Customer Reviews

Flying Sorcerers

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

 

 

This is a truly excellent collection of short stories, by top-notch authors.

So why only 3 stars? Well, it certainly isn't an anthology of comic fantasy as the cover claims. (Fantasy here is used in its broadest sense, including sci-fi, horror and supernatural stories rather than just swords-and-sorcery.)

The stories range from hilarious (Michael Moorcock's), through amusing, to not in the least bit funny (Angela Carter's). This is my main complaint about the collection - why are serious (even tragic) stories included?

A minor point - I thought the cover art on the copy I have, to be unsuitable. Josh Kirby's work is so much associated with Terry Practhet's work, I think something more neutral would have been better. The fact that it illustrates Pratchett's story didn't help either. Perhaps it was a marketing decision :P

Anthologies are usually difficult to review, as they tend to contain varying levels of talent, however; this collection is an exception -- as it is superb from the first tale to the last. The stories are filled with wit, humor and intelligence and bring together writers you never thought you would see in the same volume. P.G. Wodehouse and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. with Thomas Disch, Angela Carter, and Terry Pratchett! Amazing and wonderful. Highly recommended.

The good thing about short story anthologies is that the bad stories aren't very long. But, then, neither are the good ones!

As other reviewers have noted, the packaging is misleading. Like it's predecessor, Wizards of Odd, the stories as a whole do not live up to the hype on the covers. There are, however, some fine tales to be had. "Danse Macabre" by Mervyn Peake is evocative, although not in the least bit funny. Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," again singularly lacking in hilarity, is a worthy tale of a true egalitarian society. "The Roaches" by Thomas M. Disch is eerily disgusting, and after reading it you will never look at cockroaches in the same way again.

Really, one can't help but wonder who is responsible for the packaging.

First the good news. Unlike so many theme anthologies,The Flying Sorcerers contains only stories by accomplished writers. There are no atrocious fillers writen by some semi-literate friend of the editor. The bad news is that The Flying Sorcerers does not contain stories about flying or sorcery. The book's cover blurb states'"...these masters of wit heve entertained us with intelligence and humor.Now in this hilarious collection they explore one of our oldest fantasies-the ability to fly." Yet no-one in this book does fly, there is a magician referred to but no sorcerers appear , and several of the stories are not intended to be humerous.

Yes, this book does contain some fine stories. But this book does not contain very many fine COMIC stories. As some of the other reviewers have pointed out, some of the stories are singularly lacking in humour. Yet this book claims to be "a gloriously bizarre and wonderfully varied extravaganza of comic fiction".

You know that stuff that a bull leaves on the ground after a particularly fine meal? This is it, in it's unadulterated form.

Mr Haining should be ashamed of himself.