As I've said many times before on this blog, I love anthologies. Lace and Blade 4, curated by Deborah J. Ross, and due out 14th February, 2018 from the MZB Literary Works Trust, is a good one.

One of the reasons I like anthologies and collections is that they're often full of new-to-me authors for further reading. Another is that often with fantasy collections, there are tie-in stories giving background or side stories for my favorite characters or set in well-loved universes. Third, they're usually a fairly mixed bag and if there's a story which doesn't appeal to me right there and then, there's always another one available without a huge time investment. This collection's no exception.

The quality of the stories is very high. They are well written, varied, well curated stories, and all have at least a hint of romance(and/or danger) and fantasy. Of the 13 included stories, most were from authors familiar to me. As far as I can see, all the stories are new and published for the first time in this anthology.
For me, selecting three standout stories was pretty difficult, they're all entertaining and engaging. In the end, I chose the following three:

Sunset Games - Robin Wayne Bailey
Parisian vampire vs. master thief and woman of mystery - sexy and a really superlative use of dramatic tension. While I was reading the story, I was not sure what I wanted to happen. It's a very taut and extremely spare narrative.

The Butcher's Boy and the Piri Folk - Pat MacEwan
I really loved this one. It's witty and fun and serious by turns. I love the message; it's what's inside a person that makes them truly great and not what's on the outside. I also love English civil war fiction. Additionally this is a really well written story and at 21 pages, a lovely diverting length for one sitting.

The Heart's Coda - Carol Berg
I love dragons, always have and always will. This is a breathtaking story about traumatized dragons (PTSD) and the bard who has the ability to sing them whole again. I actually teared up reading this story. It's only 36 pages, but it felt much longer (in a GOOD way). I intend to chase down Song of the Beast by the author, set in the same universe as soon as I can. Really lovely story.

Stats:
284 pages, Ebook format.
Release date: 14th February, 2018
Available for pre-order now (rrp $6.99)
Four and a half stars

This continues to be the year of anthologies. I've always intended to read the Lace and Blade anthologies edited by Deborah J. Ross. They seemed to be the sort of fantasy that I liked. Yet I never got to them. So many books and too little time. More recently, I obtained an ARC of the fourth volume in the series for free from the publisher via Net Galley.


I had chosen a novel to read this Thanksgiving because I was certain I'd be thankful for it, but it turned out to be darker than I expected. Then my eyes fell on Lace and Blade 4 on my digital galley priority list. It was the right time to read it. I would be thankful for some good fantas


I started the anthology on Thanksgiving, but it took me several days to read Lace and Blade 4 because I read the anthology in its entirety. I won't say that I liked every story. That happens with anthologies very rarely. In fact, I can only recall one anthology whose stories I thought were uniformly wonderful, and it was a Shakespearean mystery anthology called Much Ado About Murder edited by Anne Perry. This is a very specialized theme anthology and that theme won't be as fascinating to all readers as it was to me. Usually editors want to appeal to a variety of readers who will have different tastes.

Despite the above disclaimer, I have good news about Lace and Blade 4. There were two stories that I would rate as excellent which is more than usual in an anthology. (See my review of Brave New Girls #2, another anthology that I found to be well above average..)


"The Butcher's Boy and the Piri Folk" by Pat McEwen is the first of these excellent stories. It contains a variety of fae, but it's really about a 17th century historical personage who was previously unknown to me. Jeffrey Hudson was a dwarf, but he also fought in the English Civil War with the rank of Captain. McEwen's story takes place after his expulsion from court and provides an alternate fantastical explanation for a significant change that happened to him. I'm not so fond of the fae, but I love reading about underdogs.


I was also impressed by "The Heart's Coda" by Carol Berg. This highly original story deals with a bard who heals traumatized dragons by singing to them. I admit to being very tired of the standard portrayals of dragons in fantasy. Authors normally give us dragons who are monsters, or they are gentle and totally domesticated. In Berg's story they are neither. I also love stories that show the power of music. So "The Heart's Coda" is very special indeed.

There was one other story that I found noteworthy. "A Sword For Liberty" by Diana Paxson is a compelling tale about a Patriot in the American Revolution who is also a visionary. The story realistically portrays how angst ridden support for the revolution could be in some circumstances.


If this is the level of quality that I can expect from Lace and Blade, I will definitely need to pick up the earlier volumes.