Holly Black
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (2002)
Tithe came up multiple times as a recommended book for me on Amazon, but when I read the description and saw it was a about a sixteen year old, I thought, “No thanks. Not in the mood for teen angst.” But I finally put Tithe on my wishlist, and then received it for Christmas this year. Then it sat unread, as I continued to not want to read about ten angst.
Really, sometimes I’m stupid. I’ve read a lot of YA fiction, yet somehow I often manage to forget how much I really enjoy it. Yes, there are occasionally angsty teenage bits and books, but for the most part, YA fantasy is as good or better than what’s out there for adults.
Last night I went knelt down by the bookshelf to peruse the to-be-read pile that had migrated upstairs. (Which is different from the to-be-read pile downstairs.) I flipped to the first page of Tithe to see if it was what I was in the mood to read. Five minutes later, after my knees started to really ache, I moved to the sofa and tore through more than half the book.
Kaye lives a life that most teens would dream of–her mother plays rock and roll and doesn’t make her go to high school. So Holly works during the day, smokes all she wants, and gets to hang out at bars while waiting for her mother’s shows to finish. However, an unfortunate and unexpected even sends them back to New Jersey and Kaye’s grandmother’s house, where she is expected to go to school, and to act like a normal teenage girl.
Unfortunately for Kaye, she is soon to discover that she is anything but a normal teenage girl, and her life is soon to be turned completely inside out and upside down.
This story does so many things right I can hardly believe it. First of all, the angsty whiney teenage stuff is kept to a minimum. Second, nothing is predictable. Third, the writing is very good and sharp. Fourth, the story draws you in and keeps you. Even when Kaye is being whine and stupid, it’s still and and it’s also completely reasonable–after all, she is 16.
If you like urban fantasy, then you definitely want to check out Tithe. The story is good, and like to many YA novels, the writing is good and although there is a bit of romance, there is no boinking. I highly recommend reading the first couple pages–you should know immediately if it is a book for you or not.
Rating: 8/10
Full Moon City (2010) edited by Darrell Schweitzer and Martin H Greenberg
I love anthologies. Though I have to admit that with the way paranormal romance has taken off, the ratio of wheat to chaff has been unfavorable for me. However, Carrie Vaughn and Peter S. Beagle were pretty compelling reasons to get this anthology.
I didn’t much care for the first two stories in the anthology. Gene Wolfe’s “Innocent” was very good, but I didn’t enjoy it. The third story, however, was by Carrie Vaughn and an entry into her Kitty the Werewolf series. Not quite as strong as some of the Kitty stories, but fun, and an interesting thought about what werewolves might or might not be good at. (This is actually an interesting idea that goes along with her story Kitty Goes to War.)
Esther M. Griesner’s story, “No Children, No Pets” was strange and odd, but I still enjoyed it. After all, there aren’t that many werewolf stories with six year old narrators.
Country Mother’s Sons by Holly Phillips was another story that stayed with me, although I still cannot decided if I liked the story or not. War widows and their sons are a very depressing theme, however, the story was well done, and pulled me in.
“A Most Unusual Greyhound” is the second Harry the Book story by Mike Resnick I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although the main character is (of course) a bookie, it has the tone of a hard boiled mystery, and also refuses to take itself seriously. Once or twice it almost stays into camp territory, but veers back into fun and entertaining. After all, the idea of a werewolf entering the races at the dog tracks is an amusing one.
Holly Black‘s story, “The Aarne-Thompson Classification Revue” was another odd story. A werewolf girl trying to make it in the big city. I liked it, even though I was never quite sure where it was going.
“I Was a Middle-Age Werewolf” by Ron Goulart was another fun story that was quite enjoyable–a middle-aged man in Beverly Hills is suddenly changed into a werewolf. The main character was not particularly likable, but it was, as I said, fun, as was Darrell Schweitzer’s “Kvetchula’s Daughter” which might have had a slightly more surprising ending had it not been in an anthology about werewolves. But the idea of Jewish vampires totally makes up for the end not being surprising.
I’ve read several short stories by Chelsa Quinn Yarbro, but not read any of her books, primarily because they’re typically classified as horror. But the story “And Bob’s Your Uncle” may have been dark, but I didn’t find it scary or horrifying (except perhaps in the way Jake was treated by his mother), and I did find it good, as was Gregory Frost’s “The Bank Job” (even if you’re never quite sure what kind of creature he is.)
And the anthology ended on a very strong note, with Peter S. Beagle‘s story “La Lune T’Attend.” It took a bit to fall into the speech patterns of the main characters, but in just a few pages, I fell in love with Arceneaux, the grandfather who also happened to be a loup-garou. Seriously. The story is about two grandfathers who have been best friends all the lives, and who also happen to be werewolves. It was the perfect ending to the anthology.
Although there were several stories I didn’t particularly like, but all in all, the stories that were good were very good, and well worth the price of the anthology.
Rating: 8/10
Naked City (2011) edited by Ellen Datlow
This collection of urban fantasy stories has several of my favorite authors, so it was a no-brainer to get. The bad thing is that I’ve been reading this collection for several months, so I now have no idea what the stories at the start of the anthology were about, which is dangerous, because it means I may end up accidentally rereading several of them.
First up was Jim Butcher‘s HarryDresden story “Cursed.” I’ve become frustrated by the Dresden Files series the past couple books, so a nice short story about baseball was a pleasant change. Harry is asked to find out about a possible curse on the Chicago Cubs.
Delia Sherman‘s story was next, “How the Pooka Came to New York City.” It’s 1855 and tells how a pooka came to NY with a human, Liam O’Casey.
Worth the cost of the anthology alone was Ellen Kushner‘s “The Duke of Riverside.” I love Swordspoint, and the chance to read more about St. Vier and Alec met? Bliss.
I love Christopher Fowler‘s Bryant & May mystery series. This is an unrelated stand-alone story about, well… in theory it’s about a hold up, but it isn’t. Not really.
Patricia Briggs story “Fairy Gifts” is a vampire story, but it’s not one of those vampire stories. It’s of a boy who was forced to become a vampire, and more.
Pat Cadigan’s story “Picking Up the Pieces” was another story about fairy, but it’s also about family, and a woman looking after her sister.
Peter S. Beagle‘s story, “Underbridge” was unexpectedly dark, almost more horror than fantasy. It’s about a troll. And it isn’t a nice troll.
Naomi Novik, who wrote the Temeraire series, has a non-dragon entry–another vampire story, only this one about the problems of the housing market in New York city.
I’m not certain I’d classify Matthew Kressel’s story, “The Bricks of Gelecek” as urban fantasy. It’s not a modern setting, and it’s not especially urban. It is interesting and depressing.
Lavie Tidhar’s story, “The Projected Girl” was meloncholy. A boy discovers a magician’s diary, and wants to learn more about the magician and the trick he reads about in the book.
Holly Black’s story “Noble Rot” is a ghoul love story. Really.
The last story in the anthology is Elizabeth Bear’s “King Pole, Gallows Pole, Bottle Tree.” It’s a story of Las Vegas and memory and magic. It’s also extremely good.
Although there were several stories I didn’t care for, I believe that was more a matter of personal taste than quality. And the stories I did like, I liked very much.
Rating: 8/10
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (2002)
Anthologies: Full Moon City (2010), Naked City (2011)
