BOOK REVIEW: Dangerous Women Part 1 by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois ★★★★☆
I read part three a while back and although I gave it a four out of five, there were only one or two stories that I didn’t like. All seven stories (as the title suggests) are about the dangerous women’s capabilities and vulnerabilities. Across several genres and written by famous and emerging writers, only some of the dangerous women will justify this anthology.
I’ll review each story individually below.
The Princess and the Queen, (the Blacks and the Greens) by George R.R. Martin
Rating: 1/5
Set two hundred years before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire series, two Targaryen families bitter rivalry turns to war for their right on the iron throne. It’s a lengthy account retold by an Archmaester of Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent’s ambition, plus flying dragon-on-dragon combat, vicious battles and conspiracies.
Oh man. I’m a fan of the series and the TV show, but this one frustrated me like crazy. Sadly, it became a DNF by about 25%. I guess I’ll never know who was the dangerous woman. It was information overload of everything that was happening. Too many names that sounded the same and got confusing, especially when I’m trying to figure out who is on the Black or Green side. But I will say that Martin did capture the essence of an excited academic describing all the gory details of the war.
Raisa Stepanova by Carrie Vaughn
Rating: 3/5
This one was infinitely better; with an interesting subject of Russian women as fighter pilots during WWII. Raisa Ivanovna, a Soviet fighter pilot in 1943 wants to become the first women fighter ace in the world but is troubled by her brother Davidya disappearance in the army.
I thought I would be put off by this one, because this was purely historical and not science fiction/fantasy like the others, but Vaughn proved me wrong. At first the literal idea of the dangerous woman didn’t stick out at first. If anything, it was the dangerous combat mission Raisa undertook as a solider that was dangerous. Other than that, Vaughn writing style crafted an engaging story with a sad ending. I’d most likely give this a read if it was part of a novel.
Second Arabesque, Very Slowly by Nancy Kress
Rating: 3/5
A post-apocalyptic story of how fertile women are made to have children, protected by packs of people. We follow sixty something Susan, known as Nurse, who slips between the present and past of her life, reluctantly causes a few young teens to find happiness in ballet, happy enough to kill anyone who stands in their way.
I honestly don’t know what to make of this one. It was a bizarre concept of brute survival instincts backdropped against the beauty of ballet. Kress’s descriptions of certain characters were thoroughly done. Her narratives fluctuated between past and present tenses which complicated some parts of the story. It wasn’t really my cup of tea, but it was a good enough read.
I Know How to Pick ’Em by Lawrence Block
Rating: 5/5
‘Claudia’, a would-be femme fatale, has a dangerous plan to murder her husband. Looking for the perfect guy to get the job done, she hooks up with ‘Gary’ at a sleazy bar. In a seedy hotel room, through carnal lovemaking, they try to come up with a plan. But it really doesn’t go to plan.
OK. WOW. I wasn’t expecting to like this. I really should give this a four star, but the slow creepy twisted ending bumped it up a star. This dangerous noir story is gritty with rough sex and murder. It reads like an American detective novel from Gary’s point of view who’s great at sussing out Claudia’s plan who would otherwise have him doing what she wanted. Though the story, Block did a great job at sewing together Gary’s troubled psychological past with his dangerous women with Claudia’s inconvenient numb life. It’s well written, albeit not something I would normally read.
My Heart is Either Broken by Megan Abbott
Rating: 4/5
A tale that could happen to anyone, family, friend or neighbour. A story about a mentally ill woman through a man's point of view, a missing child puts doubts on the mother’s character and suspicion on the father.
Very well written, good pace with just the right twist and hook. But I will say that maybe this story would have been better if the suspicion were made from the detectives instead of the husband, who was ignorant about his wife's mental stability and thought she was just quirky. Apart from that I was hooked and invested to know what would happen to the characters if the child wasn’t found. Maybe this is the only story out of the collection that there was a dangerous woman who gave of a creepy vibe and an ambiguous ending.
Wrestling Jesus by Joe R. Lansdale
Rating: 4/5
Marvin is a weakling who always gets his ass beat by a group up guys in the alleyway until an ex-wrestler saves his skin. Marvin learns how to wrestle from X-Man and learns about a dangerous woman who has X-Man and another wrestler, Jesus the Bomb competing for her on every wrestling match set on Christmas Eve.
This was surprisingly good read. This short storey came to life with colourful metaphors and a vibrant writing style. Lansdale crafted well thought characters. The end sort of burned out (literally) and was predicable about X-Man’s fate. Apart from the previous story, Wrestling Jesus did have a dangerous woman named Felina, who’s really a nasty morally dubious woman, but used as a trophy every year for a wrestling match. For a dangerous women anthology, there were a lack of female roles, apart from Felina, you have Marvin’s mother who choses her new painter boyfriend over her son after her husband’s death. I personally didn’t get it but it helped to move the plot along. But really the story is about Marvin and X Man.
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
Rating: 4/5
Sanderson starts the story with two men drinking at the inn, where one starts telling the other the tale of the White Fox. Bounty hunter Silence Montane and her daughter William Ann pose as regular innkeepers in a sort of halfway town. They take care of a young child called Sebruki who became an orphan by the hands of the Chesterton gang. Silence and William hunt for them in the forest, as well as dodging the ‘Shades’ that haunt the forest and are triggered by the smell of blood.
A nice wrap up for part one. Although it took me a while to get into, because fantasy and world building take time to sink in, but once I did, I was immensely hooked. Sanderson wrote a fine short story of motherhood, lost innocence and deceit, about ordinary people living with and battling demons with whatever tools they have at hand. It’s bizarre, unique and mysterious and I like how Sanderson doesn’t reveal everything in one go, but layers and pulls everything together. You do get sucked in by the character’s problems and what they need to do to survive. I’ll probably find the book which I think it’s part of his Cosmere Universe which consist of five separate series.
