Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Berkley Trade (2006), Paperback, 320 pages
Description
Four authors come together with four tales of adventure that are as enchanting as they are exciting ... A gifted seer receives a vision of a man whom she was not meant to marry, but was meant to love ... A man and an elven woman endure both the mundane and the magical in their quest to remain together ... A warrior-maiden is trapped in a deadly storm with the only man she ever wanted, whose scars she must heal if he is ever to want her ... A brave young woman helps her sister save her magically gifted child, only to recieve an unexpected gift of her own.
User reviews
LibraryThing member xicanti
Four novellas by Claire Delacroix, Lynn Kurland, Sharon Shinn and Sarah Monette.
I found this collection to be a bit of a mixed bag. I enjoyed two of the stories very much, but the others did almost nothing for me.
I think my preferences here are divided along genre lines. The two stories that didn't
The other two stories - "When Winter Comes" by Sharon Shinn and "A Gift of Wings" by Sarah Monette - owe much more to the fantasy genre. The romance is decidedly understated in Shinn's story; she focuses on the main character's struggle to help her sister and her nephew lead a normal life. Each scene adds more to what we know about these two women and their difficulties. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and am looking forward to reading more of Shinn's work. I understand that this story ties into her series that begins with Mystic and Rider; perhaps I'll start there.
Monette's story is the reason I purchased the collection, and it was worth the price of admission. If I'd hated every other story, I'd still keep the book for this one alone. I just love the way this woman writes! She's got style aplenty; I sank straight into the story and didn't come up for air until I'd finished the last word. The atmosphere is just gorgeous, the world building is tops, and the relationship between the protagonist and her lover felt real. I'm very, very glad to have read it. While it's set in the same world as her series that begins with Melusine, it has no connection to that story.
I can't really recommend the stories by Kurland and Delacroix, but this is worth seeking out for the contributions from Shinn and Monette.
I found this collection to be a bit of a mixed bag. I enjoyed two of the stories very much, but the others did almost nothing for me.
I think my preferences here are divided along genre lines. The two stories that didn't
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click seemed, to me, to be rooted quite firmly in the romance genre. I haven't read a great deal of romance, but the few such novels I've been exposed to were mostly surface and little depth. The stories - "A Whisper of Spring" by Lynn Kurland and "The Kiss of the Snow Queen" by Claire Delacroix - fit the bill. We're told a lot of things, but at no point do the authors show us enough that we can really feel it. A lot happens in the background, and in many cases it seems as though each author has simply padded her story to make it fit a predetermined word count. They were disappointing. I did find it interesting that Delacroix chose to rework the Snow Queen myth, with some interesting inclusions, but I never felt that she really hit the mark. I'd give each of these stories somewhere between two and a half and three stars. They weren't bad, but they're nothing I'll feel the need to return to.The other two stories - "When Winter Comes" by Sharon Shinn and "A Gift of Wings" by Sarah Monette - owe much more to the fantasy genre. The romance is decidedly understated in Shinn's story; she focuses on the main character's struggle to help her sister and her nephew lead a normal life. Each scene adds more to what we know about these two women and their difficulties. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and am looking forward to reading more of Shinn's work. I understand that this story ties into her series that begins with Mystic and Rider; perhaps I'll start there.
Monette's story is the reason I purchased the collection, and it was worth the price of admission. If I'd hated every other story, I'd still keep the book for this one alone. I just love the way this woman writes! She's got style aplenty; I sank straight into the story and didn't come up for air until I'd finished the last word. The atmosphere is just gorgeous, the world building is tops, and the relationship between the protagonist and her lover felt real. I'm very, very glad to have read it. While it's set in the same world as her series that begins with Melusine, it has no connection to that story.
I can't really recommend the stories by Kurland and Delacroix, but this is worth seeking out for the contributions from Shinn and Monette.
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LibraryThing member cmbohn
This was a little collection of short fantasy/romance stories, by 4 women writers, that I picked up at the library book sale. I had never tried any of the authors before, so I thought it would be a fun experiment.
And it was fun. The first story, A Whisper of Spring, was by Lynn Kurland and it was a
The only story I wasn't especially happy with was the one by Claire Delacroix, a twist on the Snow Queen story that didn't really fit in with either the collection or the fairy tale itself.
But as always, part of the fun in a collection like this is that you discover some new authors - ones you like, ones you don't - and everyone else has a different opinion about it. I will look for more by Kurland and by Sharon Shinn.
And it was fun. The first story, A Whisper of Spring, was by Lynn Kurland and it was a
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tale of a kidnapped elven princess and a wizard human prince who goes to rescue her. Nothing especially deep, but I just loved it. I liked the characters and the storytelling itself. I wish it had been longer, because I really wanted to read more about the characters.The only story I wasn't especially happy with was the one by Claire Delacroix, a twist on the Snow Queen story that didn't really fit in with either the collection or the fairy tale itself.
