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March 10, 2020: Do you enjoy anthologies?
The easy answer is YES! I do enjoy anthologies.
The detailed answer… I really enjoy anthologies that are written by one author and set in the same world. For example, I have really enjoyed the anthologies by Jim Butcher set in the Dresden Chronicles world. It’s been about six years since the last full-length Dresden book, but the author put out the Brief Cases anthology a couple years ago, which includes previously released shorts I hadn’t read and a new novella. Many of the shorts give insight into side characters that I adore, or supply a “day in the life,” lighter side of main character, Harry. The new novella temporarily satisfied my need for a new book. It’s anthologies like this that I love most.
The more traditional anthologies, with each novella or short written by a different author, can be equality satisfying and a chance to read new-to-me authors. Generally, I will pick up an anthology because it contains one story I want to read – something generally in a series I already read. For example, I picked up The Seasons of Sorcery anthology (Amanda Bouchet, Jeffe Kennedy, Jennifer Estep, Grace Draven) because I read two of the authors/series in the book. I ended up reading two new-to-me authors, which led me to read full-length books. Sometimes it works out, but sometimes I don’t care for all of the titles. What’s nice is I can skip a story or two, but still enjoy the anthology. And on the rare occasion, I’ll pick up an anthology with all unknown stories. I read the Must Love Hellhounds anthology in 2010, and this is how I discovered the Kate Daniels (Ilona Andrews) and the Guardians (Meljean Brooks) series – both became fast favorites of mine.