Warriors edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois – review

The Warriors anthology, edited by George R.R. Martin and his long-time associate Gardner Dozois, was at first something that most people wouldn’t think to associate with me.  Despite my love of fantasy, and anthologies for that matter, Warriors isn’t just that.  It would be fair to say that each genre is represented at least once and that the talent pool is a heady mix of known names and relatively unknowns.  Of the twenty authors who contributed, I knew twelve names but had only read five of those.  Anyone who reads anthologies on a regular basis understands that even if you got nothing but best-sellers for your contributor list, that doesn’t guarantee a strong collection as a whole.  Anthologies are often regarded as the sum of their parts, instead.

Martin’s introduction gave me a much better insight into the type of anthology he wanted to create than the information on the cover.  His recollections of finding books as a child at the store on a spinner rack had me grinning; I’m almost forty years younger then he is, but I have fond recollections of going to the flea market or one of the Summer Malls (a collection of stores that set up on the first day of summer in collapsible tents in the area where my grandparents lived) and rooting through the bins of books.  I didn’t much care what genre a book was; if the cover interested me and I had the spare change, I bought it.  His intro reminded me how fun and enlightening it was just choosing a book because it looked interesting, not because it was something I knew I might like.

The five authors who I had previously read were part of the reason why I chose to read this anthology.  S.M. Stirling, who writes the Emberverse (or Change) novels I enjoy, has a short story in here called “Ancient Ways.”  The story, which is part of the Emberverse, is separate from the main series and follows the adventures of two different warriors on the same mission–to save a Princess.  It sounds cliche, but what works is that the two warriors have a wonderful dynamic.  They both acknowledge that the mission is rather ridiculous, but proceed with a humor I appreciated.  Their banter is priceless.

“The Eagle and the Rabbit” by Steven Saylor, a historical fiction author, surprised me only in that it wasn’t what I was expecting.  I read Saylor’s Roman mystery series (Roma Sub Rosa) and expected a story in that vein.  Instead I was given a story about Ancient Carthage, or rather a wrecked Carthage and a vividly horrifying story centered around a group of slaves who have to participate in a game called temptatio.  Saylor’s Roma books aren’t happy times, but “The Eagle and the Rabbit” takes things to a new level of unhappy.  Its not a story for the faint of heart, but, for historical fiction fans, this short is not to be missed.

“The Girls From Avenger” by Carrie Vaughn was about one WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) pilot’s mission to find out the truth about a friend’s death.  WASP-related fiction is hard to come by, at least good WASP related fiction, and I have always had a special interest in the subject.  Vaughn, whose urban fantasies I normally read, writes a straight historical mystery fiction story that is respectful, well-researched, and welcoming even if you have no idea who the WASP’s were.

Naomi Novik’s “Seven Years From Home” is not set in her Temeraire universe, but set in space (or, rather, on a different planet).  Diplomat Ruth is sent as a negotiator to get the faction to stop opposing the Confederacy and to join with them.  Of the twists the story took, I was expecting the very end, and Ruth’s actions, the least.  The style was more of a journal entry sort than straight prose, but I found I enjoyed it quite a bit, which was a surprise to me since I’m not a fan of her Temeraire books at all.

The last author I had read previously was Diana Gabaldon.  Her story “The Custom of the Army” is set in her Lord John books, which I have not read (I’ve previously read her Outlander books).  Unfortunately, since I have no previous knowledge of the series, nor is there much by way of explanation in the story as set-up, I was lost and confused throughout most of this story.

Of the remaining fifteen stories, I think Robin Hobb’s “The Triumph” was the most entertaining (set in Ancient Rome, so it was a weird precursor to Saylor’s story in a way), and Tad Williams’ “And Ministers of Grace” made me want to read his novels the most.  Though, as his story was more of a dramatic science fiction story and not epic fantasy, I almost feel like that would be a waste if I were looking for more of what I found here.

As a mixed-genre anthology, I think this collection worked fantastically.  Not only did it present quite a few authors outside of their native genres (Carrie Vaughn and Tad Williams, especially), but it also proved that Martin’s “spinner rack theory” has some basis of truth.  When given the opportunity to read in genres that were outside my norm, I found that I enjoyed them and wanted to read more of them.