Foreign Language Friday: after the quake by Haruki Murakami

Dear blog,
So.  I wrote a review, finally!  You'll have to forgive me if it sounds badly written.  I am so out of practise, but it will be good to get back into reviewing again. 

Original title: Kami no kodomo-tachi wa mina odoru

Author: Haruki Murakami

Original Language: Japanese

Translated by: Jay Rubin
Summary (from Goodreads): The economy was booming. People had more money than they knew what to do with. And then, the earthquake struck. Komura's wife follows the TV reports from morning to night, without eating or sleeping. The same images appear again and again: flames, smoke, buildings turned to rubble, their inhabitants dead, cracks in the streets, derailments, crashes, collapsed expressways, crushed subways, fires everywhere. Pure hell. Suddenly, a city seems a fragile thing. And life too. Tomorrow anything could happen. For the characters in Murakami's latest short story collection, the Kobe earthquake is an echo from a past they buried long ago. Satsuki has spent 30 years hating one man: a lover who destroyed her chances of having children, and who now lives in Kobe. Did her desire for revenge cause the earthquake? Junpei's estranged parents also live in Kobe. Should he contact them? Miyake left his family in Kobe to make midnight bonfires on a beach hundreds of miles away. Four-year-old Sala has nightmares that the Eathquake man is trying to stuff her inside a little box. Katagiri returns home to find a giant frog in his apartment on a mission to save Tokyo from a massive worm burrowing under the Tokyo Security Trust Bank. "When he gets angry, he causes earthquakes" says Frog. "And right now he is very, very angry."

Review: So, this is a selection of six short stories all set directly after the 1995 Kobe earthquake.  I thought I would review each story one by one.

UFO in Kushiro- I think this is actually my least favourite of the bunch. That's not to say that I disliked it- I did, the same way that I like everything that Haruki Murakami writes, just within certain degrees of liking as opposed to active dislike- but I suppose that I just found it rather ordinary, with all of the trademark aspects of his work that you would expect from his writing.  Look at it this way: as a kind of introduction, a prologue that sets the scene with the things that keep all of the stories in after the quake interlinked: people's lives that are outwardly so ordinary in many aspects, but which are somehow thrown slightly out of balance, and the way that the Kobe earthquake is somehow relevant to their lives.  UFO in Kushiro, to my mind, kind of establishes all of that as a lead-up to the rest of the book.

Landscape with Flatiron- is quite possibly my favourite of the six, and also quite possibly my new favourite Murakami short story.  The surreal and supernatural is something that's often one of the most prominent themes in his writing, but this collection is (apart from Super-Frog Saves Tokyo, which I'll get to in a minute) kind of devoid of all that. Yet Landscape with Flatiron reads as quite dreamlike and surreal in a way that no giant frogs could ever be, with the imagery that it conjures up, the fleeting dialogue, and the way that the story meanders along quietly, like it's hardly there at all.  You hardly notice that it's finished, the way it kind of trails off in an unfinished thought.

All God's Children Can Dance- is best described as...slightly disturbing, or maybe slightly unsettling would be a more accurate description.  There are all kinds of vague underlying themes and undertones to the story, like everything is lurking just underneath the surface.  You wouldn't think it when you first start reading and meet the protagonist- who wakes up alone at home with a hangover- but it's the darkest story of the six, and the deepest, too.  I found the conclusion of this story particularly satisfying: it opened in one place, seemed to go on a slight detour as a kind of intense character study, before concluding in what felt like a full circle.  Though the story was only around twenty pages long, by the end I felt like I knew everything about the main character and the world he inhabited.


Thailand-  Is it possible for a short story to pull you in gradually?  If it is, Thailand did exactly that. I started out thinking, "well, this is an okay story," but then as it kept going I felt myself more and more gradually drawn into it.  All the stories in after the quake are linked in differing ways, but I found the way that this was connected the most interesting; the main character, Satsuki, wonders if her hatred of one man is what caused the earthquake. 

Super-Frog Saves Tokyo- Reminded me a lot of the story The Little Green Monster from the collection The Elephant Vanishes, and was just as much fun. It's as strange and as quirky as it sounds, but always in the most delightful way possible.  A bank employee named Katagiri comes home from work one evening to find a six-foot-tall frog waiting for him in his apartment, and, after the frog has asked Katagiri to close the door behind him and take off his shoes, Frog proceeds to warn Katagiri that they must both work together to "do mortal combat with"...drumroll...a gigantic worm, in order to prevent aforementioned worm from destroying Tokyo.  Every page gets more and more random, but for that I absolutely love it.

