Jan 2020 Anthology BotM: Unfettered edited by Shawn Speakman

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

The January 2020 Anthology book of the month is Unfettered edited by Shawn Speakman.

This book has been in print since June 2013 so there should hopefully be many different editions available. Please check your local library and/or favorite book retailer.

Please remember to use spoiler tags < spoiler > < /spoiler > when discussing.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Started yet?

I will be soon. Wanted to finish the Rogues anthology first, and just wrapped that up a few minutes ago.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Ok, so I started.. Just read the foreword and the introduction. These are both worth the couple of minutes they take.

In short, fuck cancer.

I'll start the stories soon. It's late and I have to work tomorrow.

[Nyssa]

I started the Forward, then read the Introduction. I'm reading the first story, Imaginary Friends, now, but I keep getting distracted.

[Becky]

I have not started, but will after I finish my current book.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

I read the introduction and the forward. Agreed. Fuck Cancer.

I'm going to start the first short sometime today, hopefully.

[Nyssa]

I appreciated the humor of the Forward and the honesty of the Introduction.

Imaginary Friends was sweet, sad, and predictable. I wanted a little more ... oompf, surprise, magic (?) I give it an emotion-driven three.

I have a feeling that the collection of stories won't be as "unfettered" as we were led to believe. I hope, though, that I am wrong.

[Becky]

I read the foreword, and sure, fuck cancer, but cancer is just a naturally occurring shitty situation. How about fuck our "healthcare" system that abandons people when they most need it and drives them to the edge of destitution in the name of profitability? Fuck THAT.

I'm glad that Speakman has famous friends to help support him like this... But millions of other people in the same situation are on their own.

We need better than this.

/Soapbox

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Agreed on "Imaginary Friends". Well written and interesting, but fairly predictable. It's related to his Word & Void series, but not as much as I thought it would be. It's more a rough draft of things to come, and was very different in the execution.

"How Old Holly Came to Be" - Rothfuss. (view spoiler)[Eh. Enjoyable enough, but reads like a piece of kids fairy tale. I suppose it's a fairy tale told in Kvothe's world. Quick to get through and not bad. (hide spoiler)]

I was actually more interested in his note before the story, where he mentions how long it takes him to finish anything hehe

Becky - agreed.

[Nyssa]

Becky wrote: "I read the foreword, and sure, fuck cancer, but cancer is just a naturally occurring shitty situation. How about fuck our "healthcare" system that abandons people when they most need it and drives ..."

Agreed!!


The Rothfuss selection, How Old Holly Came to Be, wasn't for me.
(view spoiler)[
In his own words: "The story itself is a little odd."
I rarely connect with the abstract. I believe that is why I tend not to relate to most written poetry (as opposed to song). This story felt like poetry in the form of prose.
To sum up my experience, "None of them were warm or cold. None of them were good or bad". (hide spoiler)]

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Yes, Nyssa. I invited someone here on the basis of reading a book with a Rothfuss story, and now I feel I misrepresented lol.

[Nyssa]

Lol He does warn readers in his intro, so I say that lets you off the hook. ;)

[Ala]

Imaginary Friends: Predictable, but cool to see where Word & Void started. 3 Stars.

How Old Holly Came to Be: The hell is this shit. Do not like this style at all. Was hoping for something more like The Slow Regard of Silent Things instead we get shitty spoken word poetry. 1 Star.

The Old Scale Game: Is... is this where the movie Dragonheart came from? Not bad, bit of a chuckle. 3 Stars.

Game of Chance: Not a bad idea, just didn't grab me though. 2 Stars.

[Nyssa]

I plan to read The Old Scale Game tonight. My goal is one story a day.

[Nyssa]

Nyssa wrote: "I plan to read The Old Scale Game tonight. My goal is one story a day."

The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams

I really enjoyed the silliness of this tale. There came a moment where I had a notion of where the story was headed, but there was just enough of a twist to make the ending unexpected. I had to chuckle. :D

[Becky]

Ok I read Imaginary Friends and yeah, I agree with the comments here. Cute, well written, but predictable. I just don't know if I'm into YA fantasy quests of that type anymore.

[Becky]

How old Holly Came to Be: Ummm... 'kay.

I have only read The Name of the Wind from Rothfuss, and despite myself, I didn't hate it. But I never had any further urgings to read more of his work. And I feel justified in that decision today.

[Becky]

The Old Scale Game: I've never read any Tad Williams before, but I really enjoyed it. I wonder if his other work is similar in feel?

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Becky wrote: "The Old Scale Game: I've never read any Tad Williams before, but I really enjoyed it. I wonder if his other work is similar in feel?"

