the crust of a cherry pie could have such meaning?
It’s cute, but I suspect Hamilton dashed this off without much thought.
Yasmine Galenorn‘s “Shadow of Mist” is a tragic tale of rape and betrayal even as it honors the power of friendship. The idea of the story itself is good, but, again, Galenorn’s heart wasn’t in it or she had someone else pen it for her as it just didn’t ring through as her usual voice.
I can’t figure out where this short story fits within the Otherworld series, but Siobhan is pregnant and Smoky is married to Camille.
Marjorie M. Liu‘s “Tangleroot Palace” is also a good tale. One I would have enjoyed so much more if it hadn’t been so obvious. It’s probably the best of the bunch with a lovely touch of the fae about it and I certainly enjoyed the Warrior of the Broken Cookies, the Ravisher of Innocent Damsels’ strategy! Very clever.
Sharon Shinn‘s “Wrong Bridegroom” had a lovely moral to it and an artless approach. Perhaps that was Shinn’s intention as a way to point out the childishness of the princess. Sweet with an innocence, but not even the king’s accusations of treason could bring any drama to this tale.
The Cover and Title
The cover is pretty dull with its white background and its cracking metallic red heart. The only frills are a scarce bit of scroll work around the heart and using a script font for the title. I’d have thought that the theme of the stories would have called for a lot more frills and furbelows. But then again, it is rather consistent with the thin quality of the writing.
I think calling this anthology the Never So Obvious would have been more appropriate.
