The Doors of His Face the Lamps of His Mouth by Roger Zelazny

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The Doors of His Face, The Lamp of His Mouth

"The Doors of His Face the Lamps of His Mouth" is a collection of short stories by Roger Zelazny. As with any series of stories, there were some that I liked more than others. However, the one advantage that this has over other anthologies, is that it only has one author, and I tend to like his work! So even with the one's that I wasn't as thrilled with, they we're still pretty good stories.

There are 17 stories in this collection. Some of them are very short, and some are pretty long! My favorites were "A Museum Piece" and "The Graveyard Heart." The first one simply entertained me, and the second one had a fascinating premise to it! We've all heard stories about putting people into a sort of cold sleep - or stasis right? Well what if, instead of doing that to travel between stars or something similar, people went into cold sleep just so they could periodically come out and party? And never be younger? Eternal youth, essentially, while the world around you stares and wonders. It was a pretty interesting story, especially because it's of course much deeper than what I just shared!

Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold

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Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold

Edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

"Swan Sister" is a delightful anthology of retold fairy tales as collected by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. There are 13 stories in this collection. Each with its own twist on old stories such as Rapunzel and Little Red Ridding Hood.

My favorite story came at the very end, and since this is an anthology, it's one time you can skip to the end with out ruining anything! The story is called "Swan Sister" and it's the story the book takes it's title from. It's a moving story of a sisters love, and I was crying by the time I was done reading it!

There are plenty of other great stories in this book to read. You'll find your imagination challenged as you work your way through them!

A Wolf At the Door - and Other Retold Fairy Tales

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A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales (13 stories)

Edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

I've recently found a new love in the fantasy world - and that's anthologies of short stories! I enjoy them for many reasons, the top two being because I find new authors this way, and because it encourages me to stretch my own wings as a writer. Much more so than reading full length books because I feel like, at this point in time, the short story format is something I'm much more able to write.

"A Wolf in the Door" provides a bunch of stories inspired by traditional fairy tales, but written with new twists! Most of them will be familiar to the average reader, and some of them come from the traditions of other cultures that you may not be as familiar with. There are 13 different stories in this book and I enjoyed each and every one of them!

I'm not sure I can pick out a favorite from this anthology. I love traditional stories that I grew up on, and I've always loved it when people "play" with giving old stories new twists. So I simply loved this book!

The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest

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The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest

Edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Decorations by Charles Vess

In "The Green Man: Tale from the Mythic Forest" we find a collection of stories all surrounding the legendary figure of the Green Man. The Green Man is a figure that has been seen through out mythic history in one form or another. He has been seen across many cultures, and there is even an appearance of a Green Woman from time to time. The authors in this anthology were challenged to write their own Green Men stories, stories rooted deep in the woods, and they rose to the challenge magnificently.

Some of these stories (and there are a few poems as well) feature a more traditional representation of the Green Man. Others take the concept, and dream it in an entirely different direction! I certainly found my imagination stimulated as read this variety of stories.

One thing that I found pretty interesting was the story by Charles de Lint called "Somewhere in My Mind There is a Painting Box." It continues the story of a girl named Lily that I first met in his children's book, "A Circle of Cats." It's sheer coincidence that I read the other book first, but it was a lot of fun to explore more of her character in a longer story!

The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm

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The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm

I found this book quite by accident while I was ordering things on the libraries web-site, not even really sure HoW I did that since I rarely do anything other than order what I'm planning and move on, but I'm really glad I did!

"The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm" is a fascinating collection of fantasy from some of the top authors in the genre. Including two of my favorites, Charles de Lint and Neil Gaimen. The stories range from the more traditional, to set in modern cities, to adaptations of stories from places like Japan where you might not be accustomed to hearing stories from!

While I didn't fall in love with every story in the book, I did fall in love with quite a few of them, and I've found some new authors to read! I made a nice long list of authors, books, and other anthologies to read. I'll be ordering them one by one and sharing them with you!

It's hard to pick favorites among so many great stories, but here's a little bit about a few of them that stood out in my mind.

"CATNYP" by Delia Sherman tells the story of the fairies that live on the fringes of New York City. There's a fascinating adventure in the library that got my mind racing with ideas and possibilities! I have a fantasy story to tell about books of my own now. We'll see if it develops into anything readable.

"The Feary Handbag" by Kelly Link fascinated me because it wove together stories of the old world and the new.

"Never Never" by Burce Glassco takes a fun new look at the old story of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, this time from Hook's point of view!

"The Faery Reel" by Neil Gaiman is a poem that will make you want to get up and dance!