anthology: The Faery Reel

The Faery Reel is a giant(530~ pages, trade paperback size) anthology editted by Terri Wingling and Ellen Datlow, two women who apparently like to go around winning awards for their anthologies.  It also has tiny but pretty pictures by Charles Vess on the first page of each story.  Most anthologies tend to range from "barely readable" to "pretty good" but here it steps up a bit to range from "good" to "really good."

As is usually the case with such anthologies, the book kicks off with a long introduction detailing faery mythology and it's representation in fiction.  Very nice an informative, though it threw me when it referred to Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid as being about "a pair of doomed faery lovers."  I'd say it's about a faery's doomed love for a mortal and her choice to be selfless instead of selfish myself, but to each their own, I suppose.

The stories were good overall. There were 2 stories-a Captain Hook story and a "make your own race" biography story-that felt out of place(all the others were folklore based) and likely would have come across a lot better in a different anthology.

As there are about 20 stories in the book, I'm not about to comment on them all.  Instead, just a few of the ones I liked best.

( read on )

anthology: The Faery Reel

The Faery Reel is a giant(530~ pages, trade paperback size) anthology editted by Terri Wingling and Ellen Datlow, two women who apparently like to go around winning awards for their anthologies.  It also has tiny but pretty pictures by Charles Vess on the first page of each story.  Most anthologies tend to range from "barely readable" to "pretty good" but here it steps up a bit to range from "good" to "really good."

As is usually the case with such anthologies, the book kicks off with a long introduction detailing faery mythology and it's representation in fiction.  Very nice an informative, though it threw me when it referred to Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid as being about "a pair of doomed faery lovers."  I'd say it's about a faery's doomed love for a mortal and her choice to be selfless instead of selfish myself, but to each their own, I suppose.

The stories were good overall. There were 2 stories-a Captain Hook story and a "make your own race" biography story-that felt out of place(all the others were folklore based) and likely would have come across a lot better in a different anthology.

As there are about 20 stories in the book, I'm not about to comment on them all.  Instead, just a few of the ones I liked best.

( read on )

Bits and pieces (largely Roswell and Fantasy Couple)

 1.  I think I am temporarily over the fantasy movie fest.  Temporarily because I think I am iconned out for a bit and know that a post will make me want to make icons.  I do, however, have Legend pics saved and Ladyhawke pics located, sothere is definately more coming.

2.  When I wasn't making icons this weekend, i was watching Fantasy Couple, the kdrama based on Overboard and from the same people as My Girl and Sassy Girl Chun-Hyang.  While I still have 4 episodes to go, I have to say this is one of the finniest doramas I've seen, definately the funniest kdrama I've seen.  This productiom team also knows how to make truly despicable Other Women.  Other producers try to make other members of triangles likable and understandable, with varying degrees of success.  But these guys?  They have no interest in our feeling sorry for the one who doesn't get the guy.  While Vase Girl may seem so boring she makes your eyes glaze over in the first few episodes, fear not, soon she shall reach the dreaded Lip Gloss Girl's heights of evil as she claims other's good deeds as her own, tells everyone she left her fiance because she realized who she really loved when in truth he dumped her, send spies to report back on her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend, and abandon small children in the middle on the street after promising them pizza to sort non-existant wedding gifts.  And various other things(there's also the regularly pretending to drink herself sick so she can call the hero and have him carry her home so she can enjoy leaning on his very manly body...I actually find it difficult to hold that against her when she isn't rubbing it in.)  Thankfully, our heroine takes nothing lying down, and our hero, despite constantly being fooled by her Evil Ways, knows who he should be standing by and does.

3.  I am also pondering my next dorama.  Young Warriors is high up there, but twice already this director has made me totally and completely fall in love with the characters and then  ripped my heart out and stomped on it by piling the angst and character death on.  i do not trust him.  Plus, calixahas warned me this is what will happen, and 9/5 times out of 10 we share a dorama brain.  I am open to suggestions for anything you think or know I have.

4.  Scifi showed a Roswell marathon today.  I wouldn't actually know this, except I babysat Jackson while Jen got her hair done and she had Scifi on when I got there.  I mostly-watched(infant nephew all over the place...) the second half of the Vegas episode, the prom episode, the Character Death episode with Logan Echolls impersonating a fast food delivery boy, and a bit of the episode after that.  As a lot know, I've been half pondering watching Roswell for a good while but never got around to it.  The f-list(well, the parts who've posted/talke to me aboutthe show) seems fairly divided about varying things.  Anyway, my general thoughts.

( not incredibly long, but using a cut anyway )

Bits and pieces (largely Roswell and Fantasy Couple)

 1.  I think I am temporarily over the fantasy movie fest.  Temporarily because I think I am iconned out for a bit and know that a post will make me want to make icons.  I do, however, have Legend pics saved and Ladyhawke pics located, sothere is definately more coming.

2.  When I wasn't making icons this weekend, i was watching Fantasy Couple, the kdrama based on Overboard and from the same people as My Girl and Sassy Girl Chun-Hyang.  While I still have 4 episodes to go, I have to say this is one of the finniest doramas I've seen, definately the funniest kdrama I've seen.  This productiom team also knows how to make truly despicable Other Women.  Other producers try to make other members of triangles likable and understandable, with varying degrees of success.  But these guys?  They have no interest in our feeling sorry for the one who doesn't get the guy.  While Vase Girl may seem so boring she makes your eyes glaze over in the first few episodes, fear not, soon she shall reach the dreaded Lip Gloss Girl's heights of evil as she claims other's good deeds as her own, tells everyone she left her fiance because she realized who she really loved when in truth he dumped her, send spies to report back on her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend, and abandon small children in the middle on the street after promising them pizza to sort non-existant wedding gifts.  And various other things(there's also the regularly pretending to drink herself sick so she can call the hero and have him carry her home so she can enjoy leaning on his very manly body...I actually find it difficult to hold that against her when she isn't rubbing it in.)  Thankfully, our heroine takes nothing lying down, and our hero, despite constantly being fooled by her Evil Ways, knows who he should be standing by and does.

3.  I am also pondering my next dorama.  Young Warriors is high up there, but twice already this director has made me totally and completely fall in love with the characters and then  ripped my heart out and stomped on it by piling the angst and character death on.  i do not trust him.  Plus, calixahas warned me this is what will happen, and 9/5 times out of 10 we share a dorama brain.  I am open to suggestions for anything you think or know I have.

4.  Scifi showed a Roswell marathon today.  I wouldn't actually know this, except I babysat Jackson while Jen got her hair done and she had Scifi on when I got there.  I mostly-watched(infant nephew all over the place...) the second half of the Vegas episode, the prom episode, the Character Death episode with Logan Echolls impersonating a fast food delivery boy, and a bit of the episode after that.  As a lot know, I've been half pondering watching Roswell for a good while but never got around to it.  The f-list(well, the parts who've posted/talke to me aboutthe show) seems fairly divided about varying things.  Anyway, my general thoughts.

( not incredibly long, but using a cut anyway )