Review of 'Scenting the dark & other stories' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Mary Robinette Kowal is a great writer. She crafts engaging characters and settings, and her stories always leave me wanting more. Some of the stories in this short collection ended on a very low key, without the bang or twist that makes a short story more memorable. But surprise ending after surprise ending would get old after a while, so I'm not too unhappy about this more realistic approach. I'm not sure why Kowal hasn't turned nearly all of these short stories into novels; I expect some of them would be amazing.
Completely unrelated to the writing, I simply do not understand why so many people are praising the cover art. This cover is ...to put it kindly, amateurish. I can see how the cover could have been decent with a few improvements, but this cover sits firmly in my "take off the jacket and throw it away" category. This …
Mary Robinette Kowal is a great writer. She crafts engaging characters and settings, and her stories always leave me wanting more. Some of the stories in this short collection ended on a very low key, without the bang or twist that makes a short story more memorable. But surprise ending after surprise ending would get old after a while, so I'm not too unhappy about this more realistic approach. I'm not sure why Kowal hasn't turned nearly all of these short stories into novels; I expect some of them would be amazing.
Completely unrelated to the writing, I simply do not understand why so many people are praising the cover art. This cover is ...to put it kindly, amateurish. I can see how the cover could have been decent with a few improvements, but this cover sits firmly in my "take off the jacket and throw it away" category. This book deserved much better.