Okay. A TALENTED author can create a short story with originality and depth. Huskyteer's "The Witch Doctor" here, for example. It's a simple story about a divorced young father who is emotionally traumatized by that divorce. When he has a minor accident while he is taking his child trick-or-treating, they go to a hospital where a nurse not only bandages the injury, she helps unfreeze his emotions in one evening at the hospital's children's party so he can both become a better father, and "rejoin the human race". This could easily have been a shallow and mawkish story, not really believable that so much could happen in one evening. As Huskyteer has written it, the reader really feels the father's grief at first, and the nurse's skillful and tender coaxing him out of his shell. The reader notices that the characters are only superficially funny animals, but hardly cares about that because the writing is so good.
This and Renee Hall's story stand out by the quality of their writing. A couple of others have imaginative situations that the reader will remember, but the writing could be better. Most are pleasant enough but the reader will have forgotten them by the time that the anthology is finished.
In my opinion. This is why each book should be reviewed by two or more reviewers, so the reader can compare different opinions.
Okay. A TALENTED author can create a short story with originality and depth. Huskyteer's "The Witch Doctor" here, for example. It's a simple story about a divorced young father who is emotionally traumatized by that divorce. When he has a minor accident while he is taking his child trick-or-treating, they go to a hospital where a nurse not only bandages the injury, she helps unfreeze his emotions in one evening at the hospital's children's party so he can both become a better father, and "rejoin the human race". This could easily have been a shallow and mawkish story, not really believable that so much could happen in one evening. As Huskyteer has written it, the reader really feels the father's grief at first, and the nurse's skillful and tender coaxing him out of his shell. The reader notices that the characters are only superficially funny animals, but hardly cares about that because the writing is so good.
This and Renee Hall's story stand out by the quality of their writing. A couple of others have imaginative situations that the reader will remember, but the writing could be better. Most are pleasant enough but the reader will have forgotten them by the time that the anthology is finished.
In my opinion. This is why each book should be reviewed by two or more reviewers, so the reader can compare different opinions.
Fred Patten