This is the fourth addition to Jane Yolen's short story fantasy collection. This has stories of first love, love of necessity, magical love and love of convenience. Each tale is enchanting. There are fairies, mermen, princess and princes. Jane Yolen is a wonderful writer and this adds to her vast collection of works admirably.

This vibrant collection of short stories will appeal to readers of all ages, from lovers of classic fairytales, to mythology buffs, to those just looking for a bit of magic.

The author – who has written over 400 books – is an expert at her craft, weaving a wide range of retellings and reimaginings perfect for a cosy night in. Drawing on her own feelings and experiences as well as well-known stories like Alice in Wonderland and the legend of King Arthur, she creates bold new tales of unlikely heroes, mystical beasts and love found in the strangest places.

Some of these stories birthed ideas that went on to become full-length novels, and others expanded on the author's poetry (which you can read at the end of the book). I loved the cycle of inspiration!

While I enjoyed the eclectic mix of settings and characters, I often felt the endings came too soon, and for a book supposedly comprised of romantic short stories, I often felt the romance was rushed or barely alluded to. Lovers of light-touch romance and budding feelings will enjoy the tales, though!

Also, while this anthology is named after the circus, none of the stories within it are circus-based. They are wild and wonderful and talented, though, which fits well with a circus vibe.

Scarlet Circus in an Anthology of Jane Yolen's own work of stories she's written having to do with romance. These stories are short works written over the course of her career as a writer for different publications here and there. I loved this collection of stories both familiar and not with Jane's own take.

Stories include classic fairytale style storytelling, alternate Romeo and Juliet story, an Arthurian tale, an Alice in Wonderland afterward, and many others.

My favorites were:

Sans Soleil
Dusty Loves
Unicorn Tapestry
Dragonfield
Peter in Wonderland

Don't sleep on the author's notes at the back. They tell of the history/origin of each story and where it was published previously along with accompanying poetry.

Thank you to Tachyon Publishing and Netgalley for sending this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the fourth short story collection from fantasy favorite, Jane Yolen. The worlds she builds are enjoyable, with some inspiration taken from classic Shakespeare and fairy tales. I enjoyed the spin she put on those familiar tales, each story centered on a romance of sorts. This is a fabulous gift item to introduce someone new to Jane Yolen's writing style.

I'm a big fan of Jane Yolen's work. I love her prose and the haunting way she writes fantasy. These stories while pleasant, lacked the emotional punch I'm used to getting from her.

This is an excellent collection by one of the finest fantasy writers. Yolen is part of a group of women writers who entered the science fiction/fantasy genre in the late 60s/early 70s, along with authors like Le Guin, Russ, Sheldon and others. They all brought a higher quality of writing and a new vision of the genres to the table. Yolen’s stories seem derived from a deep love of the fairy tale. Some of these stories actually retell favorite stories, like The Sword in the Stone or stories of Djinn. The stories in this collection of short works all have a linking quality of love and romance. But don’t expect steamy romance tales. Also don’t expect high adventure fantasy just because Sanderson wrote the introduction. These all have the quality of fairy tales, but updated for the modern age. While none of these stories blew me out of the water or sent shivers down my spine, they are all enjoyable and solid stories. I recommend this volume to the reader who does not need 1000-page adventures or grim dark fantasy (or who at least wants a break from those), but just would like a nice world of imagination.

A delightful group of short stories about whimsical to dark fantasy romances.
This is the second book of short stories by this author I have read & reviewed. The first: How to fracture a fairy tale which while charming was nowhere near as appealing to me or good as this set of tales. Favorites would be the Merman & the ghost jeweler. I did notice as this was a pre pub that some of the poem stories were missing, this was disappointing. The Girl Speaks to the Mage is me.

At this point, youd think we wouldn't have anything left to say about Jane Yolen. She's prolific and if you haven't read any of her fairy tales either new or reimagined you are missing out. They are lush and dramy and fantastical and so full of light and equal parts happy endings and delivered justice.

This collection focuses on love stories (whicha re some of the best stories in my opinion) and it's engaging and I could not put it down once I started reading!

One of the many great tragedies of adulthood is that no one tells you fairy tales anymore. But then there’s Jane Yolen who does just that. Who has been doing just that for the many decades of her spectacularly prolific career. As this collection so marvelously demonstrates.
I’ve read the previous collection Midnight Circus by Yolen before, so I knew what to expect and sure enough, this was a delight in every way.
If one had to categorize it, something like romantic fantasy might suffice. Not to say these are all love stories, but they are about love, as all fairy tales in a way are.
I can sing Yolen’s praises and use all sorts of excited superlatives…or I can just say that some people have the gift of natural storytelling and this author is one of them. He weaves her fairy tale gold just as expertly as any of the classic masters and leaves you just as warm and happy reading them.
These stories are charming, lovely, things of beauty. Don’t care for poetry in the footnotes so much but that’s neither here nor there. The main attraction is utter delight, pure reading pleasure. For you, for your neglected inner child. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

As with most short story collections, some were quite good, other@ mediocre, yet others total duds.
However, a decent collection for fantasy loving teen audience.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This was an absolute jewel of short stories, captivating exactly what Yolen always does in her books and poems. Absolute wonder, mystery and just a touch of romance. This was an excellent read as Yolen always delivers and I look forward to her next books as I always do.