But as always, part of the fun in a collection like this is that you discover some new authors - ones you like, ones you don't - and everyone else has a different opinion about it. I will look for more by Kurland and by Sharon Shinn.
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LibraryThing member Darla
**** "A Whisper of Spring" by Lynn Kurland. Historical paranormal romance. Literally a fairy tale. It was love at first sight for a mage king and a fairy princess, but fairies don't wed mages. They get their chance when his evil brother captures and imprisons her and her brother asks him to rescue
**** "When Winter Comes" by Sharon Shinn. Fantasy. In a land where magic is distrusted, a young woman tries to protect her sister and infant nephew. The baby's father was a mystic, and the baby himself has magic powers that make it hard for them to stay incognito. They're aided by a man of the nobility and a pair of female mystics. It was interesting, but felt more like the introduction to something than a complete story in itself. The romance is virtually nonexistent, which isn't a bad thing, except that it's marketed as fantasy romance.
**** "The Kiss of the Snow Queen" by Claire Delacroix. Fantasy. Re-telling of the snow queen fairy tale, but instead of the brother being affected by the snow queen, it's the handsome prince. The heroine's a seer in training, who's been told that she must remain chaste to preserve her power. She's barricaded herself in her room to avoid a forced marriage to a cruel prince, calls for help in her magic mirror, and gets more than she bargained for. In the end, she has to choose between her power and the life of the man who came to her aid. All the sensuality in this one is related to an angel who calls himself Loki, who feeds on sexual energy. ****spoiler****It was a bit of a let-down to discover that the prince, whom we saw hardly at all in the story, was still the hero. The heroine spent all her time with Loki, and had all her emotional/sexual revelations with him. And it was rather unsettling that she surrendered her virginity to Loki, only to have him erase her memories of the event.****
**** "A Gift of Wings" by Sarah Monette. Fantasy/mystery. Again, light on the romance, which, again, is only a problem because it's marketed as romance, which has nothing to do with the story and everything to do with the publisher. Also again, I felt as if I'd come into the middle of a series, though according to her website, ""A Gift of Wings," takes place in the same world as Mélusine and The Virtu, though it is a standalone story--no overlap with the novels." The h/h are on their way to seek help for him--he was wounded physically and his magic was damaged or destroyed somehow in a war. At an inn, they come across an arrogant wizard who'd told him that his injuries were all in his head, then later that night, they discover the man dead. Being the obvious suspects, the h/h have to find whodunit. Fans of gender reversal will like this one--the heroine is larger & stronger than the hero, and he's very dependent on her. Call me sexist, but I don't find that romantically appealing at all. As a fantasy, though, it's fine. It does turn out that she'd fallen in love with him before his injuries, so that redeems the love story for me--otherwise, I'd be thinking she was more in love with the image of herself as a longsuffering caretaker to an invalid.
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her. It was a nice story, but it felt as if a lot of it had been left out. We learn, for example, that he's one of the most powerful mages, but don't see much evidence of it. We also learn that her mother had betrayed her to the evil brother, but not why or how. It would make sense if it were part of a series, but I couldn't find any evidence of that.**** "When Winter Comes" by Sharon Shinn. Fantasy. In a land where magic is distrusted, a young woman tries to protect her sister and infant nephew. The baby's father was a mystic, and the baby himself has magic powers that make it hard for them to stay incognito. They're aided by a man of the nobility and a pair of female mystics. It was interesting, but felt more like the introduction to something than a complete story in itself. The romance is virtually nonexistent, which isn't a bad thing, except that it's marketed as fantasy romance.
**** "The Kiss of the Snow Queen" by Claire Delacroix. Fantasy. Re-telling of the snow queen fairy tale, but instead of the brother being affected by the snow queen, it's the handsome prince. The heroine's a seer in training, who's been told that she must remain chaste to preserve her power. She's barricaded herself in her room to avoid a forced marriage to a cruel prince, calls for help in her magic mirror, and gets more than she bargained for. In the end, she has to choose between her power and the life of the man who came to her aid. All the sensuality in this one is related to an angel who calls himself Loki, who feeds on sexual energy. ****spoiler****It was a bit of a let-down to discover that the prince, whom we saw hardly at all in the story, was still the hero. The heroine spent all her time with Loki, and had all her emotional/sexual revelations with him. And it was rather unsettling that she surrendered her virginity to Loki, only to have him erase her memories of the event.****
**** "A Gift of Wings" by Sarah Monette. Fantasy/mystery. Again, light on the romance, which, again, is only a problem because it's marketed as romance, which has nothing to do with the story and everything to do with the publisher. Also again, I felt as if I'd come into the middle of a series, though according to her website, ""A Gift of Wings," takes place in the same world as Mélusine and The Virtu, though it is a standalone story--no overlap with the novels." The h/h are on their way to seek help for him--he was wounded physically and his magic was damaged or destroyed somehow in a war. At an inn, they come across an arrogant wizard who'd told him that his injuries were all in his head, then later that night, they discover the man dead. Being the obvious suspects, the h/h have to find whodunit. Fans of gender reversal will like this one--the heroine is larger & stronger than the hero, and he's very dependent on her. Call me sexist, but I don't find that romantically appealing at all. As a fantasy, though, it's fine. It does turn out that she'd fallen in love with him before his injuries, so that redeems the love story for me--otherwise, I'd be thinking she was more in love with the image of herself as a longsuffering caretaker to an invalid.
