What do you think?
Rate this book
Merlin Bloodstone #- Brewed Fortune
Renaissance Faire
Renaissance Faires have become increasingly popular the world around, often establishing themselves as annual events in specific locations. From jousts to feasts, plays to magic shows, from dancers and musicians to fortune-tellers and artisans, today's Faire-goers can find any number of events and people to catch their interest and spark their imagination. What a perfect setting for contemporary tales of a fantastical nature.
Now some of fantasy's most creative talents have taken up the challenge of telling all-original tales of encounters and enchantments set in and around Renaissance Faires.
From a master jeweler who unexpectedly gains a treasure beyond price...to a musician suddenly able to work magic with his strings...to a thief who picks the wrong mark--or perhaps the right one...to a policeman's encounter with Merlin and murder...here are fifteen spellbinding tales certain to captivate both Faire-goers and fantasy fans alike.
Now some of fantasy's most creative talents have taken up the challenge of telling all-original tales of encounters and enchantments set in and around Renaissance Faires.
From a master jeweler who unexpectedly gains a treasure beyond price...to a musician suddenly able to work magic with his strings...to a thief who picks the wrong mark--or perhaps the right one...to a policeman's encounter with Merlin and murder...here are fifteen spellbinding tales certain to captivate both Faire-goers and fantasy fans alike.
306 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 2005
About the author
Andre Norton
711 books1,431 followersAndre Norton, born Alice Mary Norton, was a pioneering American author of science fiction and fantasy, widely regarded as the Grande Dame of those genres. She also wrote historical and contemporary fiction, publishing under the pen names Andre Alice Norton, Andrew North, and Allen Weston. She launched her career in 1934 with The Prince Commands, adopting the name “Andre” to appeal to a male readership. After working for the Cleveland Library System and the Library of Congress, she began publishing science fiction under “Andrew North” and fantasy under her own name. She became a full-time writer in 1958 and was known for her prolific output, including Star Man’s Son, 2250 A.D. and Witch World, the latter spawning a long-running series and shared universe. Norton was a founding member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America and authored Quag Keep, the first novel based on the Dungeons & Dragons game. She influenced generations of writers, including Lois McMaster Bujold and Mercedes Lackey. Among her many honors were being the first woman named Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and SFWA Grand Master. In her later years, she established the High Hallack Library to support research in genre fiction. Her legacy continues with the Andre Norton Award for young adult science fiction and fantasy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 23, 2015
Jewels beyond Price - 3.5/5 stars
Diminishing chord - 3/5 stars
Splinter - 4/5 stars
Girolamo and Mistress Willendorf - 2.5/5 stars
A Time for Steel - 2/5 stars
One Hot Day - 3/5 stars
Wimpin' Wady - 5/5 stars
Brewed Fortune - 2/5 stars
Marriage a la Modred- 4/5 stars
A Dance of Seven Vales - 2.5/5 stars
Moses Miracles - 3/5 stars
Grok - 4/5 stars
Renaissance Fear - 5/5 stars
The Land of the Awful Shadow - 5/5 stars
Faire Likeness - 3/5 stars
Those in bold are the ones I like best. But I suppose my favorite will be Wimpin' Wady . I first read this a few years ago and since then I just fell in love with it. The characters were just so riveting. The rest that I rated less than three weren't really so awful, but I just couldn't feel them. This anthology is pretty much diverse. Some are light and humorous, while some delve on much darker themes. This really made me want to visit a Renaissance Faire one day, though. It does sound interesting.
Diminishing chord - 3/5 stars
Splinter - 4/5 stars
Girolamo and Mistress Willendorf - 2.5/5 stars
A Time for Steel - 2/5 stars
One Hot Day - 3/5 stars
Wimpin' Wady - 5/5 stars
Brewed Fortune - 2/5 stars
Marriage a la Modred- 4/5 stars
A Dance of Seven Vales - 2.5/5 stars
Moses Miracles - 3/5 stars
Grok - 4/5 stars
Renaissance Fear - 5/5 stars
The Land of the Awful Shadow - 5/5 stars
Faire Likeness - 3/5 stars
Those in bold are the ones I like best. But I suppose my favorite will be Wimpin' Wady . I first read this a few years ago and since then I just fell in love with it. The characters were just so riveting. The rest that I rated less than three weren't really so awful, but I just couldn't feel them. This anthology is pretty much diverse. Some are light and humorous, while some delve on much darker themes. This really made me want to visit a Renaissance Faire one day, though. It does sound interesting.
