What do You think about A Knot In The Grain And Other Stories (1995)?
I do not usually enjoy short stories. It takes a particularly enchanting author to compel me to sit down to a series of short stories (or essays). For me, the list is short: Laini Taylor, C.S. Lewis and Robin McKinley.Robin McKinley is a master of "Show, Don't Tell" and, as a fantasy author, I cannot praise and love her enough for that. I adore how her characters will do something, and she will not tell us why they did that, or whether we should think that they are good/bad/whatever because of that. No, she weaves human characters into fantastical situations and lets the scenes develop almost organically and then as the reader it is my job to ponder over the stories as I recall them days or even years later. (another example of this by Robin McKinley is her short story The Stone Fey) (SIDE RANT: Because of this skill, McKinley has restored my faith in fantasy authors. I am currently slogging through The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, who is the epitome of "Why show when I can TELL TELL TELL?!" Example of Jordan's writing: "LOOK! LOOK AT THIS CHARACTER I MADE! ISN'T HE AWESOME? HE IS AWESOME BECAUSE I AM TELLING YOU S/HE IS AWESOME! SEE WHAT THEY ARE WEARING?! THAT IS AWESOME!!" Ugh. Enough already. END SIDE RANT)All five stories in AKitG are beautiful and well done, but my favorite is the forth: Buttercups. For me, at my time of life as I am still getting used to being married, it was a perfect example of real people in magical situations and I am SHOWN their story, allowing the characters as they are to make their impression on me, not just because the author told me so. Was Coral motivated by selfishness when she married the farmer? Was the farmer's jealousy understandable? Which is more important for this married couple: communication or working together? Why? What are the buttercups? LOVE IT when I am left musing questions like this. Also, it had this most romantic scene: He kissed her then, so that conversation was not necessary, for he thought he still could not speak; but that first touch of her lips against his made the possibility of speech flee even further. But he thought, deep in his heart, of all the long days and evenings at the farm, working side by side, when they could talk or not talk as they wished; when he might be able to kiss her for no reason at all, familiarly, because he wanted to, because she was his wife, because she was there. And he smiled and kissed her, and kissed her again. Thank you, Robin McKinley!
—Carla May
I adore short story collections. And this was no exception. I'm going to try and go through the stories one by one. Also, that cover. I don't particularly like the colour yellow because I have a light sensitivity issue and yellow is usually too bright for me. But this cover is gorgeous.Healer This was an excellent story about a girl who was born mute and eventually regains her voice. Luthe makes an appearance in this as it's set in Damar. I like how she adapts to not having a voice. I like that she also learns to read/write as well for additional means of communication. And how excited she was at being able to communicate with someone.The Stagman This was another story set in Damar. Luthe again makes an appearance. I really enjoyed the ending of it and how everything played out. Not much I can talk about this without spoiling it but I can say that the girl chose the decision I would have.Touk's House This was a fantastic re-working of the tale of rapunzel. Except it's not exactly rapunzel. It starts out as such but definitely does not end as such. Also has a troll in it. The fantasy in this was great. And this was probably my favourite story.Buttercups This was a pretty good story. It was highly enjoyable. As I've mentioned in other reviews, I'm not a big fan of older man/younger woman pairings but this was done in a very good way. Meaning it's not creepy and she's not using him or him using her. Well they do kind of but that's what happens in relationships. One person has something the other person wants/needs (companionship, love, etc) and they do an equal trade (well in healthy relationships at least). But it's not in a disproportionate way (like one person doing all the giving and the other doing all the taking. It was written very vividly though enough that you could actually imagine that you're seeing all that happened.A Knot in the Grain This was....interesting. It was a good story but it was almost a weird kind of interesting in itself. I like how it ended. The thing with the box confused me a little (until the end) but everything gets sorted and it's pretty great. I like the fact that she called the car clunker because that was exactly what it was. And I could practically taste the corn with the description of it.Overall, this was a good collection of short stories and I enjoyed them all. And would definitely recommend that y'all read it.
—Blow Pop
Damar story = YESPLZ and as soon as possible!Remember that stupid Stephenie Meyer quote on the cover of City of Ashes? She said something like "The Mortal Instruments is a world I love to live in."That's how I feel about Damar, essentially, except more so.I get so, so, so swept up in these stories. I think I left a part of my brain between the pages of The Hero and the Crown the first time I read it. And as for The Blue Sword... words cannot describe the magical hold that book has over me every time I read it.
—Anila
