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Oct 11, 2011

Kim rated it:

I was looking forward to this as I'm a big Neil Gaiman fan and a lot of the included authors come well recommended.

However I was disappointed in the end result. The theme behind the collection is supposed to be "...and what happened next?". For most of the stories my reaction was "...and who cares?". Mostly the stories were boring and never really engaged me enough that I just had to keep reading and wanting to know more.

This isn't to say there weren' More...

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Oct 11, 2011

Shel rated it:

A wonderfully eclectic collection of short stories. Neil Gaiman's introduction was thoughtful and witty, as always.

Favorite stories-
Wildfire in Manhattan, by Joanne Harris: a light-hearted tale of the old Norse Gods hanging out in New York

The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains, by Neil Gaiman: a tale of seeking, finding, and revenge

Goblin Lake, by Michael Swanwick: would you trade a pleasant existence in fiction for the depth and hardship of real li More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 28, 2011

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" rated it:

How to review this collection.....Hmm..

One one level, for a reader who loves short stories (as I do), for the pure essence of the medium of storytelling, this is an excellent collection. There is no question that all the writers here know their craft, and very well. I had the pleasure of being introduced to many new authors I had never read, and none of the stories were boring. I know I will definitely seek out some of these new authors to read more of their stories. Others, I'm More...

6 comments like (6 people liked it)

Oct 11, 2011

Oria rated it:

Sometimes I like to get to know a book backwards. Just turn to its last pages and see what I can find. And at the end of this one, I found the following:

"I meant to put my hands on her shoulders to hold her still but when I reached for her they found her smooth neck instead."

First impression may not be the most accurate but it is the most powerful. I had one of those feelings of -I need to get this now- that happens every now and then but not too often. And I'm More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 08, 2010

Stephanie rated it:

I am loving this collection of short stories!!! It's adult fiction, not my typical genre, but the quality of the stories is so amazing I am actually taking the CDs into my home and listening to them on the couch! (as opposed to only listening to them while driving) The authors are big names like Roddy Doyle, Joyce Carol Oates, Walter Mosley, etc. There are four readers - all excellent and paired perfectly with the stories. I may buy this when I'm finished with it. It's sooo good!

The More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 05, 2012

Katya rated it:

Out of the several hotly-anticipated anthologies of 2011 (Supernatural Noir, Naked City, Steampunk!) Stories is by far my favorite. I am well familiar with Gaiman's work as a writer and screenwriter, but not as editor, and I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Al Sarrantonio at all, but with Gaiman at the helm of this anthology I didn't think I'd be disappointed.

I wasn't. There were a few duds in the collection, at least as far as I'm concerned - obviously everyone has different tastes so More...

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Sep 20, 2011

Kim rated it:

Short stories are not usually my thing, but Gaiman's name on the cover whispered to me: "go on, give me a shot" so I picked it up and flipped it open to a random page: Catch and Release by Lawrence Block. That did it for me, I had to read that whole story so I traded 13 manga I had from an eternity ago to Larry Harrison of Harrison's Comics in Salem for it.

I must say, I enjoyed this book of adult short stories very much, though I did not expect to at quite the level I did. In fact, the More...

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Aug 06, 2011

Ryan rated it:

I liked Neil Gaiman's introduction, "Just Four Words," more than I liked most of the stories in this anthology. He makes the argument that each of the authors were selected because of their ability to get the reader feverishly flipping pages, with four words on their mind, "...and then what happened."

All of the stories use fantastic or supernatural elements with wildly varying results.

Highlights include:

-Gaiman's "The Truth Is a Cave in the More...

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Jul 17, 2011

Justine rated it:

While I generally enjoy the medium of the short story, and while I really like Gaiman, I have to admit that I wasn't blown away by this collection. It didn't come as much of a surprise that the things I most enjoyed reading were submissions from the two authors and the forward written by Gaiman about the purpose of a story. The rest of the works presented a disjointed mish mash of the vaguely fantastical and often exhibited the shortcomings of the genre and format. Stories felt incomplete, an More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 01, 2011

Pauline marked it as to-read

GOOD READS SYNOPSIS:Stories: All-New Tales by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Richard Adams, Jodi Picoult, Michael Swanwick, Peter Straub (Goodreads Author), Lawrence Block, Jeffrey Ford, Chuck Palahniuk , more...Diana Wynne Jones, Stewart O'Nan, Gene Wolfe, Al Sarrantonio (Editor), Carolyn Parkhurst, Kat Howard, Jonathan Carroll, Jeffery Deaver, Tim Powers, Kurt Andersen, Michael Moorcock, Elizabeth Hand, Joe Hill, Roddy Doyle, Joyce Carol Oates, Joanne Harris, Michael Marshall Smith, More...

