Firebirds

A collection of short stories by divers authors edited by Sharyn November.

There are about 16 stories in here (one of them is illustrated in comic form), each by a different author. They're all at least decent, but I'm not sure how many of them I would be tempted to reread later. "Hope Chest", a "Western" by Garth Nix, stands out and defies explanation. Read it.

"The Baby in the Night Deposit Box" was amusing, if a little cheesy; Poppy was endearing in "Flotsom"; "Byndley" is about what you would expect from Patricia McKillip (the ending wasn't much of a surprise, at least to me); and "Medusa" is noticeably short (only four pages or so) but somewhat sympathetic to the title character for a change. (After all, she couldn't have always been that ugly... everyone is some parent's child.)

Some of the other stories are probably also worth reading, though maybe not twice. "Hope Chest" definitely had the most emotional impact.

Worth checking out.