Product Description

A wondeful collection of fantasy short stories from the renowned author of the Thomas Covenant series. Stephen Donaldson has been one of the world's most popular fantasy writers ever since his first million-selling Thomas Covenant trilogy in 1977. In 1990 he took a new direction with the Gap series, the bestselling sf epic acclaimed as his best work ever. Now, in his first collection since 1984, he returns to mainstream fantasy with eight stunning stories that reveal an astonishing mastery of the shorter form. Here are tales rich with exotic atmosphere, mysticism and menace, including 'The Djinn Who Watches Over the Accursed', an unnerving fable about a reckless adulterer; 'The Killing Stroke', in which martial-arts masters fight as champions in a great mind-battle between mages; and 'Penance', a haunting story of a vampire who roams a battlefield, searching for the dying. Spellbinding, unpredictable and always entertaining, this new collection displays the remarkable imagination and extraordinary range of a writer at the height of his powers, and confirms Stephen Donaldson's position as a master of modern fantasy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78131 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Customer Reviews

Some amazing stories, and other less good...
I like Donaldson's short stories far better than the full length books (although I've only read the two Covenant serieses and the Gap books) because they force him to, well, *keep to the point* instead of babbling for unnecessary pages (well done official Amazon reviewer, it really does look as if he used an oversized thesaurus!).

My favourite by far is still "Penance" which is absolutely heart-rending. There are several other very strong stories (Reave the Just, The Djinn...) all of which make you feel that he has something to say - about injustice, about people's expectations... which make this book worth reading.

Unfortunately there were some that just got on my nerves - the different systems of martial arts, for example, which made me feel that he was saying something deep right up until I actually thought about it and realised it was too vague to be meaningful. However, even this story has its good points and unlike his other short story collection Daughter of Regals there are no stories that have no redeeming points at all.

I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Donaldson's other books, and even to those who hated the Covenant books (I suspect if I were to read them now, I would too). If however you hate all fantasy books (or are considering a gift :)) then there will be nothing in here to make you change your mind.

Decent stuff, much better than his last collection.
Most of these tales are engaging and focused, with a definite point to make. If the martial-arts one is rather laboured and contrived, and the vampire one excessively hand-wringing, still none are without interest, and unlike the "Daughter of Regals" collection each is different unto the next. The Reave tales in particular are forthright and challenging. Donaldson has never been one to tell a story just for the sake of it, and you come away from these stories with a clear impression that Something Has Been Said, usually about responsibility and moral courage.

Donaldson, as ever, produces a masterpiece
This collection of short stories is breathtaking in diversity, and yet they are all magnificent. The best is a story of a wronged vampire, which is a truly great short piece.