Review: Strong series of short stories
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 13, 2013
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions below are entirely my own.A fur trader battles a vampire, a commoner hunts a dragon, a noblewoman must stop a political bloodbath."Dark Children of Naor" is vivid, descriptive, and pulls no punches. From the first two shorter stories, more in the traditional fantasy vein, to the third, longer story that falls into a more political fantasy genre (thought still replete with action) Plichta-Jendzio has crafted some very impressive characters that will live on in my head long after the close of the book (especially Namefer - LOVED her!) Her world is expansive and varied, as the stories take us from arctic reaches to forests and plains to the Egypt-esque desert.  Plichta-Jendzio gives the impression of a fully-built world of which we are only seeing small portions, but everything connects smoothly, there are no glaring inconsistencies.Her style is intimate and descriptive, balancing detail and plot progression nicely. One particular aspect I really enjoyed was the prevalence of some very strong female characters (again, Namefer comes to mind immediately.) Too often, fantasy writers create either very weak female characters, or "strong" ones whose strength comes from adopting masculinity instead, as if femininity was inherently a weak option. Namefer, on the other hand, can take up a blade, but is equally at home in fine clothes and with wielding political influence - a strong female character in touch with both masculine and feminine sides, with neither holding her back.But I digress from the review. As this is a translation, some credit goes to Aleksandra Kateusz for the English version, however (and I'm not sure if this is a translator problem or an editor problem) there are occasional jumbled phrases and missing or incorrect words. Truly, this is a five-star story, but is presented with a sloppiness that detracts from the overall score. It is entirely readable though, and I would still give it a hearty recommendation.With questions or comments, feel free to leave a comment below or to contact me at SeanOnAmazon@gmail.com.