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Feb 04, 2011

Steven rated it:

Though I usually purchase books, the fountain pen warrior cover art on this one caught my eye while on prominent display at the local library. As with many anthologies, not every story jumped out and grabbed me. Some had endings that left me irked at the author. Others I have already begun to forget. Only two stories stand out for me. "Catch and Release" repelled and disgusted me, yet I kept turning pages until it was over. Art should (in my opinion) evoke emotion that one continues to More...

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Jan 22, 2011

Anthony rated it:

I'm always looking to branch out and read authors I've not read before, and honestly that's easier to do in the realm of the short story than it is with novels most of the time. Often I'll discover an author I've never heard of, or come across an author I've heard of but never read, in a short story anthology and that will inspire me to seek out that author's longer works. This anthology provided that opportunity in big shovel-fulls. Most of the authors that editors Gaiman and Sarrantonio asked More...

6 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2010

Karissa rated it:

I got a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. It consists of 27 stories that range from fantasy, to sci-fi, to general fiction. Overall it is an interesting collection of stories.

Most of the stories have some sort of fantasy aspect to them; something fantastical happens, people have special powers, or events defy reality.

For me the highlights of this book were "Wildfire in Manhattan" by Joanne Harris, "Goblin Lake" by Michael Swanwick, " More...

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Nov 29, 2010

Ticklish Owl rated it:

I listened to the audiobook instead of re-reading. I stand by my original comment for the hard copy. With a few exceptions, this book was lackluster, and unoriginal. The narration, however, was top notch.

"Blood" by Roddy Doyle 2*
"Fossil-Figures" by Joyce Carol Oates 2*
"Wildfire in Manhattan" by Joanne Harris 2*
"The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains" by Neil Gaiman 4.5*
"Unbelief" by Michael Marshall Smith 2* More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 28, 2010

Emily rated it:

Although I love most of Neil Gaiman's work, I was disappointed by this collection of short stories selected by him. According to the introduction, the theme of the collection was supposed to be stories that keep you saying "and then what happened?" right until the end, but unfortunately most of the stories didn't live up to this theme. Most of the stories seemed to be generally creepy/scary themed, but failed to be actually scary, and also failed to capture much of my interest. Very More...

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Aug 16, 2010

Amanda rated it:

Edited by Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio.

Twenty-seven short stories by a wide variety of authors. Some well known such as Jodi Picoult, Chuck Palahniuk, & Lawrence Block. I read all the stories but one: Stories by Michael Moorcock was one I just couldn't get through, and also seemed to be one of the longest. Sorry Michael.

All in all, this is a great collection of fantasy type stories that meld really well. Some of the stories were too abrupt, seeming to end before we even got s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2010

Adam rated it:

A decent collection of stories, a bit uneven perhaps, but that can be said of most short story collections, particularly those with multiple authors. A wide cross-section of authors, to be sure. Alongside the familiar genre-favorites such as Gene Wolfe and Joe Landsdale, you have such mainstream writers as Jodi Picoult, Chuck Palahniuk and Jeffrey Deaver.
I may have missed the point of the collection, which may account for my confusion regarding some of the tales. I got the impression from More...

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Jun 06, 2010

Paul rated it:

Stories is an anthology composed by the profilic anthology Al Sarrantonio, along with fantasy writer Neil Gaiman. Bringing together talents ranging from Mr Gaiman himself to Tim Powers, Joyce Carol Oates, and chuck Palahnuik, its an impressive stable of authors for an all new anthology.

The mission of the anthology is to dissolve the artificial barrier between genre fiction and mainstream fiction. providing a suite of stories that straddle the borderland between the often walled kingd More...

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Jan 27, 2012

Petr rated it:

Antologie povídek jsou jako ta bonboniéra, o které vyprávěla Forrestu Gumpovi jeho maminka. Nikdy nevíš, jak ti to namíchali.

Nejlepší povídku sborníku napsal sám Gaiman. Když se tohle stane, zasluhuje editor antologie pochvalu, nebo spíš naopak? Povídka se jmenuje Pravda je jeskyně v černých horách a je skvělá, ostrá jako nůž na hřbetu ruky v mrazivém ránu. Další dvě opravdu výborné jsou předposlední a poslední povídka antologie, obě od autorů, o nichž jsem nikdy neslyšel: První let More...

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Sep 17, 2011

Deanna rated it:

I think it will always be hard for a collection of stories from multiple authors to get five stars from me; there's always some that I don't like. Ironically, it was some of the stories from my favorite authors that I didn't care for here.

Overall, one of the more satisfying collections of short story anthologies that I've read for a while; however, many of the stories, especially toward the beginning, were so painful (even if good) that I could only read one at a time before switching More...