Honey Pie- I envy Haruki Murakami for his writing skills so much, and he makes me feel like such a mediocre writer. How are his characters so fully-formed and believable, even when we only stay with them for such a short period of time? I know that this is a highlight of the collection for a lot of people, but I was initially a little confused about where the focus of the story lay.  It started off in one place, with a young girl being told a story by her Uncle Junpei. Then it sort of takes a detour into the lives of Junpei and the girl -Sala's- parents, only it's sort of too long to be a detour and seems to become the central point or idea of the story, before coming back to Sala again at the end.  Still, whatever story the reader wants to get from it- and there are many within it- it remains ultimately heartwarming and hopeful.

In Three Words: surreal, profound, emotive.
Recommended for: everyone!  I think it's a good introduction to Murakami's short stories.
Rating: 4.

Foreign Language Friday: The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami

Dear Blog,

another anthology review, even though because it's so late here it's almost Foreign Language Saturday.

Original Language: Japanese
Translated by: Alfred Birnbaum and Jay Rubin
Summary (from Goodreads): When a man's favourite elephant vanishes, the balance of his whole life is subtly upset; a couple's midnight hunger pangs drive them to hold up a McDonald's; a woman finds she is irresistible to a small green monster that burrows through her front garden; an insomniac wife wakes up to a twilight world of semi-consciousness in which anything seems possible - even death. In every one of the stories that make up The Elephant Vanishes, Murakami makes a determined assault on the normal. He has a deadpan genius for dislocating realities to uncover the surreal in the everyday, the extraordinary in the ordinary.

The Wind-up Bird And Tuesday's Women- turned out later on, much revised, to be the beginning to The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, which I haven't read yet.  However, it certainly is a winning idea for a book, and certainly a strong opening to an anthology like this. 
The thing I like most about Haruki Murakami is the way that he manages to make the most ordinary, everyday things absolutely unputdownable reading. The narrator's cat disappears. If this was any other author, you'd be like, "It's okay, he'll turn up when he's hungry."  But in Murakami's writing you're like "Oh noes!  The cat!  He has to be found!"  Not just because of the writing style, but just because you care about the characters so much, you need the subtle balance to their lives to be restored now. 

The Second Bakery Attack- Is about (in my opinion) the most badass married couple in literature, who how after suddenly becoming ravenously hungry in the middle of the night, decide to hold up a MacDonalds in order to break a curse set on the husband. On one hand, taking a step back and saying to yourself "Hang on.  What are they doing..?"  it's quite hilarious, but on the other you can't help but take it seriously as you read it.

 The Kangaroo Communiqué-  I don't really have very much to say about this one.  One thing I do know; it was weird.  Even for this anthology. It didn't really make sense, it was shrouded in mystery; the narration sort of jumped about from one place to another. 


On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning-is only five or six pages long, but one of my favourites nonetheless.  It's short and sweet and the sort of thing that puts a smile on your face when you've finished, and seems to make your whole day brighter for having read it.  Even though you know it's just a story, it's utterly enchanting. It's kind of like a fairy-tale.  

Sleep-Would have been another favourite, had it not been for the ending, which seemed to let down what would have otherwise been a truly, truly fantastic story.  The ending was very sudden and didn't really seem to fit with the rest of the story, which left me kind of disappointed.  However, up to that point it was unputdownable.  I'm something of an insomniac, but not...not in the creepy sinister way of this story.  It gave me chills.

The Fall of the Roman Empire, The 1881 Indian Uprising, Hitler's Invasion of Poland, And The Realm of Raging Winds-  Was another short one, and all the better for it. For all its length, it was pretty incredible in the way that it managed to weave in time and space to such a short piece. The writing style is beautiful; so clear and precise.   "I let out a short, maybe 30% sigh."    "The things on the line were all aflutter, whipping out loud, dry cracks, streaming their crazed comet trails off into space."

Lederhosen- Was a bizarre story; a woman goes to Germany, tries to buy some Lederhosen for her husband and then ends up divorcing him.    It was kind of "Oh.  Okay."  No real explanation is given for why she does this; the mind boggles.   But this is Haruki Murakami, dear blog, and if anything slightly out of the ordinary happens, you just nod and accept it.  Because thou shalt not question the master.

