Saints and Curses by Alexis Lantgen
The short stories in Saints and Curses explore fantasy and magic from a wide variety of perspectives and settings. The stories range in tone from lighthearted modern fantasy in stories like Elven Carols, to the dark and ominous stories like Erlkonig, and in time from the late antiquity to the modern day. Magic, like all forms of power and like human nature, has two sides, light and dark. Whether we find (or become) a saint or a curse depends on our circumstances. And, of course, our choices.
Purchase Link: Amazon.com
Saints and Curses on Goodreads
Review
*I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*
Rating: 5 stars
Saints and Curses is an extremely well-written collection of short stories with magic and curses as the theme running throughout them. I really enjoyed the mix of modern and historic fantasy tales, each with plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing as to how they will end.
My favourites in the collection are:
Grackle – a poignant tale with a lovely ending.
Cinnamon Ultra Pumpkinator – an amusing tale of the perils of addiction with a fun and very relatable main character
The Rats – An excellent and original retelling of The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The collection has an outstanding array of very different tales with something for everyone. I highly recommend checking them out!
Shari Sakurai 