This is a pretty decent anthology; it caught my eye at the library. Almost all of the stories have been collected elsewhere previously, though. Some of them had errors that suggested they had been retyped and that not all the errors stemming therefrom had been caught, particularly the Marion Zimmer Bradley story. (It made me sad. Not because of the typos, because of the subject matter.)On an unrelated note, I am getting a little irritated at seeing big name fantasy authors take shots at Harry Po...

Excellent collection! A lot of variety on a great theme.

I've copied the contents from WorldCat and I'll only rate the ones I like. Contents: Introduction by John Joseph Adams --In the lost lands / George R.R. Martin -- 5 starsFamily tree / David Barr Kirtley -- 4 starsJohn Uskglass and the Cambrian charcoal burner / Susanna Clarke -- 3.5 starsWizard's apprentice / Delia Sherman -- 4 starsThe sorcerer Minus / Jeffrey Ford -- 3.5 starsLife so dear or peace so sweet / C. C. Finlay --Card sharp / Rajan Khanna -- 4 starsSo deep that the bottom could not b...

This collection didn't impress me much; it seemed to me that a lot of the stories were clumsily and amateurishly written or simply took way too long to get the setup out of the way, and a sense of humor would have been very welcome. I enjoyed George R.R. Martin's "In the Lost Lands," a demonstration of the importance of being careful what you wish for, and Delia Sherman's "The Wizard's Apprentice," a charming tale of a runaway stumbling into a bookstore run by an evil wizard -- it says so right

These stories are excellent, although I was disappointed that the Susannah Clarke story was a reprint from her book *The Ladies of Grace Adieux*. Most of the others were printed in magazines, which makes them a little harder to come by and more worth reprinting. Mostly I wanted this for Jonathan Howard's new Johannes Cabal short story, which didn't disappoint. There were fewer idiom problems than usual (writers using 20th century Americanisms in pseudo-medieval settings always bothers me) and th...

Won this a a freereads here on Goodreads. This is a wonderful collection of short stories by various well-known authors in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. The stories all center on magic in one way or another, though the way it is approached is different depending on the author. There are the classic wizards tales to more modern takes on magic. The stories span time periods from the past all the way to the distant future. Definitely a good read and recommended for those who enjoy fantasy.

Only read (listened to) Jonathan L. Howard's "The Ereshkigal Working", which was wonderful as all his Cabal works are.

A collection of stories about magic users, some new and some many decades old.George RR Martin, “In the Lost Lands.” A sorceress quests to find a werewolf skin. Purple prose, telegraphed&obvious plot ~twists~. Was not impressed.David Barr Kirtley, “Family Tree.” Simon is pulled back into the family feud, in which everyone lives in a living tree and fights over which branch is larger. He ends it by killing everyone on the opposing side, including the lady he loved but whose loyalty toward her fam...

I’ve always thought wizards are cool. If you walk up to me on the street and utter the word, “Fantasy” to me, the first thing I’ll do is give you a bizarre look and, if I don’t know who you are, probably say something along the lines of, “What?” But the second thing I would do is conjure an image of a slightly stooped old man with a white beard, flowing robes, and yes, an impressive, gnarled staff. From Gandalf to Belgarath to the Order and Chaos mages of Recluce and Candar, wizards have been ar...

4 stars to "The Ereshkigal Working" by Jonathan L Howard.

this antho rocks and not only because i'm in it. :-)

Only got this to read Jonathan L. Howard's story "The Ereshkigal Working". As usual, it was an amusing tale of the misadventures of necromancer Johannes Cabal. Here's hoping that some day all Howard's Cabal short stories will be collected in one volume.

MacHalo Buddy Read The Ereshkigal Working by Jonathan L. Howard. A Johannes Cabal novella. The Cabal I love and adore is BACK! With all the humor and NECROMANCY stuff! This is, by far, my favorite Johannes Cabal novella.

I read this short-story collection because of the astonishingly high number of good writers in it, though it turns out most of the stories are reprints - I was disappointed to find that the Susanna Clarke story was one I'd already read in The Ladies of Grace Adieu, though at least the others were all new to me.There weren't any bad stories in the collection, though most were pretty forgettable, and the editing in the book is atrocious (words are frequently mistyped as other words in a way that s...

Disclaimer: there are too many 32 short stories in this collection. I only read one of them. My necromancing boyfriend’s. Because I'm despicably selective like that. And also because DUH.💀 The Ereshkigal Working by Jonathan L. Howard💀 ➽ And the moral of this reread is: O Jojo! My Jojo! Thou art the mostest deliciousest (and hilariousest) heartless bastard in the history of mostest deliciousest (and hilariousest) heartless bastards. Which kinda sorta makes me feel like...P.S. Killing one's lit...

Well thank Animus THAT'S over. Like any anthology this is a mixed bag, but it felt there were a lot more stories here not to my taste than ones I enjoyed.Also, the definition of "wizard" is pretty loose: I could've done without a zombie story, thank you.And of course the one story I really liked is in a series of stories that are not easily located. *sighs*

Some were really good, some were meh, and some well ....Was only really interested in the Jonathan L. Howard short that went with the Cabal series, but found some gems in there as well.

This collection of short stories blew me away. I’m used to reading magazines or anthologies where I get a few stories I connect with, a handful I can see are good, and a couple that I didn’t like. While I might not have loved every story, I can’t remember a single one that provoked a negative or “eh” reaction. I received this book as part of my Hugo voting packet, but have purchased the paper copy so my boys can read it.This collection is a mix of original and reprinted stories that show a wide

Fortunately my edition didn't have comments from the anthology editor. Here are my individual reviews for the stories, but to sum it up, a handful of these stories were good, a large amount mediocre, and then a few were absolutely awful."In the lost lands" George RR Martin: 4.5/5. A clever mystery with a tragic, extremely fitting solution. Magic is an essential part of the plot."Family tree" David Barr Kirtley: 3.5/5. Interesting magic but lackluster characters and a disappointing ending."John U...

One of the best anthologies I've read in a long while. Great mix of classic wizard stories (like "In the Lost Lands by George RR Martin and "The Word of Unbinding" by Ursula K. LeGuin) along with a whole host of exciting new ones. Really liked "One Click Banishment" by Jeremiah Tolbett, "Street Wizard" by Simon R. Green,"The Thirteen Texts of Arthyria" by John R. Fultz, and "Wizards of Perfil" by Kelly Link. "Card Sharp" by Rajan Khanna had a neat system of magic as well.