Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
149th out of 218 books
—
99 voters
Firebirds Soaring: An Anthology of Original Speculative Fiction (Firebirds #3)
by
Sharyn November ,
Louise Marley (Goodreads Author) , Nick O'Donohoe , Sherwood Smith (Goodreads Author) , Elizabeth Wein (Goodreads Author) , Kara Dalkey , Nancy Springer (Goodreads Author) , Jane Yolen
,
more…
First Firebirds. Then Firebirds Rising. Now there is Firebirds Soaring, the third anthology of original stories by some of today's finest writers of fantasy and science fiction. These authors, including Nancy Farmer (The Sea of Trolls), Ellen Klages (The Green Glass Sea), Margo Lanagan (Black Juice), and Jane Yolen (The Devil's Arithmetic), have brought new worlds and Old...more
Hardcover, 574 pages
Published
March 5th 2009
by Firebird
(first published 2008)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
824)
UPDATED REVIEW TO COME SOONISH
Kingmaker by Nancy Springer
This story had a nice idea going for it but then it sort of abruptly stopped. The only things I have read by this author have been the short stories in books like this and it appears this is a common problem for NAncy.
3/5
A Ticket to Ride by Nancy Farmer
I loved the idea of people getting a ticket to ride a train when they die and the train taking them to where they were happiest so you can spend the rest of your days there.
4/5
A Thousand Tai...more
Kingmaker by Nancy Springer
This story had a nice idea going for it but then it sort of abruptly stopped. The only things I have read by this author have been the short stories in books like this and it appears this is a common problem for NAncy.
3/5
A Ticket to Ride by Nancy Farmer
I loved the idea of people getting a ticket to ride a train when they die and the train taking them to where they were happiest so you can spend the rest of your days there.
4/5
A Thousand Tai...more
***"Kingmaker" - by Nancy Springer. The king's only child is a girl, who helps her father decide disputes and is well-loved by the populace, but will never rule the kingdom. When she stumbles across a powerful magic bracelet, her disappointment at being passed over bubbles up. I liked this until the end, when the story abruptly shifts.
**"A ticket to ride" - by Nancy Farmer. A destitute boy tries to help a dying homeless man, and accidentally gets to relive all of the man's best memories. Fantas...more
**"A ticket to ride" - by Nancy Farmer. A destitute boy tries to help a dying homeless man, and accidentally gets to relive all of the man's best memories. Fantas...more
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Fantasy Anthology
This is yet another brilliant anthology from Firebird press. I'm not sure why the stories are classified as young adult as some of the stories are quite dark. There were only two that I was disappointed in, the rest I either liked or really loved, especially:
"Fear and Loathing in Lalanna" by Nick O'Donohoe- which is a fantasy re-envisioning of _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_ which utterly charmed me with its unique perspective.
"Flatland" by Kara Dalkey...more
This is yet another brilliant anthology from Firebird press. I'm not sure why the stories are classified as young adult as some of the stories are quite dark. There were only two that I was disappointed in, the rest I either liked or really loved, especially:
"Fear and Loathing in Lalanna" by Nick O'Donohoe- which is a fantasy re-envisioning of _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_ which utterly charmed me with its unique perspective.
