Rogues

Ancient World

by George R.R. Martin (Editor), Garth Nix, Gardner Dozois (Editor)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A thrilling collection of twenty-one original stories by an all-star list of contributors—including a new A Game of Thrones story by George R. R. Martin!
 
If you’re a fan of fiction that is more than just black and white, this latest story collection from #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and award-winning editor Gardner Dozois is filled with subtle shades of gray. Twenty-one all-original stories, by an all-star list of contributors, will delight and astonish you in equal measure with their cunning twists and dazzling reversals. And George R. R. Martin himself offers a brand-new A Game of Thrones tale chronicling one of the biggest rogues in the entire history of Ice and Fire.
 
Follow along with the likes of Gillian Flynn, Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Cherie Priest, Garth Nix, and Connie Willis, as well as other masters of literary sleight-of-hand, in this rogues gallery of stories that will plunder your heart—and yet leave you all the richer for it.
 
Featuring all-new stories by
 
Joe Abercrombie • Daniel Abraham • David W. Ball • Paul Cornell • Bradley Denton • Phyllis Eisenstein • Gillian Flynn • Neil Gaiman • Matthew Hughes • Joe R. Lansdale • Scott Lynch • Garth Nix • Cherie Priest • Patrick Rothfuss • Steven Saylor • Michael Swanwick • Lisa Tuttle • Carrie Vaughn • Walter Jon Williams • Connie Willis
 
And an Introduction by George R. R. Martin!

Praise for Rogues
 
“Not a single bad story in the bunch . . . The table of contents alone will make fans from all genre aisles salivate.”—Library Journal


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery

832 pages, ebook

First published April 14, 2014

About the author

George Raymond Richard "R.R." Martin was born September 20, 1948, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.

Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: The Hero, sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.

In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.

As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.

In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.

Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.

Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/george...

Reviews

[Patrick]

Okay, I'll admit it. I haven't read the whole anthology. But I'll admit I'm rather proud of the story I've got in here. It's called "The Lightning Tree."

It's got Bast in it.

[Petrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read The Lightning Tree in Rogues anthology, and this review is specifically for The Lightning Tree only.

Cozy, sweet, and memorable, The Lightning Tree is a must-read novella for every fans of Bast and enthusiast of The Kingkiller Chronicle.

The Lightning Tree is a short novella in The Kingkiller Chronicle series by Patrick Rothfuss, and the plot revolves around a day in the life of Bast—Kvothe’s apprentice and one of my favorite characters from the main series—that takes place roughly a month before the start of The Name of the Wind. You can read this story in an anthology called Rogues that’s published in 2014. Honestly, I’m going to admit that I can’t go through a year without reading something in The Kingkiller Chronicle. I have a serious withdrawal from the world of Temerant, it’s been three years since I first ventured into Kvothe’s story, that’s much shorter than many other readers who have waited more than a decade, and I can’t help coming back to this world and Rothfuss’s writing; I love every story in The Kingkiller Chronicle so much, and The Lightning Tree is no exception to that notion.

“Then the wind stirred and Bast saw something white. He felt a sudden chill, fearing it was a page torn free from the book. Few things angered his master like a mistreated book.”

Ah, Kvothe, I understand your feeling regarding books with all my heart.

It’s incredibly magical how ALL of Rothfuss’s works in The Kingkiller Chronicle series improved significantly on reread; I liked/loved them on my first read, but I absolutely loved them on reread. There are so many amazing intricacies to the world he has crafted, and it’s only on reread you begin to notice just how much details Rothfuss has imbued into the world of Temerant. Now, The Lightning Tree doesn’t move any part of the main story within the series forward; as I mentioned, it’s a day in the life of Bast, and it happened before the first novel even begin. And yet still, there’s a new detail to discover, especially regarding the Fae, their magic, and of course, Bast’s personality. Rothfuss doesn’t waste words; prose-wise, I personally think he’s one of, if not the, best in the entire genre. This particular quote that I’m going to show you next is just a very tiny glimpse of the enormous talent in his writing:

“So much was so easy. Glamour was second nature. It was just making folk see what they wanted to see. Fooling folk was simple as singing. Tricking folk and telling lies, it was like breathing. But this? Convincing someone of the truth that they were too twisted to see? How could you even begin? It was baffling. These creatures. They were fraught and frayed in their desire. A snake would never poison itself, but these folk made an art of it. They wrapped themselves in fears and wept at being blind. It was infuriating. It was enough to break a heart.”

I loved reading every page of this story, and I can sing with utmost confidence that The Lightning Tree is one of my two favorite novellas of all time, the other one being The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson. Every moment of silence in the plot intensified the scene effectively, the emotions of the characters were evocatively written, and the banter made me smile, and the tribute to George R. R. Martin—let’s not even get started with Bast’s errand to find carrots—made me laugh. They say that lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, but there’s an exception to Rothfuss’s books. From my perspective, the second lightning that strikes The Lightning Tree ended up being more impactful and powerful than the first occurrence, and this phenomenon is applicable to all of his books.

You can order the book from: Book Depository (Free shipping)

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!

My Patrons: Alfred, Devin, Hamad, Joie, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas.

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Repost from my Blog

There are a couple of anthologies edited by GRRM and Gardner Dozois, featuring diverse topics like Warriors, Old Mars, or
Dangerous Women (cf. my review!). Here, authors delivered not only fantasy or SF stories but also history, thriller, and other genres involving rogues, con-men, tricksters.

In Dangerous Women, which was published the same year, authors often interpreted the given given topic very loosely. So, I was somewhat sceptical, but found that most story in Rogues staid true to the combining theme. Tone and style of the authors differed heavily and I have to say that the lineup with Abercrombie, Swanwick, Vaughn, Lynch, Williams, Gaiman, Willis and Rothfuß is irresistible!
It is quite clear, that most anthologies contain some mediocre stories and only a few outstanding pearls. Rogues is no exception to this, but ist is tending to the good side. Overall, it worked very well for me reading it from front to back. I expect other readers to cherrypick their favourite authors and be happy with it. I'd say that reading only those is absolutely worth the price even if you skip lots of the other stories.

The binding of the hardcover is good but the cover illustration is ugly - green background with gold "Rogues" impress and lots of names. No illustrations at all, no inlet, nothing. Which means: You don't loose anything at all if you get the ebook.

As with Dangerous Women, I don't like the editor's introduction to each story and author: They are just a dumb list of works the author has written and where he lives. In most cases, I'd rather read the wikipedia article and skip the introduction. If you want to read an example of good introductions, go for Harlan Ellison!

Some authors utilize characters they introduced in previous stories which I found to be hard to get attached to the same way as a fan of those characters would do. This was the case e.g. for Landsdale but not for Swanwick.

4.5* for Joe Abercrombie “Tough Times All Over” - Like in Dangerous Women, Abercrombie opens the ball. This time with a 12,000 word (35 pages) fantasy set in the world of First Law. It is a kind of chamber play in the city of Sipani "City of Fogs, City of Whispers" which reminds me of Renaissance Venice and which we already know from Best Served Cold (remember the House of Leisure there? Ha!). The main protagonist is not a single rogue but a mysterious package which is handed over from one POV to the next. Abercrombie seems to have tried this style of handshaking POVs and mastered it in The Heroes. Abercrombie manages it to characterize the protagonists very well in the short screen time each one is given. Besides of that it is in the author's typical raunchy narrative tone. He stood and delivered the anthology's premise!

5* for Gillian Flynn “What Do You Do?” - Didn't know this author, but Flynn seems to be known in the thriller sector and has got awards there. The story's title questions asks for the main protagonist's job which is easy to answer: She is a customer service representant (read: "handjob whore and esoteric aura reader") filling the trickster rogue role. She's got a tongue in the cheek exposition in an unnamed current town who gets involved in a desperate wife's mysteric house with creepy stepson. Absent husband, cat, library seem to lead to a foreseeable ending, when things start to turn different, so expect some plot twists. Really creepy, funny, WOW! This is really 5*plus and even better than Abercrombie's story.

3* for Matthew Hughes “The Inn of the Seven Blessings” - didn't know this author, but you'll find him on Wikipedia under his crime-writing name "Matt Hughes". Have you ever read a Cugel story by Jack Vance? Hughes' story resembles the tone: The main protagonist Raffalon helps a lesser god imprisoned in a box, rescues a cleric and an inn keeper's daughter, is pursuited by some creepy cannibals. Nice dialogues, good tension-arc, some action and turnings. But sometimes the motivation and actions are confusing. The story works quite good within the anthology, as it is quite different from the others. I'll have to check his story collection The Gist Hunter and Other Stories later on (combining my favourites Gene Wolfe and Jack Vance is kind of irresistible!).

1.5 * for Joe R. Lansdale “Bent Twig” - I really liked Lansdale's wrestling story for Dangerous Women. This story has the same hard-ass, bare-knuckled tone with Hap and Leonard who he used in a lot of stories. I don't know them, I don't care about them. They are out to rescue the cracked up daughter of a lover. Pointless action with broken legs, shot men and trash talk. I even don't know what it has to do with the anthology's theme. A real letdown.

4* for Michael Swanwick “Tawny Petticoats” - Swanwick won several Hugo and Nebula awards for his SF&F stories. This story is set in an alternate New Orleans filled with labor zombies. Two con-men Darger and Surplus and the eponymous heroine head out to play the "black money" scam. Despite the zombies the story's tone is light-hearted and humorous. World-building is excellent. I love Swanwick's narrative style! Only the end is somewhat foreseeable. The story makes you wish for more of Darger and Surplus - I'll note Dancing with Bears and the Hugo winner The Dog Said Bow-Wow as a must-read.

3.5* for David Ball “Provenance” - tells us the winding provenance of a Caravaggian painting through the centuries, world wars, involving Nazis, south american weapon dealers, Whiskey drinking preachers and lots of different thiefs, burglars and tricksters. My main objection is that half of the story is explanation. On the other hand we have different layers of deception which makes the story quite enjoyable.

2,5* for Carrie Vaughn “The Roaring Twenties” - I loved her story in Dangerous Women about Russian fighting aces. In this urban fantasy story set in prohibition time, a couple of dolls fool the magical patrons in a speakeasy where they hide from the feds. Nice atmosphere, light tone, a touch of magic and creatures of the night including one bartender zombie. Alas, I couldn't connect to it and now I'm disappointed.

5* for Scott Lynch “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane” - I love his Locke Lamora series, but this ain't one and I even didn't find anything connecting it to the Gentleman Bastard world. Doesn't matter, I had a blast reading this hillarious innovation sparkling story of a retired gang - all females with the exception of one roboter - coming back into business: They have to steal a whole street in the city of Theradane within a year. World-building and characters are as colorful as you'd wish from Lynch: A second-rank mage now working as a mage-mixologist in a bar inhabiting the skeleton of a crashed dragon; her wife is a kind of machinist for automatons like another member of the gang, who is a kind of human steampunk robot. The same goes for the city which is sparkling of life, colored rain, impersoned gaslamps, spring-wheeled wherejackals and insanely powerful wizards fighting each other. I pray for Lynch's return to this setting and characters with a full novel!

3.5* for Bradley Denton “Bad Brass” - the complete opposite to Landsdale's story in the continuum of violence. Topic here is not a damsel in distress but hughschool music instruments, the main protagonist is a substitute teacher at a Texas highschool who steals from thiefs. A romantic thriller which gripes the heart but isn't too sentimental for my taste. The longest story, so far and in my humble opinion somewhat too long.

2* for Cherie Priest “Heavy Metal” - Mr Kilgore Jones is a giant Ghostbuster, a monster hunter looking for strange things in a defunct Tennessee copper mine (I looked it up and it is really weird ). Both gave the story its name - heavy from the character and metal from the mine. Weak motivation, somewhat pointless story. Maybe fans will love it, I found it only ok.

4* for Daniel Abraham “The Meaning of Love” (the author who writes as James S.A. Corey with Ty Franck) Typical fantasy set in a atmospherically very dense, dirty, lawless city. Bounty hunters look for a prince and a poisoner in hiding, knotting up in a damsel in distress and a female schemer Asa. I loved the characterizations, poignant dialogues, romantic comedy and the setting. I only would have wished for some more action. I hope for more in that scenery.

