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Fantastic Creatures

4.02 · Rating details · 336 ratings · 80 reviews

A Fellowship of Fantasy Anthology

Here be dragons ... and selkies and griffins and maybe even a mermaid or two.

Twenty fantasy authors band together to bring you a collection of thrilling tales and magical monsters. Do you like to slay dragons? Or befriend them? Do you prefer to meet cephalopods as gigantic kraken or adorable tree octopuses?

Each story focuses around a fa ...more

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Kindle Edition, 388 pages

Published November 16th 2016

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· 336 ratings · 80 reviews

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Nov 17, 2016 Melissa Sasina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own

I received an ARC copy of this book for honest review. I am happy to be supporting the indie Fellowship of Fantasy Authors in reviewing it.

I love creatures of myth and legends, and this series of short stories did not disappoint in the slightest. This book is suitable for nearly all age groups and gives you glimpses of fantastic, magical creatures that many do not even know about.

I enjoyed how not all of the stories told you straight out what the creature was, letting you guess what they were, ...more

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Nov 17, 2016 La La rated it really liked it

Shelves: on-my-kindle, review-arcs-author-pub-copy

A plethora of exciting tales about make believe beasts from kappas to flying squid!

I liked that a couple of the stories which had adult level violence in them were clearly marked, so this collection can easily be used as a family read aloud book, too. The creatures were varied, there is a flying squid tale! It is a perfect book to keep on a bedside table or loaded to an ereader for times you want to have short stories when reading time is limited. Each tale wrapped up in a satisfying way. This i ...more

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Dec 02, 2016 Kristen Kooistra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I'm new to the whole anthology thing. As I'm sure is the usual case with anthologies, there were stories I loved and others were I was more meh. It's hard to put a rating on a book that has so many different stories because not all are the same for me. I know that's obvious, but it was still really hard to sit down at the end and go, "so what do I say about this?"

There's 20 stories(I think) in here and I liked more than I disliked. That's a plus. Several stories, even if they weren't my particul ...more

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Nov 17, 2016 Marzie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-paper

This book was received as an ARC from the publisher. I am happy to be supporting the indie Fellowship of Fantasy Authors in reviewing it.

Selkies and Dragons and Krakens, Oh My!

This is an enjoyable anthology, especially given how affordable the book is. I found the writing, as is often the case in anthologies of this sort, to be a little uneven. For every gem, like Intisar Khanani's beautifully understated and evocative selkie story, Seekers, there are some that are considerably less polished. So ...more

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Nov 12, 2016 N.W. Moors rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a 'Fantastic' anthology packed with stories for all ages about mythical and fantasy beasts and their friends. Many of the creatures are the usual dragons, mermaids, and griffins. Others were not as familiar to me, the hum-fairies, werejaguars, or tree octapuses, but the stories are uniformly interesting and well-written.
I especially enjoyed 'Three Steaks and a Box of Chocolates', 'The Very Last Dragon', 'An Adventurer's Heart', and 'Absolutely True Facts about the Pacific Tree Octapus', ...more

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Jun 02, 2017 Santy rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, fantasy, magic, read-2017

I loved this collection of very short stories all surrounding one creature/world or another.

Some stories were funny, some had romance sprinkled in, others a bit sad, others made me a bit mad while others also were just okay.

As a book overall, they were mostly very properly written with one or two minor exceptions.It takes the reader to a different world with every story and that is what I loved about it.

It IS PG-13 so if you are in the mood for pure adventure/fantasy without any sexy times, go ...more

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Nov 17, 2016 Chelsea rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fantasy-swords-and-sorcery, steampunk, fairytale-and-mythology-based, essays-and-short-stories

More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.

Fantastic Creatures is an anthology of stories all featuring some (you guessed it) fantasy creature, from mermaids to werewolves to tree octopuses to hum fairies. As an anthology, it has many, many authors, but I'm putting H. L. Burke as the primary because, from what I can see, she appears to be the one who organized it, did the outreach, etc. (If someone knows differently, please let me know and I'll correct this.) I'll include the aut ...more

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Nov 17, 2016 Marissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Twenty amazingly creative authors all in one place!! Sign me up! "Each story focuses around a fantastic creature from folklore or mythology, and they range from light and playful tales for the whole family to darker stories that may make you wish to leave the lights on." Sometimes you want to read mythology/fantasy stories without a lot of swearing and graphic sex and this fits the bill perfectly. The stories were great, short and very clean. They capture your imagination so well that when you t ...more

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Sep 18, 2020 Alyssia Cooke rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, anthology, short-fiction, indie

Another day, another anthology and another good one. These are all tales of magic and creatures and there’s a good selection to cover all the bases here. There is a huge diversity in age appropriateness as well, with many being suitable for the young adult market but a few being very gruesome indeed. As with all anthologies, there were some tales I enjoyed more than others, but very few real flops.