Summary
Out of the seven stories, I disliked the first one and wasn’t a fan of the other. Not all of them had a strong dangerous woman theme per say, but the rest were above a four-star rating. My new found author that I must look into is Sanderson, Block and Lansdale. Now I must go and read part two. Click here for my review for part three.
Overall Average Rating: 4/5
Publishers: Harper Voyager
Publication date: September 1st 2014
Genre: Short Stories Anthology
Raisa Stepanova by Carrie Vaughn
Rating: 3/5
This one was infinitely better; with an interesting subject of Russian women as fighter pilots during WWII. Raisa Ivanovna, a Soviet fighter pilot in 1943 wants to become the first women fighter ace in the world but is troubled by her brother Davidya disappearance in the army.
I thought I would be put off by this one, because this was purely historical and not science fiction/fantasy like the others, but Vaughn proved me wrong. At first the literal idea of the dangerous woman didn’t stick out at first. If anything, it was the dangerous combat mission Raisa undertook as a solider that was dangerous. Other than that, Vaughn writing style crafted an engaging story with a sad ending. I’d most likely give this a read if it was part of a novel.
Second Arabesque, Very Slowly by Nancy Kress
Rating: 3/5
A post-apocalyptic story of how fertile women are made to have children, protected by packs of people. We follow sixty something Susan, known as Nurse, who slips between the present and past of her life, reluctantly causes a few young teens to find happiness in ballet, happy enough to kill anyone who stands in their way.
I honestly don’t know what to make of this one. It was a bizarre concept of brute survival instincts backdropped against the beauty of ballet. Kress’s descriptions of certain characters were thoroughly done. Her narratives fluctuated between past and present tenses which complicated some parts of the story. It wasn’t really my cup of tea, but it was a good enough read.
I Know How to Pick ’Em by Lawrence Block
Rating: 5/5
‘Claudia’, a would-be femme fatale, has a dangerous plan to murder her husband. Looking for the perfect guy to get the job done, she hooks up with ‘Gary’ at a sleazy bar. In a seedy hotel room, through carnal lovemaking, they try to come up with a plan. But it really doesn’t go to plan.
OK. WOW. I wasn’t expecting to like this. I really should give this a four star, but the slow creepy twisted ending bumped it up a star. This dangerous noir story is gritty with rough sex and murder. It reads like an American detective novel from Gary’s point of view who’s great at sussing out Claudia’s plan who would otherwise have him doing what she wanted. Though the story, Block did a great job at sewing together Gary’s troubled psychological past with his dangerous women with Claudia’s inconvenient numb life. It’s well written, albeit not something I would normally read.
My Heart is Either Broken by Megan Abbott
Rating: 4/5
A tale that could happen to anyone, family, friend or neighbour. A story about a mentally ill woman through a man's point of view, a missing child puts doubts on the mother’s character and suspicion on the father.
Very well written, good pace with just the right twist and hook. But I will say that maybe this story would have been better if the suspicion were made from the detectives instead of the husband, who was ignorant about his wife's mental stability and thought she was just quirky. Apart from that I was hooked and invested to know what would happen to the characters if the child wasn’t found. Maybe this is the only story out of the collection that there was a dangerous woman who gave of a creepy vibe and an ambiguous ending.
Wrestling Jesus by Joe R. Lansdale
Rating: 4/5
Marvin is a weakling who always gets his ass beat by a group up guys in the alleyway until an ex-wrestler saves his skin. Marvin learns how to wrestle from X-Man and learns about a dangerous woman who has X-Man and another wrestler, Jesus the Bomb competing for her on every wrestling match set on Christmas Eve.
This was surprisingly good read. This short storey came to life with colourful metaphors and a vibrant writing style. Lansdale crafted well thought characters. The end sort of burned out (literally) and was predicable about X-Man’s fate. Apart from the previous story, Wrestling Jesus did have a dangerous woman named Felina, who’s really a nasty morally dubious woman, but used as a trophy every year for a wrestling match. For a dangerous women anthology, there were a lack of female roles, apart from Felina, you have Marvin’s mother who choses her new painter boyfriend over her son after her husband’s death. I personally didn’t get it but it helped to move the plot along. But really the story is about Marvin and X Man.
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
Rating: 4/5
Sanderson starts the story with two men drinking at the inn, where one starts telling the other the tale of the White Fox. Bounty hunter Silence Montane and her daughter William Ann pose as regular innkeepers in a sort of halfway town. They take care of a young child called Sebruki who became an orphan by the hands of the Chesterton gang. Silence and William hunt for them in the forest, as well as dodging the ‘Shades’ that haunt the forest and are triggered by the smell of blood.
A nice wrap up for part one. Although it took me a while to get into, because fantasy and world building take time to sink in, but once I did, I was immensely hooked. Sanderson wrote a fine short story of motherhood, lost innocence and deceit, about ordinary people living with and battling demons with whatever tools they have at hand. It’s bizarre, unique and mysterious and I like how Sanderson doesn’t reveal everything in one go, but layers and pulls everything together. You do get sucked in by the character’s problems and what they need to do to survive. I’ll probably find the book which I think it’s part of his Cosmere Universe which consist of five separate series.
Summary
Out of the seven stories, I disliked the first one and wasn’t a fan of the other. Not all of them had a strong dangerous woman theme per say, but the rest were above a four-star rating. My new found author that I must look into is Sanderson, Block and Lansdale. Now I must go and read part two. Click here for my review for part three.
Overall Average Rating: 4/5
Publishers: Harper Voyager
Publication date: September 1st 2014
Genre: Short Stories Anthology
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