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Tales of the Nun and Dragon

4.72 of 5 stars 4.72 · rating details · 18 ratings · 5 reviews

Come, rest your weary bones, draw a flagon and hark to the tales of Nuns & Dragons, of bravery and steadfastness in the face of mighty and implacable foes. Settle down and indulge yourself in wild flights of fancy brought to life by your fellow travellers.”

The Nun & Dragon is a local like no other – share in the wild and wonderful tellings of a gifted panoply of au...more

Kindle Edition, 664 pages

Published September 7th 2012 by Fox Spirit

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Nov 05, 2012 Abhinav rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fox-spirit, fantasy, dragons

You can find the full review over at The Founding Fields:

http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/11/...

Shadowhawk reviews the latest anthology from Fox Spirit Books, which combines Nuns and Dragons in some really delightful stories by authors new and old alike.

“This anthology is all about some of the most creative interpretations of the subject matter, so be prepared to be entertained.”~The Founding Fields

Something that’s hammered home at me this year is how invaluable anthologies are, whether publish...more You can find the full review over at The Founding Fields:

http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/11/...

Shadowhawk reviews the latest anthology from Fox Spirit Books, which combines Nuns and Dragons in some really delightful stories by authors new and old alike.

“This anthology is all about some of the most creative interpretations of the subject matter, so be prepared to be entertained.”~The Founding Fields

Something that’s hammered home at me this year is how invaluable anthologies are, whether published by small press, medium press, or large press. I’ve read reviews of several such anthologies by my friends in the reviewing blog-space, have written a few of my own as well, and this fact has just stuck with me. The different styles, the different approach to the subject, just the whole varying forms of creativity involved is mind-boggling at the best of times. And this is something that has continued with Fox Spirit’s latest anthology, Tales of the Nun & Dragon, which is an anthology of stories that feature Nuns and Dragons aplenty, but not always as you might expect or even both in the same story. It all makes for a really nice change of pace. When I heard about this through Sarah Cawkwell, a friend who has been previously published by Black Library and marks her first non tie-in published fiction with this anthology, I was quite excited. The idea behind it appealed to me and at the first chance I got, I contacted Fox Spirit, requesting a review copy. The review has been massively delayed unfortunately, since I read the anthology in the middle of September but couldn’t get around to it till now, even though the review was supposed to go up by the end of September. So here it is.

Sarah Cawkwell’s The Ballad of Gilrain is the lead-in story for the anthology. This tale focuses on a young adventurer named Gilrain who is setting out on his first ever monster hunt, accompanied by his faithful companion Therin. What Sarah succeeds in getting right here is Gilrain’s sense of foreboding and his reluctance to go through the hunt, given he has no prior experience. His back-and-forth with Therin livens up the story and the atmosphere of anticipation and reluctant heroism that the author builds up both make this one of the best stories in the anthology by far. A definite great way to kick things off. There is also an accompanying ballad-form of Gilrain’s adventure, which is even more awesome than the short story itself. Reading it, you really get into the mood for an epic-fantasy type grand old dragon hunt where the hero succeeds in his mission and becomes a legend. Oh, and the twist towards the end? You are so going to be bowled over by it! Sarah Cawkwell should definitely write more original fiction. She has a devious author imagination that I really like.

Then we have Mhairi Simpson’s Fire Exit, which is perhaps the cutest story in this anthology, certainly nothing I hold against it! This one features baby dragons and a young girl working in her parents’ inn. The baby dragons, god, the baby dragons. Just the images that Mhairi conjures up with her writing are so breath-taking. Imagine an inn’s main hall full of baby dragons breathing their baby dragon fire and flying around, being cheeky little troublemakers. Sounds like a great idea for a cartoon show to me, one that I’d definitely watch myself. This is Mhairi’s first published fiction and all I could think of after finishing this story was that I want to read more from her.

Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Saint George and Saint Giles is next, and is another firm favourite of mine. Seeking to bring a successful end to a family quest, Sir Adolphus arrives at the convent of the Sisters of Saint Giles pursuing a dragon and looking for information on the beast’s lair. All is not as it seems however for the Sisters have been keeping a secret for a long, long time and Adolphus’ arrival just might upset a fine balance. This is a really short story, only 4 pages long, so its more like flash fiction but in terms of its effect it is no different. Adolphus rigid insistence, Mother Josephina’s stern disapproval, it all made for a really enjoyable story. Reading this story, I’m now quite tempted to try out Adrian’s other work, although that is all of a very different style and scope than this story. Shall see.(less)

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Sep 09, 2012 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Sep 09, 2012 Tony rated it 5 of 5 stars

I’ve got to start out by mentioning the cover. I love Vincent Holland-Keen’s style. The eyes of the Dragon do it for me in a big way. Although I read an early review copy I have seen some of the interior art by Keiran Walsh and they also look pretty darn nice.

