Stories: All-New Tales

This book is for short story lovers. Without dissecting the introductions for over analysis, I can say that it is what it is: 27 short fictions from some of the most celebrated contemporary writers. While for me, some stories failed to hit the mark, some of them I enjoyed enough to purchase the book for myself (after having first borrowed it from my local library) and to buy it as a gift for a friend. What you look for in a short story - or any story really - is some sort of an escape into another world. Something that makes you want to keep reading more. This book has that in spades.

What can I say, I honestly loved this book. The longest story will take no more than 30 minutes to read, and the short ones take all of a good 10 minutes to get through. One word of warning for it; a few of the stories are pretty damned gruesome. I knew the majority would be dark and stark, bleak or bloody. Even me, a regular Gaiman fan, a few were hard to read. But, if you can stomach them, it's worth it. And even if you can't, there are so many good stories that skipping the few rougher moments won't make you feel cheated.

Great collection of a range of stories in all genres by talented authors. All the short stories held my attention. Beautifully written and curated.

Most of the stories are solid and well written objectively but they failed overall to spark much interest though the fisherman tale sparked disgust pretty strongly from me. I had a hard time getting past the middle. The stories didn't flow well into the next story like you'd expect most of Gardner's anthologies to do. I really didn't get a feel for what the anthology was trying to say other than it was very literate. I almost gave up and went to a different anthology but I think the stories started to pick up and the writing had faster flow which helped make it more palatable. The two Santa stories were both quite good and different from each other. I enjoyed Juvenal Nyx and I think the setting has promise. I had already read Gaiman's tale. The Neme idea was neat and the story made me think of Fallen with Denzel and those body snatching demons in the game In Nomine. Moorcock's story was just odd. Interesting enough for me to read and the writing was technically very proficient but when it ended I felt the story was empty and a bit pointless. On a plus side it was long enough and the stories short enough that I could read and enjoy them while at work without being irritated by interruptions as the anthology never gripped me like that. Mildly interesting and rarely bad.

I’ve had this book for years, and bought it again for a coworker’s Christmas gift this year because it’s worth sharing. The collection of short stories is perfect for when you want to read something new but don’t want to start a whole novel. They’re creepy, funny, and fascinating. Quick to read and super entertaining!

I've always loved short fiction, even more so now that I'm so busy. This is one of the best collections I've stumbled across in some time, and the fact that it's (mostly) fantasy just makes it that much more brilliant. Great read.

This book was assigned as a text for my advanced fiction course, and I wasn't expecting to love it, based on previous interactions with my professor. However, he picked an awesome text this time. This book is full of stories that will make you laugh, cry, and move you to want to do something nice for your mom. Twins beware: the first half seems to have a vendetta against people who shared the womb. Nevertheless I would recommend this book for anyone who thinks they're mature enough to handle the content, it gets a little sketchy sometimes, but it's still a darned good collection of short stories.

This anthology is a delightful cross-section of contemporary fiction. Its stories are dynamic and emotionally evocative; they range from heart-wrenching fantastical portraits of loss and grief to riotously witty quips about game shows. There's something in here for everyone, and even a discriminating fiction buff will broaden his or her literary horizons.

I've always had very high expectations from Amazon.in and they've been fulfilled too, until this time. I do agree with the fact that they often give huge discounts on several items (and it makes me extremely happy) but it doesn't imply that I need to compromise with the quality and the condition of the book sold to me. The copy of Stories which I've received appeared to be at least 20 years old with severely yellowed pages, ugly yellowish spots all over them and had to rub off the lose dirt with an eraser before gift wrapping it. If this is the case, then I feel that Amazon should clearly mention about any oddities to be expected along with the discounted items. Hope not to be disappointed by Amazon again. P.S.: This review and rating is NOT based on the contents of the book.

A diverse collection of short stories with a common theme; "what happened next?". Well, not strictly true, as some of them just leave you feeling pensive, uneasy, or even just plain "warm", such as "The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon", which is one of the most beautiful stories I think I've ever read. Start at the beginning and work your way through, or pluck out a story to fit the time you have in your busy life.

Hi! You read the reviews to decide on whether or not you should buy the book? Look no further. Buy it. Not all stories will match your taste, not all are good, but that is the nature of anthologies. For very little money you get a big book with a lot of stories that are brilliantly arranged to form a chain of linked tales. Despite the broad variety, each story shares a theme, topic, element or idea with the stories before and after. Looking for those links made the few stories that I didn't like more fun. Conclusion: One can't go wrong with this book.

I rarely read anthologies, and if I do, I only pick them up because one or more authors are among my roster of favorites. So with this one: I bought it for the new stories by Gene Wolfe, Michael Swanwick and Jeffrey Ford. And while Wolfe never disappoints me (his story made me instantly long for a new short story collection) and Swanwick had me immediately picking up my Grimmelshausen and rereading "Simplicissimus", there were many other stories that were very gratifying, making the reader ask, "And then what happened?", as editor Neil Gaiman intended with this book. Gaiman's own story is superb; Michael Moorcock's "Stories" is a moving eulogy for the late Thomas Disch (and his partner, Charley Naylor); Jonathan Carroll's story is eerie but its ending was not quite satisfying. Kurt Andersen presents a droll story and Elizabeth Hand a simply magnificent new novella (but she's Elizabeth hand, so you'd expect nothing less). Some stories were well written but, for me, led nowhere. Ford's story was not up to par with other stories of his I've read. I was a bit annoyed by the "experimental" form of Joe Hill's otherwise very good "The Devil on the Staircase". And there were even a few stinkers, like Palahniuk's story about a frat kid on acid in a game show. All in all, it was very good read, and it made me hunt down the books of authors I hadn't heard of so far, or had heard of but never read.

Great book! Perfect for the reader that desires short reading but also has enough for the avid reader, overall very good and the shipping was so fast!