I am not sure why i ended up picking this up, but some of the short stories were wierd and trying too hard, some were a little bit interesting...but when i got into them and got a little bit invested, it was over. Wich was annoying.

This is a great compendium that explores forty different points of view and stories. I really loved getting a look into each of these short stories.

A quirky and healing collection, Community of Magic Pens begins with a simple question - what is the power of a pen? Each of these brief short stories is completely different in tone, setting, plot, dialect and character. It's a little discombobulating traveling from a superhero academy to an ancient Masjid and back to post-Partition India, but it also means the collection never gets boring. Though the book is listed for general adult, I think it would be equally enjoyed by young adults.

On the heels of my previous read (which was a collection of four novellas), I am reviewing an anthology which(also) has a common theme. The idea is to write a story featuring a magical pen, and a LOT of authors have contributed to this work. I have encountered one or two in earlier anthologies.


It is quite fascinating that multiple people used the same elaborate theme to indicate the powers of the pen. The location and handling of it by the protagonists varied, but the concept stayed the same. This was both a positive as well as a negative thing, but it can provide some unique stories.


There are too many small narratives to provide a separate review for each, but on the whole, it was an entertaining collection. It has been written by people with varying backgrounds, and it shows in the narrative styles, which were all excellent in their own way. It primarily focuses on the power of the written word and what if the capacity came with even more magic. Due to some of the repetitive theme, I could not read it in one go but kept coming back to it at decent intervals.


My favourite story has to be of a machine who wanted a job selling historical artefacts on other planets. I did not expect the twist, which made it all the more fun to read. I would recommend this to people who like reading short stories with a slightly whimsical edge.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

The book cover is beautiful and tells it's own story; the editor provided further explanation about the cover, just in case you missed it. The title of the book is also compelling, It catches your attention even if you aren't a book lover.

The stories in this anthology are fantasy-themed and laced with rich diverse narratives; some of the stories are sweet, straightforward and delightful, others I just couldn't wait to skip.

The good stories do outweigh the ones I consider bad which is a great thing.

I do recommend it because some of the stories are worth it.

P.S I want my own magic pen.

I'd never really thought about pens other than as tools to write with. This collection of short stories gave me a whole new perspective.

Community of Magic Pens is a collection of forty short stories written by a cast of diverse authors. There are stories from all genres: science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, romance, satire, mystery, etc. and every story prominently features a pen in some way.

I find it difficult to review short story collections when each story is written by a different author. This collection had both highs and lows for me.

Some of the stories in this collection didn't grasp my attention, and I think the writing in a few of the stories could be improved. As a whole, though, this collection impressed me with the range of stories and imagination. I was particularly drawn to the speculative fiction stories because the worlds and characters in those stories were more refreshing to me in some ways.

I also appreciated the diversity of voices in the collection. The authors represent different sexualities, genders, abilities, races, and religions, and it was particularly satisfying to read pronouns other than "he" and "she."

The bite-sized stories in Community of Magic Pens makes it easy to pick up and put down, which is fantastic for on-the-go reading or for something small to break up the day. It's different from any short story collection I've read before, and I would definitely read it again.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Release Date: May 4, 2020

Thank you NetGalley and Atthis Arts, LLC for the e-ARC!

A charming anthology of short stories and poems, each with the central theme of the pen and specifically the role of the pen in our lives. The anthology crosses gender, ethnicity and religious lines, with authors from a variety of background telling stories and this adds to the richness of the collection. The stories tell about two loves writing their marriage vows on the eve of their wedding, a young girl preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, getting a tattoo – the way that a pen (or ink and writing in its many, many forms) can impact on our daily lives.
Just beautiful and well worth a read. I especially liked the mini bio of each author included at the end of the story/poem. And the content warning provided at the end of the story as this was a particularly thoughtful gesture considering some of the stories referenced death, 9-11 etc.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atthis Arts for the ARC of this book.

This was the first anthology that I've ever read and I enjoyed myself so much that I'd do it a thousand times over.

This book completely changed the way that I consider myself a reader and the genres that I like. It will certainly influence the kinds of books that I choose to read in the future. I thought it was extremely considerate to put the list of content warnings at the back of the book. We live in a delicate time and every person walking this earth experiences something different and has their own story to tell. Sometimes, it just isn't the right time for certain content to appear in their lives, books or movies where their trauma can be relived. Thank you very much for considering those, myself included, who need a little extra guidance when facing the unknown.

My thoughts on the short author bio included at the end of every short story? I love it! Although I would put a lot of that down to me being and extremely personable and curious. It helped me set the tone for the stories and gave me dozens of authors to follow in the future (and back read!). Now if that's not like Christmas in April then I don't know what is.

The stories in this book are so diverse and unique, and it is truly special how every author, with the same prompt, delivered such a vast array of tales. They had me smiling, laughing, crying and feeling like my heart was extra full and warm from start to finish. Although, there were a handful that weren't my particular taste but I'd say out of the 40-ish stories there was only 3 I didn't like. However, that is just a personal opinion and certainly should not diminish the clear talent that every author in this book has. Additionally, I do expect Charlie Brooker will be contacting a few of these authors any day now to get his new inspriation. Some of these stories had some major Black Mirror vibes and I am NOT complaining.

The stories are compelling, descriptive and concise, with varying time settings, ethnicity's and genders, but always, ALWAYS, heart-warming and magical.

My sincerest thanks to Atthis Arts and Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

5/5 Stars

The following are my notes and thoughts for a selection of stories from the book

Penultimate: A fantastic choice for the first book in the anthology. Compelling and Magical. How the pen and what she does with the pen allows her to escape, somewhat willingly, from the challenges in life that she faces is beautiful. We all need to escape sometimes. But perhaps she needs a break from the pen?

