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29th out of 39 books
—
21 voters
Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology: Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy
by
Alethea Kontis (Goodreads Author) ,
Steven Savile (Goodreads Author)
In the winter of 2005, after the horrifying natural disaster of the tsunami in Southeast Asia, Steve Savile and Alethea Kontis joined forces to raise money to help the distressed survivors and have created Elemental. They solicited SF and fantasy stories, all new and never published elsewhere, from many of the top writers in the genres today, and received immediate respons...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
May 16th 2006
by Tor Books
(first published 2006)
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My favorites, in no particular order:
Joe Haldeman's previously unpublished early "Expedition, with Recipes" about a band of children struggle to find food in a post-apocalytic ruin. (His explanation of how he wrote it was also amusing.)
Eric Nylund's "Butterflies like Jewels" reminded of fantasy from an earlier era (the 1920s? Not sure).
Lynn Flewelling's "Perfection" is remarkably interesting for a story with no action. An old lady architect builds her last and greatest palace.
Nina Hoffman's "S...more
Joe Haldeman's previously unpublished early "Expedition, with Recipes" about a band of children struggle to find food in a post-apocalytic ruin. (His explanation of how he wrote it was also amusing.)
Eric Nylund's "Butterflies like Jewels" reminded of fantasy from an earlier era (the 1920s? Not sure).
Lynn Flewelling's "Perfection" is remarkably interesting for a story with no action. An old lady architect builds her last and greatest palace.
Nina Hoffman's "S...more
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Various authors contributed to this benefit anthology. Unfortunately some of the stories seemed to be dug out of a drawer rather than responding thematically to the disaster. My favorites were the first and the last stories and I found some new authors of interest. I only gave up on one story (I'm not a fan of detailed military campaigns) I was reminded of how much I like Nina Kiriki Hoffman.
I enjoyed this collection but unfortunately too many of the stories were set in universes already explored in other books for me to enjoy them. I find it really difficult to read a story set alongside other books I haven't read, because I feel as though I'm missing something. I had to skip those, but luckily there were enough self-contained stories to keep me interested during the long process of moving. It made for a great book to read during short breaks of lugging boxes and furniture.
An anthology of stories, I could pick and choose which to read and which I didn't. I chose to read all of them and found that I liked some more than others, as one would expect. Several of the stories took a while to get through, not because of the slightly longer length (which some were a great deal longer than others), but more because the premise of the story didn't really appeal to me, such as war-time. And so, I give this book 4 stars.
I know this was done for Tsunami Relief, but the stories were a complete mish-mash. Some I couldn't read, others I couldn't stop reading. They seemed to get better towards the end and Sea Air by Niki Kiriki Hoffman was among the best. I have not read her, but now I will. That one was a 5
Report from the Near Future: Crystallization :/
And Tomorrow and :)
Abductio ad Absurdum :(
In the Matter of Fallen Angels :/
Tiger in the Night :(
The strange case of Jared Spoon, who went to pieces for love. :(
The Solipsist at Dinner :(
The Wager :(
Expedition, with Recipes :(
Tough Love :/
Chanting the Violet Dog Town: A Tale of Noreela :/
Butterflies Like Jewels :)
Perfection :)
The Compound :(
Sea Child: A Tale of Dune :(
Moebius Trip :(
The Run to Hardscrabble Station :(
The Last Mortal Man :)
The Double E...more
And Tomorrow and :)
Abductio ad Absurdum :(
In the Matter of Fallen Angels :/
Tiger in the Night :(
The strange case of Jared Spoon, who went to pieces for love. :(
The Solipsist at Dinner :(
The Wager :(
Expedition, with Recipes :(
Tough Love :/
Chanting the Violet Dog Town: A Tale of Noreela :/
Butterflies Like Jewels :)
Perfection :)
The Compound :(
Sea Child: A Tale of Dune :(
Moebius Trip :(
The Run to Hardscrabble Station :(
The Last Mortal Man :)
The Double E...more
I purchased this book solely for the short story, The Wager. I'm a completest when it comes to collecting all works by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and found the very short story about Thomas Malory - the author of the Arthurian tales - very fun! I adored how Sherri worked this in as an interesting tidbit, and I'm extremely curious as to whether or not Thomas will come into play in a later book.
As for the other stories, I might one day read them, but I have no immediate plans to do so. I rate this book 5...more
As for the other stories, I might one day read them, but I have no immediate plans to do so. I rate this book 5...more
4
Wow! The stories in this book are very, very good. I'm generally not a big fan of science fiction, but only a couple of these short stories were really what I consider to be "science fiction." I honestly liked almost every singe story in the book, but some of them were absolutely amazing. Some made me laugh out loud (which takes a lot--usually reading only provokes me to smile or chuckle, not actually laugh) and some made me tear up. Excellent, excellent writing!
Various authors contributed to this benefit anthology. Unfortunately some of the stories seemed to be dug out of a drawer rather than responding thematically to the disaster. My favorites were the first and the last stories and I found some new authors of interest. I only gave up on one story (I'm not a fan of detailed military campaigns) I was reminded of how much I like Nina Kiriki Hoffman.
This is a great collection of SF/fantasy short stories. And that proceeds helped victims of the Indonesian tsunami is good, too. There were only one or two stories of the whole anthology that I didn't like. A good mix and just the right length to squeeze in a tale or two on break.
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"Alethea Kontis: Awesome, racks up award nominations, wears tiaras." --SF author Ferrett Steinmetz
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