Includes fourteen fantasy short stories featuing Native American, Asian and African myths. All spellbinding and beautifully written!

What an amazing banquet of tales from a diverse selection of cultures. So refreshing and unique as it explores underutilized mythos and cultures. Short but engaging stories that were like nothing I have ever read before. I loved every single one. Definitely a must-read for fans of fantasy and world mythology.

A gorgeous collection of short stories that range from poignant to uplifting. I really enjoyed the writing and the unique approach to the world expressed in the writing style.

This was a sweet collection of tales with young girls as the central figures throughout various cultures that was enjoyable. I think the tales are both nurturing as well as comforting

This short collection of stories was interesting in a weird and not completely amazing way. I was first drawn to the book through its title and the promise of short stories filled with magic. I looked forward to the book and was quite excited to read it. However, the book did not fully live up to my expectations.

These short stories are incredible, and I devoured them all up and was disappointed when the book ended. If you love mythology and fairytales with a twist to them, then you should pick up this novel.
5/5 stars.
For the full review see my blog https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot.com

If you’re looking for bite-size, fairy-tale feel fantasies with awesome girls in the lead, then this short story anthology should be right up your street!

Short story anthologies are usually so hard to review, as there’s always one or two that stand out as being good, and a couple that you weren’t so interested in. I do have some favourites in this anthology, but despite the diverse settings and situations, they all have the same magical, lyrical, fairy tale feel. This made it a really easy read that had plenty of flow, despite the short stories.

Each of these stories features a girl. Some of the stories have her finding love, some have her finding power, or acceptance, or something else important. In a few, she is saved by a man; in more, she is saved by her own bravery, or cleverness, or heart. In my favourite story in the collection, The Value of Weakness, the protagonist is saved from her own misery by accepting that she is loved – there’s also a magical lion-girl, an ostrich mount, and plenty of magic!

The writing is fairly simple, but not in a bad way. Just in a way that makes it melt effortlessly into the story and lets you get on with seeing the pictures it describes, rather than focusing on pretty prose. It works beautifully for the feel of the stories. The stories themselves are short, which is very refreshing for fantasy – they’d make a great palate cleanser between longer books.

One quick note is that a lot of these stories draw from either South American or Asian culture and myths, and I don’t think that the author is an #ownvoices writer for either of these – while I really enjoy seeing fantasy based on different mythologies, I can’t speak to how accurately any of the cultures are represented. In particular, a few stories focus on the Aztec gods – so your mileage may vary on this representation. Just something to bear in mind.

Overall, this was an entertaining read and I’d like to see more from this author. Four out of five cats.

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

The blood of four Gods and other stories is a collection of short stories from author Jamie Lackey. Some stories are only a matter of pages long, others substantially longer. Majority of these stories had Eastern influence from what I assume to be different myths and stories from these various cultures.

I have to admit that I loved every single one of these stories. Which is rare in an anthology type novel, generally there's a least one story that I don't take to, this collection however, every single story was enthralling. Even though these stories were quite short the author still managed to connect with the reader through their characters. I felt connected to every single character I read about, being able to instil this feeling through a short story can be quite challenging, Lackey aced it. There's no other way to put it. Being able to convey depth to a character in such a small amount of pages is definitely a gift. You hated the villians, you loved the heroes and you were enthralled with the Gods and the magic.

I found myself wishing for an extension of a few of these stories. The first one, of which I can't remember the name, was only around 5 pages long but I really wanted to see the story that lead up to the scene that was shown to us. The female sacrificing herself to the water God who was a dragon in order to save her village. I would LOVE to see a complete story of this. I want to see what lead to her taking these steps. The blood of four Gods was another that stuck in my mind, a short journey and a massive adventure, but I would love to see a longer story come from this, maybe a rewriting. I'd also love to see what happened after she collected the blood of the four Gods. Another that stuck in my mind, of which I can't remember the name, is the story about the young daughter who has no magical ability so feels shunned and unloved by her mother, so she goes on a quest to find her mother a suitable apprentice to take her place. Again, I'd love to see a longer story surrounding this one.

