In Celebration of Lammas Night [Mass Market Paperback]

Josepha Sherman (Editor), Victoria Poyser (Illustrator), Mercedes Lackey (Collaborator), Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Collaborator), Ardath Mayhar (Collaborator), Diana Paxson (Collaborator), Jody Lyn Nye (Collaborator), Gael Baudino (Collaborator), Laura Anne Gilman (Collaborator), Elisabeth Waters (Collaborator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

Protecting a small village while visiting the house of her predecessor, a young spell weaver accidentally breaks the spell that held her predecessor's spirit and finds herself being courted by a half-seen phantom of questionable intentions.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Baen; First Edition edition (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671877135
• ISBN-13: 978-0671877132
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,392,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it, interesting concept, June 17, 1999

By 

Debbie (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Celebration of Lammas Night (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a very interesting collection of stories. It's neat to see how different authors interpreted the song and provided their own little twists. To the people who say that the story is repetitive...You have no idea what you were talking about. Each story was different from the one before it; though the main points were the same (ghost, spell, Lammas night), that was the only thing that was. I found myself enjoying the stories and wondering how each author would make each one new and interesting. I especially loved Miranda and Lady of the Rock. If you find the stories repetitive, read them one at a time whenever you feel bored.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A variety of writers expand upon Lackey's story premise, December 12, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Montclair, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Celebration of Lammas Night (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is based upon a fascinating premise: take a poem, written by Mercedes Lackey, and use its basic outline to create a story. The basic outline remains the same: wandering female mage settles into the house of the village's former (male) mage, and finds herself courted by a phantom, who she realizes she can bring to life on Lammas Eve.The interesting thing is to see how these elements are used by the different writers to bring their characters to life. Each of the main characters is imbued by her author with a different background, abilities and vulnerabilities, just as each phantom is given different reasons and tone (save for the constant element of the floral offering found by her plate which reappears in each story).The ending varies as well, according to the authors' whim (the original poem was open ended). Is it sometimes repetitious, as cited in another review? Yes. But rarely has an anthology illustrated so well the difference an author's "voice" makes in a story. In addition to providing some interesting sci fi short stories, this collection provides readers with insight into the creative process that is fiction writing as well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Give a bunch of authors a seed & see what they come up with, October 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: In Celebration of Lammas Night (Mass Market Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. It is a bunch of short stories, with a twist. Josepha Sherman took a song written by Mercedes Lackey, and has several authors use it as the basis for a short story. The result is several short stories with similar plots. But, few of the stories are actually similar. The various authors came up with some interesting plot twists.