Ratings4
Average rating3.8
A collection of short stories, within whose pages we "find a youthful artist possessed by both his painting and his muse and seductive travelers from the sea enrapturing distant lovers. The statue of a mermaid comes suddenly to life, and two friends are transfixed by a haunted estate"--Amazon.com.
Reviews with the most likes.
Patricia McKillip's writing is lovely, and “The Gorgon in the Cupboard” is a thoughtful, impactful story–easily my favorite in this collection and the only one I found particularly memorable, although I did appreciate the rest on some level. The longest tale, the novella “Something Rich and Strange” had some beautiful writing and a great character, but I thought it was much too long for the story being told. The other stories were much shorter than these two, and my favorite after “Gorgon” was “Mer,” in which a witch just wants to sleep but ends up getting caught up in events involving a stolen wooden mermaid and a religious order of women dedicated to protecting cormorants.
3 1/2 stars
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Didn't realize this was short, unconnected, stories. It's definitely different from the other books of the author's that I've read; this doesn't have the dreaming, descriptive, quality of those stories.