This is a collection of six short stories set in the ancient past of the Storm Dancer world, mixing both fantasy and horror themes into a delicious concoction that never fails to surprise, disturb and entertain.

“Kin” begins the collection in fine morality play fashion. Here Leha has three daughters; the first two she is proud of, and the third she has disowned. After a terrible natural disaster lays low the land, Leha journeys to the city to take succor from the two daughters whom she loves. Her journey and what she discovers there teaches her much about kindness, selfishness, true love, and forgiveness.

“Greywalker” is a zombie-like tale that is morbidly delightful. From the beginning, it is clear what is going to inevitably happen, but the main character has such noble intentions you find yourself hoping that he will escape his fate. My favorite story of the collection.

“The Water of Truth” is another morality play; this time based around the folly of greed. Here a young man becomes educated before returning home to monetize the well of truth that his family controls. While he glorifies in the riches that begin to pour in, his uneducated sister sees the folly in his actions and their inevitable consequences.

“Each Stone” centers on a princess’ desperate internal struggle to master a game of chance and save her loyal supporters before they are executed. Naturally, though, there is a catch to the game.

“The Colour of Dishonour” is a very clever fantasy take on Edgar Allan Poe’s classic horror short story “The Tell-Tale Heart.” I really enjoyed it, but if I told you more, I’d ruin the surprises in store for you.

“A Horse for a Hero” ends this collection on a high note with the tale of a winged horse who dreams of finding “a knight in shining armor” to become his rider. Things don’t go exactly as he plans though, and his life leads him to places he never dreamed possible. The ending is especially ironic.

In scope and depth, The Colour of Dishonour collection reminded me of reading Greek myths, where those too foolish, too proud, or too hasty get themselves into circumstances they never intended to be in. And if you — like me — enjoy those type of entertaining but weighty morality tales, then these stories by Rayne Hall will not disappoint.

I used to love bookshops. When I was young, that's where I spent most of my money.

But these days? The few bookshops still in existence aren't real bookshops any more. The atmosphere, the selection, the whole essence has gone.

A few days ago, I visited several bookshops (in East Sussex, England). Shops that were once crammed with books from floor to ceiling and wall to wall were now selling stationary, greeting cards, party gimmicks, toys and gadgets.

The few books they still had - usually on a single wall - were a handful of bestsellers and a lot of books by television celebrities. Celebrity cookery, celebrity kiss & tell ... no thank you.

There was nothing - seriously: nothing - to tempt this reader. I mourn for days when I could walk into a bookshop and lose myself in a choice of thousands of titles. Today, in visits to several bookshops, I found a single book I wanted to read.

If bookshops don't provide a selection of books for genuine readers, is it surprising that genuine readers go online to shop for books?

It gets worse. One bookshop (that I would hesitate to call a bookshop, although it still had a shelf of books among the gadgets and toys) had a sign "Do not touch books unless buying."

Ahem. If I'm not allowed to pick up a book, to dip into it, to read the first couple of paragraph to see if I like the style, then I won't buy it.

Of course I'll go online where I can click 'look inside' or download sample pages to peruse at leisure.

If bookshops don't provide the selection, quality and experience that attract book loving customers, then they shouldn't complain if the customers stay away.

I hear brick & mortar bookshop owners whine about how Amazon is taking away their business... but I think they're digging their own graves.

Rayne

I'm excited. "Storm Dancer" is climbing in the bestseller lists.
Right now, it's #24 in Dark Fantasy on Amazon Kindle.
It's not in Epic Fantasy, though. (yet?)

(It's 99c this week to celebrate the 2nd publication anniversary)

This is weird.

"The Colour of Dishonour - Stories from the Storm Dancer World" shows as free when some people visit Amazon.com... but others see it at the normal price of $2.99.

The "free" is probably due to a price match issue. But it's not consistent. Not everyone gets the book free when they look.

To make this even more bizarre, "The Colour of Dishonour - Stories from the Storm Dancer World" is #12 in Kindle Free Fantasy Anthologies. Yet when people click to through to the book, only about a quarter get it free.

I guess it's just one of those things.
:-D

I have no idea who will get it free and how long this will last.

Anyway, if it's free when you look, feel free to snap it up.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Colour-Dishonour-Stories-ebook/dp/B00B5RCNVG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378536840&sr=8-1&keywords=The+colour+of+dishonour