Harrowing the Dragon (Once Upon a Time III #5 of 5)

This book looked intriguing to me because I loved Patricia McKillip's The Riddlemaster. Harrowing the Dragon is a collection of fifteen of McKillip's short stories. Fourteen of them follow a fantasy/fairy tale/magical type theme but one of them, about what happens after Romeo and Juliet die (entitled Star-Crossed) seemed a bit out of place. My favorites were "The Fellowship of the Dragon" and "The Lion and the Lark." I am always impressed by those who can tell a good short story. Somehow the author must find a way to make you care about the character in just a few pages and certainly the plot must unfold quickly. It was interesting reading this after having only read The RiddleMaster which was a HUGE book. McKillip is a talented storyteller.

Keeper of Dreams (Book Award Challenge II #2)

I have not always been able to really get in to short stories, but Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite authors and I am glad I picked this one up. Card's 22 short stories run the gamut of science fiction, fantasy, literary work, "Mormon Stories," and two short stories set in the world of the Alvin Maker series. One of the science fiction stories connects to one of my favorite Card books, Pastwatch. One of my favorite components of this collection was Card's notes on where each story came from and how it fits in to the larger body of his work. Card won the Margaret A. Edwards Award in 2008 for his lifetime contribution to YA literature.

water: tales of elemental spirits

three of the six short stories in this collection by robin mckinley and peter dickinson (each wrote three)thrilled me...the other three not so much. each story revolves in some way around water - mermaids or mermen, water horses, pools of water - but they are not related otherwise. of the three stories by peter dickinson, "kraken" was the only one that held my interest. i had to sort of slog my way through "mermaid song" and "the sea-serpent." robin mckinley's "the sea-king's son" and "the pool in the desert" were fantastic, but i wasn't a huge fan of "the water horse." all in all it was a decent read, but probably one i wouldn't pick up again.