February 8, 2012
The stories in the book are mostly colorful and filled with sights and sounds of Renaissance Faires. I've never been to one, but they sound quite interesting from the descriptions here. It is a nice fantasy collection in general, though not all the stories are as good as the others. They fascinate me enough to want to visit a Ren Faire some day (I wish!), without any of the sinister magic of course.
April 25, 2009
A Renaissance faire, or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend gathering, usually held in the US, open to the public and generally commercial in nature, which emulates a historic period for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent theme parks, others are short-term events in fairgrounds or other large public or private spaces. Renaissance fairs generally include an abundance of costumed entertainers, musical and theatrical acts, art and handicrafts for sale, and festival food.
All stories featured make use of some fantastic encounters or occurrences to tell their stories:
"Jewels Beyond Price" by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough >> Nothing like a genie to make life interesting. Scratch that, a genie who has a laptop inside his magic lamp (or in this case, a cigarette lighter) to access their own server which was recently plagued with malicious ifrits. Now, that's one way of labelling a virus or ad-ware to be more "period" sounding!
"Diminished Chord" by Joe Haldeman >> Does not actually take place at a Faire, but it does make use of fantasy. A musician has a magical encounter with a mysterious woman and acquires something that allows him to become successful later (due to the large following his instrument--a chitarrone--makes. The closest to a Fair is a musical performance among other players of antiquated instruments at a gathering at a home.
"Splinter" by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta >> Is a somewhat nicely done moral lesson type of a story that brings in some historical personages and religious artifacts to educate a misguided and thieving young man.
"Girolamo and Mistress Willendorf" by John Maddox Roberts >> Is a story about an eternal conflict: the battle between established religion and paganism. It brings in classic religious items and a dash of a discussion about feminism.
"A Time for Steel" by Robert E. Vardeman >> Is a lame encounter between modern-day country police force and the real Merlin, and somehow working in the use of the Arthurian sword Excalibur.
"One Hot Day" by Stephen Gabriel >> Is one of the stories in the anthology that links an attendee of a Fair to the past by some mystical means, specifically an artifact pertaining to The Green Man or more accurately, The Jack-in-the Green (refer to my review of an anthology of this fascinating bit of folklore). The buildup was good, but the end was a bit sudden. The resolution itself, though, we nicely done.
"Wimpin' Wady" by Jayge Carr >> This one deals with faeries and changelings plus the somewhat forced issue of parental authority and how children of any race can be precocious.
"Brewed Fortune" by Michael Stackpole >> Using characters from a past story, the author uses a Renaissance Faire setting to tell a story about the assistant to an investigator that ties into the ancestry of that assistant's past. "People who come to the faire tend to drop into three groups--though the professionals call them all patrons, and volunteers tend to call them mundanes. The easiest to spot are the tourists. Then there are the faire-goers, who have been before and get into the spirit of things. These folks generally buy bits and pieces of garb over the years and come in some percentage of fancy dress. The third group gets just a bit scary. They are called playtrons and spend a lot of time at the faire. They fork out tons of money to put together an ensemble. They come to the festival all dressed-up, assume their own persona, and watch their favorite performeres wherever they are playing."
"Marriage A La Modred" by Esthner Friesner >> Is easily the worst story included in this collection--in fact, I think I'd rank it as one of the worst short stories I've ever read! A cocksure young man inadvertently gets his sister into trouble with a fantastic Faire-attendee, leading him to a noble decision to save her. The ending is lame, and most of the dialogue and developments nothing to write home about.
"A Dance of Seven Vales" by Rose Wolf >> This one has magical and mystical doings aiding preservation of the environment, and the many creatures that live therein.
"Moses' Miracles" by Roberta Gellis >> A collector of rare manuscripts and his assistant make an interesting acquiantance at a Faire. Linking ancient religion and New World civilizations in a more or less satisfactory way compared to the other stories in this volume, Gellis delivers one of the better stories in this book.
"Grok" by Donald J. Bingle >> Telling the sad story of a forgotten man whose only life takes place at the annual Faire.
"Renaissance Fear" by Stephen D. Sullivan >> Another lesson-story and unfortunately, another weary read of a time-travel story. While it is at least not as touchy-feely as most of the stories in this collection, the overriding lesson of being honest is not as valuable as the author thought it would be.
"The Land of the Awful Shadow" by Brian A. Hopkins >> The trials and tribulations of youth are the focus here, especially as they relate to alternate realities and people able to perceive them.
"Faire Likeness" by Andre Norton >> A wonderfully gifted artist and the magic he wields to produce his works is the focal point--which tended to get unfocused towards the latter part of the story.