Three Steaks and a Box of Chocolates by A. R. Silverberry; 4/5 stars. A unique tale to start this a Another day, another anthology and another good one. These are all tales of magic and creatures and there’s a good selection to cover all the bases here. There is a huge diversity in age appropriateness as well, with many being suitable for the young adult market but a few being very gruesome indeed. As with all anthologies, there were some tales I enjoyed more than others, but very few real flops.

Three Steaks and a Box of Chocolates by A. R. Silverberry; 4/5 stars. A unique tale to start this anthology and I really liked the voices and the characters here. There were some unexpected twists and turns and it's a tale of friendship, of trust and of strange magical creatures.
Snapdragon by Lea Doue; 3.5/5 stars. Another tale with a strong narrative voice and I really enjoyed the fantastical elements described here; a girl with a skin of thorns, her sister with a touch that can kill. It was a little more simplistic and I saw the ending coming a mile off, but I enjoyed it nontheless.
The Golden City Captives by Julie C. Gilbert; 2.5/5 stars. To my mind one of the weaker of the tales, and I suspect that it was written as a taster of a main universe rather than as a short story in and of it's own right. A lot depended on the action scenes and a prophecy that doesn't get a mention until it's thrown in to save the day. High fantasy often doesn't work well in shorts, and that's certainly what I found here.
Seekers by Intisar Khanani; 4/5 stars. One of the shorter stories in the collection, but also one of the most powerful. This is beautifully written and the author really captures the voice of a small girl, seeking with her mother until finally her mother finds something that causes her to leave. I'd have loved a little more detail here as it is one of the shortest stories, but what you get is beautiful and haunting.
Mystery of Asgina Lake by Caren Rich; 3/5 stars. An interesting tale which has a strong narrative behind it, but it didn't quite catch me in the way some of the other tales did.
Skin Deep by Morgan Smith; 4/5 stars. A strong adaptation of a Scandinavian folk tale here and the author captures all the magic and wonder of the fantastical, but also the fear and the uncertainty. I enjoyed this one a lot, it didn't go quite where I had anticipated.
The Last Chronicle of Pete Mersill by David Millican; 4/5 stars. An unusual writing style and one that really caught my attention. I liked how the entire narrative was played out through journal entries and how well this post-apocalyptic world was built in so few words.
Priscilla, The Magnificent, Flying Giant Squid by L. Palmer; 3.5 stars. Great fun, but probably one that needed to be fleshed out a little bit more. There are some great scenes here though and the author has a fantastic imagination.
An Adventurer's Heart by Nicole Zoltack; 2.5/5 stars. Whilst well written, there was no real strong narrative to pull this tale together and so it ends up feeling disjointed and out of place. I could see it being a chapter in the wider scope of an epic fantasy tale of revenge, but it didn't quite work for me as a standalone short.
Destiny's Flight by Frank B. Lake; 2/5 stars. An interesting enough narrative, but the more preachy tone of the religious aspects irritated me more than they interested me. I'd be fascinated to see various religions woven into a full fantasy novel, but this relied on the power of God almost as an insta-magic which turned me off immensely.
The Kappa by Leila Rose Foreman; 2/5 stars. Another really short little tale which doesn't really explain what power the little kitten has and what relation it has to the Kappa. Cute enough and I found the child's voice engaging, but there just wasn't enough depth here to draw me in.
Celebration by Arthur Daigle; 4.5/5 stars. Hah! I actually really, really enjoyed this one, which was a relief after three that didn't click with me a row. I loved how the entire tale was from the perspective of the goblins and the clever way their personalities were brought to life. Funny, yet also strangely moving and that's an immediate win in my book.
The Nether Lands by David Millican; 4/5 stars. Another fascinating tale and one that didn't seem like it should have been a small part of a larger whole. I loved the world building here
Talori and the Shark by Jessica L. Elliott; 3/5 stars. I enjoyed this but it seemed strangely lacking, as though there was much more background that I should have known and didn't. The magic was used as a 'it fixes things because it's magic', rather than having any particularly logic or reason behind it as well. It was sweet and I liked the mermaids, but it felt a little thin.
Reviving the Sword by Kandi J. Wyatt; 2/5 stars. Beautiful writing but minimal actual narrative and that's a huge negative for me, particularly with shorts where I need them to stand on their own two feet. I'd be interested in reading some of the authors longer works, but this felt more like an opening chapter to a novel than a stand alone short story.
Mothers' Night Out by D. G. Driver; 4.5/5 stars. Far more gory than the preceding tales, this had me hooked from beginning to end but was possibly out of place in this collection. I probably shouldn't have rated it so highly in that case, but in honesty this is too brilliant not to rate highly. Definitely adult and fairly gruesome content though. There is a real sense of tension and of menace here... despite the entire thing being set in a nursery.
The Mage and the Spotted Wyvern by Craig J. Prince, Jr; 3.5/5 stars. A fairly basic sword and sorcery style short that’s well written but didn’t quite grab me.
The Very Last Dragon by Katy Hath Jones; 3.5/5 stars. A fun little tale that reminded me of the quaint old Arthurian tales. I could imagine this being a bedtime story for young children.
The Adventures of Zero: The Quest for Wormsroot by Vincent Trigili; 4/5 stars. Another fun tale that I really enjoyed. I found the world building excellent and fell in love with the characters. I felt there was some missing elements towards the end though and there were questions left unresolved. But were cats!!
Ishka's Garden by Bokerah Brumley; 2.5/5 stars. This had some wonderful writing but felt unfinished, as though it were a chapter in an existing longer tale rather than a lone standing short. I found it more frustrating than enjoyable as it didn’t explain any of the world building.
Absolutely True Facts about the Pacific Tree Octopus by H.L. Burke; 4/5 stars. A cute little tale full of whimsy and innocent. I finished the collection on a smile. ...more

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Jan 08, 2017 H.L. Burke added it · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

Shelves: epic-fantasy, dragons, writing, clean-indie-reads, scribophile, for-my-kids-and-inner-kid, humor, fairy-tale

I'm one of the authors, so not really unbiased. I do think there is a good mix here with something for everything from humorous tales to folk tales to urban fantasy to epics to fairy tales. Skip around, find some new authors, and enjoy. ...more

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Nov 21, 2017 Jackie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wonderful story about all different types of creatures. Love books like this. Grateful to be introduced to this story.

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Aug 30, 2019 Scott rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fantastic Creatures is another great anthology . I've almost read this whole series of anthologies and I have enjoyed every single one . As with all anthologies there will be some stories you like more than others , but as a whole this book is as it's name implies fantastic . Almost every story in here would be go read along material with your kids , that being said adults will enjoy this book also . It's a pretty quick read so go ahead and sit down and enjoy Fantastic Creatures you won't be sor ...more

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Feb 25, 2021 Carina Shephard rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kindle-reads, on-sale-or-free, fantasy, anthologies

Read in 2020

If you read just one story in the entire book: read Skin Deep.

Content Warning: Although most of the Fellowship of Fantasy stories are generally clean, be aware that there is violence/swearing/etc in The Last Chronicle of Pete Mersill and The Nether Lands.

More thorough review to come when I reread.

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Oct 08, 2020 Amy Merritt rated it it was amazing

Good read.

This is a good book to read before bed. I enjoy short stories and stories about different things. This book is a recollection from different authors and I recommend it. Good job to all the writers. Kudos and thanks for sharing you imagination with me.

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Jan 16, 2019 Amelia Nichole Defield rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, indieauthor

What a great collection of short stories featuring fantasy creatures! It has everything from the weird to the delightful. Dragons, sea monsters, griffins and more! I left reviews for some of my favorites on their GoodReads pages.

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Nov 16, 2020 Jane rated it it was amazing

What Fun!

Fun stories, and most of them are suitable for even very young readers (say age 6 and up). Happy reading!

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Jul 05, 2020 Grace Morris rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, book-reviewed-2020, anthology, short-stories, novella-collection

Overall Rating: 4 Stars =D

List of Books in the Anthology with my Ratings and Some Small Notes:

"Three Steaks and a Box of Chocolates"

Written By: A. R. Silverberry

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Notes: Kind of like a Western. Because they called the creature a cat in the beginning, I really wanted it to look more like a cat. I was really disappointed when it wasn't anything like a cat. The plot wasn't my favorite either, mainly about taking care of the "cat's" teeth.

"Snapdragon"

Written By: Lea Doué

My Rating: ...more

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Jun 16, 2017 Heather Hayden rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is an enjoyable collection of stories about various fantastical creatures ranging from centaurs to the rare Pacific tree-dwelling octopus.

My favorites include Three Steaks and a Box of Chocolate, Snapdragon, Seekers, and Absolutely True Facts about the Pacific Tree Octopus--and these are just a few of the treasures waiting inside this pages.

The age range for the stories does vary quite a bit, so if you are looking for an anthology to share with your kids, please be mindful of that. Some sto ...more

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Jan 26, 2017 Denielle rated it really liked it

Shelves: epic-novellas, ya-fantasy

Insitar has the tendency to always leave me wanting more. Everything I've read from her so far has left me with this gaping hole of want.

This short story was no different. I got a Little Mermaid vibe and by the end I had so many questions. :( ...more

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Jul 11, 2018 Sarah rated it really liked it

An excellent mix of unique stories

Like most anthologies, this is a mix of good and bad— but I'm happy to say that it's more good than bad. I definitely recommend this one! ...more

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Dec 02, 2018 Becca rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, reviewed-by-me, fantasy, got-it-free-on-kindle, fairy-tale-retellings, indie-published

I read this book in an effort to learn of some more good indie authors. There are several authors featured which I'll have to learn more about, but overall I was unimpressed with this collection. Here are some notes on each story:

(1) Three Steaks and a Box of Chocolates by A. R. Silverberry 3 out of 5 stars
Set in the Old West, this is an amusing tall tale.
(2) Snapdragon by Lea Doue 3.5 : 5
I enjoyed this retelling of the Frog Prince. The prince is not a prince, and he's in the shape if an adora ...more

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Aug 30, 2019 Vicki DeVico rated it it was amazing

Here be dragons...and so much more! Out of 21 stories, there are bound to be some that a reader likes more than others, and that was the case for me.

1. Three Steaks and a Box of Chocolates – A. R. Silverberry *****
What starts out seeming like a scene from the wild west turns into a tale of friendship with a legendary creature.
2. Snapdragon – Lea Doué *****
A charming retell of the Frog Prince, but with a dragon!
3. The Golden City Captives – Julie C. Gilbert *****
A wonderfully written shifter s ...more

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Sep 12, 2019 Melissa (missy) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

1.Three Steaks and a Box of Chocolates

2.Snapdragon

3.The Golden City Captives

4.Seekers

5.Mystery of Asgina Lake

6.Skin Deep

7.The Last Chronicle of Pete Mersill

8.Priscilla, The Magnificent, Flying Giant Squid

9.An Adventurer’s Heart

10.Destiny’s Flight

11.The Kappa

12.Celebration

13.The Nether Lands

14.Talori and the Shark

15.Reviving the Sword

16.Mothers’ Night Out

17.The Mage and the Spotted Wyvern

18.The Very Last Dragon

19.The Adventures of Zero:The Quest for Wormsroot

20.Ishka’s Garden

21.Absolutely True Fa ...more

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Aug 14, 2019 Shannon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I love collections like this. It gives me the chance to read several different authors at once so I am always adding authors to my reading list. Granted my reading list keeps growing but I don't seem to mind at all.
All of the stories in this collection are great and are so well written. Kudos to all of the authors. ...more

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Aug 28, 2019 Gayreth Walden rated it really liked it

Wonderful clean fantasy stories!

These stories are all clean fantasy.... From light and playful to a bit darker, they are all well written and entertaining. So many creatures, from dragons, mermaids, kraken, gryphons, too many to name. Adventures and magic with a diverse cast of characters. A little something for everyone. I enjoyed this very much.

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Sep 29, 2020 shannon Stubbs rated it it was amazing

A creature for everyone

There is a creature for everyone in this story. From a gold finding dinosaur with a tooth ache to a tree living octopi, the range is large. Each story has its own flavor: A western, fantasy, demon hunting, a Christian theme, and even a scary werewolf story. I even found some new authors to explore.

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Nov 29, 2018 Leslie Wiederspan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Cute collection of short stories.

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Jan 13, 2019 Julia Garcia rated it really liked it

Good 1st Anthology

This was my first fantasy anthology. I really liked reading all the different stories from the different authors. There were a few I wish could've kept going! ...more

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Apr 24, 2019 Eileen Copeland rated it really liked it

If you like strange creatures....

Most of these stories were really fun to read. The authors all showed great imagination, and have created some fascinating storyworlds.

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Apr 29, 2019 Claudia rated it really liked it

Bedtime stories

Some great stories, some good stories and, some just okay stories. Amusing reading and no nightmares. We all need a book like this sometimes.

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About H.L. Burke

H.L. Burke

470 followers

Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.

An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, o ...more