Young Warriors: Stories of Strength by Tamora Pierce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Content warnings: death, violence, blood, murder
I’m going to try to remember all of the stories individually and give thoughts on them.
The Gift of Rain Mountain (Bruce Holland Rogers)– This was alright. Kind of slow and boring initially. Knew how it’d end (probably because I read too many stories about spirits/gods and trickery). Wasn’t altogether impressed.
The Magestone (S.M. and Jan Stirling)– Nice kind of twist for a mermaid tale. Didn’t care much for the characters though. Good idea not so great execution.
Eli and the Dybbuk (Janis Ian)– Jewish folklore. Arrogant mc. Was more interested in researching Jewish folklore than reading this story.
Heartless (Holly Black)– Was ok and not very impressive. Ending felt kind of flat to me.
Lioness (Pamela F. Service)– Actually really enjoyed. Loved this story and how things wound up.
Thunderbolt (Esther Friesner)– Really enjoyed this one as well. We all know the story of Helen of Troy. I like this idea much better of her.
Devil Wind (India Edghill)– Enjoyed the mixing of what appeared to possibly be Hindu beliefs and English beliefs. Definitely want to do more research into Hinduism other than the base knowledge I have about it. Story re-enforced it. Good story about revenge.
The Boy Who Cried “Dragon!” (Mike Resnick)– Interesting take/twist on “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. If you know that tale you basically know this one.
Student of Ostriches (Tamora Pierce)– Have already reviewed as it was a part of Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales. My thoughts haven’t changed.
Serpent’s Rock (Laura Anne Gilman)– Started out kind of confusingly but then started to make a little more sense towards the end. Decent story.
Hidden Warriors (Margaret Mahy)– Was alright. Felt more bard tale-y than short story but that’s not necessarily bad.
Emerging Legacy (Doranna Durgin)– Enjoyed a lot. Took a traditionally not desirable character trait and made it very desirable and useful.
An Axe for Men (Rosemary Edghill)– Ehhhh….didn’t much care for the whole axes should be for men motif of the story. Also don’t care much for religion in and of itself (which is amusing considering I like the stories different religions have and like reading new ones of existing, not existing anymore, and fictional religions commonly referred to as folklore and myths) but this gave me a kind of icky feeling reading it that I can’t explain (and have spent most of the day trying to figure out to explain).
Acts of Faith (Lesley McBain)– Ireland. WWII. Jewish character. Pagan character. Belief. That’s all I can say without spoiling. It was good.
Swords That Talk (Brent Hartinger)– This was an interesting take on the whole “become a hero by doing x” tale. I enjoyed it. Left a bit of food for thought for me.
On the whole it was a decent collection of stories by authors I’ve never heard of and by extension read (minus Tamora Pierce). It was enjoyable to read.
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