Customer Reviews

Young Warriors: Stories of Strength

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

 

 

This one is more of a 3 1/2 for me, but I rounded it up to 4 because I'm just too picky when it comes to the excitement of a story.

This book is basically a collection of stories about warriors in some way, shape, or form. Some stories stand out as thoroughly captivating in some way or another--i.e., the dark 'Heartless', the action-packed intrigue story 'Devil Wind', and the funny 'The Boy Who Cried "Dragon!"' Others were boring or with a not-so-great plot--i.e., 'Serpent's Rock' and 'Lioness'(<--this would have been good if it had been written by a different, or better, author). Fans of Tamora Pierce who leap at this book, prepare to be at least a bit disappointed; only one story is written by Her Fantasy Highness herself, and even that one 'Student of Ostriches' was surely not her best.

I enjoyed this book for the first couple stories, and then after a while I started realizing that this book was getting mediocre fast. I barely read the last two stories--whether that was a mistake, I don't know, but sincerely doubt. 'Young Warriors' is for fantasy lovers who have long zipped through Tamora's new book, 'The Will of the Empress', as well as all the other new fantasy reads, and are in desperate need of a good book of magic and strength. However, I would recommend getting this one at the library, depending on how high your endurance level is and how much you love fantasy.

"Young Warriors" is, on the whole, an enjoyable collection. It contains fifteen stories about young people and children written by authors of greatly varying fame and experience. Some of them are wonderful- I particularly enjoyed the first story in the collection, "The Gift of Rain Mountain" and Pierce's own story- and some of them leave much to be desired. The collection is interesting in that it seeks to bring together stories about very different topics- from mermaids to Roman invaders. However, this also means that the volume does not flow particularly well for one who wishes to read more than one story at a sitting. Further, some of the stories are quite juvenille, while others are aimed at a teenage reader. This, along with the divergent writing styles of the authors, makes the collection a bit choppy.

The essays which introduce and conclude the collection added nothing to my reading. Pierce's introduction is little more than a naming of the "warrior" in each story and a statement about how we can define a warrior in any number of ways, and the concluding essay said nothing more than that the concept of a warrior is still relevant to American society as well as other societies in our own time. These things are such as to be known by any intelligent reader who picks up the volume. Further, the contest to "be a young warrior" in the back of the text struck me as tawdry. Thus, although I did enjoy many of the stores, I found the collection itself somewhat lacking.

These stories are very good in different ways. The thing the reader needs to keep in mind is that the stories aren't supposed to flow or fit together-that's the whole point of the book. So yes, if you try to read them in a row it will seem weird, since every story has a different feel to it. I loved some of the stories, particularly "Eli and the Dybbuk" and Pierce's "Student of Ostriches". I can't guarentee anyone liking it, but if you like that genre and keep an open mind you should like some of the stories, at least. I love it!

This collection of stories is filled with a wide variety of different ethnic groups, and includes both humor and seriousness. While some of the stories you truly warm to, and others you become bored with, the meaning of the word "warrior" is conveyed in such a way that by the last page you have your own definition.

Fans of Tamora Pierce, while not, prehaps, finding an all-time favorite, will be satisfied, and find several authors worth persuing as well. The ratio of hum-drum to spectacular stories is about 2 to 1, which is a good bet for buying compared to most short story collections.

Many of you Tamora Pierce fans or people that have already read this book or even if you haven't even heard of this book are wondering 'Why only 4 stars?' Many,many of these stories are wonderful and exciting. I enjoyed Heartless, Student of the Ostriges and especially Thunderbolt. But in some points to the book I found myself thinking of stupid reasons to stop reading and do something more...exciting. I'm not saying that this isn't a wonderful book because it is and the authors like Tamora Pierce and Esther Friesner were especially good. But the stories like 'The Gift of Rain Mountain' and 'The magestone' were unappealing. But by all means try this book because there are some wonderful stories in here!

-Hannah M.

A.K.A Book Worm

I admit I had higher expectations when I started to read this book. I'd heard that it rocked and I was happy to know that Tamora Pierce and Josepha Sherman were the editors. Some of these stories are excellent and fun like THUNDERBOLT and SWORDS THAT TALK. No, no I liked more than two. Infact many others were great too. But some were just not good stories or not written to well. I do highly recomend this book to anybody that enjoys male and female hero's, fantasy, action and some romance. It was still very, very enjoyable.

This has a great collection of stories and many have morals to think about afterwards. Stories about courage, inner strength, and hope that give me courage, strength, and hope.

I'll review each of the 15 stories separately (quickly) then my overall impression.

The Gift of Rain Mountain (Bruce Holland Rogers)-- This story started off a little too slow for me. I wanted to punch the Main Character (Mactun) a few times because he irked me. The ending twist on what Mactun finally took from the Rain Mountain God as a boon made me grin with irony.

The Magestone (S.M. and Jan Stirling)-- I liked this twist on the mermaid/sailor tales. Though after reading what humans did to the wizard Shansu I felt a little queasy. The mermaid, Neesha, was kind of blood thirsty, but she thought she had the right way of thinking.

