I chose this title because the name intrigued me. I wasn't disappointed because I didn't expect anything more.
Some stories were very good but most were alright. I like the fact that it was diverse stories in different settings.

Swords, Sorcery, & Self-Rescuing Damsels is an anthology, and as such it contains authors that are new to me. The storyline are all very similar with strong characters. However, I enjoyed each one for themselves. It was fascinating to see the different works all together in one place.

This book was provided to me in exchange for my honest opinion. If you enjoy sci-fi then definitely grab Swords, Sorcery & Self-Rescuing Damsels.

Swords, Sorcery, & Self-Rescuing Damsels is exactly what you think you are going to get. These damsels aren't waiting for a knight in shining armor to do their thing! These girls know what they want and are willing to go after it. It was a fun anthology with a great variety of styles and voices.

Anthologies give me a break from full length novels when I know I do not have the time to concentrate on one story. They also introduce me to new authors, giving me the full experience of some of the best authors that I would not have tried if looking for a full length novel. The central theme of this anthology was well met on many levels by these authors. It is obvious to the reader, at least this reader, that the authors enjoyed their characters short leap into the wizarding world. This book has now added many new authors to my TBR list.

This book is a collection of short fantasy stories that feature strong heroines. Sometimes an element of magic is involved. Sometimes the heroines are older, and sometimes they are younger. Some stories are more realistic than others. Most have an element of violence to them, sometimes perpetrated against a victim off-scene and other times within the context of the story and even by the heroine herself. The women all have a strength of character (if not of body) that's a delight to read. If you enjoy fantasy with strong female leads, you will most likely enjoy this collection of short reads by a variety of authors.

How to say this without spoiling anything? This is a spectacular collection of stories of females that do not rely on a man to save them unless it works to their advantage. You should read this book as it feels empowering to women.
5 out of 5 stars.

For my full review check out my blog at https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot.com

In theory, I should have loved this book. The title promises pretty much everything that makes a book a favourite with me, plus swords (swords I can take or leave alone). But the execution was just OK, and in the end I didn't finish it.

I don't know if this is accurate, but it felt like these were short stories by people who usually write novels, and don't quite have a handle on how the short story form differs. Some managed to be short by being quite linear: problem occurs, solve problem, story finished. At least one tried to cram in too many characters and events, and ended up being short by summarizing the events and not developing the characters. One I skipped after a couple of pages, because torture plus slavery plus rape plus mutilation equals a hard, hard pass from me.

There's nothing terribly wrong with most of these stories; they're written competently enough. But there's nothing really amazing about them either, and the general tone was darker than I prefer. I sometimes felt that I was reading what I call "gunboat fiction," where the author stands offshore and bombards the hapless characters with suffering.

I had a pre-release version from Netgalley, so I won't comment on the copy editing except to say that I hope there was more of it after the version I read, by someone who knows what a coordinate comma is and when not to use one, and who's also good with homonyms and apostrophe placement.

tl;dr: DNF because meh.

This collection of short stories was very enjoyable. There was a nice selection of fantasy and it is a great choice for anyone looking for new authors to read. Seeing women take the lead and save the day was a nice change and the authors weren't heavy-handed or obnoxious about it. Some of the stories were better than others but on the whole, I would recommend this book.

I really enjoyed reading this anthology, but of course there were some short stories I liked better than others. I also thought some of the short stories could work well as novels, based on the theme and storyline.

There are some okay stories in here, but not enough that I could really recommend the book. Often the "self-rescuing" women and girls aren't really so much self-rescuing as they are simply engaging in good manners or being friendly to the friendless and so on.

Swords, Sorcery, and Self-Rescuing Damsels, A fun read. Various stories about Damsels in distress not needing a man to get them out of trouble!

“Heroism is more then brute force, luck, or a dashing smile. Strength comes from many places other than muscles. I’d like to hope that my son recognizes this simple fact, an stories are an amazing way to help make that dream come true.”

This book is perfect for little girls to make them understand they can be brave, claver and strong even without a man. It’s a great message and I appreciated all the heroines described because each one can be a role model. The problem with this book is that the novels were so short that I couldn’t really get attached with the characters and most of the plots were quite simple and banal. I would have enjoyed more a less number of stories but with a better developed plot.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This will be available to buy on April 16th.

This collection of short stories by several fantasy authors all feature strong female lead characters. It was so cool to see how varied the stories and settings were. While I liked some stories more than others, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire book.

I really loved Falcon’s Apprentice, about Marie-Jeanne, a falconer’s daughter whose life changes when she goes on a hunt with the lord of the manor. I thought it was incredibly creative and Marie-Jeanne was a great character to read about because she wasn’t born with special abilities, or with the desire to save the world. She just wanted to make her dad proud. It is the mark of a good author that I was riveted by such a simple tale.

The other short story that really stood out to me was Ashna’s Heart. It was an incredibly interesting tale that touched on subjects of destiny, and how far someone will go to set things right. I really liked that one. It had a fairy tale feel.

This is a solid collection, and now I have new writers to be on the lookout for. This was an entertaining, easy read.

Like the title states, these are self-rescuing damsels. Made for some nice stores, by some well known authors. Enjoyed many of the stories, and I do recommend this book.

This was a very enjoyable book, with many different styles of story with the similar theme - women saving themselves. Very refreshing!
Whilst knowing in advance that they would save themselves took away some of the tension from the anthology, the tales themselves were pretty entertaining.
I would definitely like to read more along these themes from these
authors in future!

Thanks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review from netgalley
#swordssorceryselfrescuingdamsels #netgalley

"These ladies aren't waiting."

This book contains a collection of twenty fantastic stories from bestselling and award-winning authors. They include strong, skilled, independent and determined women and girls succeeding and saving themselves despite danger. I particularly enjoyed the stories by E. J. Knight ("Calamity") and Sarah Bartsch ("not a whisper") these were fun, well-written with good prose that made me read faster and left me wanting more. I would recommend this book to anyway seeking a taste of a variety of authors writing styles.

As with any short story collection featuring different authors, there were some stand out and some that really didn't hit the spot for me - no names as it's very subjective. Overall though this was a great collection and the writing was excellent. Highly recommend for short story fans who want good female characters doing interesting things.