Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight
The first solo collection fromFantasy Magazineco-editor Rambo is a two-sided coin. Her stand-alone stories are crisp and compelling, but the longer ones set in imaginary seaport Tabat are filled with predictable genre tropes that fall flat. On the good side, Heart in a Box follows three present-day tourists in Thailand who encounter a real-life mermaid, while Eagle-haunted Lake Sammamish finds an ancient dryad threatened by human progress. Less satisfying, Narrative of a Beast's Life tells the long-winded story of a centaur without a trace of tension or intrigue, and A Key Decides Its Destiny brings nothing new to the tired wizard yarn. Diehard fans of traditional fantasy will at least find plenty of familiar arcs and archetypes, if not so much narrative tension.(Aug.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.