3* for Paul Cornell “A Better Way to Die” features spy Major Jonathan Hamilton protecting a timeline-adjacent 19th century British empire, a blend of steampunk and alternate history with aliens, hints of solar adventures, strange technologies and culture. The innovative ideas presented left me baffled and yearning for more. I had difficulties understanding the setup and following the plot (the editors needed a long paragraph to introduce it; compare that to the otherwise long lists of story links!). Cornell throws terms into the story that seem to be very important, like the "balance", but which are ambiguous at best. The introduction tells us that the story is "fast-paced" but I don't know which story is meant, because the current story has got a quite long exposition and only a very small part of action or even inter-action. In fact, the first 6 pages come with zero lines of dialogue. Given the characters and plot, it is far drawn to connect it to the theme rogues at all. In summary, it was difficult to assess the story: I could have given it 1 star, because it didn't work at all in the given context. On the other hand, it could be 4 or 5 stars for readers knowing the setup. In this case, the ideas were nice enough to leave with 3 stars. What I'll do next is read a couple of other Hamilton stories, which are linked on Cornell's blog.

1* for Steven Saylor “Ill Seen in Tyre” - two travelers visit the Lebanon city of Tyre, follow Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser and play around with an invisibility potion. Foreseeable, pointless, didn't like it at all.

3.5 * for Garth Nix “A Cargo of Ivories” - mildly amusing sword&sorcery where a knight Sir Hereward, Fitz - a mage in the form of a wood puppet, a female thief and some sow/elephant/don't know what called "Rosie" try to get and eliminate the incarnations of some minor god. Nice scenery, fast paced action with a deadpan tone and characters that you have to love.

4* for Walter Jon Williams “Diamonds From Tequila” - last time I read this author was 1987's Voice of the Whirlwind where he rode the cyberpunk-wave. In this story, he mixes 3D printing technology (create beverage and drugs!) and a movie shot in Mexico. Main protagonist is a deformed movie star with a mysterious history trying to save the production when his coactor is shot. Characterization is really good, setting is very nice, plot is interesting.

4* for Phyllis Eisenstein “The Caravan to Nowhere” - an old friend of GRRM and we've got to thank her for convincing GRRM to put in dragons to ASoIaF. The latest story featuring her protagonist Alaric the Minstrel must have been published in the late 80s. This newly written gem of a story is a great contrast to the rest of the anthology, and I loved it. It flows gently, thoughtfully, nearly without action in a fantasy setting involving a caravan through a sand desert and some mysterious drug. It is about the interaction with a son gone mad and free will. About songs, inns and campfires under stars. If you like stories like A Wizard of Earthsea, you might like this one as well. If you need action-driven, loud stories, you'll probably give it 1-2 stars.

skipped Lisa Tuttle “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives” because it didn't grab me within 5 pages. Probably because I don't dig Sherlock detective stories.

4* for Neil Gaiman “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back” which seems to be a sequel to Neverwhere which I haven't read. It's got mushroom-zombies, elephants and shepherds in it, really horrific stuff but in a crazy way also funny. The only problem I had was that at a couple of points the Marquis' brother jumps out from nowhere to rescue a scene. We see some intelligent interleaving of plots and a very dense atmosphere. I didn't get where the connection to "rogues" is, though.

3* for Connie Willis “Now Showing” which features a conspiracy story with some movie nerds in a near-future SF set in a kind of chamber play located in a movie palace. There seems to be more name-dropping than story and Mrs Willis has the tendency to get very repetitive which is very annoying for me. The story without that crap would have been really nice.

5* for Patrick Rothfuss “The Lightning Tree” because I love witty Bast, Rothfuss's writing style, the light atmosphere turning sometimes weird, sometimes sexy. The story doesn't make much sense outside of The Name of the Wind setting, though.

1.5* for George R.R. Martin “The Rogue Prince, or, a King's Brother” which is even more boring than his historical account in Dangerous Women. I love his prose but loath his history textbooks. It simply doesn't work as an entry to a story anthology and I can't see why it would qualify for a Rogues anthology. Hardcore ASoIaF fans will love this part of the GRRMarillion probably.

[Metodi Markov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Помня, как през далечната вече 1999 година ми попадна сборникът "Легенди" и как го изгълтах за нула време. Авторите участвали в него и до днес са ми сред най-любимите във фентъзито.

Нямах толкова големи очаквания към сборника "Разбойници" и съм във възторг от качеството и селекцията на разказите в него.

Изненадващо или не, най-сух и скучен се оказа приносът на Дж. Р. Р. Мартин - просто досадна хроника на малка част от Таргариените. Все повече ме дразни този човек, голям е в мързела си и в отбиването на номера. Другият разказ, който не ми допадна е този на Кони Уилис - "Специална премиера".

Всички останали, 19 на брой изчетох с голям кеф и вече имам идеи за това, чии книги да потърся за прочит.

Препоръчвам сборника с две ръце!

Цитат:

"... глас студен като хлороформ и отдавна нанесено унижение." :)

[Edward Knight]

Holy crap I want to read this. Mostly (only?) for the last story: "The Lightning Tree" by Patrick Rothfuss.

Bast is my favorite character from The Kingkiller Chronicles. A whole story centered around him? Fucking awesome.

Cannot wait.

[Ayman Gomaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arabic & English Review :
قصة من عالم وريستروس الجميل ب قلم ابدع من رسم فانتازيا العصور الوسطى جورج.ر.ر.مارتن

قصة دايمون تارجيريان او الامير المحتال
تدور احداثها قبل 200 عام من احداث صراع العروش خلال عهد الملك فيسيريس تارجاريان عصر رخاء و هدوء بعيدا عن نزوات و جنون الامير دايمون الذى اختلف عليه الكثيرون

" In his day there was not a man so admired, so beloved, and so reviled in all Westeros "

تبدا الاحداث عام 103 و تنتهى عام 129 قبل بداية الحرب الاهلية الشهيرة بين التارجيريان الذى كانت بداية نهايتهم و تسببت فى ضعفهم و الاسباب التى ادت اليها من ناحية و ايضا مغامرات دايمون من اول مسئول عن بيت المال و القوانين حتى قائد الحرس فى الكينجزلانديج ثم مغامراته و تحالفه حتى اصبح ملك الستيب-ستونز و ايضا مغامراته الغرامية المثيرة و زواجه المتعدد .

و فى وسط الاحداث ايضا الاحداث داخل القصر الملكى و الغيرة النسائية بين ولية العهد رينيرا تارجيرين و زوجة الملك اليسيت هايتاور الذى ارادت ان يكون ابنها ولى العرش و المكائد بينهم و الكره الذى انتهى بالانتقال الى ابنائهم ايضا .

قدرة جورج ر.ر.مارتن الابداعية عجيبة , بسهولة تغرق مع شخصياته و حكاياته و دمويته احيانا المكائد فلا يوجد شخص خير فقط او شر فقط \و بما انى قررت اعمل المستحيل و احصى القتلى فالاخ جورج فى 50 صفحة قتل 38 شخصية بين خيانات و مواجهات و حروب .

توجد شخصيات عديدة هنا و لكن ذكرت بطريقة مختصرة و اعتقد ان تكلم عنها اكثر فى كتابه النار و الدم الخاص ب 300 عام الذى حكم فيهم التارجيريان ويستروس .

القصة تستحق 5 نجوم و لكن نجمة ناقصة لانها كانت اشبه ب درس تاريخى عن هذة الفترة و افتقدت اكثر ما يميز اسلوب جورج و هو الحوارات بين الشخصيات .

* الكلام بين ناقلى الاحداث و الحقيقة و الروايات ما بين المايستر و ماشروم القزم و روية كل واحد فيهم للاحداث كان رائع و زاد من روعة القصة

English Review :

A Short story By George.R.R.Martin Happens In Westeros 200th years before Game OF Thrones Events .

The Story OF Daemon Targaryen " The Rogue Prince "
It happens during the region of King Viserys " Daemon's Brother " which was an era of prosperity and calm Away from The Craziness and reckless Of Prince Daemon

" the only crown that Daemon Targaryen ever wore was the crown of the Stepstones, a meager realm he made himself with blood and steel and dragonfire "

It Begins in 103c and ends 129c before the events of Dance of the dragons war \ in 26 years we see the adventures of Daemon and how he became the king of step-stones and his loving life betweens marriages and maidens , also the Intrigues in king's landing between Rhaenyra Targaryen the heir of her father Viserys and Alicent Hightower The King's Wife and the hate between them which go to their children too which all leads to The Dance of the Dragons Civil War .

George is Magnificent Storyteller makes u can't stop reading and want to know the fate of all characters and how he make them all colorful so u can't decide which to love or hate and can't pick a side either xD.

And Yea In 50 pages he killed 38 characters lol xD Classic George right !!!

The story deserve 5 stars but i gave it 4 coz it was like a history lesson and one of the most things i missed was the conversations between his characters and the dialogue

Because it was a short story ,he sums up most of the characters background but i guess the Fire & Blood Book had more reference about them .

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first thought is -- another anthology by GRRM? Shouldn't he be writing something else?!

This is quite the line-up:

George R.R. Martin “Everybody Loves a Rogue” (Introduction)
Joe Abercrombie “Tough Times All Over”
Gillian Flynn “What Do You Do?”
Matthew Hughes “The Inn of the Seven Blessings”
Joe R. Lansdale “Bent Twig”
Michael Swanwick “Tawny Petticoats”
David Ball “Provenance”
Carrie Vaughn “The Roaring Twenties”
Scott Lynch “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane”
Bradley Denton “Bad Brass”
Cherie Priest “Heavy Metal”
Daniel Abraham “The Meaning of Love”
Paul Cornell “A Better Way to Die”
Steven Saylor “Ill Seen in Tyre”
Garth Nix “A Cargo of Ivories”
Walter Jon Williams “Diamonds From Tequila”
Phyllis Eisenstein “The Caravan to Nowhere”
Lisa Tuttle “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives”
Neil Gaiman “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back”
Connie Willis “Now Showing”
Patrick Rothfuss “The Lightning Tree”

[Armina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This goes only for A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch. I'll read some of the other stories in the near or not so near future and will add reviews.

4.5 STARS

Scott Lynch’s novella in this anthology is not a Locke Lamora story. Everybody keeps comparing it and mope around. Bummer, eh? Actually quite not! Although I can perfectly understand why some of you would be disappointed it's not Locke(hey, he's my all time favorite rogue too!), I think the fact that the story is not connected to Locke, Jean, Sabetha, etc., does not spoil the fun, because “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane” is a blast from start to finish.

Everything begins with a meeting of a gang of retired criminals for their monthly drinking party. And so, they are sitting in a bar(it's a cavern actually, made from the skeleton of a crashed dragon) and getting outrageously drunk while playing cards. The merry band consists of three girls(the gang leader Amarelle Parathis, also known as the Duchess Unseen; a second-rank mage now working as a mage-mixologist in the bar and her wife[we have a gay couple, cool!] who is kinda technologist for automatons) and a steampunk robot. Amarelle gets so drunk that after an incident caused by a fight between the crazy wizards who rule the city, she decides to go give one of them a piece of her mind. Which is not a very good idea. The others try to stop her but she's a bad ass:

“I’m not some marshmallow-muscled tourist, I’m the Duchess Unseen! I stole the sound of the sunrise and the tears of a shark. I borrowed a book from the library of Hazar and didn’t return it. I crossed the Labyrinth of the Death Spiders in Moraska TWICE—”

And so it starts ...

I love the way the author describes the cities in his novels, and the way he not only manages to make them alien and mysterious, but also ties those alien and mysterious elements into the actual plot of the novel.

Another superb thing is the colorful, fascinating characters, created by Lynch in just a few paragraphs. Here's a passage for the gang magician which I adore:

"She cooked frosted walnut cakes into the shape of unicorns and cockatrices, caused fresh fruit to squeeze itself into juice glasses, and made her figs and dates give rude speeches while her customers tried to eat them and laugh at the same time."

The story has a great steampunk feel to it. There are many more goodies like "werejackals, basilisks, reek-bees, Cradlerobber Wasps, rabid vorpilax" and a coach "black as death’s asshole, windowless, trimmed with engraved silver and inlaid nacre. It had no horses and no driver; each of its four wheels was a circular steel cage in which a slavering red-eyed ghoul ran on four limbs, creating a forward impetus." I just loved this!

And we even got a hint of a lost romance somewhere in the story:

"There was a scar on his chin and another on his jawline, each of them familiar to her fingers and lips."

I really hope Scott Lynch will return to this setting for a full novel! I'm not giving it 5 stars only because I wanted more and hey, it's a novella after all. But it was a great pleasure to read it!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rogues is an anthology edited and corralled by George R.R. Martin. For those unfamiliar with Martin, apart from his Game of Thrones work, might expect it to be fantasy. And there are certainly some fantasy pieces. But there is no one genre for these stories. A lot of different authors from different genres contributed to this book. Sometimes they wrote in the genre they are best known for, sometimes they didn't.

