I really liked some of these stories a great deal. They had engaging plots, interesting characters, and were able to draw me in from the very beginning. However, there were also a lot of the other ones that I didn't enjoy nearly as much.

Some of them seemed to lack a clear direction or had endings that felt rushed or unsatisfying. But I guess that's just the nature of collections of short stories.

You can't expect every single story to be a winner. There will always be a mix of good and bad, and it's up to the reader to decide which ones they like and which ones they don't.

Overall, I still found the collection to be an interesting read, and it introduced me to some new authors and writing styles that I might not have otherwise discovered.

Love it!

This simple expression holds a world of meaning. It can refer to a deep affection for a person, an intense passion for a hobby, or a profound appreciation for an experience.

When we love something, it consumes our thoughts and fills our hearts with joy. It gives us a sense of purpose and makes life more meaningful.

Whether it's the love for a partner, the love for art, or the love for nature, it has the power to transform us and bring out the best in us.

Love it! is not just a phrase; it's a way of life. It encourages us to embrace the things that make us happy and to pursue them with all our might.

So, let's all find something to love and cherish it with all our hearts. Because when we love it, we truly live.

I have this book mainly due to the Tamora Pierce short story. And I must admit that after many years since my last re-read, it's the only one I actually remembered clearly. Some of the others, I recalled once I started reading them, but there were still others that hadn't left any impression on me at all.

I think the stories that hold up best are those that manage to quickly develop characters we care about. For example, Holly Black's Heartless, Pierce's Student of Ostriches, Esther Friesner's Thunderbolt, Doranna Durgin's Emerging Legacy, and Lesley Bain's Act of Faith. However, that being said, I wouldn't claim that all of these stand up well as short stories. Some of them felt like the first chapters in longer books that just haven't been written yet. This was especially true for Heartless and Act of Faith.

A couple of the stories were in the same vein, giving me the impression that the author had cut something down to fit the short story format but not very successfully. The Magestone seemed uneven in tone and unfinished. And Margaret Mahy's Hidden Warriors was the least enjoyable story for me. (I'm a New Zealander! I really wanted to love it!) The note on the story states that the characters are part of a longer book which "may become a book someday", and wow, you can really tell. The story starts and finishes confusingly in medias res. There isn't enough development of the characters to understand what's going on, and I found the language florid and rather confusing. :-(

Overall, it's a strong collection, and I really love the theme of it. It definitely takes a broad view of what makes a "warrior" and the different ways people can be strong.