Review of Dark Alchemy

This is a review of the book Dark Alchemy; a collection of short stories written by famous fantasy fiction author.  Each story is filled with magic and ordinary people who are inextricably involved in one way or another.

The list of stories and authors are as follows:

The Witch’s Headstone by Neil Gaiman

Holly and Iron by Garth Nix

Color Vision by Mary Rosenblum

The Ruby Incomparable by Kage Baker

A Fowl Tale by Eoin Colfer

Slipping Sideways Through Eternity by Jane Yolen

The Stranger’s Hand by Tad Williams

Naming Day by Patricia A. Mckillip

Winter’s Wife by Elizabeth Hand

A Diorama of the Infernal Regions or The Devil’s Ninth Question by Andy Duncan

Barrens Dance by Peter S. Beagle

Stone Man by Nancy Kress

The Manticore Spell by Jeffrey Ford

Zinder by Tanith Lee

Billy and The Wizard by Terry Bisson

The Magikkers by Terry Dowling

The Magic Animal by Gene Wolfe

Stonefather by Orson Scott Card

If you have a favourite author you can then pick their story to read but personally I would recommend Stone Man, The Stranger’s Hand, A Fowl Tale, Color Vision and A Diorama of the Infernal Regions or The Devil’s Ninth Question. 

Some of them are quite good and it’s a shame they are cut short for this collection as they could potentially be a full blown novel such as Stone Man, A Diorama of the Infernal Regions and Color Vision.  A Fowl tale is a funny short story about a talking parrot and so the other stories are just as bizarre as the next. 

This book is great if you don’t want to spend months reading many different fantasy novels about someone who goes on a long quest such as Lord of the Rings by J R. R. Tolkien or The Seven Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix.  Also if you find one story not to your liking you can just start reading the one that’s next in line and skip to a completely different story filled with its own unique characters and writing style.

Happy reading!