Welcome to Bordertown (no spoilers)
Since I'm lazy like that, I'm just copy-pasting what I wrote about this book on a couple other book sites. I wanted to to get this comment out right away, since the book was just released :). I'll get back to the rest of my backlog *cough* at some point. OMG, I just checked my tags and I haven't made ANY book posts this year. So there is a 50 book comment post waiting to be done O_O!!! I will get there, but YIKES!!!
Still, on to this book:
I read the first Bordertown books when they came out in the 80's, 90's and liked the mix of normal world & elf runaways, the music, the gangs, and the atmosphere created in the Bordertown anthologies and novels. When I found out there was going to be a new book telling more stories about that fascinating town and it's inhabitants I was extremely excited.
I just finished Welcome to Bordertown, the new addition to the Bordertown lore and was not disappointed. For a while, Bordertown was inaccessible from our world. Here, that period was thirteen years. In Bordertown, only 13 days.
Several stories deal with the disconnect and changes forced by the gap that was only days for some, but years for others. Apart from that, quite a few of the Bordertown stories have always centred around young people looking for something better, something magical, something more. Sometimes they find it, but sometimes it only leads to tragedy.
Considering how many of the people who do enter Bordertown are runaways or idealistic teenagers looking for that magical sparkly vampire who is their true love, it's quite easy to realize that not everyone can find what they were looking for. Or they do, but then realize it wasn't what they really wanted.
Several familiar characters make their appearance, and the anthology is a mix of the original writers and younger talent who grew up on the stories. I really enjoyed it and was happy to go back to the streets of Bordertown, to dance again in The Dancing Ferret and to see the humans, halfies, and Truebloods mingling together again.
ETA: The official Bordertown website has some free stories online, if you want to check them out.
Still, on to this book:
I read the first Bordertown books when they came out in the 80's, 90's and liked the mix of normal world & elf runaways, the music, the gangs, and the atmosphere created in the Bordertown anthologies and novels. When I found out there was going to be a new book telling more stories about that fascinating town and it's inhabitants I was extremely excited.
I just finished Welcome to Bordertown, the new addition to the Bordertown lore and was not disappointed. For a while, Bordertown was inaccessible from our world. Here, that period was thirteen years. In Bordertown, only 13 days.
Several stories deal with the disconnect and changes forced by the gap that was only days for some, but years for others. Apart from that, quite a few of the Bordertown stories have always centred around young people looking for something better, something magical, something more. Sometimes they find it, but sometimes it only leads to tragedy.
Considering how many of the people who do enter Bordertown are runaways or idealistic teenagers looking for that magical sparkly vampire who is their true love, it's quite easy to realize that not everyone can find what they were looking for. Or they do, but then realize it wasn't what they really wanted.
Several familiar characters make their appearance, and the anthology is a mix of the original writers and younger talent who grew up on the stories. I really enjoyed it and was happy to go back to the streets of Bordertown, to dance again in The Dancing Ferret and to see the humans, halfies, and Truebloods mingling together again.
ETA: The official Bordertown website has some free stories online, if you want to check them out.