{"id":580,"date":"2008-05-30T21:51:10","date_gmt":"2008-05-31T01:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=580"},"modified":"2021-05-31T07:58:23","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T11:58:23","slug":"the-coyote-road-trickster-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/580","title":{"rendered":"The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales<\/em> (2007) Ellen Datlow<\/a> & Terri Windling<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I love short stories. Aside from collections by Charles de Lint<\/a>, I best love anthologies by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling best. Their books are like comfort food, and I save them up for when I’m sick or feeling low.<\/p>\n

In the same vein as The Green Man<\/em> and The Faerie Reel<\/em>, Datlow and Windling have this time collected stories about tricksters, and they’ve got some of my favorite authors in this collection: Charles de Lint, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Ellen Kushner. As usual, they manage to collect stories by some of my favorite story tellers.<\/p>\n

For those who are Charles de Lint fans, “Crow Roads” is not a Newford tale, but an excellent story nevertheless, of a girl dreaming to escape her small, restrictive life. There is little more I can cay, other than as expected, this was an excellent story.<\/p>\n

As with many of her stories, Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s “The Listeners” is a dark at times, but it’s the dark of the truths from which we all try to hide, rather than from imaginary monsters. And of course being a trickster tale, all’s well that ends well.<\/p>\n

I didn’t recognize “Honored Guest” as an Ellen Kushner story initially, until the dialog started to feel familiar and the name Campion came up. Then I belatedly realized that was the Ellen Kushner story. In a way, almost wish I hadn’t recognized the name, because part of me felt the story was stronger for not being tied to that world.<\/p>\n

But only a very small part of me.<\/p>\n

Besides those there, all the stories in this collection were good, and most were excellent. I especially enjoyed “The Fiddler of Bayou Teche” by Delia Sherman, which is somewhat of a deal with the devil story, except it’s not really the devil, though for all he does, he may as well be acting in the devil’s stead.<\/p>\n

Another deal with the Devil story was Holly Black’s “A Reversal of Fortune.” Despite the gross out bits (considering eating candy all day is enough to make me feel ill), was an excellent story.<\/p>\n

Some other favorites were Richard Bowes’ “A Tale for Short Days” where a trickster comes back again and again to revisit one family. “Black Rock Blues” by Will Shetterly was one story where the trickster was the main character who did the outwitting rather than being outwitted, as was Elizabeth E. Wein’s “Always the Same Story.”<\/p>\n

Another favorite was “The Constable of Abal” by Kelly Link. The story ranged near and far and I was never quite sure where it was going, but that was ok because I was glad to be along for the ride.<\/p>\n

If like short story collections, or trickster tales, then you will want to read The Coyote Road<\/em>. It has stories from many of my favorite writers, and as with all their collections, I was delighted to discover new authors for whom I’ll be on the lookout.
\nRating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (2007) Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling I love short stories. Aside from collections by Charles de Lint, I best love anthologies by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling best. Their books are like comfort food, and I save them up for when I’m sick or feeling low. In the same vein […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,18,2,291],"tags":[71,248,82,80,249],"class_list":["post-580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-anthology","category-fantasy","category-paper","tag-charles-de-lint","tag-ellen-datlow","tag-ellen-kushner","tag-nina-kiriki-hoffman","tag-terri-windling"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-9m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":293,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/293","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":0},"title":"Swan Sister","author":"Michelle","date":"August 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Swan Sister (2003) Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling I don't think I've come across a short story collection put together by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling that I didn't like, and Swan Sister is no exception to the rule. The stories are fairy tales retold, by a variety of authors--many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/swan-sister.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":229,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/229","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":1},"title":"Snow White Blood Red","author":"Michelle","date":"April 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Snow White Blood Red (1993) Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling I often have a hard time putting down interesting books. Which means that if I'm reading a book I real like before bed, I end up staying up past my bed time instead of falling asleep. One solution is to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/04\/Snow-White-Blood-Red.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/41","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":2},"title":"The Faery Reel","author":"Michelle","date":"November 7, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The Faery Reel edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling Any time I see a fantasy anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, I'll often as not pick it up, because I know that it's going to be good. Usually very good. This volume however, has the added bonus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/11\/Faery-Reel.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/68","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":3},"title":"A Wolf at the Door","author":"Michelle","date":"April 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"A Wolf at the Door (2000) edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling I love folk tales and fairy tales, and I love the idea of stories that have been told and retold, and then finally captured on paper. The problem of course, is finding an author who is good\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/04\/a-wolf-at-the-door.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3287,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3287","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":4},"title":"Black Thorn, White Rose: A Modern Book of Adult Fairytales","author":"Michelle","date":"November 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Black Thorn, White Rose: A Modern Book of Adult Fairytales (1994) edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling There were several of these collections in the 90s--and I had the first two if I remember correctly. These are fairy tales retold--some with a change in the point of view, some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Black-Thorn-White-Rose.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3584,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3584","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":5},"title":"Teeth: Vampire Tales","author":"Michelle","date":"February 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Teeth: Vampire Tales (2011) edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling This is an Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling anthology, so as always, there are fascinating bits of folklore. Rice, not garlic, was the most effective means of keeping Chinese vampires at bay, for they had a strange compulsion to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Teeth-Vampire-Tales","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Teeth-Vampire-Tales-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}