Dangerous Women

Starred review from October 7, 2013
Venerable editors Martin and Dozois (Warriors) have invited writers from many different genres of fiction to showcase the supposedly weaker sex’s capacity for magic, violence, and mayhem. These 22 brand-new short stories prove that women are men’s equals—at least—in lethal potential. Lawrence Block’s contemporary crime shocker “I Know How to Pick ’Em” includes a visceral closing wallop. Sharon Kay Penman’s “A Queen in Exile” brings a little-known episode of late 12th-century Sicilian history to poignant life. Diana Gabaldon’s “Virgins” introduces an attractive young kilted hero in a wry 18th-century Scots mercenary adventure. Sherilynn Kenyon’s shuddery present-day Native American ghost tale “Hell Hath No Fury” raises plenty of goose bumps. S.M. Stirling sets his stern hanging-judge tale “Pronouncing Doom” in a postapocalyptic America devastated by plague and machine failure. Martin’s own “The Princess and the Queen” recounts a deadly episode that took place some years before the events of A Game of Thrones. This meaty collection delivers something for nearly every reader’s taste as it explores the heights that brave women can reach and the depths that depraved ones can plumb.

Starred review from November 1, 2013
Bold and deadly female characters of many genres stride through the pages of this massive anthology. When genre collections include this many big-name authors, they're typically a grouping of series outtakes and Easter eggs. Readers who want to know how Molly got that cool apartment in Jim Butcher's Cold Days; meet Shy South as a young fugitive before the open of Joe Abercrombie's Red Country; get a glimpse of Quentin Coldwater after the events of Lev Grossman's projected Magicians trilogy; or encounter Jamie Fraser as an inexperienced (in several senses) but still clever mercenary soldier prior to meeting Claire in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander will surely be satisfied by these and other entries (which of course include a bloody slice of history from Martin's own blockbuster A Song of Ice and Fire universe). But the stand-alones in this smorgasbord of fantasy, science fiction, noir, historical fiction and paranormal romance are also worthy of notice, particularly Megan Abbott's chilling "My Heart is Either Broken," concerning a young mother's socially inappropriate response to her daughter's kidnapping; Megan Lindholm's sadly believable "Neighbors," in which a lonely widow becomes ever more alienated from her daily routine, her family and her neighborhood; and Brandon Sanderson's gripping "Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell," about an innkeeper/bounty hunter who must defeat rapacious ghosts, brutal outlaws and greedy bureaucrats to keep herself and her daughter safe and free. Everyone will find something to like here.

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Starred review from October 15, 2013

From Jim Butcher's tale featuring Molly, protegee of Chicago mage Harry Dresden ("Bombshells"), to a side story by Diana Gabaldon set in the world of her Outlander series ("Virgins"), the 21 tales in this supersized themed anthology present a varied array of female heroines and villainesses. Other contributors include Nancy Kress, Melinda Snodgrass, and S.M. Stirling, and their stories run the gamut from fantasy and sf to horror, mystery, and suspense. Fans of Martin's Game of Thrones (both the novels and the HBO series) will enjoy his "The Princess and the Queen," a novella that forms a prequel to the novels. VERDICT The wide selection of authors guarantees something to please almost every reader's tastes.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2013
Dangerous women of all kindswarriors, fighter pilots, queens, wizards, PIs, and moreare the subject of this cross-genre anthology, curated by experienced editors Martin and Dozois. Several high-profile authors set stories in the worlds of their best-selling series. Molly, Harry Dresden's smart-talking, long-suffering apprentice, narrates Jim Butcher's urban-fantasy detective story Bombshells. Lev Grossman's wry tale follows a young wizard-in-training as her innocent prank against a fellow Brakebills student misfires in The Girl in the Mirror. Martin's prequel story is set in Westeros centuries before A Game of Thrones, while Diana Gabaldon's follows a young Jaime Fraser before the start of the Outlander series. Other tales range from hard-bitten western (Joe Abercrombie's Some Desperado ) to bleak dystopia (Nancy Kress' Second Arabesque, Very Slowly ) to historical drama (Sharon Kay Penman's A Queen in Exile ). Some tales defy classification, such as Megan Lindholm's poignant but fierce story of aging and discovering new life in the fringes. With 21 stories of this caliber, readers will be sure to find several favorites.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)