Short stories by the author of <i>The Last Unicorn</i>, several of which revisit that most evocative of creatures (albeit not always in the familiar Western version - and one of the variants is a far less noble creature), and a couple more of which fill out the earlier life of that book’s erratic mage Schmendrick. The rest of the pieces tends towards urban fantasy, in its non-formulaic sense – because even when I love something like the Peter Grant books, it’s inevitable that the smart narrator and the codification of his world do gradually familiarise you with what should be marvels. Whereas in these brief glimpses, a piece of sculpture with ideas above its station, or a haunted aquarium, or a computer with a very unusual key remain as utterly strange and fabulous as they really would be. The wonderful title story is a piece in memory of Beagle’s late friend Avram Davidson which, while rather different from your standard memorial, fits the man far better - really giving a sense of his personality and his qualities, and definitely doing him due honour. The collection includes a brief note with each story, which I always appreciate – and Beagle’s notes are more honest than some writers about not loving all these children equally. For one of the longest (and for me, weakest) pieces here, for instance – a story whose alternate history setting doesn’t seem to contribute much to its core – it definitely helps to have Beagle admit that it was written for a steampunk anthology, despite his not really knowing what steampunk is.

(Netgalley ARC)

The Overneath is Peter S. Beagle's latest offering of short stories. There is definitely something for everyone in here. Do you love Schmendrick? He is in two stories! Do you love urban fantasy? What about stories set in exotic locales or times? This anthology has you covered! Each story is rich in character, action, and detail. I liked all the stories, but the real stand outs for me were "The Green-Eyed Boy," "The Queen Who Could Not Walk," and "Trinity County, CA: You'll Want to Come Again and We'll Be Glad to See You." If you already love Peter S. Beagle, you need to run to get a copy of this book. If you have never read his work, it is an excellent introduction, which will leave you longing to dig into his catalog.

I loved this book. I had never read anything by Peter Beagle before, but I will definitely look into his books now. I had heard of him, but had never sought him out before this. This was an excellent collection of stories, and a really good primer on his writing style. I found his stories to be extremely engaging, even when I was wary at first. My personal favorites were the stories involving Schmendrick, the various unicorn stories, and the story with the dragons at drug dens. Overall, a fantastic read, and one that I am glad I found!

The Overneath by Peter S. Beagle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So far, I've been enjoying Beagle's works and this is my first real taste of his short fiction. I'm sure that there will be a ton of fans going ga-ga over the fact that there are two Schmendrick shorts here!

Even so, I think I enjoyed a number of the other stories a bit more. I'm particularly fond of his Steampunk story: Music, When Soft Voices Die which had a particularly awesome horror feel. Indeed, I think I prefer all the stories that had that taste, such as these three: The Very Nasty Aquarium, Great Grandmother in the Cellar, and Underbridge.

Even better are timeless stories like: The Queen Who Could Not Walk. There was something about this one that really got to me.

Even so, there's a little something for everyone in this collection, especially if you like unicorn tales that don't fit in Beagle's Last Unicorn universe. There's even a delightful SF about a lonely guy with an awesome computer who has a penpal across the universe. :)

I admit to liking but not loving most of these, but I can't complain about the quality of any of it! I am quite pleased with the quality of the research and the depth of the myths inside some of the tales. Magic is everywhere. :)

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

So, the first and most important thing that lead me right into being like "YES, NETGALLEY, I WOULD LOVE TO READ THIS BOOK" is that the green-eyed boy featured in the first story "The Green-Eyed Boy" is in fact, Schmendrick the Magician, last of the red hot swamis. A young Schmendrick, who has just started his apprenticeship with Nikos, a master wizard. We see Schmendrick's clumsy attempts to work the powerful magic that he has right from the beginning. I loved it. Getting his origin story, so to speak, an outcast boy from a family that cares not a whit for him... even his name, from a Yiddish word that means something along the lines of "somebody out of his depth" as Beagle once put it, is a source of shame for him. Poor Schmendrick. I feel for him. What an amazing opener for this book of stories!

