Customer Reviews

The Magic Shop

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

 

 

"The Magic Shop" is one of the few anthologies I've read lately that has been entirely fulfilling. Denise Little, who edited this, did a superb job in finding seventeen writers to write about characters and their various experiences in various magic shops.

All seventeen stories were good, but the best three in my mind were these. First, Michelle West's "Dime Store Rings" was absolutely mind-blowing, partly because I don't like most of her writing and did like this, and partly because she managed to write a very sad story without undue pathos. Second, Rosemary Edghill's "A Winter's Tale" was another excellent Bast story; it's a story within a story, and the last few lines absolutely cause chills. Rosemary Edghill's short stories are always thought provoking, and almost always absolutely astonishing, and this one met or exceeded expectations. More Bast stories, please! And finally, India Edghill (yes, India and Rosemary are related) wrote a powerful story about Anastasia, the "lost princess" of Russia, and one which envisioned a happier and more positive future for her than she probably got (as no one knows for sure). India Edghill mostly writes historicals, and does a fabulous job with them; this story definitely reflects her skill and ability as a writer.

I'd definitely recommend this book for anyone over the age of about 14 (as some of the images in various stories are perhaps a bit graphic) or anyone over about 10 with parental or guardian supervision.

Five stars, highly recommended.

Barb Caffrey

The stories here are very heartfelt and engaging. I greatly enjoy these anthologies edited by Denise Little. Ones that stand out for me are "Every Little Thing She Does" by Susan Sizemore, "Dime Store Rings" by Michelle West, and "The Fairest" by Von Jocks. Particular passages I feel are noteworthy: "There is a magic in childhood that slowly fades. Time hurts it, truth changes it, experience makes it something other than what it appeared to be. Magic is all in silence." "Silence is a way of hoarding things, and there are some magicks that die when hoarded, like cut flowers die." "Memory is kinder than reality, it always has been. We make our memories; we knit them together out of disparate events; we define ourselves by what we make."--Michelle West. "The People will learn to think of themselves as things apart from nature, which will lead them to self-destruction." "Love is the only thing that truly sets us apart from everything that has gone on before us. If not for love, we would be no more than the animals that exist in the forests, and swamps, and lakes." "Love is weakness. Love is strength also. You can't have the one without the other."--Mel Odom. "Perhaps a mirror's greatest power is that it lets you not just see yourself, but see how you see yourself."--Von Jocks. "The story had no proper end, but reality rarely does. It is the province of fiction to tie up loose ends, to punish the guilty and reward the good, to join the lovers together and answer all questions." "Belief is the most powerful-and sometimes the most dangerous-thing there is."--Rosemary Edghill

Great book with entertaining stories. If you like fiction with a good twist, these stories will not disappoint.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories. The stories cover all types of magic from the tradition meaning with witches and supernatural forces to everyday magic like a child's gift to her mother or self-confidence. This range of the meaning of magic along with the variety of stories (funny, sad, historical, contemporary) made this collection an interesting read. Each story not like the one before.

Of course I had my favorites, which included "Everything Little Thing She Does," a very funny about a woman taking a magic house in stride (chiding the bookcase like a child when it attacks and using the stove turn burning fire pit to make amazing pies), "The Assassin's Dagger," an interesting story about corporate America taking over historic magic shops and "For Whom the Bell Tolled," a warm and fuzzy story about a shop owner realizing his actual desire after having a bell that brings him what he thinks he wants.

My least favorite stories were "Dime Store Rings" and "Serpent of the Lakes." Many of the other reviewers thought "Dime Store Rings," was the best story of the collection, but I thought it was too depressing. I disliked "Serpent of the Lakes" because it wasn't interesting and the ability to connect with the main character didn't exist. I found the main character annoying. Easily the worst story of the entire collection.

Most of the shops are the classic mysterious small business, notable exceptions being those in "Serpent of the Lakes" and "The Assassin's Dagger". Several stories are from the customers' viewpoint or prospective new employees, allowing the store to retain the traditional mysterious atmosphere for the reader, but at least a quarter concentrate on shop owners or current employees. Most involve "real magic", but some need only self-confidence.

Braunbeck, Gary A.: "The Hand Which Graces" The bartender at Gruber's has seen a lot. But tonight Sykes (the freelance stage magician whose patch includes the bar) went into a new local "magic shop" looking for new tricks for his act and came out with more than he bargained for.

Edghill, India: "Winter Phoenix" When the Imperial Princesses visit a curious St Petersburg shop in 1916, the shopkeeper says fortunes are made, not told, and refuses to make any predictions. But Anastasia is sold a gilded walnut shell, that if broken can be whatever is needed, for just a moment. Can it save her from the fate facing her family?

Edghill, Rosemary: "A Winter's Tale" is told by one witch to another (the narrator) while cleaning shop on a snowy night. Finding an elaborate box with disappointingly mundane contents, Lark remembers the weirdest item he ever encountered, working for another shop in California.

Elrod, P.N.: "Tarnished Linings" Caitlin, temporarily filling in at the Cauldron, copes with an obnoxious kid propositioning her. When he combines this with shoplifting, two of the shop's patrons whip up a protection spell, but they put too much into it. But every cloud has a silver lining, right?

Gilligan, ElizaBeth: "Off Key" Sarah has a moderately successful advertising career, but lacks self-confidence (the opposite of her twin, who has a social life but no benefits). Then on a lunchtime shopping trip to Marva's favourite shop, Sarah acquires a "key to success". Metaphorical, of course...

