Rogues
I'll admit, I bought this $30, 800+ page tome in order to read one single short story. Because that short story was written by Patrick Rothfuss about Bast, and I am desperate for new material in that world. Of course, this collection also contains plenty of other stories by plenty of other authors I love, so it felt worth that price tag. Let's go through it story by story, shall we?
The Lightning Tree by Patrick Rothfuss - This story basically chronicles a day in the life of Bast an indeterminate amount of time before the first book starts, but after Kvothe has established himself as Kote, owner of the Waystone Inn. Bast trades secrets and favors with children, gets into some mischief, does some highly questionable and uncomfortable things, but also does some tough and honorable things. He's a tough guy to pin down, because his moral code is skewed by his Fae heritage. This story left me more confused about him than before, but it was a nice little slice of life, nonetheless.
A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch - After I finished The Lies of Locke Lamora I was eager to read more from Scott Lynch. So I turned to this short story. Like Lies it centers on a band of thieves in a magical city. But man, I want so much more from these thieves. The group consists of four women and a robot (and a dead dude, but he's dead). They are tasked with stealing a street and are given a year to both figure out how to do this and pull it off. It's a lot of fun to watch them try out different things. More than that, the world around them, with magic used to make interesting drinks and mechanical men switching out their bodies like humans changes clothes, is truly fantastical. It was so rich and amazing and entirely too short. I want an entire series set in Theradane.
How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman - This story follows a character from one of Gaiman's first novels, Neverwhere. This was never my favorite novel of Gaiman's; I read it years ago and have yet to return to it. But the story was fun and mostly unrelated to the events of that book. It's important that the Marquis died in the story, since this happens after that, but that mostly gets explained in the short story. Having returned, the Marquis is on a quest to get his coat back. Along the way he encounters an old enemy, a family member he'd rather forget, and a doomed courtship. The story was entertaining, though my favorite part was the all-too-brief cameo by C.M.O.T. Dibbler, one of Pratchett's characters who has a tendency to pop up everywhere.
What Do You Do? by Gillian Flynn - I've been seeing a ton about Gillian Flynn lately, and I was excited to get a chance to sample some of her work. This story is twisty, and by the end I was left questioning everything. What was the truth? Who was manipulating who? But the protagonist did an amazing job of just rolling with it, thanks in large part to her lack of morals. It was satisfying, if ambiguous, and more than anything else it has me convinced that I should check out some of Flynn's other work.
The Roaring Twenties by Carrie Vaughn - This was a little snapshot of life, more a vignette than a full story. It follows Pauline and her employer, Madame M, through a night at a hidden, magical club. There's a lot going on, but not a ton of resolution. Change is coming, possibly a war of some sort, and Madame M is trying to line up her ducks before that happens. The story is interesting, if unsatisfying. Like so many other stories in this book, I was left craving more.
The Rogue Prince by GRRM - You know, I may just be done with A Song of Ice and Fire. This last season of Game of Thrones was incredibly uncomfortable; there was at least one scene per episode that I just couldn't watch. And the books are just so dense and complicated and there's so much else I want to read. This story takes place long before the series proper, when the Targaryans were firmly in control of Westeros. It's about family strife and may be painting a picture of the beginning of the end for the reign. I don't know; I had a hard time placing it in the history of the world. There were far too many characters to keep track of and the entire thing ended just before it finally got interesting. I mean, I might still read The Winds of Winter when it comes out, depending on when that it. But this story did little to recapture my interest in this world.
Tough Times All Over by Joe Abercrombie - This story was a lot of fun. It opens on a courier who, having obtained a mysterious package, is headed out of town as quickly as possible to deliver it. But then she gets mugged and we're off. The narrative follows the package itself as it passes from thief to thug to mob boss and back to thief, across the city. There's a wonderful mix of characters who manage to all become complete people in the 1-2 pages they are afforded. The mystery of where the package will eventually end up and what's in it pulls you through the story.
The Inn of the Seven Blessings by Matthew Hughes - A thief accidentally steals a god and is compelled to rescue his priest, but then the priest double-crosses him. Put like that this story sounds interesting. But man does it have a gender problem. The thief also manages to rescue a woman, the daughter of an innkeep. And she is, of course, super ugly. But that doesn't stop him from trying to force himself on her, being fought off, and ending up with her anyway. Ugh.
Heavy Metal by Cherie Priest - This story had more than a little in common with any given episode of Supernatural, minus the angsty brothers. The rogue in question comes to a small mining town where he must exorcise a malevolent sprite that killed a couple of grad students. It was a bit blah with a predictably triumphant, though strangely confusing ending.
