Customer Reviews

Lace and Blade

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

 

 

Every time I begin to write this review I start with silly gushes like "couldn't put it down." I'll try to be a little more coherent.
This is a diverse collection of skilled authors who bring their unique voices to a common theme. The stories fit very well together without being uniform. The fantasy elements aren't overbearing. In each story, the magic has a natural, sometimes subtle, sometimes strong but integrated feeling. I always had a sense that I was in a real place and time, even though there's no way for a head to be able to do that on our world. There are some fascinating, inventive ideas in this collection that kept me thinking long after I'd reached the end.
The cover art transmits the feeling of these stories very well. There's swashbuckling, romance, and a strong sense of culture (but not uniform culture--there's a wide variety of settings.) It's not entirely set in a given century or region, and one of the stories occurs at sea. It's a lush, dangerous, bejeweled group of tales and fans of lace and blade type stories will not be disappointed.
The authors are (in order of appearance): Madeleine E. Robins, Diana L. Paxson, Robin Wayne Bailey, Tanith Lee, Dave Smeds, Catherine Asaro, Mary Rosenblum, Chaz Brenchley, and Sherwood Smith.
I liked some better than others, but there weren't any stories I would skip on reread.
I'm keeping this one, and plan on rereading it many times.

This is a fun anthology. A collection of very sexy stories wherein daring and dashing heros and heroines resolve their problems with wit and the threat of a blade.

The publisher, Norilana, is new and the book and anthology collections coming from it are, without erring in the books I've read so far, great! Support a new publisher (flesh blood) and get yourself some great reads with this book, Warrior Wisewoman and A Posse Of Princesses.

I got this for the Catherine Asaro story. But I did enjoy a few of the other ones as well. Especially The Beheaded Queen by Dave Smeds. I really enjoyed that one. That was one that I wished continued into a book. I wanted to know more and how things went on from where it left off. I felt the same with The Topaz Desert by Catherine Asaro. I love her work. This is a short story based in the same world as her Lost Continent series. Ive read them all and have re read a few of them. I love the whole series. It's fantastic. The short story in this book though ends very abruptly for obvious reason. It's a short story, not a novel. But it could be one, it has the potential. I liked the set up and what it was getting to. I wanted to know what happened to them in the end and where things ended up.

I really enjoyed almost every story in this anthology, most of which have a charming swashbuckling quality to them. These are very mannered fantasy/romance stories, reminiscent of the writings of Tanith Lee, Jack Vance, Alexei Panshin or Ellen Kushner's "Swordspoint." Looking forward to reading Volume 2, which is just out.

Highwaymen, court intrigue, romance, derring-do, swash-buckling adventure--along with other worlds and magic; it's a potent mix. And a more varied and interesting mix of tales and settings than one would think. There are swordswomen and unwise ingenues, Brazilian magic, werewolves, duels, demons, horrific spells, obsession, betrayal, jewels, unexpected love, dastardly lords, slavery, eunuchs, and royal intrigue; nine tales crafted by Tanith Lee, Catherine Asaro, Sherwood Smith, Diana L. Paxon, Chaz Benchley, Mary Rosenblum, Dave Smeds, Robin Wayne Bailey and Madeleine E. Robins.

I am usually not a huge fan of story anthologies, but I found the theme intriguing and well represented by these stories. I found this collection well worth the read and will definitely look for the second collection of LACE AND BLADE.

It's diverse, fun, frightening in places and often sexy. What a good literary party this is! The stories are all well done, though a couple of them didn't appeal to me personally. That's the advantage of anthologies, though: you get to pick and choose.

I hope Norilana keeps on doing these.

I was so excited to get this book, but after I read it I found myself disliking it enormously. I am a huge fan of court politics, Scarlet Pimpernelesque adventures, and sweeping romance and the stories themselves were all well-written. But I cringed every single time that out of the characters that these fabulous writers created almost all seemed to be after loose sex. That's the impression that I got when I walked away from the book. Are these things truly necessary? I really don't think so. I think that people who write about trash like that don't show their true talent as a writer.
The ideas behind the stories were good and they were well-written but the sex in the book was too huge of a turn-off to positively recommend this book of anthologies.