Truth Until Paradox (World of Darkness)

Rating:
Summary: Magick made real - a face for the Traditions
Review: I believe this is a very good collection of short stories set within the Mage (RPG) genre. Among its many stories, it hits upon each of the nine Traditions at least once, depicting them in a more 'human' light than the books describe. While its easy for players to read the Core game book and make characters, actually reading a story describing how some of these wonderous beings 'think' sheds a new light upon the whole game.

Many parts of the stories delve into the actual gaming rules, which makes it seem all the more real. An experienced gamer can even learn a thing or two about some 'tricks' to use in their own games. Even if you're not a fan of the Game itself, the short stories are entertaining and definately worth the time to read.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but of spotty quality.
Review: This is a collection of short stories set in the "World of Darkness" that is the backdrop for the "Mage" role playing game. Many of the stories are quite interesting and well-written; a few more are either one or the other. A few were just not up to professional standards. In general, this is a fairly interesting read, but I do wish that they had better quality control: the number of typos and other proofreading errors was higher than should be found in a professionally edited book.

The first story, "The Crystal Messiah", by Philip Nutman, started well, but the ending looked as if the author had missed his deadline, and had to rush 25+ pages of story into a one-page summary.

Next, "The Great Escape", by Edo van Belkom, was interesting and well-written (being one of the few stories in the volume in which I DIDN'T find a typo, grammatical error, or malaprop) but I thought that the basic idea was a rather trivial conflict, even if it was potentially deadly.

"Introit", by Jackie Cassada, was perhaps the best of the lot except for the stories by Kevin Andrew Murphy and James A. Moore; again, there were no glaring errors, but more importantly, the characters were well-developed, the plot moved well and seemed reasonable, and the ending was satisfying.

"When The Moon", by James S. Dorr, was not bad; it had its share of typos, and I can't really say that it resonated with me, but it was a fair story, fairly told.

"That Which Is Given", by Don Bassingthwaite, again had its share of errors, but other than that was a very interesting story, very well told.

"Waiting For Yesterday", by Brett Brooks, was a well-told story, and fairly interesting, but I found the ending less than satisfying.

"Candledark", by Thomas S. Roche, was a moderately interesting story, more sloppily proofed than most, with interesting characters, and a somewhat implausible ending.

"Make 'Em Laugh", by James Lowder, had no obvious errors in the text, and was a marvellous story with interesting characters and a very satisfying ending.

"A Block Of Time", by Jane M. Lindskold, had a bit more than its share of errors, but was otherwise an interesting and enjoyable read.

"The Judas Tree", by Richard Lee Byers, was an interesting story too, but had WAY too many errors to be considered professional (I count 11 in a twenty page story). Professionals proofread their own work, Richard.

"End Run", by Nigel D. Findley, was not the most interesting of stories, but it was told in an interesting first-person style, and was error-free other than misspelling "tinnitus" as "titinus".

"Pushing The Right Buttons", by Doug Murray, was another sloppily unprofessional story (eight typos in fourteen pages); other than that, it was an only passable story anyway.

"Dreamspeaker", by Bill Crider, had only one typo that I noticed ("through" used when "throw" was meant), but while the story was interesting in general, there was to my mind a flaw in the basic storyline.

"Devil's Bargain", by Thomas Kane, was a fairly interesting story with only somewhat more than its share of typos.

"Silver Nutmeg, Golden Pear" and its sequel, "Grim Reminders", both by Kevin Andrew Murphy and James A. Moore (the first story primarily by the former, the second primarily by the latter),were unquestionably the best of the lot. The characters were delightful, the plot fascinating, and the writing good. Murphy managed to get through a 38 page story with only one noticeable glitch, and Moore 26 pages with three. But these stories were good enough that I'd have been willing to overlook far more typos. I hope to see more writing by these two.