Barn Burning - Was quite a delightful escapade through the Japanese countryside, in which the narrator meets a young man who likes to burn barns out in the country.  It was around this point in the book that it started to strike me how similar the main characters are in all these short stories.  They're about thirty or so; they smoke, they drink, they listen to music.  Is that it?  Surely there's more to them than that.  Admittedly it's pretty hard to write full personalities with just twenty or thirty pages to play with; but they seem to be the same characters over and over, in different situations but with the same basic mold.

The Little Green Monster - This is a weird comparison, but The Little Green Monster reminds me somewhat of Andy Riley's Bunny Suicide books;  It's quite sweet in a mean sort of way, having you both laughing and going "aaw, no!  The poor rabbit/little green monster!"  at the same time.  So you do feel kind of guilty when you've finished it for finding the undersized verdant  lusus naturae's infatuation with the narrator amusing.  But you do anyway. 

A Family Affair- Was quite a "normal" story compared to some of the others; just the story of a brother, a sister and the sister's new boyfriend, whose name is Noboro Watanabe, a character who seems to appear in a fair few of the stories in the book.  There doesn't seem to be a link between all these people with the same name; they just are.

A Window- Is a beautiful story about letters, a part-time job and hamburger steaks; all are linked.  It's another short one that's quite similar to On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl.

TV People -  Is bizarrely apathetic.  A man is sat in his living room late one night when suddenly little people appear in his apartment and set up a television.  Mysteriously when it's turned on, the television doesn't show any channels, and then the aforementioned TV People turn up at his office to install a similar television, which nobody else seems to notice.  It's...just so weird.  The narrator never mentions the TV people to anyone, nor do they mention them to him.  He just sits there and watches them go about their business...it makes no sense. But then, I don't think it's meant to.

A Slow Boat to China- Is absolutely beautiful.  It's poetic in a way that none of the other short stories are; it seems calm and flowing; like the narrator is stood still while the rest of the world keeps going. 

The Dancing Dwarf - Imagine that The Little Mermaid and Stephen King had a baby. The Dancing Dwarf is the result, some sort of fairy tale set in a different world which gets darker and darker with every page, until the ending which is slightly horrific and entirely disgusting. 
 

The Last Lawn of the Afternoon- Another...strange one, in which when you think about it not an awful lot happens.  Outwardly, it seems like another one of the more "normal" stories, but on another there are still a lot of questions that feel like they need answering.

The Silence- Is quite touching and powerful in a simplistic sort of way.   I've read a couple of reviews that have mentioned how this could be seen as quite political, referring to the way that herd culture works in Japan.  I hadn't really thought about this the first time I read it; so I suppose in that respect it's one of those books that works on many different levels.

The Elephant Vanishes- Seems to pretty sum up the whole book; how surreal every story is, the quirkiness behind the every day. It's like the disappearance of the elephant represents everything else about the other short stories in the book; situations or relationships that have vanished, or could have been but aren't, if that makes any sense.

In Three Words: sufficient Murakami awesomeness.  

Recommended for: fans. 

Rating: 3.5

In My Mailbox 21 or Some More Classics

Dear blog,
hosted as  ever by Kristi of The Story Siren fame.

This week was another in which I found myself in the classics section of my local library, which has been happening increasingly of late (probably because I've read almost all the YA books I want to read there.  Oh the joys of having a pitifully tiny village library).

BOUGHT

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

FROM THE LIBRARY

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [currently reading]

Cathedral by Raymond Carver

A Dead Man's Memoir by Mikhail Bulgakov

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

So, there you go. That was my bookish week.  What was yours like? 

Review: The Kissing Game by Aidan Chambers

Dear blog,

Summary (from Goodreads): United under the banner of flash fiction, this is a collection of stories, or little 'cells', complete in themselves but connected by the overarching themes of betrayal and revenge. All featuring teenagers and often with an unexpected twist, these frighteningly realistic stories will take you to the very edge and beyond.

Review: This is a collection of short stories, so I'll review each one in a couple of sentences.
 
