Arbieroo reviewed Unnatural Creatures by Neil Gaiman
Review of 'Unnatural Creatures' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Gaiman selected the stories in this anthology but was allowed to include one of his own, which is quite good. In fact, I liked all the stories in this collection bar the one by E. Nesbit, which has that annoying "technique" that many children's stories of her era employ of talking directly to the reader. It always feels patronising to me, which is why I don't like it.
Aside from that, the stories vary from quite good to excellent and many of them were by authors new to me. Discovering new authors is one of the best functions of these anthologies.
This selection shows a notable bias toward stories that sound like folk-tales, which seems to fit with Gaiman as an anthologist.
Perhaps my favourite story was the one by Diana Wynne Jones, an author I have been meaning to try for some time. She certainly lived up to her …
Gaiman selected the stories in this anthology but was allowed to include one of his own, which is quite good. In fact, I liked all the stories in this collection bar the one by E. Nesbit, which has that annoying "technique" that many children's stories of her era employ of talking directly to the reader. It always feels patronising to me, which is why I don't like it.
Aside from that, the stories vary from quite good to excellent and many of them were by authors new to me. Discovering new authors is one of the best functions of these anthologies.
This selection shows a notable bias toward stories that sound like folk-tales, which seems to fit with Gaiman as an anthologist.
Perhaps my favourite story was the one by Diana Wynne Jones, an author I have been meaning to try for some time. She certainly lived up to her reputation in this example.