I've read a lot of his short stories and always enjoyed them. Never tried a novel, but I've heard that they're sometimes a slog. He might be one of those that's better in the short form. I do mean to try some novels eventually.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

The Old Scale Game was good, and i'd pretty much echo the comments already placed.

Game of Chance - I can see where you're coming from, Ala. I enjoyed it more than you did though. I doubt i'd want to read a full length novel from this idea.

[Ala]

Spent the weekend watching football and only managed to read another 3 stories.

Martyr of the Roses: Decent. Some nice imagery. 3 Stars.

Mudboy: Again, decent. Readable. 3 Stars.

The Sound of Broken Absolutes: I really liked the ideas in this one and wouldn't mind reading a full novel/series about this world. 4 Stars.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Martyr of the Roses: Wasn't crazy about this one. It started out with good imagery but lost me by the end.

Mudboy: I definitely liked this one. It was cool to get back into the Demon Cycle world.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

Imaginary Friends... as with everyone else. Meh. It was fine. Better than any other Brooks I've read...but that's not saying much. 3.5 stars

[Becky]

Game of Chance: I agree with you, Ala. The premise was interesting, but the execution was... what? (view spoiler)[ I was VERY confused when Major died, not only from his shouting "No!" at the very moment that Main Character girl was doing her nudge thing, but also because the rules were not clearly laid out for interference, and what it meant to be "outside the world". I imagined that it was something like a secret society with ability to alter things from behind the scenes and teleport, not that they were literally living in a separate dimension.

After Major died, I feel like the story died with it. Not that he was any vital character to me, but he was to the main character I can't even remember the name of. It was just kinda... meh.

I was annoyed when they recruited her (Gemma?? Was that it?) and then couldn't be bothered to actually listen to anything she had to say, even after she was successful with her ideas. The whole concept of Major speaking for her annoyed me - more because he's like "I don't mind speaking for you" rather than standing up for her and encouraging her to speak for herself and others to take her seriously... but that's 21st century feminist, not time period specific, ideals.

So in the end, I was glad that she went her own way, but the way and SLOWNESS of it was just boring. The whole story was kinda boring. (hide spoiler)]

[Becky]

Martyr of the Roses - Meh. I didn't really get or care for this one. I have read Kushiel's Dart, and wasn't terribly impressed. There's a lot, a LOT, history and political tension behind Jacqueline Carey's writing, and a story set in that world without the knowledge of all of that background, it just doesn't work for me.

But then there are other things, like how did they know a crime had even been committed? A guy is sitting on a boulder and yelling, and apparently that means a crime has been committed? I don't get it.

None of it made sense to me, and I don't care about how pretty someone is, even if they are pretty enough to stop traffic. That's not enough to make a story to me. *shrug*

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

Imaginary Friends was super predictable and, imo, the writing was pretty bland. 2 stars.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Becky wrote: "Martyr of the Roses - Meh. I didn't really get or care for this one. I have read Kushiel's Dart, and wasn't terribly impressed. There's a lot, a LOT, history and political tension behind Jacqueline..."

Yes, lots and lots and lots of name dropping and it was lost to me without the context of knowing anything about it (or caring).

[Becky]

Yes, exactly... Also, I couldn't help but think of the main character (Chretain) as "cretin".

[Ala]

I remember nothing about the Kushiel series and I'm pretty sure I read them all. Still, I was ok with that short.

The Coach with the Big Teeth: Started normal, went off the rails. I get what it was going for(I think) but not a fan of the execution. 2 Stars.

Keeper of Memory: Dragons, yay. I kinda dug it, I guess? The twist was twisty enough? I wouldn't be averse to an entire novel built around this idea, maybe. But still... kinda meh? 2.5 Stars, I suppose.

[Becky]

I think I would have liked it better as a standalone story, Ala. If it was intended to be just a snapshot, a small piece of story and that's all, then let it be that, but it seemed like it wanted to be both a snapshot story AND a piece of a larger world with historical and religious and political context that we're not give in the story, so it felt like something was missing to me.

But maybe I'm just not that big a fan of Jacqueline Carey's writing. This and KD are the only things I've read of hers and I haven't really found much to enjoy in either one.

[Ala]

It might just be bad and I'm not caring enough to look at it critically. I'm being hella lazy with these reviews and being a bit generous.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

Finished "How Old Holly Came to Be" and....ummm WTF? I mean, I understood it but at the same time, I did not. I did not enjoy it, I just read it. 1.5 stars

Currently reading The Old Scale Game. So far, I'm liking it.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

Joining the chorus of wtf with Old Holly. 1 star.

