Some worthy stories in this bird, including Neil Gaiman's Sunbird, but the best story has to be Peter Beagle's Two Hearts, a sequel to The Last Unicorn.

Empty Places, a high fantasy short story about a wizard and a rogue, started slow but ended quite satisfactorily. The wizard employs a thief to put an unknown package in the nursery of the newborn prince. The thief, having some morals, asks if the package will hurt the child and the two have a battle of wits as they journey towards the castle. While you might assume the wizard is up to no good, there was a surprising and poignant ending. This story by Richard Parks was episode 3 & 4 of the podca...

Nothing like a wizard, a thief, and a covert adventure to take your mind off real life. Enjoyed listening to this short fantasy story. Motives weren't clear which helped drive the plot. Story lets you in on the secret that people aren't always the label they've been given.

3.0⭐ "You're in a sorry pass, Majesty, when a theif like me serves you better than your own."In a special 2-part installment of Sticher podcast's LeVar Burton Reads , we're gifted with a good short story by Richard Parks. I don't have much to say outside of Burton's review - I think he hit the nail on the head when it came to his personal perspective on the story, and I strongly urge anyone reading my review to listen to the podcast for an enjoyable reading and intimate analysis. The only thing

Third installation in the LeVar Burton Reads podcast series.Very nice! Very traditional fantasy setting with a wizard and a rogue and a royal couple, but never felt stale.Good banter, a tense little plot and an interesting ending.

This book/short story was told during episodes 3 & 4 of 'LaVar Burton Reads.' I really enjoyed this particular story for several reasons. I liked that it took place in a fantasy world with wizards and such, but magic wasn't the driving force of the plot, and also because the story didn't have the ending I expected.

A fun and entertaining story about having the choice to make decisions, even if the choice already seems picked out for us.Thief Jayn against the Wizard Timmon. They make an unlikely duo as they set off to save the Kingdom of Wallandia. It's with the Wizard's brains that they make it to the castle, but it's with Jayn's slight of hand and silent vigilance that the deed is done. The third piece of short fiction read by LeVar Burton, in the LeVar Burton Reads podcast series.

A wizard forces a thief to plant a box in the prince's chambers. The thief is always suspicious of the wizard but is always proved wrong. Eventually the wizard predicts what the thief will do before the thief even knew he was going to do it. It is interesting, but the climax is a bit lacking.

Listened via LeVar Burton Reads podcast. (#3 and 4)I recalled the first two short stories from the podcast just fine, but I honestly had completely forgot about this one. I read the description, some two sentences about a wizard and a Jayne, which tickled a memory but I still had to scour the other reviews for help.I think the story was -face scrunches in effort to drag out memory- (This is why I have a goodreads account) (view spoiler)[A wizard blackmails a thief into going on a quest, but then...

I really appreciated the dialogue in this story, as it revealed the gaps that humans and characters often have between who they think they are and the perception that those around them hold. I loved following two "evil" characters and using my own moral compass to, in a sense, test theirs. I found it really captivating overall.

Another venture into the LeVar Burton reads podcast. This is light fantasy (just a whiff of magic) where a thief is compelled to help a wizard break into a castle, with an unexpected but satisfying ending.

Love Levar, but not sure about his short story choices. This one wasn't bad, but I really didn't like Timon completely forcing Jane to do what he wanted on pain of fiery death. And JANE kept harping on it, to the point where I kinda wanted Timon to get a bit trigger happy. Seriously? EVERY time you open your mouth, you tell your captor that you don't trust that he's not going to waste you once you complete the mission? Why give him ideas/annoying him?The ending was sweet and the way they got int...

"Empty Places" is the story that Levar Burton reads in the third and fourth episode of "Levar Burton Reads." It is a fantasy story about a wizard and a thief. Although not my favorite of the three I have listed to so far, I still found it enjoyable. In the postscript, he tells of his 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Twigs and his role in class as the story reader. Being an educator, the thought of little Levar sitting on a stool in the front of class warmed my heart. I am addicted to "Levar Burton Reads."...

I used to read anthologies all the time but haven't in years. This book bright me back nicely. I usually go into them knowing that I'm not going to love all of them, but this one had a high number of great ones!! And a great variety of types of fantasy... Scary, thrilling, mystery, aliens, funny, fair tales.

Charming story from Levar Burton Reads. Kinda like someone wrote down a story from a D&D campaign.

I enjoyed this so much, I am definitely looking for more stories by Richard Parks. I loved the banter between Timon and Jayn, I could see a whole series built around these two, kinda hoping there is one to be honest.

Excellent two part story on the LeVar Burton Reads Podcast.

This is a rare short story which feels truly complete to me. There is a message to this story that is perfectly conveyed in the length of the story. In addition, this story first appears to be about a magician and thief, yet there is something else to this story. That underlying aspect to the story is absolutely beautiful and makes this a must read, or listen.I listened to this on the LeVar Burton Reads podcast and his performance is excellent. Not only is his voice amazing, but there are added

A fairly solid compendium of short fantasy stories. I didn’t find myself taking down authors names and scurrying to see what else they had written, which is how I knew this wasn’t a 5 star but there’s still lots to enjoy. Any compilation that features Peter S. Beagle’s short story Two Hearts is worth checking out for that one alone.

It's a fun fantasy short story. In terms of stories Levar Burton has read on his podcast this was the most enjoyable. The protagonist plays off the wizard character for some entertaining exchanges throughout. A reasonably satisfying ending as well.