Published: June 16, 2011
Words: 16,386 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781458019226

Short description

A short story collection by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald. Fantasy and science fiction from the best selling and award-winning team of Doyle and Macdonald: From humor to horror; realistic and fantastic; past, present, and future.  Seven tales to amaze and delight.

Extended description

Doyle and Macdonald are the authors of the Mageworlds series, the Circle of Magic series, and the Bad Blood series.

Stories in this collection include:

"Witch Garden" :: Something odd's in Henry Thatcher's garden. (Read more) Doyle and Macdonald are the authors of the Mageworlds series, the Circle of Magic series, and the Bad Blood series.

Stories in this collection include:

"Witch Garden" :: Something odd's in Henry Thatcher's garden.
"Nobody Has To Know" :: It's easy to be a vampire. And nobody has to know.
"Now and in the Hour of our Death" :: An alternate Kennedy.
"Why They Call It That" :: A swashbuckling editor story.
"Please To See the King" :: True destiny or true desire?
and
"The Little Prune That Couldn't Talk" :: Little Prune, hero of the Revolution.
"Bad Blood" :: The Sunset Hills Junior High Ecology Club has a problem. A werewolf problem.
(Less)

Tags

writing, editors, beauty, horror, anthology, humor, fantasy, christianity, short stories, science fiction, witches, werewolf, werewolves, truth, catholic, collection, anthologies, christian, medieval, catholicism, childrens stories, faries, new hampshire, collections, debra doyle, james d macdonald, deals with the devil

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Reviews

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Review by: Barbara Gordon on May 01, 2012 :
A mixed bag, or should I say a mixed garden plot? The title story is a tidy tale of the unflappable meeting the inexplicable, with nice dry humour. Nobody Has to Know is brief and chilling, told all in dialogue. Now And In the Hour of Our Death is touching (I have to wonder whether it carried the same impact in the original anthology). Why They Call It That is pretty much a shaggy dog story.
The writing throughout is smooth and professional, as one would expect, with touches of lyricism as in Please to See the King. The oddest story is The Little Prune Who Couldn't Talk, a sort of V for Vendatta via Aesop. The strongest (no surprise it grew up into a novel) is Bad Blood, a scary campfire story told in a convincing adolescent voice.
Entertaining brief reads for spare moments.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: JDC Burnhil on March 16, 2012 :
Seven stories previously published in magazines and anthologies, from a couple of short gag or sting-in-the-tail yarns to a complete YA horror tale that makes up half the volume.  Smooth and assured writing throughout; however, readers who crave a strong sense of closure may find themselves frustrated.  Too many of the stories have resolutions that could be described as "The interesting thing that was happening stops happening," or "The mystery element is revealed to be something that fits within the theme of the original anthology."  

The best is saved for last; "Bad Blood" is an exciting YA horror-adventure story, set on a 1980s wilderness trip.  Through well-chosen incident and dialogue, the characters are quickly made to feel like the teenagers you really knew back in high school, or would have liked to.  The plot is solid, keeping the tension building through twists that keep you guessing if and how the scared protagonists will rise to the occasion.  The ending is solid on its own but also opens the door to further stories of Val Sherwood and her friends.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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