{"id":2135,"date":"2017-07-06T10:04:19","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T17:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewritersscrapbin.com\/staging\/7882\/?p=2135"},"modified":"2017-07-06T10:04:19","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T17:04:19","slug":"summer-of-magic-anthology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thewritersscrapbin.com\/staging\/7882\/summer-of-magic-anthology\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Reviews: Summer of Magic Anthology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I\u2019m returning to familiar territory for my review: fantasy. However, I\u2019m travelling down an avenue with which I haven\u2019t had much experience, i.e. urban fantasy. I\u2019m no stranger to fantasy which incorporates technology and other modern elements, namely Eoin Colfer\u2019s Artemis Fowl <\/em>and Rick Riordan\u2019s Percy Jackson and the Olympians<\/em>, but Summer of Magic<\/em> is arguably for more mature audiences.<\/p>\n

An author of the anthology gave me an advanced reader copy of Summer of Magic <\/em>in exchange for my honest review, and I\u2019m happy she did. My imagination had departed from fantasy for far too long, and this collection helped bring it back.<\/p>\n

Summer of Magic <\/em>comprises seven short stories: \u201cUprising\u201d by Andrew Dobell, \u201cThe First Imprint\u201d by Lee Hayton, \u201cGypsy\u2019s Ghost\u201d by Andrea Drew, \u201cMonster\u201d by Art DeForest, \u201cHow to Fuel Your Revenge\u201d by Nicole Zoltack, \u201cBorn of Ashes\u201d by Jamie Davis, and \u201cGoblin\u2019s Amends\u201d by Wren Cavanagh. From a secret society of magic-wielders in London to magical creatures working at a hospital, the anthology represents the entire gamut of possibilities offered by urban fantasy today.<\/p>\n

Magic, action, and everyday social interactions play prominent roles but the humor became my favorite part of the collection.<\/p>\n

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Are you, like, a\u2026Death Eater?<\/em> \u2013Andrew Dobell, \u201cUprising\u201d<\/p>\n

Zeus sniffed at the corpse, snarling slightly, and then raised a hind leg in a timeless salute.<\/em> \u2013Art DeForest, \u201cMonster\u201d<\/p>\n

I have to admit that I take a special guilty pleasure in crossing off every one of those Cowboys-fan vampires. What can I say? I\u2019m a Washington Redskins fan.<\/em> \u2013Nicole Zoltack, \u201cHow to Fuel Your Revenge\u201d<\/p>\n

I saw how you were looking at him, hey whatever rings your bell\u2026panties damp yet? <\/em>\u2013Wren Cavanagh, \u201cGoblin\u2019s Amends\u201d<\/p>\n

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This humor keeps the stories engaging, grounds them in today\u2019s (first-world) society, and enhances the writers\u2019 individual voices. It doesn\u2019t hurt that any references to Harry Potter <\/em>make me chuckle.<\/p>\n

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The anthology could do with some workshopping but it’s definitely worth a read for all urban fantasy fans.<\/p>\n

Image retrieved from Amazon (link below)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The worlds depicted in Summer of Magic<\/em> boast imaginative energy. While the stories take place in our world, the writers weave fantastical elements into the ordinary, sometimes in new ways and sometimes in manners more familiar to the reader. Whether it\u2019s new magic like the coven in \u201cUprising\u201d or retellings of old creatures like \u201cBorn of Ashes,\u201d the treatments of these subjects capture the imagination and make you want more.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoblin\u2019s Amends\u201d brings a fascinating twist on mythical\/legendary creatures. The story throws readers right into the magic with the unusual theft of a gold necklace. Next thing the reader knows, an injured harpy visits the ER and surprises all onlookers except for Dr. Sidra Luna and Nurse Cara Garay. As the narrative progresses, Cavanagh exposes more and more characters for the magical creatures they are. I started looking for the next to join their ranks\u2014trust me, you\u2019ll be guessing until the very end.<\/p>\n

I would love to see Cavanagh continue developing this world and the interactions among its inhabitants further. From adoption to magical creature support groups and sociopolitical commentary, she hints at a much larger, complex universe in which any fantasy fan will easily get lost.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, that world-building also serves as the anthology\u2019s downfall. For many of the stories, too much is attempted in a short amount of space. \u201cUprising\u201d in particular has an issue with ambitious world-building leading to extraneous exposition and the sacrifice of good pacing.<\/p>\n

\u201cUprising,\u201d which takes place in modern-day London, follows a semi-celebrity magic-wielder, the coven she encounters, and the attacks launched against them by a group of murderous Nomads. This story, although rather lengthy, is merely a slice of the world which Dobell creates in The Magi Saga<\/em>. At first, \u201cUprising\u201d maintains a quick pace which matches the danger the characters face. The world and people who populate it kept my attention fairly well, especially the fan-boying coven member Richard, but the progression disappointed me. The plot is strong but between the exposition regarding characters\u2019 backgrounds and the lack of suspense during later action scenes, I felt incomplete. In a way, I want to read more of The Magi Saga <\/em>just to gain a more fulfilling view of Dobell\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

Other stories in the anthology have similar problems. \u201cHow to Fuel Your Revenge,\u201d a heart-racing narrative about a vampire hunter, ends on a clich\u00e9. \u201cMonster\u201d only partially resolves the enthralling narrative of cunning, nature, and the struggle of man vs. werewolf. \u201cGoblin\u2019s Amends,\u201d which reminds me of Gabriel Garc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez\u2019s surreal \u201cA Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,\u201d disappointingly rushes through the final action scene. \u201cGypsy\u2019s Ghost,\u201d which I was excited about because Gypsy is a freelance copywriter\/medium, also wraps things up too quickly.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say that I didn\u2019t enjoy these stories. Rather, I know these stories have a lot to offer and I don\u2019t know if they\u2019ve reached their full potential yet.<\/p>\n

There are two stories with which I had few problems, \u201cBorn of Ashes\u201d and \u201cThe First Imprint.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBorn of Ashes\u201d depicts two paramedics\u2019 efforts to rescue and treat Unusuals\u2014i.e. magical creatures\u2014from a horrible car crash. It comes as part of Davis\u2019s Extreme Medical Services <\/em>series, and, as with the other stories, the author occasionally overuses exposition to help readers understand the world. Nevertheless, \u201cBorn of Ashes\u201d stands as a gripping story on its own while also baiting the reader to check out the rest of the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe First Imprint,\u201d on the other hand, is a fully-fledged, self-sustained narrative. It takes readers on Bretta\u2019s first solo job reading an \u201cimprint,\u201d which we would call a ghost or residual energy. While the plot is simple and straightforward, the emotional struggle it explores is not. The social dynamics among Bretta, her father, the widow, and the widow\u2019s husband grabbed hold of me from page one and refused to let go. The ending left me very satisfied while also leaving open the possibility of more stories should Hayton choose to pursue this world.<\/p>\n

Some Amazon reviews mention typos. However, these errors have since been corrected and, in all honesty, they didn\u2019t detract from the storytelling in the first place.<\/p>\n

The collection is worth a read for fans of urban fantasy. If nothing else, the variety of worlds shown will help budding writers learn what they do and do not want to explore when tying together magic, 21st<\/sup>-century technology, and modern sociopolitical struggles.<\/p>\n

I look forward to reading more from these writers, and I plan to continue with the series represented in Summer of Magic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

To learn more about this and other books or contact Notch Publishing, you can follow this link<\/a>. If you would like to read Summer of Magic <\/em>and access its worlds for yourself, please click on the ad below.<\/p>\n