Before picking up this book, I had never even heard of Jane Yolen. The Scarlet Circus is a collection of short stories that encounters love in its different forms. After researching her a little, I was very excited to read this.
There is no circus in this book, at least not in the way we know; there are lots of short stories here and they all tell in a very tale-like way the stories of love. It reads like a book filled with fairy tales. Some might carry a lesson with them, but as the author puts: a lesson isn’t her intention.
I think that this book is a read you can carry around with you anywhere. You can read a story on a 30 minute train ride, and you can read another on your lunch break, or before you go to sleep. Because of their shortness, each individual story has its own impact and its easy to read nonetheless.
However, like with most short stories, it was sometimes hard to find the hook of a book with a consistent storyline. Yolen manages to do a decent job, although some stories felt empty, written for the purpose of having them written.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed this work.

Jane Yolen is a dreamer of dreams and a weaver of tales. She’s been doing this for over 50 years as a writer, poet, and editor, and The Scarlet Circus demonstrates that gamut of experience through the frame of love. This collection will, simply put, enchant you.

Each story in this collection—the earliest of which was written in 1975!—looks at some aspect of love. That love can be wistful or valiant or silly or sad, but in Yolen’s hands every story lands with impact. She frames the stories with poems she wrote with her poem-a-day project during the pandemic. What emerges is a rich portrait of an emotion that is an intrinsic part of us all.

There isn’t a weak story in the bunch, but I loved the wise and ironic Sans Soleil as well as Yolen’s very distinctive take on Romeo and Juliet. Dragonfield is a marvelous examination of heroism, while Peter in Wonderland is a glorious return to all things Lewis Carroll. Yolen even has a medieval romance and time-travel romance with a twist all its own in this rich collection.

Yolen is an alchemist who twists everyday words into something magical. And love is something to enjoy experiencing in our reading. Yolen’s takes on it in this collection are magnificent. Pick The Scarlet Circus up, and prepare to be seduced, mesmerized, and enthralled.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tachyon Publications for the advance reader's copy!

Full Disclosure: I received an advanced reader's copy of the Scarlet Circus by Jane Yolen from Tachyon Publications via NetGalley.

The Scarlet Circus is a collection of "romance" short stories written by Jane Yolen throughout the years. You may have read some of them elsewhere. All of the stories have some element of fantasy to them. This isn't your typical romance novel though. That romance has a broad definition and doesn't always have a happy ending. In fact, some of the stories are quite dark. I really like it when Jane Yolen takes a story you think you know and turns it on its head. Those tend to be my favorites.

Bonus points to Jane for finding love again much later in life after being widowed. There's some romance for you! Although, if her story is one to follow, I better start looking back where I started instead of seeing if there is anything new out there.

An enjoyable collection of stories…witty, insightful and sometimes dark. Makes me eager to read the author’s other “colors”.

eARC received from NetGalley for unbiased review, given voluntarily.

What an absolute pleasure to read!

I've only been tangentially familiar with Jane Yolen's work prior to reading this, so imagine my utter surprise and delight to stumble across this gem of a collection, and this gem of an author!

The writing is lyrical and lush, the pacing reminiscent of the fairy-tales of old. My particular favorite is the retelling of Romeo and Juliet from Dusty the Fae's sister's point of view. The slow realization of what story it is, the perspective shift, the final ending of "Julie" becoming Shakespeare's muse for his "dark lady" -- all of it is nothing short of delightful.

I found in this the love of stories that I developed as a child, the unconditional sense of wonder and hunger for magic and a little bit of toe-tingling terror (for all fairy-tales are a little terrifying, if they're done right).

I can't wait for to read Yolen's previous 2 collections and dig into her other works!

In this collection of eleven short stories, the reader encounters love in its myriad forms – romance, but familial love and friendship and love of duty too – all splashed with plenty of fantasy.

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I did not recognize Jane Yolen right away – she has written over four hundred books, and it turns out that though I have not read any of them, I knew plenty of them. Anyway I have rectified that sad oversight with The Scarlet Circus.

Though the stories are for the most part classic romantic fantasy, they don’t have much in common thematically. Instead they all share a lovely, whimsical feel, whether they end happily or sadly or in an ambivalent way. They have a fairytale quality to them that makes for light reading. I also liked the short essay by Yolen about writing romance, and how it ties in with writing fantasy.