I have to admit that I was nervous about reading this because to me the Nun & Dragon sounds like a pub. I obviously wasn’t the only person who thought that because drinking establishments are a running theme through a lot of the stories...more I’ve got to start out by mentioning the cover. I love Vincent Holland-Keen’s style. The eyes of the Dragon do it for me in a big way. Although I read an early review copy I have seen some of the interior art by Keiran Walsh and they also look pretty darn nice.

I have to admit that I was nervous about reading this because to me the Nun & Dragon sounds like a pub. I obviously wasn’t the only person who thought that because drinking establishments are a running theme through a lot of the stories. I usually find with anthologies that there are a few strong stories, a few weak ones and that that I just do not like at all. I don’t think there is a single story in this one that I’d describe as weak. The only part I did not enjoy was the single poem. The words were fine, but if I can’t get the pacing in my head then I really don’t enjoy poetry. Unfortunately this was the case with this one.

This is not a short anthology there must be about 100k words so the value for money is pretty good. It starts with a story by Sarah Cawkwell which is always going to be a good thing as far as I’m concerned and yet again she hasn’t let anybody down with this story. As I journeyed through the various flavours of fantasy I got to see both Nuns and Dragons in many different lights. There are a lot of kick arse martial Nuns in this book. If like me the catholic faith is not something you particularly like or want to read about don’t worry too much as you’ll get to not only heroic religious exploits but also the corruption and debase nature found in the human race. There are also elements of other genres in this anthology. I liked the steampunkesque (I know it is not a real word but I like it) shotgun and sorcery story and the voyeuristic sci-fi apocalypse story was a complete change of pace and style.

I could go on-and-on with this review by talking about every story but I don’t want to spoil the sense of discovery that I felt whilst reading each story. I do have to mention the final story by Karen Davies though as it finishes the anthology so perfectly. It is nice to see an ending that flips things around and makes you think.

This is a great anthology. There are a lot of featured authors with some great books coming out soon (Pat Kelleher has a book that I am desperate to read due out soon) which makes this a great way to discover new obsessions for your reading pile. Even though I have a review ebook version of this book I will be buying a hard copy to put on my bookcase. I can’t really pay a book a higher compliment than that.(less)

like 8 likes · see review

Jan 26, 2013 Victoria Hooper rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, magic, short-stories

Tales of the Nun and Dragon, edited by Adele Wearing, is an anthology of short stories and one poem by a range of different fantasy and horror writers, some well-known, some new names. There are a lot of stories inside, all with their own unique interpretation of the nun and dragon theme. Nuns, dragons, nuns verses dragons, nuns who are dragons, nun on dragon action (yep, that happens), pubs called The Nun and Dragon... not to mention lizardmen, knights, magic, time-travel, the end of the world,...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Adele rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm the Editor on this one, so obviously I love it

like 7 likes · see review

May 04, 2013 Anna marked it as to-read

Apr 13, 2013 Roy Huff marked it as to-read

Apr 01, 2013 Mark added it · (Review from the author)

Shelves: i-wrote-this

Mar 29, 2013 Erin marked it as to-read

Shelves: to-read-maybe, anthology

Mar 20, 2013 Igraine marked it as auf-gar-keinen-fall

Feb 27, 2013 Adelle marked it as to-read

Feb 24, 2013 Pisila Mark marked it as to-read

Feb 08, 2013 Jasper Bark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jan 16, 2013 Christopher marked it as to-read

Dec 31, 2012 Jenny Barber rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dec 29, 2012 Joshua rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Dec 05, 2012 Gabby marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2012-new-releases

Nov 11, 2012 Ana marked it as to-read

Nov 09, 2012 Perica Lòpez marked it as to-read

Nov 08, 2012 Sammy Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author)

Nov 08, 2012 Colin Barnes rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: authored

Oct 28, 2012 Jolanda Joyce rated it 4 of 5 stars

Oct 15, 2012 Fuki85 marked it as to-read

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Oct 02, 2012 Claire Caelia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sep 30, 2012 Adam Millard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sep 14, 2012 Troubled Scribe marked it as to-read

Nov 25, 2012 Rowen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, read-2012

Sep 11, 2012 K.A. Laity rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author)

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About Sarah Cawkwell

A freelance writer based in the north east of England, Sarah is old enough to know better, but still young enough not to care. When not slaving away over a hot keyboard, Sarah's hobbies include reading everything and anything, running around in fields with swords screaming incomprehensibly, and having her soul slowly sucked dry by online games. Her minimum bribe level is one chocolate orange.

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