Firebirds Rising

I can't think of a summary for this one so I'm stealing it from off the back of the book. "What you hold in your hands is more than a book. It is a gateway between worlds--from deep space to Faerie to just around the corner. The seventeen authors who have contributed original stories to Firebirds Rising have won virtually every literary prize and made bestseller lists wordwide. These authors, including Francesca Lia Block (Weetzie Bat), Charles De Lint (The Blue Girl), Diana Wynne Jones (The Pinhoe Egg), and Tamora Pierce (Beka Cooper: Terrier), have written singular stories that will capture readers and spark their imagination."

My Opinion: Yeah, I couldn't think of a better way to say it than the summary itself. This book, which is an anthology, is just the right formula for fantasy and sci-fi Teen readers. I enjoyed every story in the book (though some were a little long [i.e. "The Wizards of Perfil" that was freakin' 50 pages long. Though it was certainly worth the long read of this "short" story]). As you can probably tell this book boasts authors that I love, and that are very famous for their Teen books. I have to say that Tamora Pierce's "Huntress" was probably my favorite story in the book. It was a great opening story, and it had this combination of reality and myth. Most stories were able to do this combine some reality (even if it was set in outer space!) with some fantasy or sci-fi asset. It made these stories very compelling and had me turning pages to see which story was next. This is the book that you want to curl up with on the couch on a miserable day or just at night. It will keep you entertained for hours, it certainly did me!

However, it wasn't perfect. As with most short stories, it's difficult to write fleshed out characters for everything and put in a plot and all the other assets needed. Most of the authors do all this very well, however, some fall just a little bit short (hardly at all, but still there). Still, I recommend this for anyone who is a fantasy or sci-fi fan, this is the book for you!

Rating: 4.5/5 Not perfect but it was damn near close!

Reviews from the pros:

"Short story collections for young adults are realtively plentiful, but rare is an anthology wherein every selection comes from authors who are already established; most of them have taken this free-form assignment to truly reach towards new creative heights." -BCCB

"At their best, [the stories]combine humor, character, and surprise with remarkable depth." -The Horn Book

"Compelling stories for thoughful readers." -SLJ

"Editor November follows Firebirds (2003) with an equally captivating collection of original stories offering a rich vairiety of selections." -Booklist

"Like its predecessor, [this] an encouraging sign that (no doubt with November's prodding), YA science fiction and fantasy is beginning to attract an impressive number of the field's better writers." -Gary K. Wolfe, Locus

Happy reading everyone! I hope you pick it up!
-She Who Reads A Lot