Tough Times All Over - Joe Abercrombie

Abercrombie set his piece in his fantasy world, with a cameo by one his characters. It's a quick-moving story of a city full of rogues. Thieves, gamblers, conpeople, prostitutes, fighters and more. It moves from character to character, often multiple times in the same page, giving a quick glimpse before moving on. A fun story it was a great way to start the book.

What Do You Do? - Gillian Flynn

I've not yet read her famous novel, Gone Girl, so I wasn't sure of her style of writing. A very much not fantasy story it involves a semi-prostitute/fortune teller who gets pulled into a twisted family full of dark things. Think The Good Son. It was a huge shift from the first story and a great way to show how this book isn't rooted in any genre. A very dark story I enjoyed it.

The Inn of the Seven Blessings - Matthew Hughes

Back to the realm of fantasy for this story of a thief who has a run in with a god who forces him onto adventure. A fairly run-of-the-mill story, nothing about this one was surprising, but it was good anyway.

Bent Twig - Joe R. Lansdale

I've only encountered Lansdale through the film adaptation of his book Bubba Ho-Tep and recently I read his Western/sci-fi Zeppelins West. So I didn't know much but I expected it to be strange. This story involves his two most famous characters, Hap and Leonard (soon to be TV series on Sundance). Compared to his other work I know this story was very much rooted in the real world. The two men are on a mission to rescue Hap's girlfriends daughter from the seedy world she inhabits. A brutal, grim tale it was straightforward plot wise and relied on the shock value to keep things interesting. I think I prefer his more outlandish work.

Tawny Petticoats - Michael Swanwick

This tale is the usual con story however it's mixed with sci-fi and biopunk elements that remind me vaguely of Paolo Baciagalupi's works. A decent story, it was a bit predictable.

Provenance - David W. Ball

Another one that was easy to work out before the end. Non-fantasy, non-sci-fi, set firmly in the real world It was interesting though a little full of infodumps, especially for a short story.

Roaring Twenties - Carrie Vaughn

I quite liked this one. Fantasy set during the Prohibition era. Set in a hidden speakeasy this one room story was a lot of fun. I'd like to read more stories set in this world.

A Year and a Day in Old Theradane - Scott Lynch

One of my favourite stories, from the writer of the Gentlemen Bastards series. This is about a group of retired thieves in a very magical world getting caught up in fight between two powerful wizards and being set an impossible task. I loved the world and would really like to read more stories about the group.

Bad Brass - Bradley Denton

Another new author for me. This was a kind of strange one involving a temp teacher/thief, a high school band, and a black market for musical instruments. I wasn't really sold with the ending but it was an ok story. Doesn't make me want to go out and find more from the author.

Heavy Metal - Cherie Priest

I've previously only read Boneshaker, a book I was not overly fond of. This time she's set her short story in Tennessee and there are no zombies, just the supernatural and the Bible. Joy. For someone who claims she is no longer religious this is a very religious short story. Really made me dislike what could have been an interesting story. Guess I'll avoid her work from now on.

The Meaning of Love - Daniel Abraham

One of the smallest of the stories so far. I know Abraham's work through his collaboration with Ty Franck on the Expanse series, as well as his solo work with The Dagger & The Coin. I would call this fantasy but it could have just as easily have been set in medieval Europe. A tale of love and what people would do for it. A solid story.

A Better Way to Die - Paul Cornell

I only recently heard of this author due to his novel London Falling which came up in conversation in my book club. I've picked up the book but haven't read it yet and after reading this story I'm not sure I will anytime soon. Set in an alternate-reality Edwardian era Britain this sci-fi story is confusing from the very start. Not much is explained and everything is discussed as though the reader is already familiar with it all. Terms and titles are used with no frame of reference. I pushed my way through and made some sense of it all but I was left wondering if the effort was worth it. I did not hate it but I did dislike it and so far find this story the weakest.

Ill Seen in Tyre - Steven Saylor

I've not heard of this author before but he is most known for writing detective novels set in ancient Rome. I like the sound of that. There is an element of fantasy and this story is an homage to two classic fantasy characters, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. One of their stories was set in Tyre and this story uses that as the background. It was a nice touch and I liked this story, though it was rather simple. I might have to try more of his work.

A Cargo of Ivories - Garth Nix

Nix is best known for the Old Kingdom books. I've only read Sabriel, though my wife is a diehard fan. One day I will read the rest. This story is about two of his minor characters, Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz, a knight and a puppet sorcerer (literally). I really liked this fun adventure. It wasn't very long but it was just the right size.

Diamonds from Tequila - Walter Jon Williams

The only Walter Jon Williams book I've ever read is one he wrote for the Star Wars universe so I had no idea what to expect. Fantasy, sci-fi? Nope this one is more down to earth. It takes place on a film set in Mexico and is about the usual. Sex, drugs and fame. It was a decent story and I liked the plot device. No twists or turns to this one really.

The Caravan to Nowhere - Phyllis Eisenstein

I've not heard of this author and it appears she hasn't written anything except short stories since the 80s. This story involves the character from her first books, Alaric the Minstrel, who possesses the power to teleport, and his travels around the world. Set in a quasi-Middle Eastern location I liked this story and would like to read more, though I wonder whether it would be worth reading the original 30+ year old books.

The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives - Lisa Tuttle

Previously I've read a couple of Lisa Tuttle's collaborations with George R.R. Martin but I believe this is the first time I've read any solo work by her. The preface said this was supposed to be like a female Sherlock Holmes type story but it didn't feel like it. It felt like a fairly generic Victorian era detective story and the main characters gender didn't really have anything to do with it. A little odd and a touch unsatisfying at the end it's not one of the stronger stories.

How the Marquis Got His Coat Back - Neil Gaiman

This story is set in the world of London Below that Gaiman created for this book Neverwhere. It focuses on the Marquis de Carabas, an important character from that book, as he journeys through that strange word to get his coat back. A straightforward story Gaiman turns the simple into the amazing. Makes me want to re-read Neverwhere, or maybe watch the show again.

Now Showing - Connie Willis

I've read a lot of the Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis, and I hope she keeps writing them, but this was the first time I've read anything she has written outside that world. Set in the not-so-distant-future this is a world where movie theater chains, in a bid to stop ever decreasing ticket sales, turn theaters into veritable theme parks. It actually sounds pretty cool. But under the surface all may not be as it seems. This was a good story and I'd like to read more set in this world.

The Lightning Tree - Patrick Rothfuss

The reason I first heard about this book was due to this story. I had seen Patrick Rothfuss giving a talk and he said he was working on a story about his character Auri for an upcoming short story book. But then he realized it wouldn't fit and decided to write one about Bast instead (the Auri story becoming the novella, The Slow Regard of Silent Things). I like Bast and it's good to see more of him. The Auri tale was bittersweet, a little sad, a little happy. This story though it a lot happier, though there is a touch of sadness in Bast's life too. A great, simple story.

The Rogue Prince, or, a King's Brother - George R.R. Martin

The final story of this collection is, of course, set in the massive world of Westeros. This one takes place around 170 years before the beginning of the Song of Ice and Fire books. I believe this is oldest time in Westeros history a story has been set. It is a prologue to the Dance of the Dragons, the civil war that caused the end of the dragons. Very confusing at times due to a lot of similar names (everyone was related to everyone) I felt there wasn't enough to sate my interest. I need to read the companion piece which immediately follows this one and was released in a similar anthology called Dangerous Women. It also makes me a little more impatient for the next Song of Ice and Fire novel, as well as the next Game of Thrones series.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

So overall what are my impressions of this book. About the usual for short story collections. Some good, some bad, some ok. There was enough good stories though to make me recommend reading it, and fans of Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss and George R.R. Martin will want to read it for sure.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I have considerable curiosity, and that sometimes masquerades as courage." A quote from the short story The Caravan to Nowhere by Phyllis Eisenstein seems to define the rogue.

4.5 stars!!! Even an inclusion of one or two possible drinkers in this otherwise exceptional collection of fantasy short stories cannot have a negative effect on my overall opinion. This was just magical. The selections by Gaiman, Rothfuss, and Martin make purchasing this book worth it.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean anything Patrick Rothfuss writes automatically get's a 5/5 star haha idc

This short book is about a daily life of Bast.

He sits by the lightning tree and makes deals with children lol
"What would you like in trade? An answer, a favor, a secret?” - Bast

It was so nice hearing from Basts POV! I feel like I got to know him a lot better. Even though I know he can be a bit conniving and sneaky - I trust him more now. Now that I know what he's up to on a daily basis lol I seriously see him as like a jest/joker/free servant to Kvothe.

“She’s sweet as cream and broad of beam." - Bast

Merged review:

I mean anything Patrick Rothfuss writes automatically get's a 5/5 star haha idc

This short book is about a daily life of Bast.

He sits by the lightning tree and makes deals with children lol
"What would you like in trade? An answer, a favor, a secret?” - Bast

It was so nice hearing from Basts POV! I feel like I got to know him a lot better. Even though I know he can be a bit conniving and sneaky - I trust him more now. Now that I know what he's up to on a daily basis lol I seriously see him as like a jest/joker/free servant to Kvothe.

“She’s sweet as cream and broad of beam." - Bast

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious and non-stop 'Thieves' World-style' fantasy that plays out like a relay race. A really violent, backstabbing, dangerous relay race.

It plays with all kinds of fantasy tropes, tongue firmly in cheek - but also showcases Abercrombie's talent for economically drawing vivid and compelling characters who quickly come to life in the reader's imagination.

Merged review:

A MUST for anyone who's a fan of Lynch's 'Gentleman Bastard' series. Although it's an unconnected story, the themes and the sense of humor are the same.

A 'retired' infamous thief is blackmailed by a wizard into an improbable heist: she is tasked with stealing a street. Yes, a city street. It's a short street, admittedly, but it's full of homes, commerce and passers-by. How will this be accomplished? Well, first, she has to gather her old gang and get them to help...

Clever and entertaining.

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 5 out of 5]

1.) The Name of the Wind ★★★★★
2.) The Wise Man's Fear ★★★★★
2.4) The Lightning Tree ★★★★★
2.5) The Slow Regard of Silent Things ★★★★★
3.) Doors of Stone n/a

The Lightning Tree is a short story that is set in Patrick Rothfuss' world from The Kingkiller Chronicle. You can find The Lightning Tree and other short stories that are curated by GRRM himself in a bind-up anthology titled Rogues.

This story is set in Kvothe's innkeeper days, and surrounds his mysterious friend Bast. For the record, I absolutely adore Bast, so when I found out that there was a short story that starred him, I literally jumped for joy. Also, The Name of the Wind is my favorite book of all time, so I am absolutely biased with this review.



I can't even really give a summary without major spoilers, but I loved this story mostly because it has the same magic that made me fall in love with this series to begin with. Seeing Bast help the locals who live around the Waystone Inn warmed my heart to no end. Bast is such a young hearted character, and truly does whatever he wanted, while making people believe what is easier for them to accept.

At this point, I'd rate Patrick Rothfuss' napkins five stars, because everything he touches has this amazing magical feel that I can't quite put into words. I just want more from this world, especially with the announcement of the tenth anniversary edition being released this year! I cannot wait to see illustrations, better maps, and to find out if Skarpi really knew Kvothe's name, all that time ago!

Also, the Game of Thrones reference to GRRM about killed me. I was giggling so much, and I wish that I could have seen George's face when he first read Pat's story. It was seriously the perfect touch on an already perfect short story.

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Merged review:

The Lightning Tree ★★★★★

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

$1.99 Kindle sale, July 28, 2017 for this collection of 21 fantasy short stories about scoundrels, tricksters, antiheroes and other rogues. Stories by GRRM, Patrick Rothfuss (part of the Kingkiller Chronicles world), Neil Gaiman (a story from the Neverwhere world), Scott Lynch, Joe Abercrombie and others.

[Велислав Върбанов · Rating 4 out of 5]

Много готин и разнообразен фентъзи сборник, не е за изпускане от почитателите на жанра!

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

That bit by Gillian Flynn is wicked funny!

I'm sure how, but even before the Dean's office full of geese Connie Willis reminded me of Samantha's Diary, by Diana Wynne Jones

[itsdanixx · Rating 3 out of 5]

George R. R. Martin's 'Rogues' is an epic collection of 21 (plus the intro) short stories written by 21 different authors. Mostly of the fantasy variety (14/21, by my count), and all centring around a rogue or two.
Like any short story collection, I suppose, there were hits and misses. Some stories I loved, others I just found dull.
All up, it averages at 3 stars. 3.2857 stars, to be specific.

