I'm reading this short story collection in dribs and drabs at work whenever I have a solo lunch. It doesn't happen very often

I read through some of these a while ago and then read some more of them this week.

I really enjoyed the stories from "The Dark Tower", "Discworld", and "A Song of Ice and Fire". (Probably "New Spring" fits here too, but it's been so long since I've read that one.)
I thought the story from "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" was okay.
I don't remember what I thought of "Debt of Bones", but I didn't care much for the Sword of Truth series.
The others I skimmed through, but they didn't grab me.

The only surprise here was the Discworld story. I'd only read books from the City Watch, so now I'll have to pick up some more Granny Weatherwax.

This anthtology is a great collection of short stories by THE most well known fantasy authors (barring Tolkien and Rowling). And it is well worth a read, if you're looking for new great fantasy series to read.

In fact, the only writers/series I didn't know were 'Majipoor' and 'Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn'. And there is a reason why.

Robert Silverberg's Majipoor is a horrible peace of writing. A completely illogical world building and his discriptive writing is atrocious. (However much I would like to get into details, that would make this review too long.) I then looked once more at the cover of my book to see where he was known from, and lo-and-behold, the man is also the editor of the book. Which explains 2 things:

1. Why his atrocious writing is in the book in the first place.
2. Why all of the introductions are badly written and FULL OF SPOILERS

Seriously, if you want to read a few of the series after reading these shorts, DO NOT READ THE INTRODUCTIONS. You will get spoiled as fuck.
And in general I would just ignore Silverberg's writing in general. I know I will.

The rest of the short stories are all good to amazing (read: 3-5 stars). Really, they are all worth your time. Except maybe the Pern short story, but for a series known for its dragons, they shined in their absence. But I have heard this short story is not really repsresentative of the universe, so I'm willing to give the Pern series a go nonetheless.

As with all short stories, their depth and place in the world are much better understood if you have already read said series. And even then, theuniverses I was already familiar with added some great tales.

JUST STAY AWAY FROM ANYTHING SILVERBERG HIMSELF WROTE.

I really enjoyed reading this compilation of short stories in the fantasy genre. I've read a few of the big name fantasy series, but still not a ton, and this was a good way to get introduced to some other fictional worlds. I'd only read work by three of the 11 authors in the book, two of which I've read the series the short story is meant to be companion to. Hands down my favorite was Terry Pratchett's short story about Granny Weatherwax. I'd never read any of his work before, but own ebook copies of The Color of Magic and Good Omens. His was the second story in the book, and by the time I finished the other stories, I obtained a physical copy of Equal Rites. I love his witty and sharp writing, and his ability to reveal multitudes with just one sentence. Other stories included had overly descriptive writing and took longer to get through, but overall, the book very enjoyable as a whole. I believe there were only two female authors included, but several stories had female protagonists. I look forward to reading Dangerous Women, which is kind of the same thing but with many more female authors.

DNF - See updates for detailed reviews of stories read. Had to return book to the library and haven't found another copy yet.

What an interesting and varied trip through these authors' varied worlds. In familiar worlds I think my favorites were Terry Pratchett's The Sea and Little Fishes and George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight. From unfamiliar worlds, Terry Goodkind's Debt of Bones and Orson Scott Card's Grinning Man really stood out. I imagine those would be the places I'd want to visit first after finishing this volume. That's not to say that the rest of the stories weren't good - they just did not appeal to me in quite the same way. I'd still check out those other places, but they would just be lower on the list. I'll be interested to see the itinerary for the second volume.

I read this for The Dunk and Egg Tales by George R. R. Martin, which is what I'll be reviewing from it while I'm playing GRRM catch-up this week for the last four years of being lax, due to the new series and previous to the new book release.


This tale really didn't interest me at all. Which has to say something about it ending up at three. Because even though I could really take or leave Dunk all together, Mr. Martin still made me tear up with a single line about "being a knight remembering his vows." And really one can not forget Egg in all of this or his brothers.

I'm so intrigued about more things in his house. And presently reading it's sequel, to a more hopeful note at present.

What a fantastic book! This was a great way to learn more about some top fantasy writers and their more notable series, without having to read an entire book that they wrote. The series summaries for each author were very helpful, and the short stories were a great way to get a taste of the authors' writing styles. I will definitely be adding some of the series mentioned to my list of books to read!

(I had to chuckle when I read the summary of George R. R. Martin's series - it definitely has more books now!)

My rating: ★★★★

STIVEN KING Sestrice Elurijske ★★★★★ 5/5
TERI PRAČET More i sitne ribe ★★★★ 4/5
TERI GUDKAJND Dug kostiju ★★★★ 4/5
ORSON SKOT KARD Iskeženi čovek ★★★ 3/5
ROBERT SILVERBERG Sedmi hram ★★★✫ 3.5/5
URSULA K. LEGVIN Vilin Konjic ★★★★ 4/5
TAD VILIJEMS Čovek u plamenu ★★★ 3/5
DŽORDŽ R. R. MARTIN Vitez lutalica ★★★★ 4/5
EN MEKAFRI Pernski Trkač ★★ 2/5
REJMOND E. FAJST Drvonoša ★★ 2/5
ROBERT DŽORDAN Buđenje proleća ★★ 2/5