I listened to every story in the Rogues anthology, edited by George R. R. Martin, and composed a snippet-review for each one here on my site. I thought it might be useful if there were a quick consumable that gave a blip about each one, to help people decide whether to read or skip a story. I imagine most are like me and get an anthology like this because of a couple or three authors (or maybe even one!) and don’t necessarily want to read the whole thing.
A bit about the format:
- [TITLE OF PIECE] [BY LINE] – Links to the post I wrote about the piece
- SKIP : ( or DON’T SKIP : )
- [PERIOD / GENRE / SETTING]. [Some blurb about the piece].
A brief review of every story in Rogues:
- “Tough Times All Over” by Joe Abercrombie
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Medieval. Not his best work, but a fast-paced multi-POV story told in the First Law universe.
- “What Do You Do?” by Gillian Flynn
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Modern. Hilarious and witty sex worker starts a metaphysical business and gets in over her head.
- “The Inn of the Seven Blessings” by Matt Hughes
- SKIP : (
- Medieval. A rogue finds a sentient doll. Cheap ending.
- SKIP : (
- “Bent Twig” by Joe R. Lansdale
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Modern. Crime-fighting Duo. Engaging. Well-paced. I loved it.
- “Tawny Petticoats” by Michael Swanwick
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Bizarre Fantasy. Dog-people. Zombies, and a crime caper. Somewhat forgettable plot, but good enough.
- “Provenance” by David W. Ball
- SKIP : (
- Modern. Historic prose. Old Nazi art-collector stuff. Dronefest.
- SKIP : (
- “The Roaring Twenties” by Carrie Vaughn
- SKIP : (
- Period peace. Maybe people familiar with these characters would enjoy it. Otherwise, it was tough. Real tough.
- SKIP : (
- “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane” by Scott Lynch
- DON’T SKIP : )
- High medieval fantasy. A complicated Ocean’s 11-esque caper, but with wizards and shit.
- “Bad Brass” by Bradley Denton
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Modern. I loved this one. An interesting low-risk caper about a substitute teacher and his unruly students, yet it’s strangely engaging.
- “Heavy Metal” by Cherie Priest
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Modern. A gigantic (like, fat) monster hunter hunts monsters. Not a stand out, but not bad either.
- “The Meaning of Love” by Daniel Abraham
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Medieval. Another caper, but with such an interesting and unexpected ending, you gotta read this one.
- “A Better Way to Die” by Paul Cornell
- SKIP : (
- Modern. This is a high-fantasy spy story. And it sucks hard. I was surprised with how much I disliked it.
- SKIP : (
- “Ill Seen in Tyre” by Steven Saylor
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Period piece. Charming master-and-apprentice story. Ends up being funny and ridiculous! Entertaining.
- “A Cargo of Ivories” by Garth Nix
- SKIP : (
- Medieval. Another one where the fans of these characters would probably like it, but I found this story about a knight, his sentient wizard ventriloquist doll partner, and some lame caper to be utter shit.
- SKIP : (
- “Diamonds From Tequila” by Walter Jon Williams
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Modern. A memorable, entertaining story told in the first-person of an extremely self-absorbed Hollywood actor. Funny. Engaging. You’ll like it.
- “The Caravan to Nowhere” by Phyllis Eisenstein
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Medieval. A quest, betrayals, magic, fights … Good stuff in here, and there is a meaningful theme.
- “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives” by Lisa Tuttle
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Period. Charming little piece right here, using the classic Sherlock/Watson sort of dynamic. Good stuff here.
- “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back” by Neil Gaiman
- SKIP : (
- Period / Fantasy. What the fuck is a Marquis? I still don’t know. This one is rough.
- SKIP : (
- “Now Showing” by Connie Willis
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Slight future. Willis is a master of her craft. This is engaging and entertaining story about girls at a movie theater.
- “The Lightning Tree” by Patrick Rothfuss
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Medieval. A sexy and otherworldly rogue manipulates the town’s children while playing with the older women and solving problems. Expertly written.
- “The Rogue Prince, or, a King’s Brother” by George R. R. Martin
- DON’T SKIP : )
- Westeros. You’re probably reading this book to read this story. It’s set a couple hundreds years before the Song of Ice and Fire books and tells the story of some Targaryens. It’s essentially a history textbook.
So what’s the consensus?
6 pieces earned a SKIP : (
15 pieces earned a DON’T SKIP : )
Overall, I enjoyed the anthology. It was a nice change of pace from reading primarily long-form works. I hope this post helps you if you’re considering the anthology, or maybe you’ve already read a piece and were curious what other people thought of it. If so, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
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