This collection features stories set in the worlds of Joe R. Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series, Paul Cornell's Jonathan Hamilton series, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Patrick Rothfuss's The Kingkiller Chronicle series and George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. The other 16 are all original stand-alone stories (as far as I'm aware...).

Here are my opinions on the individual stories:

Intro: "Everybody Loves a Rogue" by George R. R. Martin - just the introduction to the book, so I won't rate this one. I will say it introduced me to the term 'film-flam men' (as an alternative to rogue) which I enjoyed.

1. "Tough Times All Over" by Joe Abercrombie = 3 Stars. This story follows a mysterious package as it gets stolen again and again by a series of thieves. Very fun.

2. "What Do You Do?" By Gillian Flynn = 4.5 stars. A woman who gives fake fortunes for a living, after retiring from giving hand jobs due to carpal tunnel, agrees to cleanse a clients house of evil spirits. I had read this one previously (as "The Grownup") and rated it 3.5 stars as I was comparing it to Flynn's novels (which I love), but I rate it higher here as I'm more fairly comparing it to other short stories.

3. "The Inn of Seven Blessings" by Matthew Hughes = 3 stars. A thief in the woods steals the belongings of an unfortunate traveller. To his shock, he finds a tiny God among them, who he proceeds to assist in return for a little good luck. Fun and entertaining.

4. "Bent Twig (A Hap & Leonard Adventure)" by Joe R. Lansdale = 4 stars. This story takes place within the world of Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series of books (now also a TV series, I believe). A man (Hap) goes on the search for his girlfriends druggie daughter after she goes missing. Trouble ensues. I liked this one a lot. I have not read any of the Hap and Leonard books previously but it did not matter for this story.

5. "Tawny Petticoats" by Michael Swanwick = 3 stars. Two con artists hold auditions for an assistant to help with pull off a scheme to steal a bunch of silver. A sort of fantasy "Hustle".

6. "Provenance" by David W. Ball = 2.5 stars. 2 stories at once, an art thief is selling a Caravaggio to a client, while telling him the story of its journey and survival though WWII. An interesting premise with a very interesting ending, but I did find it a little dull for the first half.

7. "Roaring Twenties" by Carrie Vaughn = 3 stars. Two women are drinking in a pub for the magically inclined, as a series of events happens. Started off slow, I really enjoyed the middle, the ending left some unanswered questions.

8. "A Year and a Day in Old Theradane" by Scott Lynch = 3 stars. A retired criminal, of the slightly magical variety, is blackmailed into stealing a whole street, after yelling at the wrong guy whilst drunk. As the ex-leader of a close group of thieves, her friends all assist her in this one last job.

9. "Bad Brass" by Bradley Denton = 4.5 stars. A substitute teacher-slash-thief observes a group of his students attempting to sell the brass instruments (tubas, etc) recently stolen from their high school. I really enjoyed this story and am now keen to check out more of Denton's work.

10. "Heavy Metal" by Cherie Priest" = 2 stars. A guy gets called into a little town to investigate some strange happenings at the lake, which seems to be eating people. I just didn't get this one. It sounds like a great concept for a cool little horror story, but it was just all very strange, and weirdly religious and environmentally focused.

11. "The Meaning of Love" by Daniel Abraham = 2 stars. 2 people are living in a small apartment in a tall, industrial city filled with poverty, crime and magic. The guy (a prince on the run) falls in love with a girl he's only seen from afar, who is about to be sold to the workhouse. The other person (of unspecified gender, who is secretly in love with the prince) attempts to save her to make the prince happy. A good story, but just not my thing. A little boring for me.

12. "A Better Way To Die" by Paul Cornell = 2 stars. This is the fourth story in Cornell's Jonathan Hamilton series of short stories. In a world where people can travel through portals to parallel worlds (due to 'foreigner' (alien) technology), one man is introduced to a younger version of himself, and proceeds to challenge him to a risky game of cards (because what else would you do if you just met another version of yourself from a parallel world, right??). Didn't really enjoy this one, nor did it reeeally make sense to me. I have not read any of the other stories from the Jonathan Hamilton series- I don't think that's important as this reads like a standalone but I can't comment on whether the other stories explain the whole parallel world thing better, so it actually makes sense.

13. "Ill Seen in Tyre" by Steven Saylor = 3 stars. An older man and his apprentice, who are on a journey visiting all the wonders of the world, stop off at a bar in Tyre to buy a magic spell book.

14. "A Cargo of Ivories" by Garth Nix = 2 stars. 2 thieves magically break into a house and attempt to steal a crate of ivory statues, only to run into another thief with the same mission. This one just wasn't really my thing.

15. "Diamonds from Tequila" by Walter Jon Williams = 4 stars. After his fake-girlfriend is shot dead while on set in Mexico, an actor proceeds to investigate, accidentally getting caught up in a bit of a drug war. I enjoyed this one.

16. "The Caravan to Nowhere" by Phyllis Eisenstein = 3.5 starship. A teleporting minstrel joins a travelling caravan across the desert on a journey to get salt, and something much more addictive.

17. "The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives" by Lisa Tuttle = 4 stars. 2 Private investigators take on a case for a little girl, looking for her dead sister who she's sure is still alive. This is a good one.

18. "How the Marquis Got His Coat Back" by Neil Gaiman = 4 stars. This story takes place in the world of Gaiman's Neverwhere - immediately afterwards, specifically. The Marquis de Carabas's signature coat was unfortunately sold while he was 'dead' so he goes on a hunt to find it. Trouble ensues. I actually HAVE read Neverwhere, and while I think that did make me enjoy this story even more than I otherwise would have, I don't believe it is necessary in order to enjoy and understand this story.

19. "Now Showing" by Connie Willis = 4.5 stars. Set in the near future, a girl runs into her ex-bf while at the cinema, trying to go see a movie, but all is not as it seems. I loved this very fun, cute little story, which is packed full of movie references galore.

20. "The Lightning Tree" by Patrick Rothfuss = 3.5 stars. Taking place in the world of Rothfuss's The Kingkiller Chronicles , this story follows the character Bast as he sits under the lightning tree trading things and favours for answers and information, and generally goes about his (rather horny) day, as everything begins to come together. I haven't read any of The Kingkiller Chronicle but didn't find that that seemed necessary in order to enjoy this story.

21. "The Rogue Prince, or, A King's Brother (a consideration of the early life, adventures, misdeeds, and marriages of Prince Daemon Targaryen, as set down by Archmaester Gyldayn of the Citadel of Oldtown)" by George R. R. Martin = 4 stars. Taking place in the world of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, this story goes into the history of the Targaryen house, focusing mostly on Daemon and Viserys (as well as others), and the events leading up to the start of the series. Again, I haven't read any of the A Song of Ice and Fire series yet, but I HAVE seen every episode of Game of Thrones. I think this story would be very confusing if you have done neither of those, but then again probably not many people reading this anthology will have done neither.

Started off strong, finished strong, drifted dully in the middle.

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Muy variada, muy irregular, muy nutrida, muy inestable.-

Género. Relatos.

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Canallas (publicación original: Rogues, 2014) es una antología de relatos sobre la figura del canalla (en un sentido muy amplio y, en mi opinión, sin mucho sentido en algún caso concreto), seleccionados por el recientemente fallecido Gardner Dozois y George R. R. Martin (que además es responsable de la introducción, participa con un texto y selecciona varios escritos por amigos suyos de toda la vida), todos publicados por primera vez en este volumen y que nos permitirán conocer, desde la óptica de muchos subgéneros distintos, cosas como el montaje y/o la ejecución de más de una estafa, el robo de una calle, la suerte de un objeto que pasa por diferentes manos, películas que parecen no existir o la amenaza de una criatura acuática, entre otros asuntos.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Maggie K · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, anthologies can be kind of hard to like; there's always diverse variety of styles, there are bound to be a good percent of stories you don't really care for. Especially in Fantasy, where there are an overabundance of styles...its.rare to find an anthology that works the whole way through.

Not that everything was a 4, but quite a few. No 1s. Out of 21! That makes this great.

edited to add story reviews:

Joe Abercrombie's “Tough Times All Over” - Instead of a single Rogue, Abercrombie has us following a certain 'package' all over his should-be well-known-by-Best Served Cold-fans town of Sipani "City of Fogs, City of Whispers" The package is passed around, and stolen, and passed back between multiple Rogues of the City,--great fun!

Gillian Flynn “What Do You Do?” - Some other people I read this with didn't care for this story so much, but I thought it was fantastic! A 'massage parlor' worker who also tries to do psychic readings, which leads her into a con she attempts to pull, getting involved in a creepy-house story, only to get conned back. Super Fun!


Matthew Hughes “The Inn of the Seven Blessings” - I sometimes question the motives and means on this one, but it was still an interesting story about a reluctant hero who accidentally gets involved in a quest where he saves some people and escapes from cannibals... I find reluctant hero books amusing, so I enjoyed it.

Joe R. Lansdale “Bent Twig” - Apparently the main characters in this world,Hap and Leonard, are in a lot of Lansdale's stories. Although I had never read any of these stories before, I was able to follow along as they set out to rescue the crack addicted daughter of a lover. Fun in the action sense as they battle their way into a rescue, but not as memorable for me. Maybe if I knew the characters better....

Michael Swanwick's “Tawny Petticoats” - In an alternate New Orleans filled with animal headed people and slave zombies,where two con men try to pull a scam, and proceed to hire a beautiful women who of course plays them out of their cash. Predictable but a ton-o-fun. Reminded me of that Steve Martin movie....

David Ball's “Provenance” - The narration shows the journey of a painting through the centuries, including its WWII theft by Nazis, and various thieves and two german brothers. A great idea, but a little too much telling rather than showing.

Carrie Vaughn's “The Roaring Twenties” - A speakeasy in prohibition times, featuring a couple witches trying to hide from the Feds. I thought it was fun, but it didn't really suck me in.

Scott Lynch's “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane” - I couldnt really get into the Gentlemen Bastard series, so Im not sure if these characters were in it at all, but it was a fun story about resolving a curse by stealing a street. I liked all these characters! Someone tell me if they are in a book somewhere? The world building was great too

Bradley Denton's “Bad Brass” - Foe some reasons, musical instruments have become fodder for trade, and a high schools tuba section is basically being fought over by criminal forces, leading a high school substitute teacher to tryto impress his ex-wife by getting it all back. A cute story!

Cherie Priest's “Heavy Metal” -Maybe it is me, and there is some reference that I am missing, but I really didn't get it.

Daniel Abraham's “The Meaning of Love” (the author who writes as James S.A. Corey with Ty Franck) fantasy set in a city full of Rogueish types, where our Rogue sets up his (unrequited)love interest with the Rogue he pines for, while battling a contestof wits with Bounty hunters, slavers, and a poisoner.Not a lot of action, but a good setting and story.

Paul Cornell's “A Better Way to Die” follows a spy that finds his self from another dimension. (I think) 19th century British empire steampunk culture.
There was a LOT of exposition, and I found it hard to keep going. I probably missed something but it didn't work for me. I think this character is in other books and there was just some background I didn't know.

Steven Saylor's “Ill Seen in Tyre” - two travelers are in the city of Tyre, and get involved with some scheme involving an invisibility potion. I saw it coming and was kind of bored.

Garth Nix's “A Cargo of Ivories” - a different story where a knight, a puppet, and something named Rosie are all after some little ivory statues, some of which contain a god. It is only the hunting the pieces down part of the story, it seemed to be missing something.

Walter Jon Williams “Diamonds From Tequila” - I so loved this one! A 'freakish' movie actor becomes a reluctant hero after his girlfriend/costar is killed and he figures it out before the police do. Some futuristic things, but mostly modern who done it, how do we fix it and get drunk story, Great characterization and idea.

Phyllis Eisenstein's “The Caravan to Nowhere” - I am not familiar with this author at all, but this is a teleporting 'Bard' story, which I find interesting. The protagonist Alaric the Minstrel seems well rounded, are their other stories about him? Anyway, here he gets involved with a caravan going to pick up illegal drugs, and the contest of wills between the caravan driver and his son.

Lisa Tuttle's “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives”-This took a few pages to get going, but was an interesting mystery using that system of grave bells in coffins (Just in case you weren't dead) to fulfil a piggish mans bigamist dreams. It didn't all make sense, and it had a lot of those Holmesian clues in where the reader knew nothing until the reveal, but it was an interesting story.

