Songs of Love and Death: All Original Tales of Star Crossed Love [Hardcover]

Gardner Dozois (Editor), George R. R. Martin (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 2010

IN this star-studded cross-genre anthology, seventeen of the greatest modern authors of fantasy, science fiction, and romance explore the borderlands of their genres with brand-new tales of ill-fated love. From zombie-infested woods in a postapocalyptic America to faery-haunted rural fields in eighteenth- century England, from the kingdoms of high fantasy to the alien world of a galaxy-spanning empire, these are stories of lovers who must struggle against the forces of magic and fate.

Award-winning, bestselling author Neil Gaiman demonstrates why he’s one of the hottest stars in literature today with “The Thing About Cassandra,” a subtle but chilling story of a man who meets an old girlfriend he had never expected to see.

International blockbuster bestselling author Diana Gabaldon sends a World War II RAF pilot through a stone circle to the time of her Outlander series in “A Leaf on the Winds of All Hallows.” Torn from all he knows, Jerry MacKenzie determinedly survives hardship and danger, intent on his goal of returning home to his wife and baby—no matter the cost.

New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher presents “Love Hurts,” in which Harry Dresden takes on one of his deadliest adversaries and in the process is forced to confront the secret desires of his own heart.

Just the smallest sampling promises unearthly delights, but look also for stories by New York Times bestselling romance authors Jo Beverley and Mary Jo Putney, and by such legends of the fantasy genre as Peter S. Beagle and Tanith Lee, as well as many other popular and beloved writers, including Marjorie M. Liu, Jacqueline Carey, Carrie Vaughn, and Robin Hobb. This exquisite anthology, crafted by the peerless editing team of George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, is sure to leave you under its spell.

 

Discover the many realms of the heart with this extraordinary cast of acclaimed authors:

PETER S. BEAGLE

JO BEVERLEY

JIM BUTCHER

JACQUELINE CAREY

DIANA GABALDON

NEIL GAIMAN

YASMINE GALENORN

M.L.N. HANOVER

ROBIN HOBB

CECELIA HOLLAND

TANITH LEE

MARJORIE M. LIU

MARY JO PUTNEY

LINNEA SINCLAIR

MELINDA SNODGRASS

LISA TUTTLE

CARRIE VAUGHN

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A wonderful anthology." -- Library Journal (starred review)

About the Author

George R. R. Martin is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for his epic A Song of Ice and Fire series. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books (November 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439150141
• ISBN-13: 978-1439150146
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Songs of Love & Death, November 21, 2010

By 

Anna Lemkau "Anna's Book Blog" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Songs of Love and Death: All Original Tales of Star Crossed Love (Hardcover)

This anthology holds stories about star-crossed lovers. The authors included in the book are: Jim Butcher, Jo Beverly, Carrie Vaughn, M.L.N. Hanover, Cecelia Holland, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman, Marjorie M. Liu, Jacqueline Carey, Lisa Tuttle, Linnea Sinclair, Mary Jo Putney, Tanith Lee Peter S. Beagle, Yasmine Galenorn & Diana Gabaldon.

There were a few stories I didn't care for - but all in all it was a good read. A well put together anthology. Whether your a fan of Science Fiction or Fantasy, your gonna find something you love in the pages of this book. Here are a few of my favorite stories...

Love Hurts by Jim Butcher- Fun read! Very much classic Dresden. Harry realizes something about himself that most fans have known for a while.

The Thing About Cassandra by Neil Gaiman- This was my first time reading anything by Gaiman. I have to say this story was freaky, but absolutely brilliant.

You, and You Alone by Jacqueline Carey- As heart wrenching as this story was - I loved it! Fans of the Kushiel's Legacy will eat this one up. Especially since it's narrated by Anafiel Delaunay, a much beloved character.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Big names, Big stories, February 27, 2011

By 

Sarah (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Songs of Love and Death: All Original Tales of Star Crossed Love (Hardcover)

If there were ever a more star-cast book in the SF/Fantasy romance genre, I have never seen it. This anthology is full of big names and connections to big stories.

"Love Hurts" by Jim Butcher takes place in the Dresden world, and for anyone who is a fan of Harry/Murphy, this will be a great addition to the series.

Neil Gaiman's "The Thing About Cassandra" is suitably bizzare from the King of Dreams. I think here a true fan will love this while those who aren't much into Gaiman's works will find it a little too odd.

For Kushiel fans, Jacqueline Carey's story is the long awaited tale of Anafiel and Rolande. THE story everyone has been waiting for since book one. And it doesn't disappoint.

"Kaskia" by Peter S. Beagle has that polish that one would expect from the man who brought us "The Last Unicorn."

Finally, "Man in the Mirror" was for me the surprise, having never read any of Yasmine Galenorn's works before. This was a touching tale, well worth the read.

Other stories were good, some better than others, all fitting the theme of star-crossed lovers. This is a nice addition to my "keeper" shelf!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I prefer straight fantasy, February 9, 2011

By 

laurenpie (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Songs of Love and Death (Kindle Edition)

This is an anthology of Fantasy/Romance and SciFi/Romance. I guess it turns out I don't like the genre of Romance. Too many of these stories were singularly Romance without enough element of the Fantastic; to me they were mostly just non-memorable fluff, with five exceptions...

Best of the bunch:
5 stars: "KASKIA" by Peter S Beagle.
4+ stars: "LOVE HURTS" by Jim Butcher.
4 stars: "MAN in the MIRROR" by Yasmine Galenorn.
4- stars: "AFTER THE BLOOD" by Marjorie M Liu.

"THE THING ABOUT CASSANDRA" by Neil Gaiman was very well written (he is a genius of course), but overly reminiscent of Jeffrey Ford's 2006 "THE EMPIRE OF ICE CREAM".

I enjoyed the main characters in the Diana Gabaldon story, but didn't appreciate the teaser appearance of 2 rescuers we didn't hear enough about. We were invited, however, at the end of the story to read a particular novel to learn more - Kitsch!

I did like the fact that each of these was a new story written in 2010 for this anthology.