Book-It 'o14! Book #56
The Fifty Books Challenge, year five! ( 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013) This was a library request.
Title: The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction: 13 Prize Winning Tales by Llewellyn
Details: Copyright 2008, Llewellyn Publications
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover):
"Pressured to bear a child, a rune hag attempts a daunting alternative to taking a husband. After a flubbed invocation at GoddessFest, heated desire flood a hotel full of women. In a dystopic future, gated shopping malls infect a magical community with nightmare cravings.
From historic fiction to scintillating erotica, from the dusty Old West to the pristine countryside of Iceland, from witches and shamans to selkies and skunks, the medley of stories in this collection of pagan fiction are as eclectic and wonderfully multifaceted as Paganism itself.
The first fiction anthology dedicated exclusively to pagan voices and themes, this thirteen-tale pagan fiction sampler is the result of contest sponsored by book publisher Llewellyn and PanGaia magazine. These stories emerged from hundreds of submissions and were hand-selected by a jury of writers and editors, including renowned Neopagan leader and author Diana L. Paxson. "
Why I Wanted to Read It: Years ago I heard about this book and have spent about that long trying to get a copy. Pagan fiction?! What I'm constantly in search of, particularly if it's not set in Ye Olde Ancient Tymes? I'm not about to pay for something before I've read it in almost all cases, and especially not for fiction. Finally, finally I managed to get hold of this book.
How I Liked It: For something so long awaited, I wish I could say it was worth it. This isn't worth stumbling across even.
I admit that I'm not a fan of short stories. I like to invest in characters and settings and settle in. I've enjoyed damn few short story collections, even if they were all by one author.
That said, I was eager for this book as I'm always in search of contemporary Pagan fiction. Like any book with multiple authors, it's a mixed bag, particularly when "Pagan" is such a subjective term (as we are a highly subjective people). The book spans genres and periods (which I wasn't overly keen to learn) and seldom are any solidly "Pagan". There's plenty of outre science fiction (particularly dystopian), one weepingcock worthy bit of "erotica", drips and drops of contemporary pieces, and very few stand outs.
What seemed like the best story to me (more accurately I guess you could say was the least-bad story) was a Western with a Witch straight from Ireland (with some questionable historical accuracy, but if you take it at face-value of the genre which isn't that historically accurate anyway...) and unlike most of the stories, was a decently plotted sketch for the slot.
For a niche for which I am not alone in longing, this supposed filler is largely in-name-only, and that's a shame, because one would think that one of the largest occult publishing companies would be able to execute such a concept competently.
Title: The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction: 13 Prize Winning Tales by Llewellyn
Details: Copyright 2008, Llewellyn Publications
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover):
"Pressured to bear a child, a rune hag attempts a daunting alternative to taking a husband. After a flubbed invocation at GoddessFest, heated desire flood a hotel full of women. In a dystopic future, gated shopping malls infect a magical community with nightmare cravings.
From historic fiction to scintillating erotica, from the dusty Old West to the pristine countryside of Iceland, from witches and shamans to selkies and skunks, the medley of stories in this collection of pagan fiction are as eclectic and wonderfully multifaceted as Paganism itself.
The first fiction anthology dedicated exclusively to pagan voices and themes, this thirteen-tale pagan fiction sampler is the result of contest sponsored by book publisher Llewellyn and PanGaia magazine. These stories emerged from hundreds of submissions and were hand-selected by a jury of writers and editors, including renowned Neopagan leader and author Diana L. Paxson. "
Why I Wanted to Read It: Years ago I heard about this book and have spent about that long trying to get a copy. Pagan fiction?! What I'm constantly in search of, particularly if it's not set in Ye Olde Ancient Tymes? I'm not about to pay for something before I've read it in almost all cases, and especially not for fiction. Finally, finally I managed to get hold of this book.
How I Liked It: For something so long awaited, I wish I could say it was worth it. This isn't worth stumbling across even.
I admit that I'm not a fan of short stories. I like to invest in characters and settings and settle in. I've enjoyed damn few short story collections, even if they were all by one author.
That said, I was eager for this book as I'm always in search of contemporary Pagan fiction. Like any book with multiple authors, it's a mixed bag, particularly when "Pagan" is such a subjective term (as we are a highly subjective people). The book spans genres and periods (which I wasn't overly keen to learn) and seldom are any solidly "Pagan". There's plenty of outre science fiction (particularly dystopian), one weepingcock worthy bit of "erotica", drips and drops of contemporary pieces, and very few stand outs.
What seemed like the best story to me (more accurately I guess you could say was the least-bad story) was a Western with a Witch straight from Ireland (with some questionable historical accuracy, but if you take it at face-value of the genre which isn't that historically accurate anyway...) and unlike most of the stories, was a decently plotted sketch for the slot.
For a niche for which I am not alone in longing, this supposed filler is largely in-name-only, and that's a shame, because one would think that one of the largest occult publishing companies would be able to execute such a concept competently.