Neil Gaiman's “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back” This is set in the Neverwhere world, featuring The Marquis. There are mushroom people, slaves, The Elephant from Elephant and Castle, and some new baddies called the Sheperds. I loved it!

Connie Willis “Now Showing” Sometimes Willis can be hysterically funny, and sometimes her joking comes off a little morbid, and luckily this falls into the former category. A pair of young lovers discover fraud in the movie-house business...almost slapstick in a way, but enjoyable none the less.

Patrick Rothfuss “The Lightning Tree” A day-in-the-life story about Bast, from Rothfuss's Name of the Wind. IF you've read that book, you will love this.

George R.R. Martin “The Rogue Prince, or, a King's Brother” -I was really excited for and most let down by this one. It was written in a very historic-document type way, mostly filled with facts readers of the series already knew. If it had been adapted into an actual story, it could have been so much fun!

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bast you charming bastard.

Patrick Rothfuss shares with us a day in the life of Bast, his character from his The Name of the Wind stories.

Fans will recognize him as the Innkeeper’s (Kvothe’s) apprentice from the present day narrative. He’s also fae. And fun to watch as all get out.

Published in the 2014 fantasy anthology “Rogues” (which has many good short stories) this provides a healthy look at one of Rothfuss’ more intriguing characters. The fairy elements reminded me vaguely of Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and was an entertaining novella.



Merged review:

This is a short story that was published as a part of the Rogues anthology in 2014 and then was later used as a part of the Fire & Blood history of the Targaryens.

This documents the story of King Viserys’s brother Daemon and how he came to be a controversial leader in the Stepstones Islands.

A good focus story on this colorful character, but I’m pretty sure sections of this (or maybe the whole thing) was lifted verbatim to be used in Fire & Blood.

[Бранимир Събев · Rating 4 out of 5]

По-скоро е може би за 4.5, но в ущърб на всички, ей така - надолу. Сборник със съставител пак Мартин, но двойно по-дебел от Стария М��рс и може би тройно по-добър. Превода е на ниво от Богдан Русев а.к.а. Робърт Блонд. И тук имаше разкази, които не ми допаднаха особено, но, да кажа няколко думи за всяка една от творбите в тази фентъзи антология на тема разбойници:

1. Джо Абъркромби - На никого не му е лесно: Абъркромби е един от любимите ми съвременни автори, не само на фентъзи. Чел съм абсолютно всичките му книги, издавани на български и няма една, която да не ми харесва или дори да е средняшка. Тук той открива чудесно антологията с един разказ, който присъства и в сборника му "Внезапни завършеци". Един тайнствен пакет цяла нощ ще обикаля из града и заради този пакет ще има преследвания, убийства, подкупи, кражби и какво ли не, а той ще смени притежателите си безброй пъти.
2. Джилиан Флин - Какво работиш? История, който ме хвърли в луд смях с първите си няколко страници, изкефих се! Кофтито, че към края се поразми и стана блудкава.
3. Матю Хюз - Странноприемницата на седемте благословии: много добро разказче! Крадецът Рафалон без да иска се забърква в история с човекоподобни уроди, зъл магьосник и идоли на забравени богове... Колко ли пък да са забравени?
4. Джо Лансдейл - Пукната чаша: също много добра история, макар че не е и грам фентъзи! Леко пропаднал пич тръгва да търси щерката на приятелката си, която е проститутка и наркоманка, като за целта нагазва в дълбоки лайна. Добре, че е полубрат му, който е негър и луд за десетима.
5. Майкъл Суонуик - Тони Фустанели: доста лудичък и щур разказ, но приятно доволен. Двама приятели са измамници, а единият не е точно човек и се намират в сюрреалистичен Ню Орлийнс. Естествено, целта им е да направят яко пари с измама и някак случайно приемат в отбора Тони Фустанели: шармантна фатална дама, която може и да ги изстреля на върха, но може и да ги завлече на дъното.
6. Дейвид Бол - Доказан произход: още един разказ, който не е изобщо фентъзи. Марк е специалист по картини и проверява дали са с доказан произход, дали не са фалшификати... Дълга, заплетена история, което, хм, да кажем, че не е лоша.
7. Кери Вон - Опасно ретро: странен разказ, възтъпичък за тайни клубове, върколаци, уиърд клубове и ченгета, както и разни други работи. Нищо кой знае какво.
8. Скот Линч - Една година и един ден в Терадан: а това вече е пауър и половина! Терадан е специален град, който срещу определена цена може да подслони хора, които не са желани никъде другаде или дори ги търсят да ги убият. Такива хора са главната героиня и лесбийската й компания, които са легендарни крадци. Терадан е град на вълшебства и бъка от магьосници, които постоянно се бият, затова от небето му постоянно вали дъжд от огън, парчетии и трупове на фантастични зверове. Нашите героини трябва да изпълнят мисия на един от маговете, и до какво ли ще доведе всичко това? Автор, който трябва да зачета.
9. Брадли Дентън - Открадната музика: поредното нефентъзи разказче във фентъзи сборник, което не бе лошо, въпреки че не ставаше кой знае какво вътре бе приятно. Шепа гимназисти се пробват да гепят скъпи музикални инструменти от даскало и да ги продадат на хора със съмнителна слава. Интересен е образът на главния герой, заместник-учителя им, който е патологичен крадец...
10. Чери Прийст - Дяволски метал: нелош разказ, може би единственият хорър. Ърбън история за двуметров, над двестакилограмов пич, който в противовес с габаритите си не е известен като бияч по дискотеки, а е специализиран в екзорсизъм от всякакъв вид. Нещо древно и зло се крие в изоставената мина и прави проблеми на всички.
11. Даниел Ейбрахам - Смисълът на любовта: доста добро! В пропадналия град-бунище Неврипал има всичко, за което се сетите, както още толкова неща, за които няма да се сетите. Двама приятели, единият от които тайно влюбен в другия, трябва да предотвратят продаването в робство на една девойка, по която принцът си е загубил ума...
12. Пол Корнел - По-добър начин да умреш: британска работа, ама скучна!
13. Стивън Сейлър - Среща със злото в Тир: разказ средна ръка, реверанс към историите за Фафрд и Сивия Мишелов.
14. Гарт Никс - Товар от слонова кост: приятно разказче за двама приятели крадци, единият от които оживяла кукла, които се мъчат да оберат богаташко имение.
15. Уолтър Джон Уилямс - Диаманти от текила: интересен разказ, нефентъзи, но оригинален. По време на снимките на касов блокбастър главната актриса е застреляна в бунгалото си. Главният актьор се забърква в тази каша, но е човек, който крие много тайни, има много лица и навика да излиза винаги сух от всякаква вода.
16. Филис Айзенстайн - Керван за никъде: нелоша история, започна доста добре за странстващ бард, който трябваше да весели хорица, пътуващи с керван през пустинята. Керван, който по средата на пътя слиза да зареди и необичаен товар... Финалът ми се поразми обаче.
17. Лайза Татъл - Любопитният случай с мъртвите съпруги: скука и тъпотия.
18. Нийл Геймън - Как маркизът си върна любимото палто: любим автор, фаворит! Също творец, от който не съм чел слаба или средняшка книга. Една история от света на Neverwhere, роман, излязъл на български като "Никога, никъде, никой". Под нормалния, Горен Лондон се крие и друг, Долен, който не е като света. Пълен с тайни, изроди и част от изкривен, извратен, ненормален свят, ала така чаровен... Маркиз дьо Карабас е всеизвестен крадец, който притежава уникално палто, но сега са му го откраднали... Какво ли ще се случи?
19. Кони Уилис - Специална премиера: доста добра история! В съвсем близко бъдеще народа яко е зарибен да ходи на кино, мултиплексите са чудовищни, като споменатият Кинодром, който има 100 зали и на практика е огромен мол, в който е пълно с всякакви магазини за дрехи, обувки, заведения за ядене и пиене, игра, естествено всичкото вдъхновено от различни франчайзи. Нещо обаче не е наред и нормално с това кино...
20. Патрик Ротфус - Дървото на мълнията: също един от фаворитите ми, автор, който не съм чел досега и грешката трябва да бъде поправена. Баст е странен младеж, който... не е точно от този свят. Работи в странноприемницата, но истинското му призвание е да ходи до хълма с поразеното от мълния дърво на върха, където редовно го чакат хлапета от градчето да сключат сделки. Баст може да ви помогне, да ви даде съвет, да ви посвети в тайни, да ви открехне на знание и да ви даде отговор на всеки въпрос, ноооо... В замяна ще иска същото. Трябва да му доверите тайна или да му направите услуга. Страхотна история, и моя респект към героя, евала - освен задълженията си в кръчмата и далаверите с хлапетата, в рамките на един астрономически ден успя да свали и да опраска три мадами, всичките чук.
21. Джордж Мартин - Принцът разбойник или братът на краля: първият ми досег със света на Огън и Лед от Мартин, досега съм чел от него други истории. Да, точно така, не съм чел Песен за Огън и Лед, и не съм гледал и един епизод от сериала! Не се срамувам, напротив - гордея се! Ако книгите и сериала са същото дървестинско изпълнение като този разказ, няма и да ги уважа скоро, или може би никога. Дълга, скучна, суховата хроника - историята на Даемон Таргариен, който с тоз се скарал, тая опрашил, тука ходил, па фъркал с дракона, всичкото това интересно точно колкото зацапаната с пръст мотика на махмурлия селянин, който по обед дреме, легнал в лехата.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a much better anthology than Dangerous Women. The majority of the novellas included in Rogues were entertaining. A few were really good. Most of the big name authors stories lived up to my expectations. Here is some short thoughts on each novella:

Introduction: Everybody Loves a Rogue by George R.R. Martin

I liked the intro. Martin explains that he has always preferred reading or watching characters who are more grey than black or white. He thinks they are more interesting. He then goes on to mention a bunch of his favorite rogues across many genres. It was good to know the characters who influenced Martin. I also enjoyed hearing Martin's theory that genre boundaries have hardened over the years and that readers need to be more adventurous. There are no good and bad genres, he explains, only good and bad books!

Tough Times All Over by Joe Abercrombie

This was a novella from Abercrombie's First Law series. The story followed the progress of an item as it passed through the hands of multiple different characters. Some of the characters were interesting and others were not. Unfortunately none of the characters were all that likable.

Abercrombie has a strangely crude and distant writing style, which combined with the unlikable characters, makes it hard to love this. It's better than the dreadful Abercrombie novella in the Dangerous Women anthology, but that's not saying much.

Rating: 3 stars.

What Do You Do? by Gillian Flynn

This was really good. It was well written and very engaging. I was a little shocked by the way the story started, but that's likely just the prude in me. For such a short story this really kept the reader guessing. I loved the twists and turns and the way the nature of the story was constantly changing. In the end this was a great horror/thriller.

Rating: 5 stars.

Before I read this I had no real interest in reading any of Gillian Flynn's books. Now I'm highly anticipating reading Gone Girl.

The Inn Of The Seven Blessings by Matthew Hughes

This was fun classic style fantasy romp. While traveling through a forest Raffalon, a roguish thief, stumbles across the belongings of a man who has been kidnapped by a clan of cannibals. Among the possessions is a forgotten minor God who "convinces" Raffalon rescuing the the kidnap victim would be in his best interests. I enjoyed the bargaining and banter between Raffalon and the forgotten God. The story was short but fun.

I may try more books in this series from Matthew Hughes in the future.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Bent Twig by Joe R. Lansdale

I loved reading Wrestling Jesus in the DW anthology so I was really interested in reading this novella. It's from Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series. It was a decent read, but not nearly as good as Wreslting Jesus. Hap and Leonard seemed like an interesting and funny duo and they pulled no punches while saving Hap's stepdaughter from a terrible fate at the hands of some drug dealers. I may be tempted into trying the first book in the series one day as Lansdale does have a very readable writing style.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Tawny Petticoats by Michael Swanwick

This was the tale of the con men Darger and Surplus. They decide to add a female to the team to help them pull the "black money" scam on the leaders of an alternative future New Orleans. The setting was quite interesting and the world building by Swanwick was good. It was easy to imagine this world where labor zombies were common place and the USA had broken up into small city states. I really liked Swanwick's take on zombies. The story itself was interesting enough, but probably perfectly sized.

Rating: 3 stars.

