David McK (3496 KP) rated A stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories in Books
Dec 29, 2024
So we're talking back, mainly, in the late 1970s and perhaps early 80s, before the Discworld series for which he is most renowned came to be.
As such, none of these are as polished as his later works, although it is interesting to see early glimmers of ideas that would later be fully fleshed out (mainly, but not exclusively, in the Discworld series) in several of these stories.
Folk
9.0
Rate It
Book
Every year they gather, while the girls shoot their arrows and the boys hunt them out. The air is...
Fantasy Fiction Short Stories
Angels in Our Hearts
10.0
Rate It
Book
A moving collection of 6 short stories – Helpless, A Small Boy’s Cry, Two More Sleeps,...
What Remains Of Edith Finch
8.1
Rate It
Video Game Watch
What Remains of Edith Finch is a collection of short stories about a cursed family in Washington...
Country of the Blind and Other Selected Stories
Book
Herbert George Wells was perhaps best known as the author of such classic works of science fiction...
Cream Buns and Crime
Book
A collection of short stories for budding Detective Society members. Daisy and Hazel invite you to...
Subtly Worded and Other Stories
Robert Chandler, Anne Marie Jackson, Nadezhda Teffi and Clare Kitson
Book
A selection of the finest stories by this female Chekhov Teffi's genius with the short form made her...
Ross (3284 KP) rated Sword of Destiny in Books
Jul 26, 2018
While this time there is no over-arching story linking them together this is to the book's credit. I got annoyed with the Last Wish/Season of Storms's clumsy attempt to sew together a number of different stories - like those old episodes of a sitcom that was just a hashing together of different flashbacks. Though it does mean you could struggle with the chronology, but I think assuming the stories are after the Season of Storms is a safe bet.
All of the stories are reasonably exciting, but Sapkowski does have a tendency to start these stories with the Witcher's triumph over another creature, and focus on the aftermath - sometimes you long for the thrill of the preceding hunt.
The final story, which I feel is the main link into the first book, includes a number of sections where the Witcher is hallucinating. The segue between these isn't always clear, and while this adds to the atmosphere and feel of the Witcher being drugged, it does leave you a little confused at times (though this passes briefly).
A good set of stories and a decent translation with few clunky parts.
I would recommend these are read after the main books (i.e. in published order) - while I haven't read those, I have probably taken some characters/stories for granted and not appreciated how they feed in to the overall canon of Witcher works (without googling for spoilers).
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2271 KP) rated Three Strikes – You're Dead! in Books
Jun 28, 2024
With all the stories, this is definitely long enough to be a full-length book, so you are getting your money's worth. The twists on a couple of the stories didn't quite work for me, but most of the stories held together very well. Likewise, the characters are all real. Considering the shorter space that the writers had to work with, I am always impressed when they can pull both of those things off. I'm not the biggest sports fan in the world, but I still found myself being pulled into these stories. Whether you are a diehard sports fanatic or have a casual interest at best, you'll enjoy this collection.
Louise (64 KP) rated Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories in Books
Jul 2, 2018
The book consisted of 14 short stories, some longer than others and some quiet spooky whilst the others were just a bit dark.
Here is a list of the stories in the book:
W.S by L.P.Hartley
Harry by Rosemary Timperley
The Corner shop by Cynthia Asquith
In the Tube by E.F.Benson
Christmas meeting by Rosemary Timperley
Elias and the Draug by Jonas Lie
Playmates by A.M. Burrage
Ringing the changes by Robert Aickman
The Telephone by Mary Treadgold
The Ghost of a Hand by J.Sheridan Le Fanu
The Sweeper by A.M Burrage
On the Brighton Road by Richard Middleton
Afterward by Edith Warton
The Upper Berth by Marion Crawford
The scariest one for me was the Ghost of a hand, that could be because I was reading it at 1am in the morning with everyone asleep, the sounds of the house creaking and the wind outside added to the spookiness.
My top three are The Ghost of a Hand, Harry and Ringing the Changes,however they weren't great. I felt really let down by this selection of short stories, they didn't seem to have very satisfying ends and they were somewhat predictable.
Also there is an introduction from Roald Dahl himself stating that he read over 700 short stories trying to find the best, I seriously can't believe these were the best ones he found and then he was rambling on about women being better at writing ghost stories and men being better at general fiction which I felt was irrelevant but I suppose he had a certain amount of words to fulfil.
Maybe I am being a little harsh, seeing as the book is 30 years old and the stories are even older than that.
Let me know if you have read this book, and what you thought.
Overall I gave this 3 out of 5 stars