#bookreview: Heroes of the Realm

Heroes of the Realm by Danielle Ackley-McPhail
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I backed this one on kickstarter!

Heroes of the Realm is a collection of short stories based on the theme of... heroes! As usual, with anthologies, there's a mixed bag of stuff in here.

Ashling and the Little People (Kathy Tyers) -- This is an interesting twist on Irish legends and how Christianity pushed out the local beliefs and superstitions of the area. 4/5 stars

The Tea Dragon (L. Jagi Lamplighter) -- Obviously my favourite! It has tea. And dragons. The scoundrel (more like dandy) has a change of heart which seems somewhat a little too sudden, but tea and dragons make up for everything. Almost. 5/5 stars!

The Fire Proof Man is Dead (James Chambers) -- Magic or science? There's some detective work going on here when super heroes end up stealing stuff before turning up dead. It's okay. 3/5 stars

The Garrison Holds (Steve Rzasa) -- Somewhat superman like, Tobias is tempted to use his powers the same way the enemy does, even if that goes against the principles he's supposed to be upholding. 3/5 stars

Where Monsters Wait (Gabrielle Pollack) -- The monsters aren't real, are they? Lyric has to decide if she believe the mad man or if she's willing to let her village be destroyed. 4/5 stars

Will o The Wisps (Wayne Thomas Batson) -- Another one of my favourites! Stoker Graves is crazy about ghosts--he's excited to go to a camp where Will o the Wisps have been said to kill people, but when it starts to come true, will he have the bravery to face them? 5/5 stars

The Devil in the Details (Danielle Ackley-McPhail) -- I can't quite decide about this one. I liked it but it didn't quite stick in my memory. I also didn't quite get what the mom was supposed to be. 3.5 stars maybe

Glint Starcrost and the Ice Prison (Paul Regnier) -- Dashing rogue in mortal peril? Attempting to save the woman in the midst of the jailbreak? I probably shouldn't like this as much as I did. 4/5 stars

Hard s Watcher (Kerry Nietz) -- I liked the twist in this one. I was expecting it to be something super creepy at first. 4/5 stars

The Librarian Who Would be King (Teisha Priest) - Nothing super new with this one, but I liked it all the same. My soft heart always goes out to the wronged/framed person being saved at the last minute. And then selflessly saving other people on the way. 5/5 stars

The Brick (Jeffrey Lyman) -- mmmm This was a bit too space sci-fi for me. 3/5 stars

All in all, a nice read.

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