Provenance by David Ball

This is the tale of a Caravaggian painting from it's origins in Italy to the hands of a shifty art dealer in New York. It's not my usual sort of read but I did enjoy the flashbacks to the paintings history in Italy and Nazi Germany. The ending was also quite good.

Rating: 3 stars.

Roaring Twenties by Carrie Vaughn

This was a fun Urban Fantasy set in the prohibition era. It followed two women who were trying to convince a nightclub owner to hire them to protect the nightclub from natural and supernatural intruders. The characters were likable enough and so was the story. Carrie Vaughn has an engaging writing style.

Rating: 3 stars.

A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch

This was not a novella from the Gentleman Bastard world, but it did have a similar feel. It follows a group of famous thieves as they are forced out of retirement to do one last job. The world building was very good. Lynch's fantasy/steampunk setting was well drawn and interesting. I loved the mix of magic and technology in this world. The characters were a likable and witty bunch. The dialogue provided much entertainment. The story itself was fast paced and fun. It was always interesting following the gangs latest attempt to complete their job before the year and a day deadline expired.

It had a few flaws. The story/world/characters were all very similar to those in the Gentlemen Bastards world. Unfortunately while this novella did have the excellent world building, interesting plot, likable characters, and humor to match the Gentlemen Bastards series it lacked the same level of drama or emotional appeal.

On the whole I was happy with this story and would be delighted to read more novellas featuring Amarelle and the rest of the gang.

Rating: 4.5 stars.

Bad Brass by Bradley Denton

This story tells the tale of a substitute teacher who indulges in a secondary job of robbing other thieves. In this story the thieves he plans to rob are high school students who are trying to sell musical instruments they have stolen from their school. This was quite an easygoing read and Denton has an engaging writing style. It was easy to like the main character, despite his light fingered ways, because he was averse to violence and ended up doing more harm than good. This was one of the longer novellas in the collection and it took advantage of this by giving us a larger cast of well drawn secondary characters.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Heavy Metal by Cherie Priest

This slow paced Urban Fantasy was a bit of a bore. We followed a ghost-buster of sorts as he tried to rid a lake of a supernatural creature. The pace was too plodding. Priest spent too much time describing meaningless items like coffee mugs and not enough time fleshing out the world or characters. As a result I had a hard time picturing the setting and an even more difficult time caring about any of the characters.

Rating: 2 stars.

The Meaning Of Love by Daniel Abraham

The was an entertaining fantasy story with a few interesting twists and turns. The story was set in an outlaw city and follows Asa, a fixer of sorts, who's current assignment is to keep a prince who is in political exile safe. The arrival of some Bounty Hunters marks the start of some interesting times for Asa. Despite being far more grey of character than white the resourceful and quick witted Asa was a likable character.

This was my first taste of Daniel Abraham, but it will not be the last. I'll also be quite happy if we see more of Asa at some point in the future.

Rating: 4 stars.

A Better Way To Die by Paul Cornell

This was supposed to be like a sci-fi James Bond. Which sounds awesome. Unfortunately it was not. What we got instead was a very confusing sci-fi world and characters that lacked any humor or charm. It was a bit boring.

This is apparently the fourth Jonathan Hamilton short story Cornell has written. Perhaps if a reader has read the previous short story the weird sci-fi terms like "the balance" will have made sense to them. This definitely did not work as a standalone novella.

Rating: 2 stars.

Ill Seen In Tyre by Steven Saylor

This follows the adventures Saylor's Gordianus and Antipater as they visit Antipater's home town of Tyre and relive an adventure of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser involving a spell book and an invisibility potion. I found Saylor's writing quite engaging. Unfortunately I was not all that enamored by his heroes and I found the story a bit juvenile.

This felt like a wasted opportunity for a good story.

Rating: 3 stars.

A Cargo Of Ivories by Garth Nix

Nix's heroes Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz battle thieves and try to block some minor Gods from being reincarnated. Mister Fitz is an enchanted puppet sorcerer. This could have been good, as the story was mildly intriguing. Sadly, I never clicked with Nix's writing style and I found the characters a little distant. Also it's a total fail, in my eyes, if any story including an enchanted puppet fails to make that puppet either terrifyingly creepy or totally hilarious.

Rating: 2 stars.

Diamonds From Tequila by Walter Jon Williams

This was a spin off novella from Williams's Dagmar series featuring self absorbed actor Sean Makin from The Fourth Wall. In this novella Sean is filming a movie in Mexico when he gets caught up in a whirlwind of intrigue which includes a dead actress, Mexican drug lords, and an some weird applications for 3D printing technology. I liked this. Sean was egotistical and self centered, but still strangely likable. The first person narrative was very engaging.

I'll try the Dagmar series at some point in the future.

Rating: 4 stars.

The Caravan to Nowhere by Phyllis Eisenstein

This was a decent enough novella featuring Eisenstein's Alaric the Minstrel. It was a slow paced, but entertaining story. Alaric joins a trade caravan which is crossing a dessert. The merchant leader of the caravan trades in addictive drugs. It's a dangerous trade in more ways than one. Alaric was a likable character and his ability to teleport was fun.

Rating: 3 stars.

The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives by Lisa Tuttle

I'm not usually much of a fan of mystery novels, but this Sherlock Holmes inspired novella was a decent read. Tuttle has an engaging writing style and the story was quite interesting. The mystery had a few twists and turns and even had a hint of the paranormal about it. The characters were likable enough.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman

This was a sequel novella to Neverwhere, which I've never read, and was of a similar quality to Stardust and Coraline, both of which I have read. I think at this point I'm just going to have to admit that I'm not a Neil Gaiman fan. I find his fantasy worlds more ridiculous than surreal, and his characters distant and impossible to care about.

Rating: 2.5 stars.

Now Showing by Connie Willis

I really enjoyed this cynical near future sci-fi tale. The story had plenty of humor, intrigue, and romance. This was a trip to the movies that turned out to be more, or less, than a trip to the movies. To begin with I feared the constant movie references would get annoying, but thankfully Willis avoided this pitfall by using them to inject a little humor to the story.

Rating: 4 stars.

Audio Note: The audio was narrated by actress Molly Quinn. She did a decent job and only occasionally lapsed into the annoying over dramatization that plagued her Castle co star Stana Katic when she narrated a few of the novellas in the Dangerous Women anthology.

The Lightning Tree by Patrick Rothfuss

This was a novella from Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles series. It features a day in the life of Kvothe's mysterious apprentice Bast. It was an engaging and entertaining tale. Bast is an intriguing character and was more likable than I expected him to be. That said, he definitely retains his aura of danger and mystery.

Rating: 5 stars.

The Rogue Prince, or, a King's Brother by George R.R. Martin

This was a prequel to Martin's novella in the Dangerous Women anthology and is written in the same style. We get another history lesson from Archmaester Gyldayn of the Citadel of Oldtown. This was the tale of Prince Daemon Targaryen and his ambition to one day be crowned King of Westeros. In this story we also learn of the events and tensions that lead to the bloody happenings in The Princess and the Queen.

I really enjoyed the story. Martin excels at writing these sort of in depth stories filled with political intrigue and a large cast of characters.

Rating: 4.5 stars.

Overall rating for Rogues: 4 stars. This was a worthwhile anthology.

Audio Note: The audiobook was narrated by multiple different narrators. I like this approach when it comes to anthologies as I feel it gives each story a bit of separation from the previous one. The narrators that most impressed me were: Julia Whelan, Janis Ian, Gil Bellows, and Iain Glen.

[Mona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cross Genre Anthology is a Mixed Bag



There is a little bit of everything in this anthology...something for everyone. The only thread tying these wildly disparate stories together is that they are about rogues. There are many different flavors of fantasy stories, science fiction, a Western (although with zombies and a futuristic setting), crime/mystery fiction, romantic comedy, duelling sociopaths a la "Gone Girl", etc.

And herein lies the problem with this collection.

Since there is "something for everyone" that invariably means that almost any reader will like some of the stories and not others. I found some real gems, other stories I disliked, and still others that were somewhere in between.

Most of the stories, even those I did not like, were well written and well put together.

I found some reviews on the book blogs whose authors wildly disagreed with me. They liked stories I hated, hated stories I liked, etc.

Most seem to agree, however, that this isn't, overall, the best anthology.

For me, often, an anthology with a narrower focus, such as Wizards: Magical Tales From the Masters of Modern Fantasy seems to work better.

There was a large cast of audio readers. The variety of voices and approaches made things interesting. Most of the readers (of whom a few are well known actors) were at least competent, and some were downright brilliant. There was one exception---British actor Roy Dotrice. He ruined the three stories he read, and even the author bios, which he also read. I think he needs to stop reading audios. He used to be better at it, but has gotten much worse lately. He voices many young characters as crones, ordinary people as British aristocrats, and makes other reading choices that make little sense.

I read along in the Kindle version while I listened to the audio.

Anyway here's my (very biased) take on the stories.

"Everybody Loves a Rogue" was George R.R. Martin's well written introduction.

Martin's a terrific writer, but (like most authors), he isn't the best audio reader for his own material.

"Tough Times All Over" by Joe Abercrombie

Gwendoline Christie did an excellent job on the audio narration.

This is a mildly interesting fantasy story taking place in the fictitious city of Sipani. The story is about delivery of an important package that keeps getting sidetracked. Also there are good, strong, kick ass female characters.

But I can't get into Joe Abercrombie, for some reason. His stuff is skillfully written, but it's just not for me. I think in this story I just never completely believed it. It never came to life for me.

"What Do You Do?" by Gillian Flynn

A woman changes her job from giving hand jobs to doing psychic readings.

It's standard Flynn fare, about a couple of sociopaths out-conning and out-manipulating each other. Although there were a couple of surprises, I find that Flynn's standard writing m.o. gets old fast. After "Gone Girl", I think I'd had enough of this.

Julia Whalen read the audio well.

"The Inn of the Seven Blessings" by Matthew Hughes.

Roy Dotrice's terrible narration ruined the story for me.

He voiced the young female character as a crone with a (Scottish?) accent.

As far as I could tell this was a weird so-so fantasy story about wizards trying to exploit idols and gods to their own (the wizards') advantage and about narrow escapes from cannibals. However, the reading was so bad it was tough to tell if the story was any good.

I might have to reread the story to do it justice.

" Bent Twig" by Joe R. Lansdale

This story was about a couple of hard boiled freelance detectives and crime fighters, in rural Texas, Hap and Leonard. Hap's girlfriend's daughter gets in trouble involving drugs and prostitution (which she seems to have a habit of doing) and the two guys have to rescue her.

The story was a bit too brutish and violent for my taste. However, there are plenty of action and fight scenes, if you like that sort of stuff.

However, the pairing of Hap and Leonard as professional partners is appealing. Hap is earthy, white, and straight; Leonard, is black, tough as nails, and gay.

The story was also extremely funny (although granted, the humor is pretty crude).

The humor (nearly) rescued the story for me.

Some samples of the humor (describing a local talent show):

"a dance number with a man and a woman in a horse suit. The man was the back end, the horse's ass".

" 'The Honey Girls are sick...the gospel singers I told you about', said the old ventriloquist...'Their adult diapers probably got bunched up and they couldn't make it' ".

The old ventriloquist again: "I fart, it blacks me out and I wake up wearing a tutu".

Phil Gigante did a decent job reading the audio. He seemed to verbally highlight the humorous passages.

" Tawny Petticoats" by Michael Swanwick

This was a Western in an alternate post-apocalyptic New Orleans with zombies. The story was about a bunch of scammers all trying to double cross each other. The eponymous "Tawny Petticoats" is a gorgeous young woman who is the most thorough going con artist of the lot of them. Trust no one.

I wasn't crazy about this story, although it was creative and well written.

Ron Donachie was a good narrator.

" Provenance" by David W. Ball.

This was one of my favorites in the entire collection.

There are Nazi villains, lots of art, and flim flammery in the art world.

What's not to like?

There's also a surprise ending. (I guessed part of it, but not all of it).

The story was brilliantly read by British actor W. Morgan Sheppard, one of the best audio readers in this entire collection.

" Roaring Twenties" by Carrie Vaughn was another favorite.

This fantasy story presents an alternate version of the Roaring Twenties with lots of non-human creatures---weres, fae, etc. at the Blue Moon Club

It was beautifully and subtly read by Janis Ian. One online reviewer described her narration as " boring". I disagree. I think it was understated, but quite expressive.

I really liked this story. It's a slow burn. A lovely witchy businesswomen and her equally lovely companion/bodyguard visit a club for non-human creatures, and some magical mayhem ensues.

