http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/fantasy/clarke-offers-strange-short-story-online/ reading material to get excited about Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:56:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/fantasy/clarke-offers-strange-short-story-online/comment-page-1/#comment-6009 The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories » Bookgasm Tue, 24 Oct 2006 12:02:00 +0000 http://www.bookgasm.com/?p=93#comment-6009 [...] Obviously I fall within the first camp of STRANGE devotees. The title story – incidentally, the one that opens this collection – immediately drew me right back in to her magical world. It’s an odd bit of whimsy that you could see Clarke working into STRANGE as one of those sub-stories told entirely through footnotes. Actually, the same could be said for all of them, including the “Rumplestiltskin” variation “On Lickerish Hill”; “Mrs. Mabb,” in which time stands still; or “The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse,” available online. The best of the lot is “Mr. Simonelli or The Fairy Widower,” a really weird invention involving a clergyman, goblins and breast milk. All the stories are supplement with full-page illustrations from Charles Vess; I’d much prefer the art of STRANGE’s Portia Rosenberg, but this kind of thing is Vess’ territory as well. [...] [...] Obviously I fall within the first camp of STRANGE devotees. The title story – incidentally, the one that opens this collection – immediately drew me right back in to her magical world. It’s an odd bit of whimsy that you could see Clarke working into STRANGE as one of those sub-stories told entirely through footnotes. Actually, the same could be said for all of them, including the “Rumplestiltskin” variation “On Lickerish Hill”; “Mrs. Mabb,” in which time stands still; or “The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse,” available online. The best of the lot is “Mr. Simonelli or The Fairy Widower,” a really weird invention involving a clergyman, goblins and breast milk. All the stories are supplement with full-page illustrations from Charles Vess; I’d much prefer the art of STRANGE’s Portia Rosenberg, but this kind of thing is Vess’ territory as well. [...]

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