However, I did find some of the stories perhaps too light, without substance. They did not have much staying power, maybe because of that fairytale quality. I also wished the romance was a little more pronounced in some of the stories, as it shows up only in the faintest traces in a few.

My favorite stories from this collection were “Dark Seed, Dark Stone,” about a king’s niece who wants to serve her uncle as her father did, and “The Sword and the Stone,” which was a humorous take on the King Arthur sword in the stone legend.

Really lovely collection. I'm not familiar yet with the previous three volumes, but I really enjoyed this one and will certainly circle back to the others!

I received a copy of The Scarlet Circus from netgalley in return for an honest review.

This is apparently this is the 4th such collection she has done. Let’s get something great. This woman truly has made some great work. I remember as a teenager reading her Pit Dragon Chronicles and really getting into the ideas she brought up in her books in ways I didn’t in my classroom. Her “How to Dinosaurs” books really catch the interest of the preschoolers I’ve read them to.

I am saying all of this because I was very meh over this collection of short stories.

So, despite the title, as the description lets us know, the short stories are connected by themes of love (but in unexpected twists in the endings in how we’d expected they’d play out), usually centering around the women in them and taking place in fairytales and myths.

If this sounds interesting to you, there’s a good chance you’ll like these stories. They’re told very much like old fairytales like they have certain truths to tell.

They are also leading you to where the twist of the story will come into play because it’s playing off those classic fairytales and myths to tell its own story that you’ll never guess the ending of. (Which you can, but it might not be your first guess of an ending)

That said. The first story is an interesting idea with questions of who’s fault it is, and who was right in the end, and if I cared more at the moment, I might like to think about the ending of the short story more. There’s the Romeo and Juliet story, whose ending annoyed me, but I can’t say anything about it because of spoilers. There’s the King Arthur story that I did read twice through because I did enjoy it. And then there’s every other story. Some that I remember, and most that are almost completely gone in my memory despite just reading them.

I know that short stories will have stories you like and not, but this collection only had one I loved, with one that I wanted to think more about, and that’s not worth it for me, but I could see where people who love retelling of fairytales and myths would love it. So a solid 3.5 because it’s a solid book, brought down to a 3 because it’s a “Meh”.

This collection is advertised as the fourth in Jane Yolen's anthology series, but as far as I know, there's only one other such anthology with circus in the title ("The Emerald Circus"), and the two other anthologies don't follow the circus theme. I've read all four, and I can say this one is my favourite, maybe because I liked more stories than in the others.

Despite the title, this doesn't take place in a circus nor is a circus the unifying theme, it's more about the whimsical nature of the stories, I'd imagine. There are 11 short stories here, none of which is new but has been plucked from previous publications to make into this collection. Yolen added a Story Notes segment by the end, in which she explains whence each story came from and adds the poems she's complemented each of the stories with. The result is a lovely bouquet of retellings and original stories, although I'd have loved it had this included some artwork; Yolen is so imaginative I'm sure she'd be a challenge for many artists.

Anyway, of all the stories, I loved these three best:

SANS SOLEIL
4 stars
This looked like a retelling of the Grimms' "The Singing, Springing Lark" at first, a B&B variant in which the cursed lion-prince can't be caught dead in the sunlight because it'd meant his curse becomes permanent. In this, Yolen takes it up a notch and makes the sunlight deathly to the cursed prince, whose name translates as "Sunless."
It's horrifying in a way, because the girl the prince marries in hopes of breaking his curse is a complete, utter, and irredeemable MORON. Everything that goes tragically bad is her fault, because she thinks in her own superiority that she can handwave away all warnings and dangers merely because she knows best, and is proven wrong when it's too late. It's tragic and told so well I liked it despite hating the heroine so much.

UNICORN TAPESTRY
This story had a sweet and plain princess whose talent lies in embroidery, a non-marketable skill in the royal marriages market unlike her sisters' beauty. But one day, she stumbles into a magical bird she helps and in return is granted the traditional three wishes. Not convinced anything will result of it, Princess Marian makes her wish half-heartedly, and returns to her routine in the castle, resigned to grow into an old spinster embroidering beautiful tapestries for the rest of her life.
To her surprise, the bird wasn't making fun of her, and Marian soon discovers there's magic in her embroidery, and that she soon will see that magic leap from the tapestry into her life. It's a sweet little story, ideal for readers that like plain heroines with quiet strength.

A GHOST OF AN AFFAIR
5 stars
This one is heartwrenching by the end, but starts so hopeful that I was thinking it'd be another love story with a cloying Happily Ever After and no substance. But substance it does have! It's so unique, it subverts your expectations all the way to the end, and just when you're convinced Andrea and Simon will make it and be together at last, it . . . well, I'll let you read it and shed a tear or two.
It's so beautiful a romance! I think this one could be made into a novella or even a short novel, but I kinda don't want it to be expanded on, because short as it is, with all its omissions and hints at, it's still going to pull your heart's strings.