Ben Kane

Ooooh! This book was such a treat! I just loved, loved, loved it! With an anthology with different authors (most of whom I haven't read before), it can be a mystery whether every story is quality and the work as a whole is cohesive. However, I was pleasantly surprised, and I have some new authors that I MUST check out.

My favorite stories were the heiress by Sophie Perinot, the senator by Kate Quinn, and the ex-soldier by Ben Kane. These stories were so poignant to me. I've read everything by Quinn and just love her. I was surprised to see familiar characters in her story, but I got to see a side of them I haven't before. It was like meeting new friends. These characters transformed as the catastrophe stripped them down to their core values, and I loved watching these people dig deep to find what was most important to them.

Middle of the road stories included the youth at the beginning and the priestess and whore at the end. There was some growth for these characters, but I don't feel like the authors had enough time to develop them. They felt pretty two dimensional, and they didn't grow quite as much as the characters in my favorite stories. It felt more like the authors were trying to tell me they grew rather than the characters showing me that.

My least favorite story was the mother by E. Knight. Let me preface by saying I still enjoyed this story. It's sad and futile, these characters, but it didn't pull me in quite like the others. Mostly, I was frustrated with the narrators, as they dealt with the fact that they'd failed as caretakers. It's a hard perspective to write, and it showed.

Overall, fantastic collection! Can't wait to read the other two books in the series!… (plus d'informations)