Wednesday, January 16, 2013

micro reviews - Dragonthology

I've finished two more stories from the anthology Dragonthology.
I rarely read any anthology straight through - I usually use them to savor a short story here and there...
so my micro reviews will be coming here and there, now and then...

Unto the Breach by Jason Andrew
Set during World War I, this is the story of a soldier trying to make it through the night in the midst of a pretty traumatic battle.  There is a lieutenant who spouts poetry for his troop, gas masks that have to be activated by urine (really?  does this really have to be done?, or did it have to be done? I actually tried to find a pee shade of yellow.  I'm sick), and weird noises in the night, as well as a creeping darkness that almost seems alive.  The plot was good, the dialogue was good, but I kept feeling like I was skipping paragraphs, or missing a page in at least two spots. (I've read a couple picture books like that too - abrupt transitions - they sometimes throw me) Except the feeling that I was missing some words, the story itself was good.  It could have been me, the way I was perceiving the story - but I can't fault the words that were there - they were good words.  :)

The Dragon of Sullivan Hall by Marian Allen.  
I experienced quite a case of chuckles while reading this one.  While reading I could hear an Irish lilt telling me a story - a story about a rather irritable little dragon and the girls in the dorm who were, well -- irritating her. Just about every character in this short is just a touch evil.  Evil-lite.  Good story.  FUN story.  I think this one might be one of my favorites from this anthology - certainly in the top three so far.  ;)

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