Book Description
Not every story has to be an adventure. Not every hero has to be young, or noble, or mighty. When you don’t have a Chosen One, anyone’s story can be important.
In these twelve stories, we meet a little old lady, several government clerks, a smelly shaman — and the religious scholar who befriends him — an oppressed servant, a man whose business is to help his neighbours help each other, and even someone whose only distinction is an unusual name. Every one of them finds a way to be a hero.
One of My Favorite Lines:
“Mistress Prudence was quite used to living with dwarves in the basement.”
For some reason that just tickled me, and I had to tweet that out 🙂
My Thoughts
This short story collection was entertaining, thoughtful, and sometimes heartbreaking. This was a truly enjoyable read.
Many of the shorts appearing in this anthology come from Mr. Reeves-McMillan’s Gryphon Clerks universe (the setting of his novels
“Not every story has to be an adventure. Not every hero has to be young, or noble, or mighty. When you don’t have a Chosen One, anyone’s story can be important.”
Yes! I love the premise of this, and as we follow tidbits from the lives of humans, gnomes, dwarves, shamans, etc. you realize that you can have a lot of fun with stories that don’t have a big baddie to defeat in the end–sometimes we have to fight against ourselves, our prejudices, the sway of others’ emotions…
One of my favorite stories from this collection is “Good Neighbours” (reminds me of growing up in a neighborhood where we all knew each other, and a neighbor would call your parents in a heartbeat on you because they watched out for each other). I really enjoyed “Gnome Day,” though toward the end it made me cry a little (I should’ve known something bad was going to happen!). “Names” was funny and clever, and I think Fixer needs another story. His personality traits and skills make for a fun read. And of course, making an appearance is “Where is Your Breath?” which originally appeared in the NEW MYTHS anthology (shaman stories are always cool. Just sayin’.)
I don’t want to give away too much of the plot from individual stories, but if you’re looking for something fresh, entertaining, and touches upon some of the various relationships we hold dear, you’re going to want to download this anthology today.