"No Heroes"
by
Ilona Andrews
arcanepunk fantasy in a PDF edition that was published by the author and has 19 pages.
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Must Love Hellhounds, Dark and Stormy Knights, Angels of Darkness, Hexed, Fate's Edge, Hex Appeal, An Apple for the Creature, "Magic Gifts", Gunmetal Magic, Innkeeper Chronicles, Steel's Edge, Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes, Magic Bleeds, Magic Slays, Magic Rises, Magic Bleeds, Burn For Me, Night Shift, Magic Shifts, Magic Binds, White Hot, Wildfire, Iron and Magic, Magic Triumphs, "Gerard Demille and Helen Meet", "Diamond Fire", "Sweep with Me", Clean Sweep, Sweep in Peace, "A Mere Formality", Blood Heir, "The King of Fire", Sapphire Flames, "A Misunderstanding", Emerald Blaze, "The Cool Aunt", One Fell Sweep, Sweep of the Blade, "Silent Blade", Fated Blades, On the Edge, Bayou Moon, "George and Jack in School", Sweep of the Heart , Magic Tides, Small Magics, "The Wilson Building", "Conlan’s Birthday Text", "Dabwaha", "Don't Fight with Fate", “A Bit More of Roman”, “Getting Distracted”, "Sgt Munoz Had to Go", Ruby Fever, "Regina", Magic Tides, "The King of Fire", Magic Claims, "Sandra", "Purpose", "A Mere Formality", "I Will Explain Everything", "Sanctuary", "Kind Regards"
A free short story, 2.5, in The Wilmington Years arcanepunk fantasy series (a spin-off from Kate Daniels) and revolving around Kate, Curran, and Conlan. The focus is on a group of children from Penderton.
If you’re interested, there is a chronological listing of the Kate Daniels books on my website.
My Take
It’s rather confusing at first with Alice telling this story — I thought Lucy was part of the group of children. Instead, Andrews is using third person protagonist point-of-view from Terri’s perspective to tell us about their time in the forest hunting the mushrooms.
The story is split between the action in the forest and then the run to hoped-for safety and Terri thinking about her dad and the likely truth about his leaving.
It’s a sad tale about Terri’s family, and one that is too often true in real life. But it does end on a fun note when an unexpected hero shows up.
The Story
Those tiny blue warlock mushrooms are worth good money, and Alice is whiling away the hunt with a story about Lucy and those terrible vines. There are always heroes in Alice’s stories.
Then the monster roars . . . and suddenly there are no heroes.
The Characters
Penderton is . . .
. . . a town rescued in Magic Claims, 2. Nereda is the Penderton medmage who buys the magic mushrooms.
Eleven-year-old Terri’s dad left Mom and her younger siblings Lonnie and Lindsay. The other children hunting mushrooms include Cade, Roger, June, the fourteen-year-old Alice and Sergio, and Justin.
Lucy is a character in a fantasy tale.
Conlan is the lion shapeshifter son of Kate and Curran, the shapeshifter prince, who once lived in Wilmington.
The Cover and Title
The cover is generic with a slightly gradated brown background. Most of the text is in white with the title at the top, a grayish photo credit under the graphic of glowing blue mushrooms in a dark green forest landscape, the author’s name below that, and the series info at the bottom on the right.
The title is false, for instead of “No Heroes”, there is one hero in the woods.