Cindy's Day Out- Is actually one of my least favourites,  which is a shame seeing as it's the one that kicks things off and is the reader's first impression of the book.  Cindy/Ursula is the cause of my dislike in this one; she was quite literally Cinderella (I wonder if this intentional: Cindy= Cinderella).  No, really. She has the same relationship with her family. She's hard done by in the same way. She even encounters a prince charming at the end, who I did like a little more. 
The Scientific Approach- I have mixed feelings about this one as well.  The story was nice, and for the couple of pages you meet him the narrator is likeable, but the writing style kind of let the rest of it down. It is full of short sentences.  Like this.  Maybe this was intended to be effective. It's a short, punchy short story. However. It did get on my nerves.  If you have a copy, you should read parts aloud and then you'll see what I mean.
Kangaroo- Is quite comical, but stays with the general theme of defiance and free will.  You might not expect such a story to be set in a theme park, and narrated by a snarky teenage girl in a kangaroo costume, but that's just what it is.  It's the kind of short story you can't not like, not when the narrator is stuck with such a summer job, and has such a likeable voice. 
Expulsion- Is written in letter form. This story made me feel entirely smug because I'm home-educated and, therefore, do not have to deal with such things as standing outside in the rain for two hours in that twisted form of education they call P.E.  However, I have heard much of this brutal activity from my school-going peers, and Expulsion brings it to life anyway.  The narrator's voice is so clear, so dry and so youthfully energetic it's irresistible.
The Tower- Is a creepy little story about a fifteen-year-old boy, his parents and the mysterious tower aforementioned boy discovers on their summer holiday.  It was average, I suppose, but for a lot of the story I wondered if it was actually going anywhere, and then the ending  was slightly rushed.
Up For It- Dialogue, and an entirely amusing one at that.  I don't know, it reminded me a lot of a sketch you might see on a television programme or something, there is something comedic about it, something amusing that I suppose you wouldn't see if you were actually in that situation; but looking from the outside as a reader, the banter does seem entertaining.
The God Debate- Is a nice contrasting dialogue from Up For It; this time it's about two boys at a private school, not observing beautiful women but talking about the deep stuff; id est, does God exist?  It seems like quite a typical Aidan Chambers piece in the way that it combines spirituality and philosophy with everyday life, and for that I like it.
The Kissing Game- is the title story in the book, one of the darkest and one of my favourites.  I suppose the thing I like about it the most is the way that Rosie and James' stories fit together so well.  She was sexually assaulted; he is alienated because of the way an innocent game turned out.  For all the secrets, though, the ending is quite sweet and uplifting.
Thrown Out- Is written in the same style as Expulsion, but not as...frank, I suppose is the best word, not as funny and...normal, but as someone who likes a) alternative existence and b)  living outside normality,  I love it anyway. The narrator's voice is so passionate and reasoning, you're instantly on his side, and his way of life seems to make total sense (I would totally do that if I wasn't so afraid of storms, and didn't want to go to university and such.  For one thing, where do you put a double bass in a little hut?).
Toska- As someone who studies Russian, I really like this one.  There isn't much plot to it; I suppose it's more like an explanation, a definition of Toska, a moment in someone's head. 
Like Life- Is another short dialogue, in which the word "like" is used eighteen times in little under three pages (Yes, I know.  I have no life.)  It's very open-ended, and more like a story than any of the other dialogues; and there are a million ways that it could go after it concludes.  Such is the brilliant thing about these stories; they're only a part of something much bigger.
Sanctuary- Is probably the darkest story in the book, dealing with illegal immigration and the sex slave trade.  Another one of my favourites; it's a longer piece, so there's a lot more depth to it, a definite beginning-middle-end.  What's not to like about it?  The writing style, which is the perfect balance of showing and telling? The characters, which are entirely three-dimensional? 
Weather Forecast- Another dialogue, this time between a man and a woman on the bus.  With reading this one I realised that the dialogues were probably my favourite parts of the book.  This one in particular.  It's so...awkward. Aidan Chambers says that the dialogues were influenced by the book One Million Tiny Plays About Britain, and in this "cell" in particular it shows -it's about the weather and our alleged national obsession with it.
Something to Tell You- Dialogue.  Was pretty similar to Up For It; it's like something you might see in a comedy sketch show; not because it's particularly amusing in a comic way, but because it's so realistic.  All those feelings of jealously and tension in a relationship are portrayed in an entirely amusing way, almost lightheartedly.
You Can Be Anything- I love this one.  I really, really do.  Excluding the dialogues it's one of the shortest stories in the book, a frantic rush of words and thoughts in a stream-of-consciousness manner that reads like poetry.  I like how it goes on in those extremely long sentences and weaves in bits and pieces of story, and then falters when curiosity and realisation sinks into the unnamed narrator.
A Handful of Wheat- Was written by Aidan aged seventeen, and seeing as the rest of the book features stories about teenagers, it seems kind of fitting to conclude with one that was written by a teenager.  It's quite...personal, I suppose, and even though it doesn't affect the reader as strongly you can certainly feel the emotion in it. 

