It’s been a while since I did a book review, but I had extra, unexpected airport-and-plane reading time this week. So let’s start with Cedar Sanderson‘s recent release, Crow Moon: A Collection of Fantastic Tales.
First off, how cool is that cover? Not only do I want to read about her, I kind of want to be that badass striding through the water. I’ll let you decide which one I mean.
As for the tales themselves, this truly is a collection of fantastic tales. A few I’ve read before, in other collections, and were well worth rereading to revisit old friends.
Cedar Sanderson is an exceptional creative in multiple fields, from art sketches and book covers design and chainmail dragons, to posting photographs of food that makes me drool from several states away, to tearing emotion unwilling out of a reader.
Let’s dig into that, because this is no popcorn read you’ll forget about tomorrow.
These tales present choices – real choices, that come with heartache and aftershocks, but in the fantastic worlds as promised. The endings aren’t always happy, and sometimes aren’t resolved. The characters are real people, who have made decisions with courage and a willingness to brave the consequences in order to do what’s right. They are reluctant heroes answering difficult questions, making the best of unenviable situations, and standing up for justice.
In short, these fantastic tales are about honor – not in a way that is moralistic or preaching, oh, no. This book makes me want to go have adventures, uphold the code of chivalry, defend the helpless, and defeat the bad guy.
What more could you ask for? Go read it for yourself!