Eli and the Dybbuk (Janis Ian)--This was an interesting tale. Real quick--a dybbuk is from Jewish folklore and the gist of what they are is lost souls. They did horrible things in life and could not attain Heaven so they are stuck on Earth trying to possess unwary folks. I liked the moral of the story--brains over brawn (pretty much).

Heartless (Holly Black)--My first, my VERY FIRST, Holly Black story! What does it mean to be heartless? Holly Black explores this in a story about a young girl who follows army camps--doing the cooking, servicing etc. She remembers being someone else, but her mother had put her heart into her little finger bone (which Ada kept around her neck). Throughout the story Ada ponders the fact that she feels nothing and at the end she takes the greatest risk of all. Incidentally this is another story that involves a spirit--this time manes, in Roman mythology, were the deceased ancestors of people who were offered blood sacrifices.

Lioness (Pamela F. Service)--I have always enjoyed Pamela F. Service's historical novels, especially The Reluctant God (which is half historical, half contemporary). This story is about a young warrior princess, scared and worried about the Roman's continued push to take her kingdom (Kush), but determined to serve her god (the god of war Apedemek) and avenge her homeland. I cried a little, at the end, in relief because Tari (the princess) pulled through and proved herself capable.

Thunderbolt (Esther Friesner)--This is the story that led to the creation of Nobody's Princess and Nobody's Prize--two YA novels about Helen of SpartaTroy's early life. In this Helen recounts how it was really SHE who saved herself from the Athenian King Theseus, not her maybe divine (but really mortal) brothers. Helen was vastly amusing and I greatly loved how...manipulative she was. For a good cause (her freedom), but still.

Devil Wind (India Edghill)--Revenge! Age old classic theme. I liked how India wove both Hindu customs/beliefs with English religious beliefs. It made me a little sad though, reading about the fates of all those good people, but like the MC (Taravati) her brand of justice is well deserved and fitting.

The Boy Who Cried "Dragon!" (Mike Resnick)--Short and witty best sums up this 'true accounting' of the story never told. Geeky would-be knight meets geeky would-be fearsome dragon and a bond is formed over their innate geekiness. I found it cute when Melvin (would-be knight) bemoaned his pimples and Horace (would-be fearsome dragon) bemoaned not HAVING any.

Student of Ostriches (Tamora Pierce)--I always enjoy Tamora Pierce's writing to some degree. This short story was almost like hearing a legend actually. I would have never thought to study ostriches for learning combat, but apparently they have some wonderful moves. It did teach me to be wary of boys who kiss too easily however.

Serpent's Rock (Laura Anne Gilman)--I'll be honest this story went over my head. It began easily enough--a young boy wishes to help save his sister against BAD odds--but it then got somewhat confusing.

Hidden Warriors (Margaret Mahy)--It's important to note that the title is Hidden WarriorS not Hidden Warrior, the plural is important to remember while reading. This sometimes read like a fairy tale and sometimes read like a bard's song--it kept me interested and intrigued as it weaved the tale of a young magician who isn't sure who (or what) he is and a city that hides its true self behind friendship.

Emerging Legacy (Doranna Durgin)--This right here was a wonderful 'Surprises come in small packages' story. For anyone who was ever told that they were too awkward or graceless or klutzy to be useful, or if you were ever told that you were a disappointment as a child, this story is a wonderful salve. Kelyn is everything a warrior shouldn't be--clumsy, slow and prone to accidents if she didn't pay attention, but she used her brain and that in the end saved them all.

An Axe for Men (Rosemary Edghill)--Religious doctrine is something I have no patience for, but I do enjoy studying the ancient beliefs of civilizations long gone to the wind of time. Edghill's story is that of a young Priestess who, when seeing the only world she has ever known destroyed, learns the truth of that world. Her courage to find a new path for her people is what made this story so great.

Acts of Faith (Lesley McBain)--This story made me cry a little. I've been told stories of Ireland during WWII--just as I've been told stories of Italy and America from my other grandparents during the War--and the cant that McBain uses reminds me so strongly of how my Granny used to talk that I felt as if she was telling me the story.

Swords That Talk (Brent Hartinger)--Talking swords and a hero who laments being born during a time of enduring peace. This story was pretty funny and enjoyable to read for me. Quick like from an author I hadn't read before.

Overall the collection pleased me greatly, with only a few corkscrews that I could have done without. I also found several new authors to obsess overread more from. If you haven't already picked this up, then do so!

This is a really good book. All the short stories in here are unique, with different voice. They are all written by amazing authors. Some stories are humorous, some are suspenceful, some are a combination, but all of them are worth reading. Some stories give background knowledge on favorite characters, like the Shang Unicorn or Helen of Sparta.

Since I like to write and read in multi-genres, I particularly enjoyed this collection of short stories. The fact that they were all inspirng--emphasizing the strength and courage of our youth--added to my pleasure.

I think this book will appeal to kids of all ages. YES, that includes us "oldies but goodies" too.