Of Swords and Parasols

The Green Man was the first book  in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's mythic anthology series(which, naturally, means it the one I read last.)  The Green Man is the traditional lord of the forest in myth, though he wasn't given that name until recently(I always forget and the book says when but I'm too lazy to look) and Jack in Ridley Scott's Legend and the central concept and function of myth in Robin of Sherwood are both based around the tradition, to give the most accurate examples that immediately pop to mind.

Like Coyote Road and The Faery Reel, most of the stories here apply old ideas to modern times, often specifically geared to urban or rural, instead of general modern, mostly from the perspective of a "normal" person walking into otherworldly matters.  In a way, I wish I'd read this one first instead of last.  There isn't as much of a concentrated vision here as there isin the other two anthologies in the series, and there are several stories where I'm not quite sure why they were there as they didn't seem to fit, unlike the others in the series where they were almost seemless in the story selection, even if there were a few stories I wasn't as fond of.  Still, it remains a number of steps up from most fantasy anthologies I've read.

Another very, very quick book post, sadly. (Gotta make them when I can...)

As its title indicates, Coyote Road is an anthology about  trickster tales from around the world(though, also as indicated by the title, more focused on American folklore than European or Eastern folklore and myth, which is what I prefer) Like it's sibling anthology, The Faery Reel, Coyote Road is entirely comprised of very solid stories, ranging from "good" to "really good," as opposed to the anthology standard of "ok" to "pretty good."

I've always liked trickster tales, so I-rightly-assumed that I would like this one.  Though, I've always preferred tricksters, malevolent or benevolent, protagonist or antagonist, to be a smaller part of a larger story, as opposed to the main focus.  Even the ones you hate add a lot to a tale.  Oddly, no one (or several) story stood out above and beyond the rest, unlike Faery Reel.  which is not to say that any were bad or unmemorable, just that they were all good.  The ones I liked the best-Nina Kiriki Hoffman's The Listeners, Christopher Barzak's Realer Than You, Delia Sherman's The Fiddler of Bayou Teche, Richard Bowes's A Tale For the Short Days, Charles de Lint's Crow Roads and Ellen Kushner's Honored Guest-were stories that stood out because I'm always attracted to the basic myth and original tales behind them, and as such was naturally disposed to like them more.

One thing it let me down on, though: no kitsune tales.  I was sad.  I feel deprived.

Anyway, very, very good book, highly recommended for fans of folklore and trickster tales.

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.