In three words: short, creative, unique.
Recommended for: all fans of Aidan Chambers.  It's not as strong as some of his novels, and if you've never read any of his work before I'd suggest starting with one of them.  However, if you are, this anthology is well worth a read.
Rating: 3.5. 


Thank you to Random House UK for sending me a copy for review.

Review: Firebirds

Dear blog,

An anthology  of all things fantasy, edited by Sharyn November.  I've read heaps of short stories of late, having been too busy lots of the time to sit down and read a novel (which also explains my lack of reviews recently).

Anyway.

Summary (from Goodreads): Firebirds gathers together sixteen original stories by some of today’s finest writers of fantasy and science fiction. Together, they have won virtually every major prize— from the National Book Award to the World Fantasy Award to the Newbery Medal—and have made bestseller lists worldwide. These authors, including Lloyd Alexander, Diana Wynne Jones, Garth Nix, Patricia A. McKillip, Meredith Ann Pierce, and Nancy Farmer, tell stories that will entertain, provoke, startle, amuse, and resonate long after the last lage has been turned. And they all share a connection to Firebird—an imprint, like this anthology, devoted to the best fantasy and science fiction for teenage and adult readers.

Review:  Like with Across the Wall, I'll review each short story individually.  There are sixteen stories, so some I might not say very much of to keep the entry (relatively) short and interesting.

Cotillion by Delia Sherman- is one of my favourite stories in the book, and a strong opening.  It's haunting and beautiful and full of mysterious fairies and such, with a 1960's NYC setting seems like an interesting setting- almost as if as well as all the mythical and mystical folk, the world of high society during the Vietnam War seems kind of intriguing.  It was like a world within a world, if that makes sense. 
The Baby in the Night Deposit Box by Megan Whalen Turner -- is despite the cheesy-sounding title, actually a pretty good read. It was well-paced, and the characters were all likeable in their various shapes and forms.  Look out for the kick-butt demise of the enchantress at the end.

Beauty  by Sherwood Smith -- was actually one of my least favourite stories in the book.  Perhaps that's because it followed on from the Crown Duel novels, which I haven't read. Either way, I found it really difficult to like the main character, and the story dragged on slightly too long.  Elestra was entertaining at first but then just became slightly whiny, and I wanted to slap her by the end. 

