Dark and Stormy Knights

Dark and Stormy Knights by P.N. Elrod

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Anthologies, you know. It’s like asking people to throw random things at your head and hoping they pick cotton balls instead of rocks.



The good



Rachel Caine, “Even a Rabbit Will Bite” – A surprise standout. I’m not a Rachel Caine fan (hello, deliberate impregnation without consent plotline in her series, unclean unclean!) but this really worked. Very ancient dragonslayer teaches the trade to her apprentice. There’s just one dragon left in the world now, and only on the brink of extinction can you ask if this should ever have happened. Nothing hugely surprising, but one of the most balanced, layered stories here.



Jim Butcher, “Even Hand” – Oh Jim Butcher, how are you so charming while still being . . . you? A mystery for the ages. Harry Dresden is Sir Not Appearing in this story, except for how when a story is about John Marcone, it’s really all about Harry Dresden anyway.



Ilona Andrews, “A Questionable Client” – A long night’s slugfest of bodyguard work, enlivened by some interesting worldbuilding and a nice ending. No real there there, but lots of color.



The bad



Deirdre Knight, “Beknighted” – How am I supposed to take an author seriously when she says “preciseness” instead of “precision?” Also, the story is a floridly overwritten bit of nonsense that is supposed to be romantic and atmospheric but . . . isn’t.



Shannon K. Butcher, “The Beacon” – A story about a guy who shoots people before they can unknowingly pull demons across the void to kill everyone. Except one day, it’s a little girl, and you know shooting those old people, that was okay, but this is just not on, and also the girl’s mother is hot. The story isn’t great, but I hated it more than it deserved for its inept attempt at depth.



Vicki Pettersson, “Shifting Star” – It’s so awkward when you automatically assume the sexually harassing neighbor dude who can’t take no for an answer is one of the bad guys, only to discover he’s supposed to be the hero. Always an awkward cocktail party moment! Add in the bit where the heroine fucks with his memory and then makes out with him, and I pretty much had to scrub my brain out after reading this. But I think we already knew Vicki Pettersson’s sexual politics were this bad.



The indifferent



Carrie Vaughn, “God’s Creatures” – Unexceptional story about a werewolf hunt that does the whole “who’s the real monster here?” routine. Been there, done that.



Lilith Saintcrow, “Rookwood and Mrs. King” – Vampire detective gets hired to kill a woman’s undead husband, and then she pwns him all over the place. Vaguely entertaining.



P. N. Elrod, “Dark Lady” – Chicago, vampires, mob, etc. Fun, but not something I’ll remember two weeks from now.





View all my reviews

The Empress of Mars by Kage Baker

The Empress of Mars by Kage Baker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A beerily maniacal skiffy romp. A bunch of social misfits do what people do when they’re shipped off to colonize Mars: run a bar, have babies, and give the bureaucrats a serious fucking headache.



The sort of cheerfully madcap book that has sentences like, “And that was the end of Marsha the cow,” and “’I’ll just go off and see an oppressive corporate monolithic evil entity about a dog, shall I?’” That really gives you all the flavor you need. There’s some other stuff about church power struggles and the deeper powers moving behind them, but you know, that is so completely not the point.



A delight.



Caution: Do not confuse this, the novel, with Baker's novella of the same name.



View all my reviews