Tales of Feathers and Flames

Feathers & Flames

by John Bailey, K. Vale Nagle (Editor), J.F.R. Coates

Giant creatures stalk the world once more.

Revisit the world of Dire with seven new short stories and a full-length novel set in John Bailey's imaginative creature fantasy setting. See how new authors and old favorites alike explore a world of gryphons, opinici, and wyverns. Includes stories by JFR Coates, Alexander Bizzell, K. Vale Nagle, Glenn Birmingham, Saylor Ferguson, and M. H. Wolfe. Cover art by Fleeks Sputtelspecht and interior art by Maria Puenchir.

Contents:
-An Invisible Enemy
-Wolf Eyes
-Embers
-Dire Story
-Kitcarer
-Coldbright
-Your Dire Adventure
-Relwen

All stories were donated to support John Bailey. Buy it today to show your own support!

Genres: Dragons

378 pages, Hardcover

Published September 15, 2022

About the author

John is nonbinary and has been writing since they can remember and even before last Tuesday. Always having been a creative, their skills range from digital art to miniature painting, website design and fanfiction.

Their first notable foray into writing was their first book from 2004. While unpublished, it remained on their shelf as a reminder that he would one day publish a book of his own. Following this, their fanfiction endeavours led them to be a panelist at two conventions in Australia and remaining within the top 1000 list of that particular site.

Today they're a streamer, while still working on their second book, Blackbeak.

Reviews

[Andromeda]

I read this even though I hadn't read Dire yet because I'm a fan of quite a few of the authors here and wanted to see their contributions. Surprisingly, most of these stories are fairly accessible and highly enjoyable even without the context they were based on.

An Invisible Enemy by JFR Coates - Despite the initial setup of disease and death, a heartwarming story of gryphons from different cultures forming mutual respect for each other while trying to solve a mystery of a plague. A nice read.

Wolf Eyes by Saylor Ferguson - The first of a trilogy of connected short stories by Saylor Ferguson. Really interesting setup and a satisfying payoff. It's probably my least favorite of the three, but it's still really satisfying and enjoyable, and Stell and Relwen are fantastic characters.

Embers by M. H. Wolfe - I get this sense that this story ties more directly into the events of Dire because I feel like I'm missing context. Nevertheless, I did think it was a fun read, and it was nice to see some wyverns!

Dire Story by Alexander Bizzell - A nice little character scene that builds well off of the last story. Still feels like it ties into Dire more directly in a way that really made my missing context feel apparent, but it's mostly just a scene of two characters talking. Alexander Bizzell's style is quirky in a way that gives it a sense of personality regardless of being the shortest of the offerings here.

Coldbright by K. Vale Nagle - It's not really a fair competition since K. Vale Nagle brought a 200 page novel to a short story fight, but for my money Coldbright is the best story of the bunch. Taking all of her novels separately, this is some of her best work yet. The plot is so tightly paced yet atmospheric and moody and mysterious, and the characters are really lovely. It's basically a queer folk horror mystery with gryphons, and if that isn't enough to get you invested I don't know what would be. This collection is worth buying for this story alone.

Your Dire Adventure by Glenn Birmingham - A fun and honestly really creative type of story to bring to this collection. I love Glenn's writing and had a fun time seeing what impact each of my decisions made and how to get all the endings. I like the nod to Coldbright too. This one feels like an extension of the same angle that Embers and Dire Story were taking, but the format and presentation makes it more accessible regardless.

Relwen by Saylor Ferguson - My favorite of the short stories and the last of the Saylor Ferguson trilogy in this collection. A beautiful, bittersweet and heartfelt tale of family, friendship, home, growing up and moving on to round out the collection.

This was a highly enjoyable read that got me to finally purchase a copy of Dire. I love the world that's been explored here and I love the different types of projects and angles that each of the authors here took. Whether or not you've read Dire, if you like gryphon fiction I recommend you check this out.

[Rakeela Windrider]

I came here for Kitcarer, and I loved it, but I couldn't just read one story. I had to read the whole anthology. All of the stories were great. Coldbright in particular was like reading an entire extra novel in the Dire setting, which was completely amazing. Plus, Coldbright is a HORROR STORY. I have read fewer horror stories in my life than I have fingers on both hands, and not only did I get to read a really excellent horror story here, it was a horror story where all of the characters (except the monster) were gryphs!

[cockatiel forger]

This was a great collection, and a good expansion to explore the world of Dire!

An Invisible Enemy - 4 stars
This was cute, I liked the way she realised that wilders weren't different from normal gryphons and they could work together.

Wolf Eyes - 4 stars
I enjoyed the bond between Stell and Relwen, and it was great that Stell got appointed to the position of kitcarer even though she was a half-breed!

Embers - 4 stars
A much needed insight into the wyvern's POV! I felt like I was back at the beginning of Dire. It was nice reading about Kinira's character as well and her motivations behind the attack.

Dire Story - 4 stars
This was short but sweet. Nice little snippet of "what! Rada's clan is gone?!" Alexander Bizzel's writing style usually centres itself around dialogue, and some statements were hilarious. The design of the macaw gryphon sounds interesting.

Kitcarer - 3.5 stars
A good continuation of the previous story, Wolf Eyes. Felt like it was a little slow and unnecessary but the romance between Stell and Lila was cute. I'm glad they became mates.

Coldbright - 5 stars
Like another reviewer said, it isn't really fair to compare a 200 page novel to 10-20 page short stories, but Coldbright was amazing. Just the right amount of thriller/mystery with some spooky undertones! The end of the book seemed really bleak - will Trisk die? There's a kirin? A dire hippogryph?! But I'm really glad the ending turned out ok, and that everyone survived. The hippogryphs were kind of frustrating though. Liked Trisk, he reminded me of a mix between Zeph and Younce and Shard and Eural, if that makes sense. (it does not) The ongoing moose joke between Njorn and Trisk made me laugh, and Yenni was great.

Your Dire Adventure - 3 stars
Not really into choose-your-own-adventure stories, so this one didn't really pique my interest. That being said, it was another good insight into the wyverns before they attacked Rada's clan.

Relwen - 4.5 stars
My favourite of the short stories after Dire Story, this was a great insight into Relwen's POV. I had a feeling she was being left out so it was nice she discovered where she belonged. And her final goodbye to Stell was heartbreaking.

Overall, an amazing anthology! If you liked Dire or heck, even Gryphon Insurrection, this is a good book to pick up!

Original review: Enjoying this so far! The short stories are good length, and I hope that Coldbright is good!