A Cargo of Ivories by Garth Nix - A thief and his puppet sorcerer thing (it was weird) are tasked with stealing a crate of ivory idols before the gods contained within manifest and wreak some havoc. There's a lot - almost too many - of magical items to aid them in this theft. There's another thief who complicates some things. There's a convenient magical beast. I wasn't terribly taken by this tale, but it did build up to a sufficiently satisfying and thrilling ending.
Bent Twig by Joe R. Lansdale - This story was just awful on every level. From the plot to the characters to the choppy language to the weird moralizing. Awful.
This is as far as I made it into the book. Ultimately, the stories were a lot longer than I was hoping for from an anthology. Most of them were bordering on novella length, which made it difficult to just fit in a short story before bed. Add to that the fact that so many of these rogues were basically the same character, and a boring retread at that, and I just couldn't bring myself to finish off the book.
It was still worth it, I think, for the stories I enjoyed from Rothfuss, Lynch, and Abercrombie. Maybe I'll come back to it at some point. But at this point it's more of an obligation than an escape, and that's when you know it's time to quit.
What Do You Do? by Gillian Flynn - I've been seeing a ton about Gillian Flynn lately, and I was excited to get a chance to sample some of her work. This story is twisty, and by the end I was left questioning everything. What was the truth? Who was manipulating who? But the protagonist did an amazing job of just rolling with it, thanks in large part to her lack of morals. It was satisfying, if ambiguous, and more than anything else it has me convinced that I should check out some of Flynn's other work.
The Roaring Twenties by Carrie Vaughn - This was a little snapshot of life, more a vignette than a full story. It follows Pauline and her employer, Madame M, through a night at a hidden, magical club. There's a lot going on, but not a ton of resolution. Change is coming, possibly a war of some sort, and Madame M is trying to line up her ducks before that happens. The story is interesting, if unsatisfying. Like so many other stories in this book, I was left craving more.
The Rogue Prince by GRRM - You know, I may just be done with A Song of Ice and Fire. This last season of Game of Thrones was incredibly uncomfortable; there was at least one scene per episode that I just couldn't watch. And the books are just so dense and complicated and there's so much else I want to read. This story takes place long before the series proper, when the Targaryans were firmly in control of Westeros. It's about family strife and may be painting a picture of the beginning of the end for the reign. I don't know; I had a hard time placing it in the history of the world. There were far too many characters to keep track of and the entire thing ended just before it finally got interesting. I mean, I might still read The Winds of Winter when it comes out, depending on when that it. But this story did little to recapture my interest in this world.
Tough Times All Over by Joe Abercrombie - This story was a lot of fun. It opens on a courier who, having obtained a mysterious package, is headed out of town as quickly as possible to deliver it. But then she gets mugged and we're off. The narrative follows the package itself as it passes from thief to thug to mob boss and back to thief, across the city. There's a wonderful mix of characters who manage to all become complete people in the 1-2 pages they are afforded. The mystery of where the package will eventually end up and what's in it pulls you through the story.
The Inn of the Seven Blessings by Matthew Hughes - A thief accidentally steals a god and is compelled to rescue his priest, but then the priest double-crosses him. Put like that this story sounds interesting. But man does it have a gender problem. The thief also manages to rescue a woman, the daughter of an innkeep. And she is, of course, super ugly. But that doesn't stop him from trying to force himself on her, being fought off, and ending up with her anyway. Ugh.
Heavy Metal by Cherie Priest - This story had more than a little in common with any given episode of Supernatural, minus the angsty brothers. The rogue in question comes to a small mining town where he must exorcise a malevolent sprite that killed a couple of grad students. It was a bit blah with a predictably triumphant, though strangely confusing ending.
A Cargo of Ivories by Garth Nix - A thief and his puppet sorcerer thing (it was weird) are tasked with stealing a crate of ivory idols before the gods contained within manifest and wreak some havoc. There's a lot - almost too many - of magical items to aid them in this theft. There's another thief who complicates some things. There's a convenient magical beast. I wasn't terribly taken by this tale, but it did build up to a sufficiently satisfying and thrilling ending.
Bent Twig by Joe R. Lansdale - This story was just awful on every level. From the plot to the characters to the choppy language to the weird moralizing. Awful.
This is as far as I made it into the book. Ultimately, the stories were a lot longer than I was hoping for from an anthology. Most of them were bordering on novella length, which made it difficult to just fit in a short story before bed. Add to that the fact that so many of these rogues were basically the same character, and a boring retread at that, and I just couldn't bring myself to finish off the book.
It was still worth it, I think, for the stories I enjoyed from Rothfuss, Lynch, and Abercrombie. Maybe I'll come back to it at some point. But at this point it's more of an obligation than an escape, and that's when you know it's time to quit.
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