Overall, the stories are lame, badly written, and condescending to the concept that they're supposed to be promoting.
Book Details:
Title Renaissance Faire
Author Edited by Andre Norton and Jean Rabe
Reviewed By Purplycookie
All stories featured make use of some fantastic encounters or occurrences to tell their stories:
"Jewels Beyond Price" by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough >> Nothing like a genie to make life interesting. Scratch that, a genie who has a laptop inside his magic lamp (or in this case, a cigarette lighter) to access their own server which was recently plagued with malicious ifrits. Now, that's one way of labelling a virus or ad-ware to be more "period" sounding!
"Diminished Chord" by Joe Haldeman >> Does not actually take place at a Faire, but it does make use of fantasy. A musician has a magical encounter with a mysterious woman and acquires something that allows him to become successful later (due to the large following his instrument--a chitarrone--makes. The closest to a Fair is a musical performance among other players of antiquated instruments at a gathering at a home.
"Splinter" by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta >> Is a somewhat nicely done moral lesson type of a story that brings in some historical personages and religious artifacts to educate a misguided and thieving young man.
"Girolamo and Mistress Willendorf" by John Maddox Roberts >> Is a story about an eternal conflict: the battle between established religion and paganism. It brings in classic religious items and a dash of a discussion about feminism.
"A Time for Steel" by Robert E. Vardeman >> Is a lame encounter between modern-day country police force and the real Merlin, and somehow working in the use of the Arthurian sword Excalibur.
"One Hot Day" by Stephen Gabriel >> Is one of the stories in the anthology that links an attendee of a Fair to the past by some mystical means, specifically an artifact pertaining to The Green Man or more accurately, The Jack-in-the Green (refer to my review of an anthology of this fascinating bit of folklore). The buildup was good, but the end was a bit sudden. The resolution itself, though, we nicely done.
"Wimpin' Wady" by Jayge Carr >> This one deals with faeries and changelings plus the somewhat forced issue of parental authority and how children of any race can be precocious.
"Brewed Fortune" by Michael Stackpole >> Using characters from a past story, the author uses a Renaissance Faire setting to tell a story about the assistant to an investigator that ties into the ancestry of that assistant's past. "People who come to the faire tend to drop into three groups--though the professionals call them all patrons, and volunteers tend to call them mundanes. The easiest to spot are the tourists. Then there are the faire-goers, who have been before and get into the spirit of things. These folks generally buy bits and pieces of garb over the years and come in some percentage of fancy dress. The third group gets just a bit scary. They are called playtrons and spend a lot of time at the faire. They fork out tons of money to put together an ensemble. They come to the festival all dressed-up, assume their own persona, and watch their favorite performeres wherever they are playing."
"Marriage A La Modred" by Esthner Friesner >> Is easily the worst story included in this collection--in fact, I think I'd rank it as one of the worst short stories I've ever read! A cocksure young man inadvertently gets his sister into trouble with a fantastic Faire-attendee, leading him to a noble decision to save her. The ending is lame, and most of the dialogue and developments nothing to write home about.
"A Dance of Seven Vales" by Rose Wolf >> This one has magical and mystical doings aiding preservation of the environment, and the many creatures that live therein.
"Moses' Miracles" by Roberta Gellis >> A collector of rare manuscripts and his assistant make an interesting acquiantance at a Faire. Linking ancient religion and New World civilizations in a more or less satisfactory way compared to the other stories in this volume, Gellis delivers one of the better stories in this book.
"Grok" by Donald J. Bingle >> Telling the sad story of a forgotten man whose only life takes place at the annual Faire.
"Renaissance Fear" by Stephen D. Sullivan >> Another lesson-story and unfortunately, another weary read of a time-travel story. While it is at least not as touchy-feely as most of the stories in this collection, the overriding lesson of being honest is not as valuable as the author thought it would be.
"The Land of the Awful Shadow" by Brian A. Hopkins >> The trials and tribulations of youth are the focus here, especially as they relate to alternate realities and people able to perceive them.
"Faire Likeness" by Andre Norton >> A wonderfully gifted artist and the magic he wields to produce his works is the focal point--which tended to get unfocused towards the latter part of the story.
Overall, the stories are lame, badly written, and condescending to the concept that they're supposed to be promoting.
Book Details:
Title Renaissance Faire
Author Edited by Andre Norton and Jean Rabe
Reviewed By Purplycookie
May 30, 2023
Very underwhelming and disappointing. The only decent writing was from Norton and Friesner.
Read
August 28, 2012Check out my story, "Grok."
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews