Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits
by Robin McKinley, Peter Dickinson
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 355)
Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Fantasy readers and those who like quirky, mythy stories
I've been a Robin McKinley fan for a number of years. Her re-telling of common fairty tales are some of the most creative and moving I've ever read. In Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits, Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson contribute short stories about Water creatures. They are delightfully short and wonderfully satisfying, just the right length for bedtime stories.
You will read of
*mermaids and mermen and their interactions with "air people."
*the Kraken, the monster from the...more
You will read of
*mermaids and mermen and their interactions with "air people."
*the Kraken, the monster from the...more
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Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits by Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson is a compilation of short stories. There are 6 total, 3 by each. I really enjoyed all of them, except for The Sea Serpent. I just couldn't get into it. It almost seemed to technical. There was a lot of waves and riding the waves and tides and stuff and it would get in depth about how to do this and that with the raft and waves and I had a hard time imagining it and it wasn't a really happy story either. Not that a story has ...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Robin McKinley
I would have easily given this five stars if it was all Robin McKinley, whose voice and style is well developed and smooth. The stories of her husband, Peter Dickinson, were not as well written with an awkward voice that only appears worse when it comes after a beautifully written McKinley piece. A sweet idea, husband and wife duo, but it does neither of them justice.
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I've loved mermaids since I saw The Little Mermaid for the first time when I was four. Since then I've read the original version of the fairy tale and anything else mermaid-related, even (oops) a weird mermaid romance book. I was excited Robin Mckinley did a book that contained a story or two about them with her husband.
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While I've been a McKinley fan for years, I don't enjoy her husband's stories nearly as much. They seem darker and wierder and . . . not what I expected. McKinley maintains her strong female characters, and her stories are well told, but I didn't appreciate this collection as much as her others.
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Read in December, 2006
recommends it for:
existing fans of the two authors
Ditto an earlier reviewer - I picked this up for the Robin McKinley stories and was very happy with those, but less pleased with the Peter Dickinson stories. No surprise as I'd stopped reading his books years earlier, and am a lifelong fan of hers.
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some of this was simply strange . . . the ideas were undoubtedly unique, though, and for the most part the stories entertain the reader, and draw him into the characters' lives.
some parts may be too 'magical' for more conservative readers.
some parts may be too 'magical' for more conservative readers.
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
people who secretly love fairy tales
Robin McKinley has a way of creating vivid and intriguing worlds. This collection, co-written with her husband, is a perfect example. Each tale pulls you under into magical, elusive realm.
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Read in December, 2007
I liked some of the stories in this book, but most of them were too short to be very captivated by the characters. Either that or the characters weren't very fleshed out.
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Read in November, 2004
I loved how McKinley, and her husband, Peter Dickinson switched off stories in this collection. They definitely have complementary writing styles.
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Read in January, 2007
This is a book of short stories, alternating between a husband and wife who both write. Well written, just never grabbed my interest.
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It was a well written collection of short stories but I would like to see some of them turned into novels.
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Read in December, 2005
Not quite up to McKinley's usual, but still a good collection of stories.
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Read in November, 2007
Just picked up this book, but I'd already read all the stories in it.
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Read in October, 2005
What fun stories. I read them all in one day. My kind of book.
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Read in January, 2007
6 November 2007
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