Fall Into Fantasy 2018 Edition

Fall Into Fantasy #2

by Andrew M. Ferrell (Editor), Jaap Boekestein, Bill Davidson

Fall Into Fantasy returns with thirteen new stories to delight your imagination. You’ll see some familiar names and some brand new authors in this edition. Check inside for some great stories Boekestein, Bill Davidson, Anna O’Brien, Andrew Sweetapple, Carrie Gessner, Mark Easterday, S. A. McKenzie, Dwain Campbell, Jennifer Lee Rossman, Owen Morgan, David O’Hanlon, Tony Conaway, and Austin Worley.These authors have worked hard to bring you exciting new adventures in magic, the supernatural, and mythical creatures. We hope you’ll laugh, cry, and maybe think a little bit just like we did when we read these tales.

205 pages, Paperback

Published December 27, 2018

About the author

Andrew M. Ferrell was born in Florence, South Carolina where his love of books was fostered at a young age by all of his family, but his grandfather in particular. After graduating high school, Andrew worked in several fields involving computers, quality control, and logistics. He also moved from living in Ohio to Northeast Wisconsin. He never gave up his dream of writing and published his first book in July of 2014, Beginnings - Family Heritage Volume 1. There are more planned in this series. An expanded Second Edition was released in 2016 along with his novella, Haunting of House 1273. Andrew splits his writing time with his family: his wonderfully supportive wife, their children, and two attention seeking dogs.

You can visit his blog at http://Andrewmferrell.com

Reviews

[Jennifer Lee Rossman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate giving bad reviews to anthologies I have stories in. I feel like I'm betraying them somehow, because we're supposed to be a team or a family or something, if that makes any sense. Am I not supposed to give reviews if they aren't positive? But that feels disingenuous, and I feel like it's my duty to honestly report my experiences to protect others from harmful stories.

(If I'm breaking some unwritten author code, please tell me.)

There are good stories in this book. One standout is Fluffy, about a pink werewolf. (Yes, it's super adorbs.) But most of them fell short.

Okay, some of them are definitely an "it's not you, it's me" thing. The subgenres of fantasy represented are vast and varied and I'm not the biggest fan of high fantasy, so it takes a LOT to keep me from skimming those in the best of circumstances.

But then there's the editing. Or lack thereof. Look, no one is perfect, but three typos on the very first page is not a great sign.

Finally, some of the stories were kind of offensive. In one, a man totally renames a woman rather than learn to pronounce her name. Ableist slurs (and some racial ones) are common.

One story (which was an intriguing concept, which is the only reason I read to the end, but content warnings for sexual assault would have been nice) features a bad guy who rounds up women and changes them into less desirable races so people will care less when they are raped???????[insert infinity question marks]

Like I said, I hate giving bad ratings to books that I'm in, but I'm not proud of this one and I'm not super duper glad I read it.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this collection, and I definitely found some new authors to read. I liked being able to skip around and find a story that clicked with me. I enjoyed all the stories, and loved a few. The writing is descriptive and you kind of get lost in the stories. I would love to have spent a little longer in the worlds introduced here, and I have to admit I was a little sad when I finished the book. I look forward to reading more by the authors in this collection.