Rating: 
Summary: BUY THE ANTHOLOGIES INSTEAD....
Review: Lack of imagination, thin characterizations and watery plots made the "Bordertown" series not at all to my personal cup of tea. Ms. Windling writes beautifully in "The Wood Wife". These books are dated and precious.
Rating: 
Summary: enjoyable teen fiction
Review: Most of the short stories in this collection have been written for teens, and older readers might find many of the stories a little trying.Bordertown is a shared universe created for those people young enough or naive enough to imagine that being a homeless, unwashed, aspiring Artist automatically makes someone interesting. Nearly everyone in Bordertown, it seems, is a runaway, a musician, a member of the SCA, an elf, or [dear me] all of the above. Still, the stories are fun, and most of them are readable. "Argentine", by Ellen Steiber, I thought the best of the bunch: a wonderful love and redemption story set in Bordertown's El Barrio. Other notables include: "How Shannaro Tolkinson Lost and Found His Heart" by Felicity Savage, an amusing story that makes it known that B-Town and Faerie may not really be all they're cracked up to be; "When the Bow Breaks" by Steven Brust, which takes place not in Bordertown at all, but on the Mad River; and "Rag" by Caroline Stevermer, whose writing style quite reminded me of Tim Powers. If you can't stomach any of the other stories, at least give those four a try.
Rating: 
Summary: Urban fantasy at its best
Review: Not into sword and sorcery but secretly adore magic and faeries? Then this is the one for you. I have never seen a stronger "shared world" anthology, each story will stay with you long after you have finished reading, each for a different reason. A gourmet selection of short stories.
Rating:
Summary: Totally cool book
Review: Well I read the two reviews below and then I read the book itself. I gotta vote along with Flagstaff Reader, not Chicago Reader, that this book is awesom and the best Border book yet. I think since Chicago Reader picked "Bordertown" and "Finder" as his/her personal favs of all the Borderland books then he/she is probably a big fan of Will Shetterly and Emma Bull's Borderland stories. Well, thats cool but Chicago Reader should realize that not all of us are. The Shetterly & Bull version of Bordertown is fine and fun but personally its a bit too "Miami Vice" for me (altho I thought "Elsewhere" was different and pretty cool) and its really nice to see the series move on past the 1980s and into the 1990s. I for one was really glad to see stories by Patricia McKillip, Midori Snyder and Ellen Kushner instead. Chicago Reader is mistaken if he/she thinks that "Bordertown" and "Finder" were the original Borderland books. Look at the older books in the series you'll see that the first book was called "Borderland" and Terri Windling, Mark Alan Arnold, Charles de Lint, Midori Snyder, Stephen Boyett and Ellen Kushner were the people who created the world of Bordertown. And then in the next book, called "Bordertown" ,Shetterly & Bull came into a world that had been created by other people and added some places and characters to it, and in the next book, "Life on the Border" Michael Koralenko, Craig Shaw Gardner, Cara Dalky joined up and all added their own nieghborhoods and characters to the town- which is what makes it so cool, there's plenty of room for everybody here! So all you Border Rats, don't be put off by Chicago Reader, this is a great book full of all the stuff we love best in Borderland! I agree with Flagstaff Reader that no matter what part of Bordertown you like best, whether it's De Lint's Dancing Ferret or Shetterly & Bull's Danceland or Midori Snyder's dojo or Ballamy Bach's Gray and Wicker, there is plenty of room for everybody, so come down to Soho and lets rock! As for me I LOVE the Patricia A. McKillip story here the best and also the Elisabeth Kushner story about two gay girls, and lots of other stories besides. As a mixed race teenager, Black dad and White mom, I can REALLY relate to stories about kids from two races trying to fit in. And also I really like the fact that the books are even more "multicultural" now. My only complaint is that I want more more more. Ms. Windling and Ms. Sherman and Tor Books, please don't make us wait so long for the next one!!! And please bring this out in paperback so I can own my own copy since I can't keep this library copy forever.Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Gentrification of Bordertown? Horrors!!
Review: While it was a nice treat to stumble across this new collection at my local library, it turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment overall. The quality and tone of the stories is uneven, and while there are no real clinkers, there aren't any gems either, compared to the original "Bordertown" volume and the novel "Finder". Especially missed is the gritty sense-of-place that made the older Bordertown *Bordertown* -- this book is a bit like coming home after a long absence and finding that your beloved spots have all been gentrified out of existance. I didn't *hate* it, but it's a shame that it didn't build from the high standard of the previous works. Still, Windling's "guide" pieces make this worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Urban Fantasy at it's best
Review: Written by some of the biggest authors in fantasy, particulary urban fantasy, this anthology is incredible. It is edited and has inserts by Terri Windling, one of the biggest names in (good) fantasy. The stories are all incredibly written and the character's on the grimy streets of Soho are easy to relate to. The Border is waiting, can you make it there?
|
