I know that some people don’t like how short the stories are, but I always felt that when the story really only centered around one kind of theme (like most anthologies do), that it makes the stories fun, easy to read, and a quick read. Although I am a huge fan of the imaginative world building of many paranormal and fantasy authors, I also like little short stories set within different established worlds.
Some of my favorite anthologies are the ones edited by P.N. Elrod. My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding and My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon are two absolutely CLASSIC anthologies that have funny, sad, and hysterical short stories, from some of the best known authors in the Fantasy genre.
I picked up the Wedding one because I was just finishing up the Vampire Huntress Series, and wanted to read more of L.A. Banks. Through that, I immediately went to my local library and picked up books by other contributors: Rachel Caine, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Lori Handeland.
A few of my all time favorite short stories comes from anthologies. Nalini Singh writes the UBER popular Psy-Changeling series, and her short story about Tammy and Nate is probably my number one favorite short story, OF ALL TIME! Do I wish she would have made it into a whole novel? Of course!! But, I understand timeline issues and all that. Still, one of my favorites!! Ilona Andrews has also started writing for a few anthologies, and her short about Andrea and Raphael from the Kate Daniels world. I am also eagerly anticipating the new anthology coming out about Kate and her bodyguard duties for Saiman.
What about you? How do you feel about anthologies? Love um or Hate um? What are some of your favorite anthologies?
1 comments:
I enjoy reading short stories from authors I already know, but I find that most authors have trouble striking the right balance between explanation and action. I've found a couple of gems but not many. I've also found that an anthology that regular length with 4 or 5 authors in it, like On The Prowl, tend to have better stories than the massive ones that have 20 stories each 10 pages long. I think that's due to space constraints, of course.
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