Customer Reviews

Anthonology

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

 

 

A collection of Piers Anthony shorts that probably rival any other collection I've read. Sexy and funny (minnie's crew), horror, all in classic Anthony style. Just a bit too graphic, I think for people used to Anthony-lite (Xanth).

In his Anthonology, Piers Anthony gives us a collection of stories that range from the incredibly hot and sexy to the horribly brutal. If you are not squeamish (sp?) and enjoy a wide variety of topics, this is a good collection to read.

Theodore Sturgeon used introductory material in several of his collections of stories as tributes to science fiction editors. Piers Anthony's _Anthonology_ (1985) is largely concerned with science fiction editors, but it is no tribute. The story introductions are filled with sardonic anecdotes about harsh rejection letters, rejected stories, slow response rates, low rates of pay, titles changed without permission, incompetent editorial practices, and the reluctance of editors to acknowledge the value of a story. Even assuming that Anthony succeeded in spite of editors rather than because of them, there seems to be something rather small-minded and vindictive about the theme of this collection. One quickly begins to suspect that the real sin of the various editors that Anthony "exposes" was a failure on their part to acknowledge his brilliance and a reluctance to accept his every opinion as gospel truth.

Of course, there is no law that says an author is obligated to sing praises of editors. But it seems to me that if you are going to take the critical tack, you must show a respectable number of quality tales that belie the short-sighted judgement of those editors. Of the twenty-one stories in this collection, three ("Phog," "Quinquipedalian," and "Getting Through University") are good entertainment and four ("In the Barn," "Up Schist Creek," "The Bridge," and "On the Uses of Pain") are reasonably clever taboo breakers. The other fourteen are at best minor fare, readily forgettable; and several ("Possible to Rue," "The Toaster," "Wood You?," and "Within the Cloud") are awesomely bad.

I cannot say that you won't find any stories of value in this collection. And there is some interest in taking a look at some of Anthony's early pieces. But I can't recommend this collection with a great deal of enthusiasm. It needed either better stories or a bit more humility. It doesn't have enough of either.

If you are an adult Anthony fan, you must get this collection of shorts. Some of the stories are Anthony at his wicked best. Not best because of the x-rated stories, but best because of Anthony the writer at his best. Most of these stories were written before he got rich and famous and those are his best stories because he poured his heart and soul into them.

The good stories in this collection are very, very well written. In a short story, there isn't enough time to develop the characters fully, so it's the plots and stories which have to stand out and in many cases in this book they do.

I must warn though, that a couple of these stories are definitely x-rated, or at least pg-18, so they aren't suitable for young children, who in any case should stay away, in fact far, far away from any of Anthony's books not from the later Xanth series. In a way, I think Anthony is a cop out; metaphorically, he screwed his adult fan base over when his light fantasy books scored for him. Basically, he dropped us like a hot crack pipe when his children's books took off. Nah, I really can't blame him. But even though I haven't bought any of his newer books, I still cherish the old ones, written when he was a struggling writer.

This really is one of the better collections of stories that I have read. However, I have probably read each story at least ten times. That just proves how captivating they are. I keep getting more after each reading. Of course, every story is not the greatest story ever, but all of the stories at the very least are good. And the great stories are truly amazing.

I really enjoyed this compilation of Anthony's short stories. Some were a bit weird.

This story is one of the most vividly disturbing I have ever read. Many of the stories are like this, some are very compelling and all are wonderful intoduction to the mind of Piers Anthony.

I absolutely LOVE this book! The stories are NOT amateurish... how could they be, coming from one of the world's most popular fantasy writers? :)

Wonderful book, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different than what is considered the 'norm' these days - very refreshing.

Piers makes the point in the intros for several of these stories that they were rejected over and over or never even accepted for publication. Well, they should have stayed that way. This is a collection of desperate amateurish stories that would have been better left alone.