See what Chris means about Scale Game. Definite Dragonheart vibes, if written for MG level. I liked the turn it went in the end. Generous 3 stars (more 2.5)

[Ala]

Heaven in a Wildflower: Yay Samoans! Boo everything else in this story! I don't know why, but I didn't like this at all. It's barely above Rothfuss' story. 1 Star.

Dogs: Meh. 2 Stars.

The Chapel Perilous: Iron Druid. Eh. 2.5 Stars.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

Game of Chance is my favourite so far. It's the first once where I cared about the characters at all, though I was also annoyed with Gerald. Like, why bother (view spoiler)[recruiting her and then never listening?

I liked the sort of moral about the focus on little things and the importance of just living. (hide spoiler)]

[Ala]

@Colleen, Yeah, that was one of my issues with that story. That part just made no sense. Like, why even bother in the first place?

[Ala]

Select Mode: It was ok I guess. A glimpse into that world. The (view spoiler)[abandoned tech from a world gone by (hide spoiler)] was kinda interesting, but dunno if I feel like reading more from this character. 2.5 Stars.

All the Girls Love Michael Stein: Cute. Nice set-up for a longer story. I'd probably give a full novella a chance, but don't think I'd go for a whole series or anything. 3 Stars.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

The Sound of Broken Absolutes - wow, didn't care for that at all. That disappointed, as I've read other stuff in this world that I've really enjoyed. Some good concepts, i just couldn't get my head around it.

[Becky]

Chris wrote: "The Sound of Broken Absolutes - wow, didn't care for that at all. That disappointed, as I've read other stuff in this world that I've really enjoyed. Some good concepts, i just couldn't get my head..."

That's the one I'm on and yeah... It's not looking good for me either. I just don't like reading about music very much in books, I think. And then the opening section very much killed my interest. (view spoiler)[ The teacher guy knowing the kid's dad is dead, and blathering on about music and shit, seemingly completely ignoring the kid and just continuing his lesson, which is ACTUALLY a really roundabout way of saying "hey your dad's already kicked it, so stay here and play my magical musical masterpiece" was a total dick move. And then he's shocked, SHOCKED! that the meeting went badly.

What a douche. (hide spoiler)]

And that's where I stopped. I might just skip the rest of that story and move on. I honestly don't care what happens at all.

[Ala]

Welp. I'm broken. That's the only one I've really liked so far.

[Ala]

Strange Rain: Sorta interesting but eh. 2.5 Stars.

Nocturne: Boring. So, so boring. And it just didn't want to fucking end. No Stars.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

Ala wrote: "@Colleen, Yeah, that was one of my issues with that story. That part just made no sense. Like, why even bother in the first place?"

I mean, I guess we could assume that Gerard didn't want her, but Major did and Gerard was sort of just doing it for him? Though if that is the case it could've been addressed in, like, one line...

[Becky]

I think Gerard wanted her, but only as a tool.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

Becky wrote: "I think Gerard wanted her, but only as a tool."


Fair point. He seemed to want them all as tools. He asked them for ideas, but didn't really want them to have ideas of their own outside of his notions of the "right way" and his agenda.

Sort of like my bosses. Hmm...

[Becky]

Pretty much.

[Felina]

Ala wrote: "How Old Holly Came to Be: The hell is this shit”

Ala has spoken perfectly my thoughts on this story(?) Not a fan.

Like everybody else, Imaginary Friends was fine, predictable. Whatever.

Moving on.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Becky wrote: "Chris wrote: "The Sound of Broken Absolutes - wow, didn't care for that at all. That disappointed, as I've read other stuff in this world that I've really enjoyed. Some good concepts, i just couldn..."

That was the best part of the story lol

[Becky]

Well... you know, I went back to it, and I think that it might actually be growing on me. I don't have NEARLY the level of musical knowledge that apparently is warranted with this story, but I am starting to like that Orullian does. It's not like other stories featuring music that I haven't liked - there seems to be actual valid music knowledge there and meaning. It's not just music included because why not, or because all the cool kids are in traveling music troupes or whatever.

Anyway, it has turned around for me, so far, from the opening D-bag scene.

[Felina]

The Old Scale Game was cute. I’ve never read Tad Williams.

Game of Chance, interesting concept. I enjoyed it.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

Martyr of the Roses - knowing nothing of Kushiel, this didn't do much for me. Too much about politics and religion that I didn't grok or care about behind the basic "the big religion of the people is shockingly corrupt". 2-stars, I guess.