Jo Thomas

This is an excellent anthology I would recommend to anyone to pick up and browse. Not all the stories hit my spot (hence the 4 stars) but with 21 stories (+ 1 song + 1 poem) included in this volume this is probably not surprising. They are, however, all good, solid entertainment. I'm pretty sure there's something for everyone in here and I look forward to reading Volume 2, which is in my TBR pile.

This is a strong debut fantasy novel and the start of a new series. Kinsella has a sparse writing style that will not satisfy anyone who's after a wordy Hardy or Tolkien-alike and allows the more foolish of us to make some assumptions about this new universe. However, the prose flowed well enough to get me over my initial, jaded assumptions and it is most definitely worth the time. This is not just a faux-medieval fantasy, but a stone-age people dealing with a much more advanced group of returning oppressors - who may be significantly beyond medieval if the series follows the potential "sword and planet" route rather than appearance of "sword and sorcery". Better still, the heroine turns out to be the shaman who rescues herself rather than the princess who waits in the castle.

(In the interests of transparency: I was given a review pdf by the author in exchange for an honest review.)

A fantastic first step into Asian mythology and folklore (I say as someone with no clue about the stories of the various cultures under the "Asian" umbrella). All the stories have a certain surreal, dream-like quality in common and one or two require time to digest and absorb before moving on to the next one but I enjoyed every single one.

A fast paced romp of through a fantasy adventure that twists tropes beautifully.

Very well written but almost traumatically dark and horrific.

I enjoyed the writing but I suspect three stories are a little dated now - but I see why I enjoyed them when I was just getting into sff!

A strong collection of hidden histories, full of magic and myth that doesn't always get seen. Not every story was pleasing or easy to read but the collection was more worth the time to read.

Interesting and quite well done. I have some problems with the world view but I think they're probably a function of the point of view character than the creators' values.

The second book in a series - and I haven't read the first, so pleasantly surprised to find it readable and easy to get into without having read the first one.

Interesting. Quite old fashioned and gentle but by no means a piece of fluff because of that. When I wasn't in the right mood for it, it was difficult to keep going but when I was, the pages just flew by.

While I found the mash-up amusing, the insertions got more surreal (okay, make that unintentionally clumsy but knowingly ridiculous) as things went on. About halfway through the book I developed an urge to abandon in and go back to the original - and it's now next on my TBR pile.