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Book Review: Irresistible Forces
Aug. 30th, 2004 09:50 pmThis is a small anthology edited by Catherine Asaro containing stories by Lois McMaster Bujold, Jennifer Roberson, Jo Beverly, Mary Jo Putney, Deb Stover, and the editor. The edition that I have is a trade paperback dated February 2004, I’d expect a paperback out fairly soon if they’re going to do one.
It would be easy to dismiss this book as a collection of romance stories, and on the surface, that is true. I read it specifically because the Bujold story, Winterfair’s Gifts, is the tale of the wedding of Miles Vorkosigan and Madam Vorsoisson. That, in and of itself, is more than enough of a reason to read it if you’re a Vorkosigan series fan, of which I’m a recent convert. But what it really is is a story about Taura and Armsman Roic, Taura being the humanoid/wolfish genetic supersoldier who now serves with the Dendari Mercenaries, Miles rescued her in a collection of short stories, she pops up every now and again and is a great character. Then again, pretty much all of Miles’ women are great characters. And there must, of course, be a plot to get revenge upon Miles from one of the vast array of enemies that he’s acquired in his brief but oh so colorful career.
The second story that I read was Jennifer’s. I used to work with her, some 20 years ago, at Flying Buffalo. I’ve enjoyed her writing greatly but haven’t read nearly as much as I would like. I’ve read two of her three “Lady” novels, Lady of the Forest and Lady of the Glen, the former about Maid Marian and Robin Hood where Robin is a shell-shocked veteran of the Crusades who needs a strong woman, the latter a story of a slaughter in Scotland, the specifics of which elude me at the moment. She has released a second Marian/Robin book, Lady of the Sherwood, which I have not yet read. Anyway, Jennifer’s story is another Marian/Robin adventure with the addition of another famous legend, an old guy whose been stuck in a tree for a few hundred years, his name was Merlin or something like that. I don’t know for certain, but I think the story ties into Marian Zimmer Bradley’s Avalon mythos, as I’ve never read MZB’s works it’s just a guess. Still, darn good story.
So the book has gone from one extreme of the spectrum to the other in the form of hard SF to historical fantasy with magic, what else? Well, we’ve got an English/Celtic/magic/semi-historical story by Putney called The Alchemical Mariage, Asaro’s Stained Glass Heart is a SF/retro-tech/fantasy, Skin Deep by Stover is a contemporary after-death relationship fixer-upper, and The Trouble With Heroes by Beverly is similar to Asaro’s in that you have a colonization from Earth wave with an isolation period, but in this one you’re having trouble with bug-eyed monsters turning people into ash.
They are all good. They are all recommended. Very enjoyable reads.
It would be easy to dismiss this book as a collection of romance stories, and on the surface, that is true. I read it specifically because the Bujold story, Winterfair’s Gifts, is the tale of the wedding of Miles Vorkosigan and Madam Vorsoisson. That, in and of itself, is more than enough of a reason to read it if you’re a Vorkosigan series fan, of which I’m a recent convert. But what it really is is a story about Taura and Armsman Roic, Taura being the humanoid/wolfish genetic supersoldier who now serves with the Dendari Mercenaries, Miles rescued her in a collection of short stories, she pops up every now and again and is a great character. Then again, pretty much all of Miles’ women are great characters. And there must, of course, be a plot to get revenge upon Miles from one of the vast array of enemies that he’s acquired in his brief but oh so colorful career.
The second story that I read was Jennifer’s. I used to work with her, some 20 years ago, at Flying Buffalo. I’ve enjoyed her writing greatly but haven’t read nearly as much as I would like. I’ve read two of her three “Lady” novels, Lady of the Forest and Lady of the Glen, the former about Maid Marian and Robin Hood where Robin is a shell-shocked veteran of the Crusades who needs a strong woman, the latter a story of a slaughter in Scotland, the specifics of which elude me at the moment. She has released a second Marian/Robin book, Lady of the Sherwood, which I have not yet read. Anyway, Jennifer’s story is another Marian/Robin adventure with the addition of another famous legend, an old guy whose been stuck in a tree for a few hundred years, his name was Merlin or something like that. I don’t know for certain, but I think the story ties into Marian Zimmer Bradley’s Avalon mythos, as I’ve never read MZB’s works it’s just a guess. Still, darn good story.
So the book has gone from one extreme of the spectrum to the other in the form of hard SF to historical fantasy with magic, what else? Well, we’ve got an English/Celtic/magic/semi-historical story by Putney called The Alchemical Mariage, Asaro’s Stained Glass Heart is a SF/retro-tech/fantasy, Skin Deep by Stover is a contemporary after-death relationship fixer-upper, and The Trouble With Heroes by Beverly is similar to Asaro’s in that you have a colonization from Earth wave with an isolation period, but in this one you’re having trouble with bug-eyed monsters turning people into ash.
They are all good. They are all recommended. Very enjoyable reads.