Finally, "The Seven Sages Of The Bamboo Grove", by John H. Steele, was unquestionably the weakest story in the collection. There was only one typo, but the story itself was disjointed, a confusing attempt at being artistic, and neither the plot (such as I was able to follow it) nor the characters were even marginally interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but of spotty quality.
Review: This is a collection of short stories set in the "World of Darkness" that is the backdrop for the "Mage" role playing game. Many of the stories are quite interesting and well-written; a few more are either one or the other. A few were just not up to professional standards. In general, this is a fairly interesting read, but I do wish that they had better quality control: the number of typos and other proofreading errors was higher than should be found in a professionally edited book.

The first story, "The Crystal Messiah", by Philip Nutman, started well, but the ending looked as if the author had missed his deadline, and had to rush 25+ pages of story into a one-page summary.

Next, "The Great Escape", by Edo van Belkom, was interesting and well-written (being one of the few stories in the volume in which I DIDN'T find a typo, grammatical error, or malaprop) but I thought that the basic idea was a rather trivial conflict, even if it was potentially deadly.

"Introit", by Jackie Cassada, was perhaps the best of the lot except for the stories by Kevin Andrew Murphy and James A. Moore; again, there were no glaring errors, but more importantly, the characters were well-developed, the plot moved well and seemed reasonable, and the ending was satisfying.

"When The Moon", by James S. Dorr, was not bad; it had its share of typos, and I can't really say that it resonated with me, but it was a fair story, fairly told.

"That Which Is Given", by Don Bassingthwaite, again had its share of errors, but other than that was a very interesting story, very well told.

"Waiting For Yesterday", by Brett Brooks, was a well-told story, and fairly interesting, but I found the ending less than satisfying.

"Candledark", by Thomas S. Roche, was a moderately interesting story, more sloppily proofed than most, with interesting characters, and a somewhat implausible ending.

"Make 'Em Laugh", by James Lowder, had no obvious errors in the text, and was a marvellous story with interesting characters and a very satisfying ending.

"A Block Of Time", by Jane M. Lindskold, had a bit more than its share of errors, but was otherwise an interesting and enjoyable read.

"The Judas Tree", by Richard Lee Byers, was an interesting story too, but had WAY too many errors to be considered professional (I count 11 in a twenty page story). Professionals proofread their own work, Richard.

"End Run", by Nigel D. Findley, was not the most interesting of stories, but it was told in an interesting first-person style, and was error-free other than misspelling "tinnitus" as "titinus".

"Pushing The Right Buttons", by Doug Murray, was another sloppily unprofessional story (eight typos in fourteen pages); other than that, it was an only passable story anyway.

"Dreamspeaker", by Bill Crider, had only one typo that I noticed ("through" used when "throw" was meant), but while the story was interesting in general, there was to my mind a flaw in the basic storyline.

"Devil's Bargain", by Thomas Kane, was a fairly interesting story with only somewhat more than its share of typos.

"Silver Nutmeg, Golden Pear" and its sequel, "Grim Reminders", both by Kevin Andrew Murphy and James A. Moore (the first story primarily by the former, the second primarily by the latter),were unquestionably the best of the lot. The characters were delightful, the plot fascinating, and the writing good. Murphy managed to get through a 38 page story with only one noticeable glitch, and Moore 26 pages with three. But these stories were good enough that I'd have been willing to overlook far more typos. I hope to see more writing by these two.

Finally, "The Seven Sages Of The Bamboo Grove", by John H. Steele, was unquestionably the weakest story in the collection. There was only one typo, but the story itself was disjointed, a confusing attempt at being artistic, and neither the plot (such as I was able to follow it) nor the characters were even marginally interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Book 3 of SanFrancisco Chronicles. A Mage Book. GREAT!
Review: This is an anthology of stories, each threaded together taking place over Halloween weekend in San Francisco. While Sleepers believe in a world of physical laws, mages understand that reality is shapable and reshapable as needed. Coicidence does not exist! Great book because no single point pierces the veil that lets you declare absolutely that this is fiction. It just might be true! In fact, everything is true, simultaneously, until the human mind fails and conceives paradox!