edited by Neil Gaiman

This is a collection of mostly excellent stories edited by Neil Gaiman. Naturally the quality of writing is set to a high bar and I enjoyed most of them very much. Except for Gaimans own contribution, they are all previously published somewhere, one as far back as 1909! Many are by known authors, though I'm not familiar with a lot of them.

Ironically, the first one I thought was a little slow was Gaiman's own story, which was number 12 and followed by a werewolf story that was a favorite of his, but I couldn't get into it. The theme of the anthology is strange and mythological creatures. Each story has at least one of these unnatural beasties. Or something close to it. The second to last one was a stand-out for an original approach to this theme and very well written.

As anthologies go, this was very high quality, but what else could you expect from Neil Gaiman?

Anthology. As I was reading this book there seemed to be a theme of rollerskating lesbians but then I found out there were some other stories interspersed. I wonder if that was initially what the publisher were going for but then needed extra stories to fill it out. 

The average rating is 3.33 stars. More than I thought actually. 

1. Sister Twelve: Confessions of a Party Monster by Christopher Barzak. 12 sisters travel through time dancing at famous and infamous clubs. One wants to stay. Good story. 3-1/2 stars.

2. Apex Jump by David J. Schwartz. Really good story about roller derby girls who find out their are fans out in space. 5 stars. 

3. With Her Hundred Miles to Hell by Kat Howard. There's a woman that dreams death and works at the "nightclub" Hades. I was so confused reading this story. I don't really know what it's about. 2 stars just because of that. 2 stars

4. Star Dancer by Jennifer Pelland. I'm about 1/2 way through this story and I still don't like it so next! No rating.

5. Of Selkies, Disco Balls, and Anna Plane by Cat Rambo. A selkie is captured and works as a DJ in a dance club. A patron inadvertently helps her. 3 stars. 

6. Sooner Than Gold by Cory Skerry. Good story but it ends in a cliffhanger which I didn't appreciate. 3-1/2 stars.

7. Subterraneans by William Shunn & Laura Chavoen. I could not get into this story. I really tried though and got more than halfway but I kept putting the book down and it's due tomorrow. No rating. 

8. The Minotaur Girls by Tansy Rayner Roberts. A glitter skate park is more than the teenagers think. Strange story and that's saying something for this book. 3 stars.

9. Unable to Reach You by Alan DeNiro. Another freaky story that centers around cell phones/phones used for evil. 2-1/2 stars.

10. Such & Such Said to So & So by Maria Dahvana Headley. I didn't care for the beginning of this story, actually the first paragraph. So, did not finish. No rating.

11. Revels in the Land of Ice by Tim Pratt. A poet finds inspiration from an old friend. I enjoyed this story. 3-1/2 stars.

12. Bess, the Landlord's Daughter, Goes for Drinks with the Green Girl by Sofia Samatar. I don't know what was going on with these girls. Really strange story, but I liked it. 3-1/2 stars.

13. Blood and Sequins by Diana Rowland. Loved this story! A cop loves creating costumes as a secret hobby and him and a friend enter a costume contest. While there they get propositioned, shot at, learn the minimum about some strange hidden group, and become heroes. 5 stars

14. Two-Minute Warning by Vylar Kaftan. A brother and sister play a real game of life and death. Okay. Super short. 3 stars.

15. Inside Hides the Monster by Damien Walters Grintalis. A siren has a problem with modern music. Okay story. 3 stars.

16. Bad Dram Girl by Seanan McGuire. Another roller derby story. Someone is draining other players of their energy and Annie needs to find out who it is. Good story. 3-1/2 stars.

17. A Hollow Play by Amal El-Mohtar. A parallel universe and lost love/friendship with a small reference to roller derby. 2-1/2 stars. 

18. Just Another Future Song by Daryl Gregory. A rock star (I'm guessing) has been barely kept alive so now he wants to reinvent himself. Strange but good story. 3-1/2 stars.

19. The Electric Spanking of the War Babies by Maurice Broaddus & Kyle S. Johnson. I got to the word Afronauts and gave up. Too weird for me. No rating.

20. All That Fairy Tale Crap by Rachel Swirsky. Read the first sentence and thought not for me. No rating.

I love Egyptian mythology, so I'm enjoying this a lot. The romance is breaking my heart. 

In real life, my house is back in order. The dishwasher is fixed, the carpet is reinstalled. The super flu has finally left us. We have paid off some debt with our taxes, ordered a new love seat that's supposed to arrive in a couple of weeks, and we are taking a trip back to Tennessee to see my daddy next week. Pray I don't get sick again. It's been a winter full of illness. I'm so far behind on my reading because I keep getting whatever virus of the week. 

