Customer Reviews

Ages of Wonder

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this subject matter and the general format of this entire series of books so I looked forward to this quite a bit. Unfortunately I'd call this collection uneven.

The 19 stories vary from the somewhat "standard" middle-ages fantasy to a future Mars settlement and what happens when fantasy creatures make the trip. This format of setting stories in different timeframes was refreshing and I liked it quite a bit. I found the stories themselves to vary wildly however--this is one of the most uneven books of its type--with my finding some stories to be absolute page-turners ("Mars Bound", "To Play the Game of Men") and others to be skipped after a page or two.

Overall a good collection and a nice "one story before bed" kind of book to have around. Just don't expect every story to keep your interest.

This anthology collection is based on the premise that there are other eras besides the medieval and the modern periods in which fantasy can thrive. The collection is broken into six categories as follows: the Age of Antiquity with four entries; the Age of Sails contains four tales; the Colonial Age includes three stories: the Age of Pioneers provides three submissions, the Pre-Modern Age includes three stories; and the Age Ahead contains two. All nineteen contributions are new and well written with this reviewer's favorite period being the Pre-Modern Age with the awe of new technologies and major scientific advancements. Within each age the tales radically differ and even more so between the sections so that a reader can choose to go in placement order (chronological at the section level) or as I did rotate between sections. Fresh, AGES OF WONDER is an intriguing fantasy collection that lends itself to a fascinating "Age" comparability as the reader can determine which era is best suited for "myths, magic, and monsters".

Harriet Klausner

This anthology explores fantasy stories set in a variety of time periods. The time periods are divided into categories such as the Age of Sail and the Age of Pioneers, with two to four stories per category. I bought the anthology because I am a fan of Sandra Tayler (who wrote the short story Immigrant in this anthology). I've previously enjoyed her short stories (some of which are available for free here: http://sandra.tayler.com/stories.php). I was impressed with the quality of all of the stories in the volume. I would like to see additional anthologies with this theme!