HALF-HUMAN HEROES

Fee gathers fantasy tales that span from classic to creepy and beyond in this collection of stories.

Compiled and written by book enthusiasts who all run various YouTube channels dedicated to the art of writing, this anthology has a little something for everyone. The presence of “half-human” protagonists proves to be the common thread that runs through all 10 stories—the criteria for membership in that group vary as wildly as the plotlines. In Mason Adey’s “Dishonoured in Death,” a half-fae, half-dwarf known only as “The Woman” seeks revenge for her twin brother’s death. Dane Cobain’s darkly comedic “The Band Gets Together” features the obnoxiously named Gröin Gönadsson, who is 3 feet, 11 inches and “pretty sure” he is a vampire. Even the stories’ forms vary, as in the genuinely eerie epistolary gem “Goatman’s Bridge” by P.M. Brown, in which Marlon Timothy discovers his one eye contains special sight and uses it to save his friends from a Southern backwoods cult. While violence understandably abounds in these often conflict-heavy tales, the mayhem never proves overly graphic. Some pieces, such as David Wiley’s “The Defense of Bergond,” which features a “half-breed” named Tirlok struggling to prove himself, relish in old-fashioned epic battle scenes: “The stench of sweat made Tirlok’s nose twitch. The corpses were quickly dragged behind the defenses and plundered, reinforcing their line with superior shields and weapons in a few points.” While collections like this can sometimes feel uneven, this anthology doesn’t have a weak link in the chain. Certain stories will obviously appeal to some readers more than others, depending on how one prefers their fantasy; there are magical artifacts and druids as well as crow-human hybrids, and the tones range from funny to epic to inspirational to heartbreaking.

A fresh, fun romp through 10 fantasy realms that fans of the genre are sure to enjoy exploring.