Out of sheer boredom and lack of something better to read, I picked up this book and began reading it (it was on the shelf of a friend of mine . . . dusty and abandoned. I think I felt sorry for it). Honestly, I had my doubts. After having read numerous versions of politically correct fairy tales, I thought this would be along the same vein and completely cliche' and overdone.
Surprisingly (and most wondrously) I was wrong. This is not just a bunch of fairy tales made into gory, sex laden adult fiction. It is a great collection of short stories written by people with real narrative talent. My hat goes off to the editors for finding such gems and putting them into one easy to digest book. I have (since reading this book) gone onto other books in this series and have been just as pleased. An added bonus (as well) that I thought I would add in: throughout this series, you will find a few short stories by Neil Gaiman thrown in there. They are wonderful. He is one of my favorite writers out there, and his shorts stories are great. If you decide to venture out and buy any of the Windling/Datlow collaborations, make sure you check out his stories in particular. He's just so GOOD (yum).
Overall, I would hand this book over to anybody to read. It's fun, it's got some good stuff, and it's not hardcore sci fi/fantasy stuff like you might suspect. It's very realistic and entertaining, and you'll FLY through it.
Do yourself a favor and delve into this. You'll be glad that you did.Happy reading!
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This collection of previously unpublished vampire stories will certainlywhet one's appetite for fastasy fiction but never really delivers.