Jocks, Von: "The Fairest" Zoe, a fantasy painter in her off-hours who's just gone full-time at her secretarial day job, notices that while she looks frumpy in all the mirrors at work, the mirrors at the Magic Shop (aromatherapy, feng shui, and meditation books) are another story.

McCay, Bill: "The Curse of the Itch, or Finnegan Wakes" The magic shop was named "Eldritch", but after years of being run down, its sign reads "El Itch". Lang the narrator now believes in the uncanny (see VENGEANCE FANTASTIC), but his stubborn girlfriend Mags Finnegan insists on wearing the pendant she scavenged from the shop's discards...

Nye, Jody Lynn: "For Whom the Bell Tolled" Charles, though struggling to keep up with operating expenses and low on worthwhile stock, buys a bell that supposedly summons whatever the ringer wants. This can be a problem, when so much good stock suddenly turns up that there's no storage space...

Odom, Mel: The "Serpent of the Lakes" has joined forces with enemies of the Algonquin over water and hunting rights, and among the victims captured from Taregan's village is his betrothed. Seeking supernatural help to battle the Serpent, Taregan seeks the longhouse of the Three Sisters to petition them for a loan of their medicine.

Resnick, Laura: Unsuccessful author experiments with buying magic tools at the local shop to break her writer's block, culminating with "The Magic Keyboard". The jokes are 'just how bad is she' and 'what classic book will she reproduce next without recognizing it'.

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn: "The Assassin's Dagger" is an attempted return (with receipt) to a French magic shop bought out years ago by Abracadabra Inc (HQ Salem, Massachusetts). Talia, corporate troubleshooter, notices right away that the manager disregards company policy, even in "little" things. Such indifference to the store's image among non-magic folk, coupled with his hostility to Abracadabra for having purchased his family business, cuts no ice with Talia. Great touch that the magic shop is also a modern business.

Sherman, Josepha: "Mightier Than the Sword" Struggling writer's computer crashes the night before deadline. Planning to write longhand, then hit Kinko's for the typing the next morning, the narrator dashes out to buy a pen, but the only place that's open is The Magick Shoppe. Too rushed and too much coincidence; might work better in longer form.

Sinor, Bradley H.: Determined not to start drinking after his ex-girlfriend's departure, Jared walks into a little man's disagreement with a bookie's half-human thugs, and is asked to deliver a package to "Grails". Being paid in mint condition gold coins by a man with so much attitude makes Jared curious about this shop that gives people what they *need*, if not what they want. Cool story.

Sizemore, Susan: "Every Little Thing She Does" Trevor makes an adequate living with his shop, and rescues damsels in distress when they need it. Amanda Brewster, though, seems capable of handling almost anything, even though she's asking for professional help in exorcising the old place she's just bought. (The hellfire in the oven, for instance, yields great pie crust.)

West, Michelle: "Dime Store Rings" The narrator's Magic Shop wasn't one she worked in, and didn't sell potions or wands, but something better; she and her father in the hard times of her childhood could afford to buy Christmas presents for her mother there.

Without any doubt, Michelle West's "Dime Store Rings" dominates this collection. A story about a woman coming to terms with her parents' successes and failures, it manages to be touching but not sappy, memorable but not manipulative. West obviously chose her words and sentences with care, and poured great effort into organizing the tale for maximum effect. Though I've never read any of her books before, I'll certainly look into them after seeing this story.

Three others stories should be mentioned as at least being worth the time. "Winter Pheonix" retells the tale of Princess Anastasia in a new light, and also manages to deliver without getting overtly emotional. Laura Resnick hits some humorous notes in "The Magic Keyboard", a story about a young author struggling against writer's block. And Gary Braunbeck delivers "The Hand that Graces", a description-defying story of redemption amidst urban blight.

Every collection must have a low point. Here it's Mel Odom's lengthy, tedious, and ridiculously PC tale of an Indian warrior, "Serpent of the Lakes". There are others as well, but they mostly share a similar problem. The authors don't seem to have any reason driving their creations. They don't write in a distinctive style, or they fall flat when they try to. But other than West, no one here seems to really carry the spark that drives great literature, so I have to give this one a thumbs down.

The premise of this fifteen story collection is relatively simplistic: what would happen to a customer if the magic shop found in many cities sold real magic? The contributors, whom are a virtual who's who (though there is one new author for me), provided a wide range of tales with some classified as horror, others are fantasy and science fiction, and finally a few that cross the speculative plain. Even the tone vastly differs with some authors writing amusing fictions of getting what you ask for while others take a more somber pitch. Each tale is well written as if Denise Little used a magical editing device to raise the bar. Most interesting is that the simple concept is turned into complex effects as the purchaser should have paid close attention to the maxim "buyer beware" since no hazardous to your health warning label accompanied the goods. Readers will enjoy these fine new stories that cast a spell requiring a one sitting read. Aside to Ms. Little: is the magic store that ensorcelled you the one near NYU or the one in Times Square that hooked many of us boomers back in the 1960s-1970s (don't know if they are still there)?

Harriet Klausner

Ok, I love anthologies. I have been reading them for the past 14 years. I like getting to know new authors alongside old ones. This anthology was a waste of my time. The stories were trite and cliche. One or two stories rises above the mediocre and is a pleasent enough read. I liked Von jocks " The Fairest". The story centers around a woman who becomes obsessed with her looks and lose herself in the process, but finds her again self after looking in to a magic mirror. The story was funny, intresting and well written. Sad to say this one was the only story to stand out in my mind. As an editor Denise Little can an usally do better, I guess thats what makes this collection so disapointing.