"Three delightful fantasy tales"
Counting Crows by Mercedes Lackey starts out this
collection of fantasy tales. Gwynnhwyfar has just been wed
via a "glove" marriage to a man she doesn't want.
Unfortunately, it is the only way to protect her father
from a greedy neighboring landowner, and save herself from
being forced to marry that same man. Upon arrival at the
faraway land of her new husband, she finds her marriage to
be far from a dream come true. With only her trusted
maidservant and an old friend in service to her new
husband, whom she loved with all the passion of her
girlhood, she sets out to make the best of a bad
situation, with a lot of magical help. This story is a look marriage in olden times and how
little power women had but with the twist of powerful
magic added to it. Gwynn is a proud young woman, brave and
loving, who will do anything to protect those she loves,
even if it means sacrificing herself. The twist at the end
of the story will surprise readers, as it is quite
unexpected. One especially interesting aspect of this
story is that the beginning and ending of the story are
told from the point of view of a crow that just happens to
be there. Reading about the humans from the perspective of
a scavenger bird, puts a different spin on the tale. Next up in this trio of stories is Drusilla's Dream
by Rachel Lee. Drusilla Morgan is a data entry tech on
graveyard shift at GalaxyCom who passes the monotony at
work by spinning daydreams in her mind. In this particular
fantasy she is a princess on a quest to find a magical key
that will save her kingdom from destruction. Along the way
she meets up with an animal tamer who surprisingly enough
resembles Miles Kennedy, night time computer security, who
is responsible for keeping all the computers running
smoothly. What happens when these two get together, even
if only in her imagination? Or is it only a dream? This reviewer feels this was the weakest story of the
collection. The premise is interesting, having the entire
story take place as a daydream, with occasional
interruptions from real life. Unfortunately it fell flat.
Some parts of the daydream came across as being clichéd,
with a little bit of everything one would expect in a
fantasy all just thrown in to add to the story. Some parts
were quite original though, such as the master of the
rivers, which add something extra to the novella. Also,
the ending was unique, in how our hero and heroine are
brought together. Yet it just didn't quite come together
for this particular reader. The final story in this book is Moonglow by
Catherine Asaro. Iris Larkspur is a young mountain girl
who was born with powerful mage abilities. When Della No-
Cozen, Head Mage to the Royal family, discovers her no one
expected what was to come. Iris has not been able to grasp
how to cast spells for her power comes from a different
place than most mages. Once she finds the key to her
magic, her life is irrevocably changed when she is
betrothed to the heir to the throne of Aronsdale. However,
Prince Jarid is a tortured young man, captured in a prison
of his own making as a result of something he did as a
young boy. Will Iris' magic... and their love... be enough
to free him once and for all? This story takes place in the same world as Ms. Asaro's
The Charmed Sphere. What is especially enjoyable is that
this story actually takes place at the same time as some
key parts of the full-length novel. Those who have read
both stories will enjoy seeing some of the exact same
scenes through different points of view. This story in
itself is not especially deep. Had this reviewer not
already read the other book, Moonglow would likely have
left her feeling unfulfilled. Iris and Jarid are
fascinating characters, flawed in many ways and having
doubts in themselves. It was enjoyable to get a more in
depth look at them. The magical land of Aronsdale is a
wonderful place to visit, with an extremely distinctive
kind of power. If readers are looking for a brief escape from reality and
an adventure in another world, these stories will fit the
bill quite nicely. Each one is different, written in
different styles, but all sharing the common factor of
magic in another land. © Kelley A. Hartsell, August 2005. All rights reserved.
Reviewed by Kelley Hartsell
Courtesy Love Romances
Posted October 4, 2005
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