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Jul 27, 2011

Jenny Sparrow rated it:

Влекомая своей горячей любовью к малой форме и Нилу Гейману, я взялась за свеженький сборник рассказов, вышедший под его редакцией. Stories: All-New Tales - это сборник из 27 рассказов различных авторов, среди которых меня особо привлекли знакомые всем имена: Джоанн Харрис, Чак Паланик, Джо Хилл, Диана Уинн Джонс, собственно Нил Гейман и др. Такие разные на первый взгляд рассказы объединены в первую очередь тем, что это - "фикшн" в чистом виде, а также тематикой: мистика, sci-fi, фэнте More...

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Aug 15, 2011

Thea rated it:

I bought this book for only two reasons, the first being that I adore the cover with all my heart and the second being that I am a mindless Neil Gaiman fangirl who would purchase anything that has his name on it. My expectations were quite low because an anthology by different authors is like a collection of hits and misses, with rather more misses than hits. I already knew before I read the book that I would like the stories by Gaiman, Palahniuk, Jones, Wolfe and Moorcock, but I was apprehensiv More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 27, 2011

Beth Anne rated it:

ebook.

another great collection of short stories, this one edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio. As Gaiman's intro mentions...they wanted to pull together stories that have the reader asking "...and then what happened," forcing us to want to continue reading. i think that this collection did just that, i could barely put it down...every story was rich and full of such diverse characters...all with the overlying themes of murder, death, mystery, magic.

some not More...

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Aug 01, 2010

Becca rated it:

I haven't read an anthology in several years, so I wasn't sure what to expect in terms on consistency of theme and quality.

Overall, for an anthology that is looking to branch out beyond genre categories, the stories mesh relatively nicely with each other; although many fail to achieve the intended theme of "and then what happened?" The editing was well done, with the collection laid out in a way the flows, with stories with similar themes placed near each other, but not su More...

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Aug 23, 2010

Randall rated it:

Early into the book, I've thoroughly enjoyed stories from Roddy Doyle, Neil Gaiman, Joanne Harris, Walter Mosley, and Peter Straub. I've always dug a well-executed short story.

Really, really couldn't get through the Jodi Picoult and Michael Swanwick entries. Picoult's story starts with parents grieving over a dead child, which doesn't really work for me. The Swanwick story was, to me, very cheesy and like something I'd have expected to hear in a creative writing class.

Oh More...

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Dec 08, 2010

Laurie rated it:

The book jacket says that this anthology “reinvigorates, expands and redefines the limits of imaginative fiction”. The book hosts some huge names in fiction: Joyce Carol Oates, Jonathan Carroll, Neil Gaiman, Richard Adams, Walter Mosley, Chuck Palahniuk and many others. Serial killers, Santa, a bizarre case of sibling rivalry that extends beyond the grave, vengeance are some of the weave through this book. Some of the stories are brilliant. Sadly, some are not.

Any anthology is uneven More...

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Aug 11, 2010

Hollowspine rated it:

A very interesting and widely varied collection of stories. Many authors that I enjoyed and many that I had never heard of, some stories that I really loved, some that I thought a bit pretentious, but I'm glad that I read each and every story.

I really enjoyed Walter Mosley's story Juvenal Nyx and, of course, Gaiman's own offering the Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains, loved the twisted twist in that story. Wildfire in Manhattan by Joann Harris (an author I'd never read) was More...

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Jul 30, 2011

Airiz rated it:

“AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED?—four words that children ask, when you pause, telling them a story. The four words you hear at the end of a chapter. The four words, spoken or unspoken, that show you, a storyteller, that people care. The joy of fiction, for some of us, is the joy of imagination, set free from the world and able to imagine.”

These are literary rock star Neil Gaiman’s words that graced the first pages of Stories: All-New Tales, a compendium of twenty-seven bite-sized fiction by a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Chas rated it:

A mixed bag, as these sorts of anthologies tend to be. I'm unclear, even after reading the introduction by Gaiman, what the objective here was, other than gathering together a selection of new work by authors known for their genre-bending work. Great efforts from Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Gene Wolfe, Tim Powers, Jonathan Carroll, Joe R. Landsdale, Michael Swanwick, Walter Mosley, and Jeffrey Ford.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 27, 2010

RandomAnthony rated it:

I don’t read many anthologies. I’m not sure why anthologies exist, outside of literature classes (and who reads those anthologies, you know, for fun?) and…I can’t think of another reason. Those annual Best Short Stories of 2009 collections date quickly (exception: Best Travel Writing of whatever year. I read those, seriously) and lack continuity. So why did Gaiman and Sarrantonio bother with Stories? They don’t need the money, I assume, and I doubt the big name contributors are hurting for More...

14 comments like (12 people liked it)

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