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Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane
by
Jonathan Oliver ,
Audrey Niffenegger (Goodreads Author), Dan Abnett (Goodreads Author), Thana Niveau (Goodreads Author)
They gather in darkness, sharing ancient and arcane knowledge as they manipulate the very matter of reality itself. Spells and conjuration; legerdemain and prestidigitation – these are the mistresses and masters of the esoteric arts. Magic comes alive in their hands. British Fantasy Award nominee, Jonathan Oliver, gathers together sixteen stories of magic, featuring some o...more
Paperback, 278 pages
Published
November 6th 2012
by Solaris
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Described as "an anthology of the esoteric and arcane", this collection delivers just that, with settings ranging from out-and-out fantasy worlds where magic is accepted by all as part of life ("Cat Coddeau", "Buttons"), to the modern everyday ("The Art of Escapology", "Party Tricks"), where it is an unexpected disruption (welcome or not).
In the final story, "Dumb Lucy", these strands are brought together magnificently to create a setting that is less defined, an in-between world which could be...more
In the final story, "Dumb Lucy", these strands are brought together magnificently to create a setting that is less defined, an in-between world which could be...more
My Nudge review of Magic... can be found here:
http://www.nudgemenow.com/article/mag...
Short review: It was interesting to see the so many different takes on magic in this short story collection. Some of the tales were certainly stronger than others, and some failed to capture my attention. My favourite stories were 'The Wrong Fairy' by Audrey Niffenegger and 'The Art of Escapology' by Alison Littlewood. I'd give this two and a half stars, even though it's not a bad book. The majority of it just...more
http://www.nudgemenow.com/article/mag...
Short review: It was interesting to see the so many different takes on magic in this short story collection. Some of the tales were certainly stronger than others, and some failed to capture my attention. My favourite stories were 'The Wrong Fairy' by Audrey Niffenegger and 'The Art of Escapology' by Alison Littlewood. I'd give this two and a half stars, even though it's not a bad book. The majority of it just...more
As a real lover of reading about magic in any way, shape or form in, any sort of setting, I was pretty excited at the concept of 16 different writers all contributing into one collection, including names that I hold in very high regard. The fact that Jonathan Oliver is the editor is also very noteworthy to me too considering how good a job he done in another collection called 'House of Fear using a haunted house to work along the same sort of lines.
The different takes on magic by each author a...more
The different takes on magic by each author a...more
Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, edited by Jonathan Oliver, is a collection of 15 short stories of magical mayhem.
It's one of the most exciting anthologies I've picked up in a long time and is a must-have for any esoteric or occult fiction collection.
My favorite tale of the collection was by The Time Traveller's Wife author Audrey Niffenegger. Her story, The Wrong Fairy, is simply luscious, and details the conversations between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's father and a messenger fro...more
It's one of the most exciting anthologies I've picked up in a long time and is a must-have for any esoteric or occult fiction collection.
My favorite tale of the collection was by The Time Traveller's Wife author Audrey Niffenegger. Her story, The Wrong Fairy, is simply luscious, and details the conversations between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's father and a messenger fro...more
I'm a big fan of the multi-author short story collection: these are usually a good way to get to know authors that are new to me. This collection, edited by Jonathan Oliver, doesn't disappoint.
Within this volume, we have 15 tales on the theme of magic, most of which have a contemporary setting ("magic realism"/"urban fantasy"/whatever it's called this week....!)& all of a very high standard. I'm not going to critique each individual tale; suffice it to say that the stand-out stories were "S...more
Within this volume, we have 15 tales on the theme of magic, most of which have a contemporary setting ("magic realism"/"urban fantasy"/whatever it's called this week....!)& all of a very high standard. I'm not going to critique each individual tale; suffice it to say that the stand-out stories were "S...more
I'm not 100% sure about my rating, but I feel like there are enough stories I liked here to give it four stars. A few of the stories were uninteresting because they didn't do much. The last story was okay, but I felt like it was aiming a bit too high, and it didn't quite work for me. However, most of the stories were enjoyable. First and Last and Always and The Baby were good horror tales, though the latter was perhaps a bit too disturbing for my tastes. I really want to see more with the charac...more
As a hardcore fantasy reader magic is part and parcel of my reading and I consider a well-thought-out and realised magic system as a thing of beauty. So an anthology based around the concept of magic had to be something I enjoyed. So, you'll probably be unsurprised to discover that I did enjoy Magic: An Anthology Of The Esoteric And Arcane quite a lot. What surprised me was that, while magic is the common denominator in all of these stories, no two forms of magic are the same and in some of them...more
I'm not really sure how to rate this book. I think I'd say 2.5 overall, but not sure if I should round up or down.
Like any short story collection, it's a mixed bag. None of them were really bad, but a lot of them just didn't leave that much of an impression on me. I did like the general idea - the different ways that magic was used and portrayed, from classical, to UF-ish, to horror. But I can't say that there are any which make me want to run out and get more by the author.
That said, one of my...more
Like any short story collection, it's a mixed bag. None of them were really bad, but a lot of them just didn't leave that much of an impression on me. I did like the general idea - the different ways that magic was used and portrayed, from classical, to UF-ish, to horror. But I can't say that there are any which make me want to run out and get more by the author.
That said, one of my...more
1 like · like · see review
You can find the full review over at The Founding Fields:
http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/12/...
Shadowhawk reviews the Halloween special anthology Magic, published by Solaris Books. This review is part of Shadowhawk’s Advent Calendar, which can be found here( http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2012... ).
“Quite a fun anthology with some really fun contributions from some of the most talented authors.” ~The Founding Fields
Solaris released this anthology to coincide with Halloween, which, given the...more
http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/12/...
Shadowhawk reviews the Halloween special anthology Magic, published by Solaris Books. This review is part of Shadowhawk’s Advent Calendar, which can be found here( http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2012... ).
“Quite a fun anthology with some really fun contributions from some of the most talented authors.” ~The Founding Fields
Solaris released this anthology to coincide with Halloween, which, given the...more
Edited by Jonathan Oliver, Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane brings together a wide (and surprising) variety of authors from across the world, and across the genre shelves. Advertised as a "perfect read for Hallowe’en and the long autumn evenings ahead," it went right to the top of the review pile when I was fortunate enough to snag an early paperback review copy.
This is a very dark, very grim collection of tales. It's also a very efficient collection, with some stories approaching...more
This is a very dark, very grim collection of tales. It's also a very efficient collection, with some stories approaching...more
An excellent collection, ranging from the bizarre to the downright threatening. Inevitably, within an anthology, some stories stick in the mind more than others. I particularly liked 'The Wrong Fairy' by Audrey Niffenegger (author of The Time Traveller's Wife), and 'Mailer Daemon' by Sophia McDougall, both of which were very well crafted and required minimal suspension of disbelief. Don't be put off by the ghoulish cover; there's quality writing inside.
Decided that I don't like stories stories. Always so cryptic and blunt and odd!
Some of these stories were pretty cool but at the end of each one I was a bit like 'what the......'!
Winner of Gross out story-evil foetus baby!
All good stories no duds, particularly enjoyed Storm Constantines
These stories kept me entertained from beginning to end. Each one is very different from another. I would have to say my favorite story was definitely Cad Coddeu by Liz Williams, followed by Buttons by Gail Z. Martin.
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Nov 19, 2012 07:26am