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LibraryThing member enelya_telrunya
I only read the short story by Sarah Monette (which I absolutely loved). She's an amazing author- check out "Melusine", "The Virtu", and "The Mirador".
LibraryThing member saltypepper
The Shinn story ties in with her Mystic and Rider novel. It and the Monette story are both good stories, well-told, and worth your time, the other two are not.
LibraryThing member turtlesleap
This is a collection of four novellas; two by romance writers, two by writers of fantasy. The pieces by Shinn and Monette are readable and entertaining. The other two were not to my taste. Several good and detailed reviews have already been done on this one. My advice is to read them before you buy
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this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member janemarieprice
Four romantic fantasy novellas – a successful grouping, all being entertaining though not spectacular.
A Whisper of Spring by Lynn Kurland – An elf is kidnapped by a deranged wizard. Fairly entertaining, but a little mundane. **
When Winter Comes by Sharon Shinn – A story from her Twelve
The Kiss of the Snow Queen by Claire Delacroix – A seer determines to help a sorcerer to avoid a bad marriage. A little disjointed plot-wise but snappy dialog. ***
A Gift of Wings by Sarah Monette – My favorite of the collection, a swordswoman and the crippled wizard she is protecting must solve a murder mystery. The characters make this one – very well articulated. ****
A Whisper of Spring by Lynn Kurland – An elf is kidnapped by a deranged wizard. Fairly entertaining, but a little mundane. **
When Winter Comes by Sharon Shinn – A story from her Twelve
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Houses series dealing with a couple minor characters. The characters I think would be a little flat if you weren’t familiar with them already. ***The Kiss of the Snow Queen by Claire Delacroix – A seer determines to help a sorcerer to avoid a bad marriage. A little disjointed plot-wise but snappy dialog. ***
A Gift of Wings by Sarah Monette – My favorite of the collection, a swordswoman and the crippled wizard she is protecting must solve a murder mystery. The characters make this one – very well articulated. ****
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LibraryThing member Laurenbdavis
Four wonderful tales, full of wit, charm, adventure, humor and intelligence. Thoroughly enjoyable.
LibraryThing member Krumbs
Four stories in the book by four different authors, so the quality is a bit uneven. Each has some element of fantasy--elves, or special powers, or fairy tale, or magic. The first story is a more traditional romance story, with the man coming to the rescue of a damsel in distress. The second was
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quite slow but had an interesting premise; less traditional love story, and more a slow progression of events. The third story is a retelling of the Snow Queen fairy tale. I'm not generally a fan of this sort of thing, and this retelling didn't change my mind. The mixing of gods/religions and the lack of clarity in the beginning of the story was unfortunate. Out of them all, I enjoyed the fourth story the most. It is the shortest, and also a bit unclear about the details of the world at first, but it's a neat little story about a murder and how people often need to rely on others. Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
Improbable versions of fairy story girl gets guy - Mixing the Fall and the Ice Queen and Skaldi foot searching for her preferred groom. Sarah Monette’s story was pretty straight mystery romance, even if the victim went for boys. Kurland’s lovers are all perfectly lovely, and Shinn describes a
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prosperous 19-20th century domestic architecture for a medieval technology tale. Separate bedrooms and squeezing bedsteads? Show Less
LibraryThing member elenaj
The four stars are for the two novellas I liked, the one by Sarah Monette and the one by Sharon Shinn. The Sharon Shinn novella is set in her Mystic and Rider universe and was mostly enjoyable because it was fun to spend more time with some of the minor characters from that series. The Sarah
The other two novellas were not at all to my taste, and would each merit 2 stars from me. (One I finished, since I got halfway through and it felt like a waste to give up on it. The other I quit after just a few pages.)
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Monette story was clever and excellent, as is to be expected from Sarah Monette.The other two novellas were not at all to my taste, and would each merit 2 stars from me. (One I finished, since I got halfway through and it felt like a waste to give up on it. The other I quit after just a few pages.)
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LibraryThing member alspachc
I like sarah monette (aka katharine addison of goblin emperor) as a romance writer. 'A gift of wings' is a bit trite as romance tends to be, but pleasant.
The others were literally unreadable.
The others were literally unreadable.
Subjects
Physical description
320 p.; 8.2 inches
ISBN
0425207722 / 9780425207727