6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bad is Good, April 17, 2001
This review is from: Villains Victorious (Paperback)
The book is a mix, obviously, with so many stories. "Horror Show", where the monster becomes real, I've seen a thousand of these. On the good side, "Death Mage" has both an unusual magic system and some very good writing. "All Things Being Relative" by Tanya Huff, which opens this collection is a howler. THIS, by God, is a Dark Queen! Her scribe is named Cornelius Dickcissel. I need say no more. Also contained herein is "To Speak With Angels" by Michelle West. Having read it, I will henceforth date my life by it. "This occurred before I read that story. This occured after." It concerns a saint who enters Hell, and to anyone with a Christian background, it should be very powerful indeed.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
14 tales from Professor Moriarty to Lucifer, March 21, 2003
This review is from: Villains Victorious (Paperback)
Bischoff, David: "The Whiteviper Scrolls" occurs later in Whiteviper's unsavoury career than its counterpart in _Apprentice Fantastic_, and like it is narrated by him to a downtrodden peon in his old age.
Braunbeck, Gary A. & Snyder, Lucy A.: "Souls to Take" Dr. Louis Cohen never wanted to end pregnancies by anything other than a normal delivery, but rather than leave patients to alternatives that seem even worse, he keeps performing abortions, despite his own qualms. But when the "LifeGuards" ambush him on his way back from a house call, the doc's rescuer may be worse than the fate she saved him from.
Crowther, Peter: Set in a comic-book world of "Heroes and Villains", the tone is something like the realism of _Watchmen_, but from the viewpoint of the super-villains. The Comedian in particular is struggling with his conscience, as he prepares for a deathbed visit to his mother, their first meeting in many years. But even sidekicks are well drawn - one, for instance, lost his father at 12 when a run-of-the-mill superhero/supervillain struggle destroyed a few city buildings, and the apologetic superhero's out-of-court settlement wouldn't bring his father back.
Davis, R.: "King of Thorns" is the title awarded to the best of the temple's Thorns - their master assassin trainees - each year. The story follows the Thorns' final competitive exam with one another, and is recommended for _Thief: The Dark Project_ players. :)
Dungate, Pauline E.: "Nina" has a mysterious hold on people - her classmates fear her, she rarely does her homework, and the real story of her father's suicide is uncanny. The narrator's family has arranged a marriage between them, and now that he's asked around about her, he's finally got sense enough to be scared. The story begins with his reference to the marriage, jumps back to his enquiries, then works forward to the wedding day.
Edghill, Rosemary: "The Mould of Form" James Cruikshank, the narrator, will be better known by another name to readers. After Cromwell's victory, his Royalist father's death left James and his mother to their cousins' unkind charity, but James' memories of the abuses of Eton are the most bitter.
Gorman, Ed: The narrator escaped the trap set by the FBI with the help of a woman who betrayed him, and became "A New Man" - with the help of plastic surgery. But by chance, his betrayer (who no longer recognizes him) lives in the small Midwestern town he's passing through - but she's married to a cop.
Huff, Tanya: "All Things Being Relative" Cornelius Dickcissel, far from being a heroic adventurer, is an author; receiving the queen's summons, he drew up his will (the traditional response, when summoned by *this* queen). But she has read his story of a would-be dragonslayer that considered the dragon's point of view, and wants him to write *her* story - although she has his editor killed for the clunky title of Cornelius' last book. See how many fractured fairy tales you recognize herein. :) She's even read the evil overlord list.
Patton, Fiona: "Death Mage" is a Cerchicava story, but rather than following ex-carver Coll, this recounts the story of a full-fledged Death Mage hunting down one who has betrayed the necromancers' Trade.
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn: "Doubting Thomas", at the age of six, witnessed something that, far from breaking his belief in Santa Claus, gave him an unusual take on what he considers the world's biggest conspiracy, to which he later brought his skills as an investigative reporter. Cool. :)
Sherman, Josepha: "The Usurper Memos" are a series of email-style carrier-pigeon-delivered memos between Regis I and various bureaucrats of Tavara, including cryptic unofficial communications with the Hunter of Heads. Villain or not, I applaud Regis' final maneuver. :)
Tremayne, Peter: The author of the Sister Fidelma mysteries has turned to Sherlock Holmes in "The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey", the tale of "James Phillimore, who stepped back into his house and was never more seen in this world", one of Watson's famous untold stories.
Waggoner, Tim: "Horror Show" begins with the climactic scene of a story in progress - a late-night movie, the most famous of the seven in which Simon Karkull played the monster Shrike. These days, he's an alcoholic; the producer of the next Shrike film won't even send him a script. But the producer's mysterious murder that same night, a continent away, marks a turning point in Simon's life.
West, Michelle: "To Speak with Angels" For his last walk, the old saint has chosen to seek an audience with he who was once the greatest of the Host, though he must enter Hell to do so. Very fine story. I also recommend Neil Gaiman's treatment of Lucifer in the Sandman series.
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