Mariposa  by Nancy Springer -  Even though I think that Elestra of Beauty fame was supposed to be likeable, and a strong/capable sort of young woman, in truth I actually preferred Amy/Aimee, the heroine of Mariposa.  Mostly because Amy/Aimee was flawed, and she changes.  For instance, she goes from abandoning her soul  to rescuing it.   Need I say more?!  
Max Mondrosch by Lloyd Alexander - I really struggled to *get* this story.  No matter how many times I read it, it didn't make much sense.  It was just a little too strange.  I think it was meant to be darkly humorous, but only if you can make any sense of it. 
The Fall of Ys by Meredith Ann Pierce --  Is a traditional Breton folktale, and the writing style is such that it reads like poetry.  It's one of the shortest pieces in the book, but one of my favourites.   It's haunting and tragic in a romantically poetic sort of way. 
Medusa by  Michael Cadnum - Is yet another one of the retellings in this collection.  And a retelling that's been done countless times (it seems that it would be more original nowadays to tell the story from Perseus' perspective).  But the writing style is poetic and absolutely beautiful, and Medusa's voice seems to really shine through, if that makes sense. 
The Black Fox by Emma Bull , Illustrated by Charles Vess- is a refreshing but slightly bizarre  change from the other stories in the book.  Bizarre in a good way.  This is because it's a graphic manga-esque story, based on an old folk song/poem.   It's pretty amusing, and the artwork is great.  Plus the lyrics are included at the start of the story, so you can sort of see where  the short story itself came from. 
Byndley by Patricia A. McKillip -  Was another story I wasn't too keen on.  Even though I read it three days ago I had to refer to the book to remind myself which one it was when I saw the title.  I don't know why, dear blog, but I found the writing style unbearably dry and the main character, Reck, was somewhat unremarkable.  Okay, I know that wizards are pretty unusual, but this is a fantasy anthology, where magic is somewhat the norm.  The concept is interesting- it'd make an interesting novel, but as a 20-paged short story and a dry writing style hold few thrills for me. 
The Lady of the Ice Garden / Kara Dalkey - is a Japanese-y version of The Snow Queen, complete with kimonos and everything else that you would require from such a story.  It's certainly an interesting twist on the norm, and the story seems comfortingly familiar while still being Girida and Keiken, with references and such to Shinto, kimonos and the like. 
Hope Chest / Garth Nix -- I reviewed this in my review of Across the Wall.  I'll quite from it here:
[Hope Chest] is an epic historical-western-scifi sort of short story, and at 40 pages or so the longest story in the book after Nicholas Sayre. The historical and western elements of the book are a little surprising, because Garth Nix doesn't normally include these things in his novels. The blend of western-meets-scifi is quite bizarre and "what?!", but it works (look out for the awesome shooting scene in the train).
Chasing the Wind by Elizabeth E. Wein -- Exotic location, great characters, interesting idea, perfect pacing, clear writing style, modern-historical setting, aeroplanes ...what more could you ask for? 
Little Dot / Diana Wynne Jones -- Yay for a UK author appearing in the book!  The Little Dot of the title is in fact a cat, and the story is told from his point of view, which makes for an interesting change and was kind of refreshing.  Also, the aforementioned Little Dot was a very likeable, entertaining feline who cam out with some very funny things. The story opens with "I am lucky enough to own a wizard who talks to me", and so the rest of the story is an amusing romp through the countryside in which Dot's preferred mode of transport is a chicken coop hovering off the ground.  Have I persuaded you to read it yet?
Remember Me by Nancy Farmer -- Was both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time that left me feeling slightly confused and unsure what to make of it.  Should I be happy that Flo returned from whence she came, or sad that she had left?  It had a strong moral in that sense, I suppose, in that Jessie had only sort of realised how much she really loved her changeling sister when she was gone. 
Flotsam  by Nina Kiriki Hoffman --  Is a very strange little story, but utterly enchanting anyway.  I'm sure that this has been done so many times before- girl rescues fairy-type being, who then goes on his way, and girl's life is altered forever.  But Becky is so likeable, and Poppy (a boy by the way) so sweet, the story is utterly irresistible. 
The Flying Woman  by Laurel Winter- is thrilling from the very start. A brother and sister get abandoned on an island by her father, and so it begins.  Throughout it's gripping, and a good conclusion; a dramatic, strong sort of ending that really wraps things up well. 

Other thoughts- I was kind of disappointed by the lack of science fiction, for this claims to be an anthology of fantasy and science fiction.  But the only sci-fi story in here seems to be Garth Nix's Hope Chest.  So that was a little disappointing. However, there are a couple of other anthologies, Firebirds Rising and Firebirds Soaring, and perhaps they'll hold more sci-fi. 

In three words: fantastical, readable, worthwhile.
Reccomended for: fantasy fans young and old.
Rating: 3.

Review: Across the Wall by Garth Nix

Dear Blog,

I've read this many, many times.  Most recently, a few days ago.
Seeing as this is an anthology of short stories, I'll say a few sentences about each.
This will have to be quick because it's late and I have a bad cold, so need sleep.

Summary (from Goodreads): Nicholas Sayre will do anything to get across the Wall.  Thoughts of Lirael and Sam haunt his dreams, and he has come to realize that his destiny lies with them, in the Old Kingdom. But here in Ancelstierre, Nick faces an obstacle that is not entirely human, with a strange power that seems to come from Nicholas himself.
With "Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case," Garth Nix continues to explore the magical world of the Abhorsen Trilogy. In additional short stories that range from two widely different takes on the Merlin myth to a gritty urban version of Hansel and Gretel and a heartbreaking story of children and war, Garth Nix displays the range and versatility that has made him one of today's leading writers of fantasy for readers of all ages.