"Flatland" by Kara Dalkey...more
Didn't enjoy as many of the stories as much as I did the previous 2 anthologies. If anything, I think I'll look into Roberson's, Dalkey's, Walton's, and Smith's other books. (----- means didn't read/wasn't interested after first page)
***OO "Kingmaker" - by Nancy Springer
**OOO "A ticket to ride" - by Nancy Farmer
----- "A thousand tails" - by Christopher Barzak
***OO "All under heaven" - by Chris Roberson
----- "Singing on a star" - by Ellen Klages
***OO "Egg magic" - by Louise Marley
****O "Flatland"...more
***OO "Kingmaker" - by Nancy Springer
**OOO "A ticket to ride" - by Nancy Farmer
----- "A thousand tails" - by Christopher Barzak
***OO "All under heaven" - by Chris Roberson
----- "Singing on a star" - by Ellen Klages
***OO "Egg magic" - by Louise Marley
****O "Flatland"...more
This was an amazing anthology. I really liked the previous ones in the series, but I think this is the best of them. I usually skip (or am tempted to skip) freely in anthologies; Firebirds Soaring I read with rapt attention from beginning to end. It's tough to narrow down what I liked most from such a great selection, but I'll give it a shot:
- Louise Marley, "Egg Magic": unusual, subtle magic; excellent family relationships and farm setting
- Jo Walton, "Three Twilight Tales": beautifully interwo...more
- Louise Marley, "Egg Magic": unusual, subtle magic; excellent family relationships and farm setting
- Jo Walton, "Three Twilight Tales": beautifully interwo...more
2 likes · like · see review
view 1 comment
Short story collections may be some of my favorite ways to discover new authors, and the Firebird series may be in a league of their own, when it comes to gathering amazing authors and solid stories.
In this,the third Firebird collection, I had chance to learn lessons as a fox spirit and on a very interesting train ride. I spent a lazy southern summer afternoon waiting for magic that I could see, and experiencing magic that only the heart can understand. I talked to dragons and guided the dead ho...more
In this,the third Firebird collection, I had chance to learn lessons as a fox spirit and on a very interesting train ride. I spent a lazy southern summer afternoon waiting for magic that I could see, and experiencing magic that only the heart can understand. I talked to dragons and guided the dead ho...more
I didn't get the chance to finish all the stories before I had to send this book back to the library, but I can't say I was very upset. At halfway through, I'd only found one story I actually liked: "Flatland", and two others I thought were pretty good, "Court Ship" and the novella "The Ghosts of Strangers". The others were either so-so or downright bad. This was deeply disappointing, since the first Firebirds anthology was fantastic. "Flatland" is by itself good enough to merit checking Firebir...more
Nov 25, 2012
Meran niCuill
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes unusual fantasy
Shelves:
fantasy
First off, the back cover became unglued. I have PVA though and am not afraid to repair a book :D
Overall, I gave the book 4.4 stars. See below for the stories and the stars I gave them.
Kingmaker by Nancy Springer - 4.5 stars
Ticket to Ride by Nancy Farmer - simply written, good story - 4 stars
A Thousand Tails by Christopher Barzack - excellent plot, excellent storytelling - 5 stars
All Under Heaven by Chris Roberson - 3.5 stars
Singing on a Star by Ellen Klages - subtly scary, yet mystical and nost...more
Overall, I gave the book 4.4 stars. See below for the stories and the stars I gave them.
Kingmaker by Nancy Springer - 4.5 stars
Ticket to Ride by Nancy Farmer - simply written, good story - 4 stars
A Thousand Tails by Christopher Barzack - excellent plot, excellent storytelling - 5 stars
All Under Heaven by Chris Roberson - 3.5 stars
Singing on a Star by Ellen Klages - subtly scary, yet mystical and nost...more
“Kingmaker” by Nancy Springer ★★★☆☆
“A Ticket to Ride” by Nancy Farmer ★★★☆☆
“A Thousand Tails” by Christopher Barzak ★★★☆☆
I’ve said before I love things that surprise me, and this did.
“All Under Heaven” by Chris Roberson ★★★☆☆
“Singing on a Star” by Ellen Klages ★★☆☆☆
“Egg Magic” Louise Marley ★☆☆☆☆
“Flatland” by Kara Dalkey ★★★★☆
I recommend this story to anyone and everyone. Well, except young children.
“Dolly the Dog-Soldier” by Candas Jane Dorsey ★★☆☆☆
This one confused me endlessly and left me tha...more
“A Ticket to Ride” by Nancy Farmer ★★★☆☆
“A Thousand Tails” by Christopher Barzak ★★★☆☆
I’ve said before I love things that surprise me, and this did.
“All Under Heaven” by Chris Roberson ★★★☆☆
“Singing on a Star” by Ellen Klages ★★☆☆☆
“Egg Magic” Louise Marley ★☆☆☆☆
“Flatland” by Kara Dalkey ★★★★☆
I recommend this story to anyone and everyone. Well, except young children.