"A Year and a Day in Old Theradane" by Scott Lynch

I enjoyed this outrageous fantasy story, about some duelling wizards (who use weather, among other things, as weapons) and magical tricksters in a place with all kinds of magical non-human creatures. There's even a tony bar, "The Sign of the Fallen Fire", where some of the characters meet to plan their battles.

The main character, Amarelle (who seems to habitually get herself into bad situations) gets herself in trouble with a scheming local wizardess, Ivovandas, who uses Amarelle to destroy the wizard who is Ivovandas's nemesis. Amarelle enlists the help of her friends (all female) to get her out of hot water.

This was very well read by Gwendoline Christie.

"Bad Brass" by Bradley Denton

A story about high schools and musical instrument thieves in rural Texas.

This tale was well written and well crafted even though it wasn't my cup of tea.

The story was competently read by Gill Bellows.

"Heavy Metal" by Cherie Priest..

I loved this story!

Something evil lives in the lake. Huge, Bible reading monster fighter Kilgore Jones has come to Ducktown, Tennessee to see what he can do about it.

Scott Brick, one of my favorite audio readers, did a great reading here.

"The Meaning of Love" by Daniel Abraham

A fantasy story about a prince who falls in love at first sight, and his faithful friend and retainer who tries to help him out (doing some devious things along the way).

Meh. Not my cuppa.

This tale was competently read by Conleth Hill.

"A Better Way to Die" by Paul Cornell.

I couldn't tell if this was a good story or not.

Roy Dotrice's terrible rendition completely ruined it for me.

He read it like a bad Shakespearean actor declaiming from the stage, making all the male characters sound like histrionic elderly Brits. At least he didn't read the one female character in this as a Scottish crone.

Anyway, it's a science fiction story. An older version of a man goes back to help his younger self. There are several alternate paths things can take.

"Ill Seen in Tyre" by Steven Saylor.

This was a fun historical fantasy story, a homage to Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser" tales.

It's about the (mis)adventures and travels of a Roman boy and his Greek tutor in and around Tyre.

Gethen Anthony read it well.

"A Cargo of Ivories" by Garth Nix was an amusing fantasy story about (apparently) collaborating thieves. There's a mansion (palace?), ships, and various magical beasts including an albino pygmy moklek (apparently a creature resembling an elephant) and a basilisk.

This story had great narration by Ron Donachie.

"Diamonds from Tequila" by Walter Jon Williams

Wonderful crime story narrated by a strange looking film star (Sean Makin) in a film being shot in Mexico.

Plenty of action, involving drug lords, DEA agents, Mexican police, shootings, etc. etc.

David Greenley did a wonderful reading this tale.

The meaning of the title isn't completely clear until the story's end.

" The Caravan to Nowhere" by Phyllis Eisenstein was one I really liked.

It's a fantasy story about a young minstrel with secret powers who signs on to travel through the desert with a caravan trading some mysterious merchandise.

It was read by W. Morgan Sheppard, who does a great job.

"The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives" by Lisa Tuttle

This was beautifully read by Harriet Walter.

It's a really unique fantasy/horror story of 2 young detectives in Victorian Britain (one female) engaged to find a young girl's missing sister.

I really liked this one.

"How the Marquis Got His Coat Back" by Neil Gaiman

Roy Dotrice ruins another story (although I don't think I would have liked this one in spite of him).

He is only slightly less unbearable here than in the other two.

This time the young woman character is read as a crone with an undefined British accent (East End? Cockney? Cornish? Who knows?)

There are various other characters read as Irish? Scottish? British? crones.

Dotrice seems to be very found of crones, whether the story calls for them or not.

"Now Showing" by Connie Willis

This was a cute, romantic story (with some crime/spy elements) couched in movie terms. It was entertaining, although nothing great.

I'm not sure if I liked actress Molly Quinn's overdone adolescent narration, although it was appropriate for the characters (a bunch of college students).

"The Lightning Tree" by Patrick Rothfuss

This is an intriguing story about Bast, quite an interesting rogue with more than a little fae in him, and the help he gives (for a price) to various locals (mostly children).

This was narrated by Rupert Degas, an excellent narrator for this material.

" The Rogue Prince or, A King's Brother" by George RR Martin.

This tale will mostly be of interest to people who are already Game of Thrones fans and have either watched the TV show or read the books. I don't think it really works as a standalone story.

It's read by Iain Glen, the Scottish actor who plays Ser Jorah Mormont in the Game of Thrones TV show. His narration was pretty decent, although it seemed a trifle dull in spots.

[Meli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendo pillo este Bast.
Ojala esto sea más largo, ojala no fuera lo último "nuevo" de Rothfuss que voy a leer hasta que se digne a publicar ya saben qué libro.

[Eon Windrunner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short reviews of two of the standout stories in this anthology

.The Lightning Tree is another delightfully Rothfussian tale of mellifluous whimsy.

If like me, you are regularly tempted to reread a certain Rothfuss series but don't always have the time, then this novella is the perfect in-between measure.

“No one taller than the stone
Come to blacktree, come alone
Tell no adult what’s been said,
Lest the lightning strike you dead”


Art by Echo Chernik

The story of The Lightning Tree is a wonderful glimpse into what Bast gets up to in a single day. There is no traditional plot, but rather we follow him from morning to night as he engages in various… let’s call it shenanigans for lack of a better word. It’s ebullient and fun and mysterious and moving and everything you expect from this author in a tale of this sort.

“Oh come now,” Bast said gently. “A little sweetness is all any of us have sometimes. It’s always worth it. Even if it takes some work.”

So very Rothfussy and required reading for fans of the author and/or Bast.

_____________________________________________

Tough Times All Over is pure Abercrombie.

“I know not how to convince you, for I lack the sweet words. It is a long-standing deficiency. But it would be best for us all if you gave it to me willingly.”

“I’ll give you something willingly,” said Fallow, to sniggers from the others.

The woman didn’t snigger. “It is a parcel, wrapped in leather, about …” She held up one big hand, thumb and forefinger stretched out. “Five times the length of your cock.”


Javre and Shev by Raymond Swanland

It’s been a while since I read anything by Joe Abercrombie. It’s just one of those things where your TBR keeps on growing and you neglect to reread some of your favourites and even some new books by an author you enjoyed. And that’s the situation I found myself in when my fellow blogger, TS , mentioned how much she was enjoying reading The First Law trilogy. Coincidentally, I felt like reading some Rothfuss and picked up the Rogues anthology to read The Lightning Tree when I spotted an Abercrombie short story in the same book. I could not resist.

Tough Times All Over immediately felt like an Abercrombie tale, with the story following the viewpoint of a courier named Carcolf during the course of a very important delivery. She is taking no chances with the job and has arranged a decoy courier to attract all the attention while she silently slips away with the slender, foot-long, leather-wrapped package, but a trap has been set, and the parcel is stolen.

And SWITCH. We are now in the viewpoint of the thief. This passing off of the viewpoint to a new character, sort of like passing the baton in a relay race, is a literary device I have enjoyed immensely every time I have encountered it which has always been in Abercrombie books. Of course, it would not be half as fun if not for the colourful array of characters used to progress this type of storytelling and that is as ever, a major strength of the author. Before long the package is stolen once again as we switch to an entirely different character, and then again and again. Turns out, EVERYONE wants this particular item and they want it BADLY.

The story’s pace is quite brisk and really draws you in, with the parcel changing a large number of hands before revealing its final destination, and Joe Abercrombie does not disappoint with a delightful finish.

A final mention for two of the characters that were each briefly in possession of the package, Javre and Shev. I felt like I could have read a whole book with these two as the protagonists.

“That was with one hand.” She held up the other big fist, and had produced from somewhere a sheathed sword, gold glittering on the hilt. “Next I draw this sword, forged in the Old Time from the metal of a fallen star. Only six living people have seen the blade. You would find it extremely beautiful. Then I would kill you with it.”


Interior art for the Subterranean Press edition of Sharp ends by Raymond Swanland

[Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and I’ll give it five stars all day long. If I had any sort of web based skills at all I would insert a gif of Ralphie’s teacher writing on the board; “A plus, plus, plus, plus, plus…..but I don’t. Please use your imagination.
I rated this five stars for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I learned of some new authors that I think I’ll really like. Jackpot! I mean seriously, I got about 4-5 new authors I need to check out and I can most certainly thank Rogues for the introduction. I also stayed up late reading because I could not put it down, always a good reason for a five star rating. I also loved the theme. Rogues? Charlatans? Bad men and evil women? Sign me up! Lastly, this is a behemoth of a book, a fantasy juggernaut somewhere around 800 pages and it will keep you busy for awhile.

A quick review of the best new authors who are new to me includes:

Garth Nix- “Cargo of Ivories” great story of a puppet and a warrior…(hmm…Hairlock anyone?)
Phyliss Eisenstein – “Caravan to Nowhere” a minstrel travelling with a caravan in the desert….oh and he can teleport too.
Steven Saylor – “Ill Seen in Tyre” – a student and master in a Roman setting with a nod to Fafhrd and the Grey Mouse (who I thought was an actual mouse all this time, he’s not)

Not new to me is Gillian Flynn. I had heard about Gone Girl (oh you’ve heard of that one too?) but it really didn’t seem like my type of book and I assumed Flynn was not my type of author. I was wrong. I absolutely love her style of writing and really enjoyed her story “What do You Do”.

Some authors were not new to me and I’ve read them before. Some of my favorite tales from authors I know in this book are:

Joe Abercrombie – “Tough Times All Over” follows an object as it changes hands dozens of times in this fast paced fantasy thriller,
Neil Gaiman – “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back” a Neverwhere story with the Marquis as the main character. That’s all I have to say about that.
Scott Lynch – “A Year and A Day In Old Theradyne” a female thief on a mission for a wizard. Lynch is Lynch, and that’s awesome baby!

And last but most certainly not least…..Patrick Rothfuss. “The Lightening Tree” was my favorite story in the book. This is a tale all about Bast who is a central character in the Kingkiller Chronicles. What a fantastic goddamned tale, this reminded me why Rothfuss is one of favorite fantasy authors today (if not THE favorite).

My mother always said that if you had nothing nice to say than you shouldn’t say anything at all, so I won’t mention go in to any depth about the stories from Martin, Priest and Lansdale here. Sorry guys (and Cherie)….somehow the stories just did not grab me. The Martin story was OK because I am a fan of SOFIA but it was certainly not outstanding in my opinion.

I had a digital copy of this book and now I’m going to buy the hardcover. This book is most definitely collection worthy and I need to posses it!!

(Quick note to fantasy fans: oddly enough this book does contain some stories that you would not categorize as fantasy. I would say roughly 3 or 4 of them are not fantasy, there are 23 stories in all.)

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The introduction: really useful to A) know Martin knows his reads B) get good advice where to look for interesting rogues in sci-fi and fantasy books. I'm mainly a reader of new-century fantasy with a penchant for the grim, the dark and warfare, so it's good to broaden the horizons.

“Tough Times All Over” by Joe Abercrombie: just love Abercrombie's short stories set in his First Law world. A courier gets tangled in a duck, duck, (bloody) goose kind of race in Sipani, the Venice of Styria. Probably previous knowledge of the setting helps to fully appreciate this story, but it is an ironic, gritty and fast-paced standalone -and real fun!

“What Do You Do?” by Gillian Flynn: never read anything from this author, but this one was really good, I mean, creepy good and very original, about a girl whose line of business was hand-jobs and turns psychic because of carpal tunnel syndrome. But drawing a line between past and present jobs may not be that easy....I work in IT, I can emphasize probably?

“The Inn of the Seven Blessings” by Matthew Hughes: fantasy setting, a thief on a quest to rescue a god, evil magician. Cute.

“Bent Twig” by Joe R. Lansdale: badass trigger-happy rogues Hap & Leonard looking to save a girl. Very real-life dirty, lightly humored but still a punch in the stomach. Liked it.

“Tawny Petticoats” by Michael Swanwick: great, just great. A superb pair of swindlers and a shrewd heroine. Oh, and zombies, fun alternate-New Orleans leaders. The Dog Said Bow-Wow is on my to-read list now, I want more Darger & Surplus stories!

“Provenance” by David Ball: loved this one. About a purloined painting, very interesting main character, murky Nazi stuff, lots of mystery. Cool.

“The Roaring Twenties” by Carrie Vaughn: night club for the supernaturally-gifted, in the '20s, subtle action and strong female heroines. Nice but I felt I was missing something about the background of the protagonists.