Review:
Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case- is an excellent opening, and, really, you know it's the reason you bought this book.  Although Nick plays a pretty significant role in Abhorsen, the third book of the Old Kingdom Trilogy, he remains a little vague, and it's interesting to come back to him and see the world through his eyes.  It's mostly continuous action and other such exciting things, with Nick this time not seeming so weak and greedy and spineless so much as a likeable protagonist you find yourself rooting as he chases after the Creature in the Case and tries to save the old kingdom.
Under the Lake- when I first read this story (a couple of years ago) I hadn't read any Arthurian  legends so I didn't really *get* it.  Having read a little more Arthurian-ness since then, it seems like a fitting piece for the genre, yet I'm not big on Arthurian-type things, really (if only because my little sister kept making me watch the TV programme Merlin, which I dislike very much). 
Charlie Rabbit- I first read this when it was published in the anthology Kid's Night In.  It's quite harrowing in the fact that the two main characters are children facing possible death, and the effects and reality of war.  However, there's hope and joy at the end, which prevents it from being too dark.
From the Lighthouse- was a strange, darkly humorous little story, with a strange otherworldly setting and the power of teamwork bringing communities together and whatnot, without being overly preachy.
The Hill -is simplistic and probably the most child-friendly story in the book (while others are more definitely teenage pieces of fiction).  It's not necessarily boring, though.
Lighting Bringer- I'm not quite sure what to make of this story, dear blog.  I mean, as well as having your typical Nix-esque fantasty element, romance is one of the key elements (it was first published in the anthology Love and Sex).    It seems a little under-developed and rushed, like, "oh, that was it?" The idea is nice, but the story itself falls short.  Still, few stories combine the science of weather with fantasy/magic powers, and having built on various ideas of fact, Garth Nix turns it into fiction.  The intro is probably the most interesting in the book.
Down to the Scum Quarter-is the oldest piece in the book, and is in short just  a hilarious mockery of those "choose-your-own-adventure" books, and it even says in the intro, "decide whether you're going to cheat or not. Most people cheat in solo adventures, even if they don't admit it."  Inspired by The Three Musketeers, it's a great opportunity to don your cape and grab your rapier, and rescue your beloved.  It holds many laughs, and is a nice change from the norm.
Heart's Desire- another Arthurian tale, this time about the strange relationship between Merlin and Nimue, and despite the fact that Garth Nix normally stays away from folklore and such, it's in his typical fantasy style. 
Hansel's Eyes- a gritty urban retelling of the Hansel & Gretel story, in which the brother and sister are drugged with Chloroform and abandoned on the deserted side of town.  In this version they're both resourceful, and Gretel in particular doesn't seem like such a weak and simpering little child.  Okay, I know she kicks major witch butt at the end of the fairy tale, but for much of the rest of the story she's all 2-dimensional. 
Hope Chest - is an epic historical-western-scifi sort of short story, and at 40 pages or so the longest story  in the book after Nicholas Sayre.  The historical and western elements of the book are a little surprising, because Garth Nix doesn't normally include these things in his novels.  The blend of western-meets-scifi is quite bizarre and "what?!", but it works (look out for the awesome shooting scene in the train). 
My Really New Epic Fantasy Series -is another parody, originally a spoken-word piece that mocks all the clichés of fantasy writing.  Like Down to the Scum Quarter, it's interesting to see this side of Garth Nix that you didn't even know he posessed in the Old Kingdom trilogy. 
Three Roses- is a totally delightful and hopelessly romantic little fairy-tale.  It makes me feel smushy whenever I read it, and all, "aaaaw".  It's an utterly charming story.
Endings - is one of those stories which seems a little confusing at first, but the more you read it the more the mysteriousness reveals itself, answerig one set of questions and then leaving the reader to ponder another set, leading on from the first.  It's not even five full pages (at least in my paperback edition), but there's definitely a novel in it somewhere.  At least I think there is the potential to be.  The writing style fits the mysterious narrator, which seems calm and emotionless. 

Overall: It's an interesting mix of short stories, of all shapes and sizes.  Each story has a little intro, and though now and again it's a little self-indulgent, it gives background to the stories and explains some of them a little.

In Three Words: a mixed bag.
Reccomended for: all fans of Garth Nix.
Rating: 3.5