“Dolly the Dog-Soldier” by Candas Jane Dorsey ★★☆☆☆
This one confused me endlessly and left me tha...more
Short story collections are tricky. All too often, even when the stories are all written by the same author, I find myself only liking half of the offerings. The Firebird anthologies, edited by Sharyn November, stand out from because the stories are more consistently good, and the authors are always great picks. I’ve had such good experiences with the first two anthologies (Firebirds, and Firebirds Rising) that I went out and grabbed the third volume and soon as I heard it was on the shelf at Bo...more
ed. by Sharyn November
Yes, I skipped the second one. It was semi-accidental. I ordered it through ILL and they accidentally sent me the first one. Which was fine. I re-read it. I enjoyed it. Then I ordered the third one because I had some sort of weird prejudice against the second one at that point. I know this is ridiculous, and I will read it. Eventually.
Anyway. My weird tics aside, I enjoy this anthology series. It feels much more solid to me than the Windling/Datlow anthologies tend to be, w...more
Yes, I skipped the second one. It was semi-accidental. I ordered it through ILL and they accidentally sent me the first one. Which was fine. I re-read it. I enjoyed it. Then I ordered the third one because I had some sort of weird prejudice against the second one at that point. I know this is ridiculous, and I will read it. Eventually.
Anyway. My weird tics aside, I enjoy this anthology series. It feels much more solid to me than the Windling/Datlow anthologies tend to be, w...more
Most stories were good or at least tolerable, skipped only about 4. Good for those that aren´t used to scifi or fantasy, it displays so many different types of stories you´re bound to find something you are going to like.
That said, I already returned my book and I was going to list the stories I thought were the best. But I´ve found a list so I´ll list them all with a rating. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 0 indicates skipped.
-- Kingmaker / by Nancy Springer 3
-- A ticket to ride / by Nancy Farmer 4
-- A thousand...more
That said, I already returned my book and I was going to list the stories I thought were the best. But I´ve found a list so I´ll list them all with a rating. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 0 indicates skipped.
-- Kingmaker / by Nancy Springer 3
-- A ticket to ride / by Nancy Farmer 4
-- A thousand...more
November's anthologies are always a nice mix of speculative fiction -- and I love that you get such a range of stories. These are intended to be for a YA audience, if I'm not mistaken, but a couple of them seemed out of place: Yolen's "Little Red" was VERY dark (so much so that I was surprised it was by Yolen), and "Fear and Loathing..." (obviously a tribute to Hunter S. Thompson) while funny would probably pass right over the heads of most YA readers. Many of the stories featured female protago...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I am not usually a fan of anthologies, finding that liking even one or two stories is rare. The Firebird anthologies are that rare and elusive book; the exceptional anthology. I liked nearly every story in Firebirds Rising, and found some to be exceptional. If you enjoy fantasy, I recommend the Firebird anthologies as both an excellent group of short stories, and a means of discovering new authors.
Somehow I don't remember this book as vividly as I remember the other two, despite it being the most recent one that I've read of the three. I remember liking most of the stories, same as the other two. Might have to go check it out again. :)
An excellent collection, mostly geared toward a young adult audience but by no means restricted to it. I loved some of these stories, liked most of them, and was confused by a handful or so (mostly because there are a couple where I have no idea what the author's getting at or even what happens in the story, and a couple others that I wouldn't consider "speculative fiction" by any reasonable definition).
Favorites, in no particular order, were "Flatland" by Kara Dalkey, "Ferryman" by Margo Lanag...more
Favorites, in no particular order, were "Flatland" by Kara Dalkey, "Ferryman" by Margo Lanag...more
Found it in the teens section. Apparently it's the third Firebirds anthology. I feel the need to check out the first two. If you like entertaining, fun short stories, this is totally the way to go. They have some really cool authors in this anthology including Nancy Farmer, who is so neat! (She wrote the Sea of Trolls trilogy that I read last summer and loved.) Lots of really fanciful, whispy stories. But it was really well balanced with some darker ones, and some that even had some social them...more
Yes, speculative fiction is a more accurate description... but as I said in the other review, the stories just get darker. Although I liked a lot of the longer ones in this one (the one about the dragons and ghosts, and the one with T. Kimball).