There are a few stories about unicorns in this anthology (surprise!), but they are all different kinds of unicorns.

For example, The Story of Kao Yu tells the story of a travelling judge who is occasionally helped out by a chi-lin, a Chinese unicorn. My Son Heydari and the Karkadann is a story about a wounded Persian unicorn, a karkadann - somewhat like a rhinoceros - being nursed back to health by a local boy. 

It also has a bunch of fantastic stories in it that aren't about unicorns, like The Queen Who Could Not Walk, which had a really fantastic reveal, and Trinity County, CA : You'll Want to Come Again and We'll Be Glad to See You! which is about a group of people that go in and rescue illegal exotic animals in Trinity County... only the exotic animals in this case, are dragons. Kaskia is a story about a middle aged man with a failing marriage who buys a strange laptop from his cousin and ends up instant messaging an alien with it. Music, When Soft Voices Die is a really cool story about a medical student in Victorian England who builds a machine that starts to pick up random voices, and it's a bit of a mystery finding out what they are and where they come from. Really surreal and wonderfully written stories of all different kinds.

It was awesome from start to finish. Never samey, never boring. I loved the entire collection, and I'll be honest here, I can only say that about 3 short story anthologies that I've ever read (including this one). So, there you go. :)

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for the advance reader copy of this book.

This being my 400th book to review in 2017 I felt it called for something special and since the 50th anniversary of one of the most enduring classics that has impacted an untold number of children is coming up next year I knew the perfect author to choose.

Peter S. Beagle gave us The Last Unicorn in 1968 which was then made into a movie in 1982 which is currently playing on Netflix if you need a reminder. His talent to create vivid settings, enchanting characters and worlds that came straight out of our dreams and nightmares taught us about the world in a refreshingly honest way
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Even 60 years after he started putting pen to page what made Beagle so uplifting, fresh and enduring has not lost its luster with his latest collection of short stories.

We have over ten tales to take us away including the chance to relive that childhood magic from long ago by meeting Schmendrick once again. Diving into his illustrious work you get to walk down memory lane when life could just be full of mythic beings, hauntings to give you goosebumps and people you wish were real so they could make this world just a little easier to live in.

You will travel to China and immerse yourself in beautiful Asian folklore, to the Middle East where the sands of time are wiped away to tickle your imagination, or maybe very close to your own backyard where Dragons might just exist..

What is truly beautiful about this book is that Beagle’s writing lets you believe, if only for a little while, that magic, mythos and wonder are real. As you enter his world you become part of it and for that time the impossible is achievable.

I am not a huge fan of short stories, but when I saw this collection by Beagle, who I have loved ever since childhood, I couldn't resist. And these stories are just as charming as The Last Unicorn. Yes, there are fantastical beasts (three unicorns?!) and magic from other lands. There is the title story, about a world passageway that is just outside of sight, but has its perils. But my favorite was the story of a very uncanny aquarium and it's inhabitants, and their retired elementary school teacher owner.

I enjoyed all of the stories, and liked the bonus of two stories about our man Shmendrick. But mostly I was entranced by the style of the writing, and the ease with which Beagle makes the fantastical real. I would love to live in his world, even when it's a bit scary and off-putting.

Yet another incredible collection of short stories from world renowned Fantasy Author Peter S Beagle. I was extra excited for The Overneath because I'd heard it featured a story about our very own Schmendrick the Magician. But imagine my delight when I discovered not one but two Schmendrick stories!!

In addition, there is of course plenty of other stories in here which deserve praise of their own. From stories about the Fremont Bridge Troll (of which I had never previously heard of but am now fascinated by) to stories of otherworlds where our world lays in the shadows.

I particularly liked the story about a group of men living together and one of them creates an electronic device which without giving spoilers has a spooky purpose. Another favourite has to be the one about a haunted aquarium and it's retired teachers for heroines.

Peter S Beagle just has an incredible skill for putting together both short and full length stories. I have been in love with The Last Unicorn my whole life and I continue to adore every single thing Peter writes. The Overneath is no different. A fantasy lover's heaven from start to finish.