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117 of 119 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
3.5stars- Surprisingly tame, but most of the leading ladies make their own 'happily ever afters' - no fairy godmothers required, October 27, 2009
From my own expectations, I am guessing that Never After is not at all what most readers are expecting from an anthology headlined by Laurell K Hamilton. In fact, though the mention of a couple topics here and there keeps these from being kiddy bedtime fairy tales, the four stories are pretty much G rated - a kiss is as racy as things get.
1) "Can he Bake a Cherry Pie" -Laurell K Hamilton - Our heroine would rather die than marry her intended, so she sets off on a `suicidal mission' to rescue a legendary prince - I haven't read much by Hamilton, but I suspect fans will think she's been kidnapped by aliens. Neither of Hamilton's normal heroines (Anita or Merry) are anywhere in sight and Hamilton's offering feels like the type of a classic fairy tale that you'd read to your daughters, because `I'm gonna rescue myself' is a much better lesson than `someday my prince will come'. (3.5 stars - 36 pages)
2) "Shadow of the Mist" - Yasmine Galenorn - The selkie heroine in Galenorn's tale gets a little help from the D'Artigo sisters (and Smokey) when a horrid prince from her past threatens the happily ever after which is at long last within her grasp - Readers who follow Galenorn's Sisters of the Moon series will likely enjoy this one but I just am not a fan - though I've tried - and I lost interest about mid-way through and ended up skimming the rest (2 stars - 105 pages)
3) "Tangleroot Palace" - Marjorie M Liu - A princess seeks an alternative to marriage with a barbarian warlord by journeying to a dangerous enchanted forest and hooks up with an intriguing troupe of traveling entertainers - This one was probably my favorite of the four, I liked the down to earth princess and the 'fearsome' warlord. (4 stars - 89 pages)
4) "The Wrong Bridegroom" - Sharon Shinn- A tie in a contest for a princess' hand results in two vastly different potential bridegrooms. Both have it all strength, bravery and brains, but who is really Mr. Right and who is Mr. Wrong? - I have never read anything from Shinn before, but I ended up liking the hero and the ending of the story a great deal and this story was really long enough to develop the supporting characters and to allow the princess to grow past her shallow beginnings. (4 stars - 150 pages)
If you've always wanted to see how well your favorite authors' writing holds up when there is no steamy stuff to pump up the volume, here's your chance. For me, expectations are pretty hard to overcome, so I didn't love Never After, but it was a pleasant enough read for a change of pace.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, November 13, 2009
Other reviewers have done a great job with recapping the stories so I'm just sharing my opinion about the book.
I enjoyed Hamilton's story a lot. It was short but it was a great story with a great theme. I do enjoy Hamilton's books and no, it doesn't fit in with her Anita Blake or Merry Gentry stories. This one is more along the line of Nightseer and the stories in Strange Candy. I hope she continues to come out with more of this flavor.
I really didn't care for Galenorn's story. I found it and its heroine tedious and the plot contrived and only finished because it wasn't long enough that I felt like I would waste too much of my time to see how it ended. It's my first story by her and I don't anticipate reading another.
I enjoyed Liu's story. She's a great writer. I've read several of her books and although I chose to stop reading them due to disliking her typical story arch, I quite enjoyed this one and the (slightly foreseeable) twist at the end.
Sharon Shinn's was probably my favorite story because of the character development of the heroine and how each of the other supporting characters and their stories are revealed with perfect timing to keep the story moving forward.
So definitely worth the price of the book and I'm sure I'll be reading it again.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
3 out of 4 stories make this a worthwhile purchase, November 10, 2009
The focus of the stories in these anthologies all involve girls who are being forced to wed against their will. Laurell K Hamilton headlines the book, but unfortunately her story is both the shortest as well as the least enjoyable. The first story in the book, it ends at the 11% mark on a Kindle - and that includes all of the title pages before the story. The rest of the stories are actually quiet good and make the book a worthwhile purchase.
Laurell's story is more along the lines of a fable. To prevent her father from announcing her betrothal to a lecherous old man, Elinore declares that she's going to rescue Prince True, an arrogant prince taken captive decades ago by a sorceress. Challenges must be met to proceed to the next test to get close to freeing the prince and no one who has ever returned from the attempt. Elinore goes in expecting to die, preferring death to the marriage. The story isn't long enough to feel anything for this rather stiff character, but Elinore does make some rather smart, if unexpected decisions.
Yasmine Galnorn's story focuses on a Selkie who had run from a marriage 100 years ago and is now pregnant and with a man she loves when her former, very dangerous fiancé catches up with her. The story involves the D'Artigo sisters from the Sisters of the Moon series where we had earlier met this story's heroine.
Majorie M Liu provides the story of a princess who runs away looking for answers in a magical but dangerous forest a week before meeting with her intended, a fabled Warlord. The kingdom needs this man, the son of her mother's best friend, as their ally as roving bands cause havoc and destruction. She is rescued barely in the forest by a troupe of wandering performers and gets to be just Sally, keeping her identity a secret and falling for the leader of the group. This is the most emotional story in the book.
Sharon Shinn's story takes roughly 40% of the book. It involves a princess who refuses her father's demands to marry a neighbor who she's known all of her life but finds boring. So to find a suitor and marry her off, he holds a series of challenges involving fighting ability, courage and wisdom; the winner gets to marry the princess. Princess Olivia grows quite a bit in this story as she finds things aren't always as they appear.
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