Sunday, May 11, 2008

Paper Cities review

So, I just finished reading Paper Cities, which is an anthology of urban fantasy. I enjoyed it overall - I think in general it gave a good taste of what urban fantasy can be, beyond the YA vampire and werewolf tales that seem to what people often first think of in terms of urban fantasy.

I have a personal preference for fantasy that is based on/in the "real" world, rather than completely new worlds, and there was a good mix of both in this anthology. In terms of favorites, I really enjoyed Paul Meloy's "Alex and the Toyceivers", Michael Jasper's "Painting Haiti", and Cat Sparks' "Sammarynda Deep".

With 21 stories, there were bound to be hits and misses. Some were just too clever for their own good: "Hey! Look at me! I'm experimenting!" while others were able to experiment while still telling a good story (Mark Teppo's "The One that Got Away" and Darin Bradley's "They Would Only Be Roads" come to mind). I think there's a broad enough range of styles and approaches in this anthology, however, to appeal to a lot of different kinds of fantasy readers.

Definitely check it out. Well worth it!

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