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Book review: The Essential Bordertown, edited by Windling & Sherman
Print date: 1998 (20s: 1, 50s: 2, 60s: 4, 70s: 10, 80s: 9, 90s: 10, 00s: 27, 10s: 2)
Verdict: Keep and pass to as many people as possible. (45/103)
I walked into this one knowing I was going to love it, despite never having it recommended to me by anyone. It's writers and editors I respect doing short fiction in a shared world that sounds like War for the Oaks. Not only that, but this one's actually several anthologies into the series, so everyone really knew what they were doing-- but it was designed as an intro for new readers, so I wasn't going to get lost.
Just, wow. It's amazing. I'd go so far as dazzling. This is a book I want to hug, or drink a toast to.
Bordertown is just about the perfect urban fantasy setting. It's scrappy, dirty, and dangerous but also wildly energetic and surprisingly beautiful. All the residents are outcasts and outsiders in a new world, so there's about equal parts bitterness and hope-- and they come from all over (in two worlds!), so the setting is hugely diverse while confining itself to one city. Plus it's built-in that nothing ever goes like you expect, especially magic, so life in town is many things but never, ever boring.
And then there are the stories themselves, written to a one with such obvious love-- all deeply personal, intimate stories. The emotions here are true as true, the people funny and struggling and real. The characters are all misfits in their own worlds and minds and yet you can't help but connect with them. They represent something we've all felt, the uncertainty you get when you're close to something real and important and have to decide who exactly it is you want to be. And a lot of them figure out how to make their own magic.
Read it and find out. I'll lend you my copy.
Page count: 379 (23129 total)
Completed: 65 (29 female authors, 30 male authors, 6 anthology)
Rejected: 38 (23 male authors, 15 female authors)
Next book due: Sunday, November 27th
Verdict: Keep and pass to as many people as possible. (45/103)
I walked into this one knowing I was going to love it, despite never having it recommended to me by anyone. It's writers and editors I respect doing short fiction in a shared world that sounds like War for the Oaks. Not only that, but this one's actually several anthologies into the series, so everyone really knew what they were doing-- but it was designed as an intro for new readers, so I wasn't going to get lost.
Just, wow. It's amazing. I'd go so far as dazzling. This is a book I want to hug, or drink a toast to.
Bordertown is just about the perfect urban fantasy setting. It's scrappy, dirty, and dangerous but also wildly energetic and surprisingly beautiful. All the residents are outcasts and outsiders in a new world, so there's about equal parts bitterness and hope-- and they come from all over (in two worlds!), so the setting is hugely diverse while confining itself to one city. Plus it's built-in that nothing ever goes like you expect, especially magic, so life in town is many things but never, ever boring.
And then there are the stories themselves, written to a one with such obvious love-- all deeply personal, intimate stories. The emotions here are true as true, the people funny and struggling and real. The characters are all misfits in their own worlds and minds and yet you can't help but connect with them. They represent something we've all felt, the uncertainty you get when you're close to something real and important and have to decide who exactly it is you want to be. And a lot of them figure out how to make their own magic.
Read it and find out. I'll lend you my copy.
Page count: 379 (23129 total)
Completed: 65 (29 female authors, 30 male authors, 6 anthology)
Rejected: 38 (23 male authors, 15 female authors)
Next book due: Sunday, November 27th