The writing style was beautiful and easy to read, no unnecessary wordy prose, which is a pet hate of mine, just simple, descriptive awesomeness. There was not one flat character or scene in any of these stories. Even the one story that at first I didn't think I was going to like dragged me in and I fell in love with it.

This collection of stories has given me a need to look more into the myths and legends of eastern culture to see possibly where the basis for these stories originated from. I'd be interested to see another point of view on them.

What more can I say? A fantastic collection of stories and characters, I would definitely re-read this no doubts about it. The stories stay with you long after you finish reading them which to me illustrates a great story and author.

It's an ok book. Just didn't hold my attention very well. The female characters always seemed to be shown as damsels in distress, which I know is common for tales like this, but it would have been nice to see a change.

These are some lovely stories with powerful, feminine heroes who use their powers well. Full review at Skiffy and Fanty.

I love short story collections! Each of these is good for trip to work and later another for trip home. With the added bonus that these are all pretty good stories! Well written and original.. Also it's a good break from longer books.

The Blood of Four Gods And Other Stories by Jamie Lackey

This collection of 14 short, fantasy stories were inspired by legends, folklore, and myths from African, Native American and Asian cultures. Being truly SHORT stories, made this a quick and enjoyable read. It is wonderful collection, both well written and entertaining. The fantasy fiction worlds created by the author were detailed so that one can easily imagine them.

I, personally, haven’t heard the stories before so I am not sure of the specific tales they were based on. That being said, I have to state that I feel the narratives are a rich blend of fantasy and folklore. I was drawn into the stories- the characters, their plights, their triumphs and tragedies.

All in all, I found this to be an interesting and thoughtful read that can be enjoyed by YA & teen readers as well as adults. 5/5 stars

This book was given to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This review, or portions thereof, will be posted (where able) on Amazon and Goodreads, as well as Litsy, IG, B&N, Pinterest, Facebook, and my own blog. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide links at this time, as I am using my phone.

I love short stories. I love fantasy & magical realism. That being said, I didn’t love this collection. It was ok, just not what I was looking for/expected it to be. I was expecting a collection of stories full of strong female leads, all who directed the story the way that they wanted it to go. Instead, I got a collection full of female leads who were a bit weak & depended on male characters to save them in some form or fashion. Needless to say, the character development could use some help. The world building was ok for as short as the stories were, although I’ve definitely seen better. Overall, I was left a bit disappointed.

Overall it was a good fantasy anthology. There were really good stories. I liked some stories contains different cultures. I really wish some stories written longer because for me they ended in the middle of the story. I wanted to know more. Fox Woman and Beyond the Reach of Moonligh are my favourite stories.

While not the best collection I've read, I feel like it was the most diverse and well-rounded. Oftentimes I don't come across folk and fairy tale inspired collections in speculative fiction that aren't also very complex or completely over the top. This collection has a healthy mixture of cultures from non-Western environments including North, Central, and South American cultures and Asian cultures. The thing I liked the most was how SHORT each of the stories was. I feel like a lot of the short stories I've read miss out on the "short" part of the concept and edge toward needing to be novellas. However, even for how short each is, each story still has a well-formed idea that runs throughout. The characters are developed simply but are still complete and still experience growth. In reading the collection, you have a look into cultural views on duty and honor alongside views on grief, morality, and spirituality.

I saw that The Blood of Four Gods and Other Stories was a fantasy anthology of diverse mythology and immediately wanted to read it.

It was ok as far as fantasy and magic stories go but I really didn't like it overall. The women were suppose to be 'strong protagonists' but most of them only did things because of men. 🙄 And most of the stories were either not fleshed out enough or had pretty grim endings. I love dark stories but I also like resolution.

If you like fantasy and you've accomplished a bit of your tbr then I would recommend reading this book.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review The Blood of Four Gods and Other Stories.

This was kind of a weird deal with this one. The book was under Request Now but once I clicked on it said Read Now even though it wasn't a publisher I was pre-approved for. Then it came in as a PDF for Kindle, which didn't make sense. And the formatting was all messed up in my Kindle app.