I'm excited to visit home tho. I haven't seen my dad in 2 years. It's expensive to make an 8 hour drive. It requires finding animal sitters and gas money and vacation time. But Jake is on spring break so we're off. It should be a nice bit of relaxing. My dad doesn't have any furniture except his own bed and 2 recliners. Hahaha. Looks like we will be sleeping on air mattresses. 

My books came in!! 

"I’ve missed two class periods by sitting in my car gnawing on the universe."

I know how that feels. You could say that I missed anything and everything while gnawing on this bland book and I am far from sated.

Aerie is not only bland but disappointing to say the least. I read Magonia only days before Aerie so it was fresh in my head and entirely too anticipated. I REALLY liked Magonia! I know that isn't a common opinion but I really did. This book is a watered down version of Magonia wherein: 1) the main characters are less rich in complexity 2) the banter and interplay between characters are not as authentic or tangible and 3) the whole fantastical imagery not only falls short of WOW but hovers squarely at SOOOOO, I CARE WHY?!? for the entirety of the book. There were new extraordinary creatures introduced, barely utilized and then essentially forgotten. Things simply worked out for the best where need be without effort. A few examples are like when Aza escapes a prison ship with no idea which way to go and no real means to get there & randomly picks a direction only to fall directly into the very (invisible) ship she had been seeking to begin with. OR how the humans can find a way to hook up with the Resistance when they need to, no problem, almost like hailing a cab. OR how they can withstand the lack of oxygen up high by ingesting a miracle pill Eli just happens to carry around with her in bulk...etc...etc...etc

"You don’t know how much you can lie until you find yourself in the middle of it, lying again to cover the lie you already gave out as truth. You don’t know how much you can mess your own life up until you’re looking out from the inside, and thinking you’re not the person you set out to be."

No lies here with this review and I definitely didn't get the journey/experience I set out to get when I wasted the Time, Money and Hope I had with regards to this dud.

"I’m dark matter. The universe inside me is full of something, and science can’t even shine a light on it. I feel like I’m mostly made of mysteries."

It was slightly past 12 AM, on day I Lost Track Of My Book Ping-ponging Slump. I had been having a rough night and I was throwing a Hail Mary, just looking for something... anything, to hold my attention long enough to get past the first few chapters. I found a sample of this book just lurking around my ereader for a while and have been sidestepping it mainly because of my GR friend's reviews. A LOT of people said it was merely ok, they didn't get it or were flat out disappointed. It might have been my need to shake things up a bit or a plea for a little ethereality in my life but I have to say that I...100%...disagree!! I really REALLY liked it!!

"I saw a circular diagram of the sky, and the stars looked like breeding fruit flies in a petri dish, and I was So Obsessed), the patterns of the stars form letters. Celestial alphabets. Writing that gets rewritten as the earth moves. If you look at the sky that way, it’s this massive shifting poem, or maybe a letter, first written by one author, and then, when the earth moves, annotated by another. So I stare and stare until, one day, I can read it."

Somewhere around 4:30 AM I decided that functioning properly during daylight hours is completely overrated and put the kettle on (in my head) and soldiered (euphorically) on. Was that logical? Debatable... Entertaining? Undeniably!! Yes, the beginning drags a bit (especially waiting for a young girl to kick it?!?). Yes, the ethereal part is SUPER out there, INCREDIBLY unique and at times a little disturbing to visualize...BUT, I bet you will not find a predecessor quite like this one floating around out there (hehehe). There are some standard issued tropes, though spun here completely anew. There are firsts abound with new creatures, city types, abilities and lore. The writing is not only fresh but elegant. Some twists were easily foretold while others blindside you so watch out. The world building could be confusing at times but is also rich and an in-depth making a solid foundation for subsequent books. It was extremely entertaining to witness the literary yarn unspool revealing a stunningly enchanted, interwoven tapestry. There are definitely moments of WHOA...WHAT THE??? DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?? Holy Havarti it did and is was oh so Gouda..I'm craving some apple slices and cheese, can you tell by the cheesy humor?? Okay, moving on now...if you're in the market for something you've NEVER encountered, something so out there it's hard to picture even after reading it with your own eyes. If you want to read about Love, of every type, so strong it defies anything and ALL obstacles. If you just want a fantastical journey lasting hours...READ THIS BOOK!!

“I can see you worrying. We’ll get through this. I’m a master fighter. If it turns out Big Bird’s hanging out in your bedroom, I’ll slay that bird.” This is actually weirdly comforting for someone who’s pretty sure that she’s about to die. Having a dad who’s willing to declare war against an institution as deeply rooted as Big Bird is not nothing."