“A Year and a Day in Old Theradane” by Scott Lynch: I love Locke Lamora. And a short story about thieves by Scott Lynch is a superb treat. Fun, witty, unforgettable characters and great world-building, wizards and street lamps. Super!

“Bad Brass” by Bradley Denton: peculiar story, a thief teacher. And music students. Light read.

“Heavy Metal” by Cherie Priest: sorry to say I didn't like this one. Started strong but felt unfinished, couldn't really get what was going on, characters got thrown in and forgotten. Meh.

“The Meaning of Love” by Daniel Abraham: yes, yes! Abraham's "The Dagger and the Coin" books are on my to-read list and definitely shuffled forward. Solid world-building, a prince and a problem-solver in a no-conventional-law city, a story about friendship and love with a twist.

“A Better Way to Die” by Paul Cornell: secret service tale set in an alternate contemporary UK, very intriguing main character Major Jonathan Hamilton, powerfully written, angsty and utterly complicated. Reading of the previous short stories "Catherine Drewe", "One of Our Bastards Is Missing" and "The Copenhagen Interpretation" surely can help, otherwise the world specifics can be *more than* a little confusing, and undermine comprehension, but it was so good I wasn't deterred & went to look for more.

“Ill Seen in Tyre” by Steven Saylor: a younger Gordianus' tale, about the price of wisdom -and foolishness- with a homage to Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser. Deliberately predictable, very entertaining.

“A Cargo of Ivories” by Garth Nix: nice couple of "insurance agents", named Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz, do a little house-breaking to retrieve some stolen...goods. A cheeseparing wizard, a thief, a basilisk, an albino mammoth...absolutely loved the dialogues.

“Diamonds From Tequila” by Walter Jon Williams: deliciously amoral. A Hollywood actor is shooting a movie in Mexico and gets entangled with 3D printing.

“The Caravan to Nowhere” by Phyllis Eisenstein: tale of Alaric the minstrel. Little happens but the description of the desert is masterful. A bit slow, but pleasant.

“The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives” by Lisa Tuttle: simple sleuth tale about a human being with a morbid need for a taste of death. Pretty disturbing for the kind of women cast.

“How the Marquis Got His Coat Back” by Neil Gaiman: a story set in London below. A purloined coat, mushrooms, a heavy predicament and absolutely fantastic and brilliant characters.

“Now Showing” by Connie Willis: fast-paced, thrilling, very entertaining. Going to the movies may not be as easy as it seems. Smart.

“The Lightning Tree” by Patrick Rothfuss: a Kingkiller Chronicle story so my opinion is probably biased. It is very very good story about a typical Bast's day in the village. Prior knowledge of the setting is preferable. What a trickster!

“The Rogue Prince, or, A King’s Brother” by George R.R. Martin: a Song of Ice and Fire story, 'nuff said. Essential prequel -focusing on roguish Prince Daemon- to "The Princess and the Queen" tale featured in the Dangerous Women anthology about the kin-war between Targaryens Aegon II and Rhaenyra. There's after all a full genealogy to delve into. How cool is that?

[gio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Merged review:

2.6 stars

"Though times all over" by Joe Abercrombie: 3.5 stars
I've read only one book by Abercrombie and I was bored to death by it so I wasn't expecting much. Surprisingly I enjoyed this short story, it was fun and quick. I still don't like Abercrombie's writing at all, it's way too flat, but the story as a whole was fun.

"What do you do?" by Gillian Flynn: 1 star
Why one star? It's quite simple: when you don't even care about finishing a short story there's no other option. I just don't see how this short story fit into this anthology.

"The inn of seven blessings" by Matthew Hughes: 2 stars
One word: boooooooooring.

"Bent twig" by Joe R. Lansdale: 2.5
Average. Not that bad, but not good either.

"Tawny Petticoats" by Michael Swanwick: 3.5 stars
Finally a good short story. Really cute, and so much fun.

"Provenance" by David Ball: 2.5 stars
I don't get how this short story fits Into this anthology....but it wasn't bad.

"The roaring twenties" by Carrie Vaughn: 3.5 stars
Good short story, I wish it had been a bit longer, but still, it was one of the best so far!

"A year and a day in old Theradane" by Scott Lynch: 5 stars
Lynch, you genius. Hands down the best short story, nothing compares to this one. Clever, funny and a gang of thieves that made me think of my beloved Gentlemen Bastards: perfect.

"We did it and lived. We put ourselves in prison to stay out of prison. To absent friends, gone where no words nor treasure of ours can restore amends. We did it and lived. To the chains we refused and the ones that snared us anyway. We did it and lived.”

"Bad Brass" by Bradley Denton: 2.5 stars
The main flaw of this short story is that it was way too long...I mean, I enjoyed reading the first 20-30 pages but then I stopped caring.

"Heavy Metal" by Cherie Priest: 2 stars
Lynch's short story aside I'm actually thinking of skipping some of these short stories. Because, really, what was this?

"The meaning of love" by Daniel Abraham: 3.5 stars
This one was pretty cool and I really liked how it ended.

"A better way to die" by Paul Cornell: 1 star
Just no. Boring.

"Ill seen in Tyre" by Steven Saylor: 3 stars
Predictable but quite cute. I mean this kind of joke is a classic that never gets old.

"A cargo of ivories" by Garth Nyx: 2 stars
Noooo, I loved Sabriel...this isn't Garth Nyx is it? Such a disappointment.

"Diamonds from Tequila" by Walter Jon Williams: DNF
I just didn't care enough to finish it.

"The Caravan to Nowhere" by Phyllis Eisenstein: 2 stars
I'm really tired of reading terrible short stories.

"The curious affair of the dead wives" by Lisa Tuttle: 3 stars
I don't have much to say, it wasn't bad and it was at least quick so...nothing special but not terrible either.

"How the Marquis got his coat back" by Neil Gaiman: 4 stars
Thank God for Neil Gaiman. If in the end I save this anthology it will only be thanks to 3-4 short stories.

"Now showing" by Connie Willis: 3.5 stars
This one was cute! I mean, it doesn't really fit into the anthology in my opinion, but it was quite cute and enjoyable.

"The lightning tree" by Patrick Rothfuss: 4.5 stars
Bast is one of my favourite charaters, so...I really liked this short story. He's such an interesting character that I want to know more about him. He's wicked and funny, clever and so loyal to Kvothe...I want more.

"A rogue prince, or, a king's brother" by George R.R. Martin: 1 star
Boring boring boring.

Overall, the anthology itself is a huge disappointment. There are a few stories that are worth a read: "A year and a day in old Theradan" by Scott Lynch, the best one of the anthology in my opinion, "How the Marquis got his coat back" by Neil Gaiman and "The lightning tree" by Patrick Rothfuss. There are some cute stories, but I don't think they stand out.

[Βαγγέλης Ιωσηφίδης]

Τέλος! Το μεγαλύτερο ανάγνωσμα της χρονιάς (και ίσως της ζωής μου ολόκληρης, διότι δε θυμάμαι να έχω ξαναπιάσει βιβλίο 1104 σελίδες) τελείωσε! Το ξεκίνησα Ιανουάριο, έχοντας σκοπό να διαβάζω λίγο λίγο τα διηγήματα, ένα μετά την ανάγνωση κάθε άλλου βιβλίου.

Εν τέλει, ήταν μια συλλογή ποικίλης ύλης και ποιότητας, για την οποία κρατούσα σημειώσεις όλη τη χρονιά και το Goodreads μου είχε γίνει κάτι σαν προσωπικό ημερολόγιο.

Θα ακολουθήσει σχετικό άρθρο προς το τέλος της χρονιάς.

[J.J. Garza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Las antologías de relatos son como los festivales de música. Hay un "lineup" muy extenso y las "estrellas" del festival están anunciadas con letras grandotas, grandotas. Asimismo, hay muchos otros nombres con letras chiquitas, chiquitas que podríamos llamar los suspirantes del festival: artistas menos conocidos que están ahí para agregar contenido (no quisiera decir "relleno") y para darse a conocer. Estos artistas por lo general llenan el espacio de "en medio" del festival y a los bateadores grandes se les deja al final.

Esto era lo que me llamaba la atención a medida que iba leyendo la muy expansiva pero muy leíble antología de "Rogues" o "Canallas". Bajo un concepto relativamente amplio pero en general cohesivo, una veintena de autores de menos a más conocidos cuentan historias de pillos, individuos al margen de la ley o por lo menos en ciertos puntos tenues de moralidad personal. La intención de la antología, como establece Martin, es contar historias sin distinción de géneros que hablen de gente que se comporta en una escala de grises.

Pese a sus 800 páginas, de verdad se lee como una serie de episodios con diversos grados de pulcritud y de interés. Muchos de los autores deciden ofrecernos una muestra del resto de su obra con personajes o situaciones que ya han desarrollado, así que uno va condicionado a que si reconoce el lugar o el personaje los va a reconocer mejor y podría, en teoría, apreciar la historia.

Me voy a detener en cuáles considero que se llevan la antología. Siendo un poco aventurado, diría que las mejores historias son las de Gillian Flynn, Scott Lynch y Connie Willis. Y éstas se caracterizan por estar desarrolladas en escenarios nuevos. La historia de Flynn goza de su característica oscuridad y pone la cantidad exacta de giros en la trama, además de mantener un ambiente que va de menos a un suspenso brutal y a hacernos temer hasta la sombra. Es la única historia que ha sido publicada como libro aparte.

Lynch escribe otra historia de estafas, pero con un equipo muy diferente y en una ambientación muy diferente a la de los Caballeros Bastardos. Aquí lo que gana no es la ejecución de la trama en sí (al igual que en Locke Lamora, la "estafa" se ve venir a leguas), sino la ambientación y los personajes. Es un mundo que se siente nuevo y prodigioso y novel y lleno de asombro.

Connie Willis, la multigalardonada Gran Maestra de la Ciencia Ficción escribe el único relato futurista de la antología, lo cual también fue un poco sorpresivo: yo hubiese querido una historia de algún pirata espacial o de un comisario de métodos dudosos. En ella se detalla tanto el absurdo al que puede llegar la industria del cine como una fascinación por las historias y al mismo tiempo una trama fascinante y cinemática, casi digna de convertirse en una obra de teatro o en una película.

Un par de menciones honoríficas las llevan las historias de Walter Jon Williams y Phyllis Eisenstein. La primera es una pícara historia de una estrella de cine poco convencional envuelta en un problemilla, más o menos al estilo de Carl Hiaasen. Lo único molesto es que la historia está ambientada en México y adivinen de qué trata. Ajá. Sí. De eso. Y la de Eisenstein en cambio se siente meditabunda, ligeramente trágica y llena de acción de una forma sosegada.

De los autores más conocidos, Abercrombie cuenta una aventura en Styria con un MacGuffin como protagonista: muchos personajes malencarados y de bajos fondos pero no mucho desarrollo. Gaiman una historia de Neverwhere que está bien si uno ha leído la novela principal y si se le olvida que la trama cuelga de dos deus ex machinas bastante groseros. Martin cierra la antología con un expositivo relato de los prolegómenos de la Danza de Dragones: muy interesante como siempre de saber más fechorías de tantos granujas en los Siete Reinos, aunque honestamente no sé qué hace este texto aquí. Se nota mucho que sería reusado en el futuro para Fuego y Sangre, y al final revela un poco las prioridades de Martin: editar y seguirse desarrollando el worldbuilding, no otra cosa.

Esto nos lleva a hablar del Árbol del Relámpago. Honestamente es súper molesto que una cantidad sustanciosa de reseñas de este libro sean *sólo* del Árbol del Relámpago. Pero bueno. Es una historia bonita, picaresca, escrita en tercera persona que desarrolla el personaje de Bast a través de un día ordinario en su vida. En general me gusta la cultura general de Rothfuss: si han leído un poco entre líneas se darán cuenta que Bast es una versión de Puck o Robin-buen-chico y buena parte de lo que hace tiene un largo trasfondo cultural. Eso es lo bonito. El resto es una historia sencilla, fiel a la tradición de sugerir más de lo que dice y con un final adecuado y cerrado. También y como es usual, estoy perplejo de que la gente diga que éste es el mejor cuento de la antología y que Rothfuss no tiene rival. ¿Qué están fumando?

Aunque los autores (por lo menos aquellos de los que he leído cosas antes) no hacen muchos esfuerzos por escribir algo diferente a lo que los distingue o hace famosos, la antología en general y en particular pasa. Sólo hubo dos cuentos que reprobaría y en general para ser un libro tan largo y con tantas historias resulta ser muy ameno y disfrutable.