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When the Hero Comes Home
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Heroes come in a thousand guises, and so do stories about them.
The only survivor of a war struggles to return to a home that doesn't exist anymore. A rebel leader loses everything she fought for and must start from scratch. A hero who has fought for her village her whole life must retire into obscurity without ever being known for her deeds. A starship returns to an Earth ...more
The only survivor of a war struggles to return to a home that doesn't exist anymore. A rebel leader loses everything she fought for and must start from scratch. A hero who has fought for her village her whole life must retire into obscurity without ever being known for her deeds. A starship returns to an Earth ...more
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Paperback, 296 pages
Published
June 10th 2011
by Dragon Moon Press
(first published June 6th 2011)
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Community Reviews
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Start your review of When the Hero Comes Home

It’s not what you usually think of, is it? What happens to the hero after it’s all over. But that’s the subject of the utterly fantastic anthology When the Hero Comes Home, edited by Gabrielle Harbowy and Ed Greenwood. I came to this knowing I’d like at least some of it, because Gabrielle is an incredible editor and I already love JM Frey’s writing. What I didn’t expect is that I would like--that I would love--all of it. (OK, total honesty, I have no stomach for zombies, so the little bit of tha
...more

Full disclosure: I am in this book. My story, "The Evil That Remains" is the second one you will read. And you will read it, because once you pick up this book, you will be practically unable to put it down. Every story in here is a winner, and every one has its own take on what happens when the hero comes home after his adventures or battles or whatever.
I highly recommend this book, and hope you enjoy it. ...more
I highly recommend this book, and hope you enjoy it. ...more

I won this as via Goodreads Giveaway so I really didn't know what to expect. Short story collections are always a mixed bag. Most editors try to have a little of something that appeals to everyone, which usually means I only really enjoy some of the stories. Not this book. Every single story made me go "wow, that was really good" at the least... and there was still a variety of genres. Dragons, magic, generation ships, werewolves, nanobots, ocean dreams and military psyche.
I will be on the look ...more
I will be on the look ...more

Continuing on my odyssey through anthologies of short stories...
I come to When the Hero Comes Home. The idea behind the anthology is really smart: what happens to the hero after the decisive battle. It's the sort of thing that you never think about, but, once the question is put to you, you smack your head and go, "Yeah. What does the hero do after the decisive battle?"
I must admit, I came to this anthology because a colleague, J. M. Frey, had a story in it, "The Once and Now-ish King." In fact, ...more
I come to When the Hero Comes Home. The idea behind the anthology is really smart: what happens to the hero after the decisive battle. It's the sort of thing that you never think about, but, once the question is put to you, you smack your head and go, "Yeah. What does the hero do after the decisive battle?"
I must admit, I came to this anthology because a colleague, J. M. Frey, had a story in it, "The Once and Now-ish King." In fact, ...more

Aug 14, 2012
Wolfkin
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
people looking for unique stories (Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
The Hero has to me become the most stale and uninteresting of character archetypes. I wonder if that's because the hero is often the most explored of the archetypes associated with the heroic journey. Characters like the Villain and the Sidekick or even the Love Interest have in my opinion more potential for exploration. But we've seen the Hero in pretty much every form: Good, Bad, Reluctant, Unnamed, Anti-, Violent, Pacifist, Dumb, Honorable. Sometimes he's interesting, sometimes he's not. This
...more

I usually read anthologies as 'palette cleansers', sort of 'lighter' fare between heavier or at least lengthier works. In this case I was more than pleasantly surprised to find a collection of works that not only had an interesting theme, but sustained that theme in a variety of tones, all of them compelling.
The theme is that of the Hero coming home. After the Battle is Won. The Evil Vanquished, The Princess Rescued. what happens next?
The stories range from the depressing, to the uplifting, to ...more
The theme is that of the Hero coming home. After the Battle is Won. The Evil Vanquished, The Princess Rescued. what happens next?
The stories range from the depressing, to the uplifting, to ...more

This is an anthology that I was very much looking forward to picking up as soon as I heard about its theme, answering the question of what happens to the hero after. It's a haunting theme with so much potential.
The result is a mix bag of stories that have varying degree of success in terms of execution. Some are very well written and strike the theme of the book right on the head. Others are well written, but the story barely skims the surface of the theme. And finally there are stories that fee ...more
The result is a mix bag of stories that have varying degree of success in terms of execution. Some are very well written and strike the theme of the book right on the head. Others are well written, but the story barely skims the surface of the theme. And finally there are stories that fee ...more

Aug 13, 2012
Saphirablue
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
alternate-history,
dragons,
fantasy,
hurt-comfort,
in-english,
science-fiction,
read-in-2012,
anthology
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Great book, but then, I'm a sucker for collections of short stories. Lots of variety in terms of writing style and storyline concepts, with a few really good humorous tales thrown in for good measure. Most of the stories hit the nail on the head with the theme of the volume, though several just seemed to be fun stories that didn't focus too much on the aftermath of the hero's journey. Nevertheless, an excellent collection which I highly recommend.
-Bob ...more
-Bob ...more

I loved this anthology. Normally I find with collections of short stories that there will be a couple that I love, a bunch that I enjoy, and a couple that aren't really my cup of tea. That was not the case with When the Hero Comes Home. I loved every single one of the stories in this collection, though there were a couple of favourites that stood out above the rest (quite the feat given the caliber of stories here). There are so many different takes on an interesting idea - what happens when the
...more

Amazing anthology of wildly different tales about the aftermaths or epilogues of heroes' stories.
I'll confess my favorites were by colleagues and friends (Steve Bornstein, Brian Cortijo, Erik Scott de Bie, Gabrielle Harbowy, Jim Hines, Rosemary Jones, and Ed Greenwood) though a few of these stories made me really want to sit down and share some beers with other authors. ...more
I'll confess my favorites were by colleagues and friends (Steve Bornstein, Brian Cortijo, Erik Scott de Bie, Gabrielle Harbowy, Jim Hines, Rosemary Jones, and Ed Greenwood) though a few of these stories made me really want to sit down and share some beers with other authors. ...more

Jun 25, 2014
Cindy
added it
Very enjoyable anthology. Julie Kagawa's "Knights & Beans was brilliant and relatible to any adult who's ever tried to impress their parents. Todd McCaffrey's "Coward" was very well done. He has become a writer in league with his mother.
...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Starkeep by Gabrielle Harbowy | 2 | 8 | Sep 25, 2012 07:00AM | |
What's your favorite story in the book? | 3 | 14 | Sep 25, 2012 06:56AM | |
Goodreads Librari...: Adding Videos | 3 | 161 | Sep 20, 2012 03:51PM | |
Favorite Story and Why | 10 | 20 | Sep 20, 2012 03:27PM |
(She/her) I'm an editor, anthologist, and author. Welcome to my page!
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