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A Series of Ordinary Adventures
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A wander down a country pathway, a cruise vacation in the Mediterranean, a school reunion, a sandwich eaten in the park - in the stories of Stevie Carroll, the mundane becomes tantalizingly magical. A footballer’s mistress gets more than just an apartment when her lover tries to keep her in style; a rock-and-roll bass player finds out that second chances aren’t all they’re
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Paperback, 320 pages
Published
May 22nd 2012
by Candlemark & Gleam
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The first story in this anthology I found to be disappointingly pointless. Fortunately, later stories improved.
"Hawks and Dragon" features a woman who, for no apparent reason, discovers she can transform herself into a time traveling hawk and then rescues a dragon. Honestly, it doesn't make a great deal of sense--things happen for no particular reason, she adapts to world-shattering information without a second thought or question for the implications, and there's no real character arc to speak ...more
"Hawks and Dragon" features a woman who, for no apparent reason, discovers she can transform herself into a time traveling hawk and then rescues a dragon. Honestly, it doesn't make a great deal of sense--things happen for no particular reason, she adapts to world-shattering information without a second thought or question for the implications, and there's no real character arc to speak ...more

They are the people you pass on the street, sit next to on the bus. They are the heroes of personal triumphs, victims of personal tragedy. This is a book of little things- small casts, snippets of lives- but the way Carroll writes them makes them so very grand. The fantastic is woven so adeptly into the mundane that you don’t even know it is there until you meet the Minotaur at the center of the Labyrinth, shatter a luck curse, hatch a fairy egg, or deal with the Devil at midnight.
It is that atm ...more
It is that atm ...more

I gave this book 4.5/5 stars on InsatiableBooksluts.com (A digital ARC was provided by Candlemark and Gleam.)
Review excerpt:
"Series could be called–and, I guess, will be called, as I’m calling it that right now–adult fairy tales. Not the Disneyesque idea of a fairy tale, where everyone is a princess, a prince, or a witch, and everything is wrapped up in the happily ever after; nor, I’d say, a story à la Brothers Grimm, dark and twisted and often tragic. Rather, these stories about ordinary peopl ...more
Review excerpt:
"Series could be called–and, I guess, will be called, as I’m calling it that right now–adult fairy tales. Not the Disneyesque idea of a fairy tale, where everyone is a princess, a prince, or a witch, and everything is wrapped up in the happily ever after; nor, I’d say, a story à la Brothers Grimm, dark and twisted and often tragic. Rather, these stories about ordinary peopl ...more

Probably the best book of short stories I’ve read in FOREVER. Honestly, I’d kind of given up on short fiction, cos it’s not really my bag usually. This, though? This was totally my thing. Yes, not every story was totally mindblowing, but there were only one or two that just didn’t click with me. The three I mentioned in the haiku were THE BEST. Highly recommended.
Originally posted (with a review haiku) here. ...more
Originally posted (with a review haiku) here. ...more

Loved the Woman Who Hatched A Fairy Egg, Seven for the Devil and The Footballer's Mistress.
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The Synopsis is a hundred percent correct folks! This book holds a collection stories that seem mundane at first but soon you discover the eeriness behind their initial premise. It’s different, it’s weird, and it’s so much fun.
For me, Anthologies seldom come by, so the moment I saw this one on Netgalley, I immediately snatched it up and to my surprise had a blast reading this.
Some points I would like to share:
1.Buy 1 get 7
I don’t know much about math…or money for that matter actually. But when y ...more
For me, Anthologies seldom come by, so the moment I saw this one on Netgalley, I immediately snatched it up and to my surprise had a blast reading this.
Some points I would like to share:
1.Buy 1 get 7
I don’t know much about math…or money for that matter actually. But when y ...more

Great set of short stories, well worth multiple re-reads. Personal favourites are The Footballer's Mistress, and Mr Singh Confronts The Minotaur. Don't expect everything to be spelled out on the page for you: the tale is as much in what is left unsaid as it is in the words you read.
Top-class writing. ...more
Top-class writing. ...more

This is a collection of short stories that I just couldn't finish. I read the first two stories, and, honestly, I just gave up. I didn't much like the way they were written, but the subjects were quite interesting. Sorry I gave up on you, book. Maybe we'll meet again under different circumstances.
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Born in Sheffield, England's Steel City, and raised in a village on the boundary of the White and Dark Peaks, Stevie Carroll was nourished by a diet of drama and science fiction from the BBC and ITV, and a diverse range of books, most notably Diane Wynne-Jones and The Women's Press, from the only library in the valley. After this came a university education in Scotland, while writing mostly non-fi
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