There were a few clunkers, but mostly it was excellent short stories in this anthology.
A great set of stories, I really enjoyed them. The ones at the beginning were ok, as they were more traditional fantasy, but as the book progressed, the stories got more moving and more interesting. I highly recommend this book, but I think that if you don't like a story to start off with, then skip and move to the next one. That is the nice part of an anthology. My favorites were: The Dignity He's Due, Court Ship, Little Red, and Something Worth Doing. Just for these stories alone you should re...more
This is my first time in the Firebirds Anthology Series and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I got it from my friend who has read all of them. My favorite was between Little Red, which was darker than I anticipated and Something Worth Doing, which actually made me want to read to the end. The only one I didn't like that much was Kingmaker, which would have been a bit more surprising if it were a bit more original. I am to read the previous two in the series because of this one.
Some stories were great, other in the okay to good range. All in all an interesting collection. Oftentimes the author's explanation of how a particular story/ ideas came about enhanced my enjoyment of a short story itself. I was most excited to read Court Ship by Sherwood Smith because I have enjoyed everything I have read by her before this and this lived up to expectations for me. Some of the authors I have never read before made me interested in reading more by them.
Firebirds Soaring is a beautiful anthology of speculative fiction. As with all such anthologies, there were some stories I loved, some I liked and others I didn't like as much, but that's a matter of taste, not quality. Firebirds Soaring is quality through and through: from the selection of stories to the design to the decorations by Mike Dringenberg.
Read the entire review
Read the entire review
This was a very good anthology, containing many solid stories. I found all of the stories to be very readable and finished all of them. The ones that I especially enjoyed and still stick with me include A Ticket to Ride, Court Ship, and Something Worth Doing. Bonechewer's Legacy was good, but only a few pages in, I pegged it as a story that would be more meaningful to someone who had previous knowledge of the universe. Enjoyable.
I loved reading this. I came across a few authors I'd never read before but enjoyed their story in the anthology -- yay for new authors to look in to! Of course I didn't love every story but that's to be expected. I enjoyed more than I disliked and some were downright fetching [I especially enjoyed "Something worth doing", "Court Ship" and "Egg Magic":] Overall, a very nice collection. The dedication to Lloyd and Janine Alexander was touching.
This particular one did not appeal to me quite as strongly as the first 2, but I think that's a reflection of personal taste, rather than a lowering of quality. This collection always has an all-star line-up, but some of my very favorite authors didn't make it into this installment. I was totally excited about the Nina Kiriki Hoffman Novella and really blown away by several of the stories. Great range!
This wasn't such a brilliant collection as the previous two, I felt. The only thing which really leapt out at me was Nina Kiriki Hoffman's story about the dragon/human village -- I flipped back through that one after I finished it and was surprised that it was as short as it was, since it felt both complete in itself and like a hefty chunk of a novel. I do wish there were more of it!
Lots of great short stories in this book.
A really strong anthology that reminds me why I love short fiction. Most of the stories are fantastic--the standouts for me were Nancy Springer's Kingmaker, Lousie Marley's Egg Magic, Kara Dalkey's Flatland, and Elizabeth Wein' Something Worth Doing.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Does anyone know if there will be more of these anthologies? | 1 | 2 | Mar 11, 2012 12:22pm |
Sharyn November (www.sharyn.org) is senior editor for Viking Children's Books and editorial director of Firebird Books. She is a two-time World Fantasy Award Finalist (Professional category), and Firebirds Rising was a World Fantasy Award Finalist for Best Anthology.
More about Sharyn November...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Why would our brains have this capacity to sense the oneness of the universe, a sense that can be induced in many ways, even technological, if that capacity did not reflect an external reality?”
—
3 people liked it
More quotes…
