Alphabet Challenge Round 3

I have completed another round of the challenge. Since my social calendar is fuller than usual, I may have to update this one book at a time. Progress is progress at least. This time is the letter N with the anthology Naked City.

I loved the concept for this collection. Paranormal urban fiction has considerably grown in popularity in recent years. There is a wide pool of authors and potential material to choose from which may have been why I liked this collection instead of loved it. The hard part was that the unifying element was also the primary difference element.

Urban was varied enough to mean New York, Chicago, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Butte. There were also great divides in time such as turn of the century Manhattan and a 1800s mining town. With the natural difference in styles, characters, and supernatural rules, this collection was left feeling a little jumbled and disjointed.

There were some real gems here like Curses, Priced to Sell, Underbridge, Guns for the Dead, Noble Rot, and The Bricks of Gelecek. These were my favorite parts of the collection. Although Bricks didn't jibe as perfectly with the idea, it was a fantastic story with powerful imagery.

As a fan of this sub-genre, it was a good way for me to discover new writers and what they have to offer. If you’re not big on paranormal urban fiction, I don’t think this will be what converts you. Overall I enjoyed it but it wasn’t the greatest anthology I’ve read.

A
B
C
D
E
F
G - The Great Fables Crossover by Bill Willingham
H
I
J
K
L
M - Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
N - Naked City edited by Ellen Datlow
O
P
Q
R - Reality Bites Back by Jennifer L. Pozner
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z


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