A Shrewdness of Swindlers — DeAnna Knippling

A Shrewdness of Swindlers -- DeAnna KnipplingDeAnna sent me an ARC to have a read and comment on, with the caveat that she still had some polishing to do.   So yes, there were a few things that still needed some work with the copy i received, but all in all, it was a very enjoyable read.   And then, having sent my notes to Deanna, she then sent me an updated version back with my little moans all sorted out.

What i liked most-est about this book is that instead of the the usual bunch of short stories thrown randomly into a collection, DeAnna has taken time to tie all these stories together with a frame story.   Each short is given its own character to tell it in a magical, story contest in a downstairs backroom of a speakeasy: which just happens to be organised by one of the Fae who we’re told really like to collect human stories.

But one of the story tellers is murdered just before the contest with the suspect most probably being one of the tellers at the table, which makes things more interesting.

Best of all, it’s a good collection of characters and a good collection of stories for you to enjoy, with a prize at the end for the best story.

DeAnna’s Page

#vampires #scifi #fantasy #deannaknippling

Good Neighbours — DeAnna Knippling

Good Neighbours -- DeAnna KnipplingI really enjoyed this.   A nice captivating little short to fill an hour or so.

In East Smithville the fog is always coming and with it, the Fairies who whisk people away, not to be seen again for years.   This is the story of one such person returning — for a while at least.

I admit to being thoroughly disappointed that it ended, i really wanted it to keep going: away with the Fairies.

Well worth a read of your time and it would be really good if DeAnna came back to East Smithville some time and wrote a few more short stories about people returning.

DeAnna’s Page

#fantasy #fairytale #deannaknippling

A Perfect Moment — DeAnna Knippling

A Perfect Moment -- DeAnna KnipplingI revceived this as an ARC from DeAnna to read, comment and review.

As a short story, anthology stocking-filler it does what it’s supposed to.   I was quite happy to read it and wasn’t put off at all but, it doesn’t do much more than that.

As with a lot of these shorts for anthologies, there’s usually a really good idea at their core but the word count to play it out just isn’t available, and i do feel that this is one of those.   There’s a greedy reader part of me that wants this spun out novel length into a temporal food-fight similar to Recursion by Blake Crouch.

DeAnna’s Page

#deannaknippling