Of Signatures and Contacts: Concise, descriptive and had me laughing loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. Such an unrealistic tale but the underlying message of pens bringing people together was beautiful.

Mightier: The bio of this writer had so much in common with myself that I was extremely eager to read this particular story. Turns out my hunch was right. LOVED it! "Maybe what the world needs right now is a kind heart and a pen" how heart-warming! I want to read no less than seven pieces of writing by Elizabeth Shaffer in the future.

Qalam: This left me speechless. This was my first taste of writing by somebody of a Muslim background. I'm not sure why I wrote that, it's clearly not important, but what I think is important is that after reading this I now want to go and learn more about Arabic culture. Although the tale was fiction I felt entranced, like I could truly feel the "magic" of the pen. The writing was fantastic and has left me more curious than ever.

Inheritance: An incredible marvelous tale of a magical pen that connects grandmother and grandchild. Had me crying actual tears and enjoying every minute of the reading experience. Longing to read more of J S Baileys work.



Today I am a fountain pen: WOW! Firstly, thank you for the authors note. I was extremely grateful for that. As an Australian female in her mid 20's and no ethnic background or nationality (other than being an Aussie) my knowledge of Jewish traditions is extremely limited (we are talking like TV sitcoms and stand-up comedians- limited). So I was already engrossed by what I had learnt in the authors note before beginning the story. AND THE STORY! What a life! How special it was. What I liked most about this story was that there was no magic in it. There was love, and that's what brought the pens to life. She made those pens with love and the recipients of the pens felt things that other pens could provide. It reminded me of when people cook a meal and say it was made with love, only in this story it was true, and THAT was the magic.

The last of your kind: YES YES YES. LOVE LOVE LOVE. The poem I didn't know I needed in my life. Beautiful, poetic goodness that warms my heart. Short, concise and beautiful.

Mystical Woo: Nothing but talent. I was glued to the pages from start to finish with this story. Absolutely loved it.

One Story, Two People: This story was simply beautiful. I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it in the best way possible.

Written with Love: This story was the light-hearted tale in needed, being situated among some of the more emotionally heavier stories in the book. I loved the twist at the beginning that I wasn't expecting and I felt like I could actually hear the Grandfather laughing. How talented an author must be to create sounds from a page. A sweet and whimsical tale that left me wanting to know if Emma did find her soulmate.

Ink: This leaves so much to be interpreted by the reader, and I think what is beautiful and unique about this is that every reader will feel something different after reading it. I certainly could empathize with the character, the description about getting the tattoo was absolutely spot-on accurate and made me envision tattoos in a way I never expected to.

Thank you to Atthis Arts Anthology & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available May 4th 2020

A quirky and healing collection, Community of Magic Pens begins with a simple question - what is the power of a pen? Each of these brief short stories is completely different in tone, setting, plot, dialect and character. It's a little discombobulating traveling from a superhero academy to an ancient Masjid and back to post-Partition India, but it also means the collection never gets boring. Though the book is listed for general adult, I think it would be equally enjoyed by young adults! I found myself rapt with awe in each and every tale.

Writing about magic pens. Too easy or just right? Well, neither, going by this anthology, which I must say was a real disappointment. Surprisingly so, since I read and really enjoyed two other anthologies edited by the same person, one of which was an object anthology, one of my favorite kinds. I was kind of hoping this would be similar in charm and quality, but instead this book turned out to be an epitome for how it works when political correctness overwhelms/outweighs good storytelling. There might be a way to maintain the balance, but this book was just too heavily guided one way. Which is to say everyone was so obsessed with correct representation (every race, every gender, every sexual orientation) they seem to have used these stories not as complete entries, but as mere delivery methods for personal sociopolitical agendas. This collection is just so, so exhaustingly conscientious. Every writer bio lists their nationality, pronouns, tons of information that should be irrelevant to the art of storytelling unless art is to be used as a message board. Moreover, despite the fact that these stories are as lukewarm and mild and inoffensive as stories come, there’s still an exhaustive list of potentially upsetting factors for each story in the back of the book. Seriously? What sort of a delicate snowflake audience this collection is trying to attract. Is this the future of literature? Cause that’s depressing. Who goes through life like that? And how does one even go through life like that? Are news going to come with warnings…warning, high death count, stupidity, political ineptitude…proceed with caution. Does every author have to speak from their personal experience exclusively? Or does this dearth of imagination stems directly out of fear of being accused of cultural appropriation? Which is another infuriating subject for another time. Is it good to only write what you know or does it limit an author or in fact represents the author’s limitations. At any rate, these are all debate worthy questions and this isn’t a debate, it’s a review, merely one person’s opinion. Which I’m sure will be accused (inaccurately, but hey this is internet, who cares, right) of all sorts of prejudices by people who writes stories like these and for whom stories like these are written. But back to the book, it wasn’t terrible, just terribly well intentioned. Who knows how good it might have been, had the authors used their imaginations to spin the tales instead of coming up with a variety of different pronouns for the gender nonspecific. But at any rate, the stories were perfectly readable with all their cute morals, but only a few were actually good engaging and fun. All of the authors stuck closely to the theme, magic pens and magic writing were featured in some form in every story and the few poems. None of the authors are well known, the only two I was familiar with on name recognizing basis were from reading other Bell edited anthologies. Didn’t really work for me, not very exciting stories mostly and too PC. The latter shouldn’t even be a thing, weird that it is these days. Makes me think of the new fashion in name tags, the kind work provides, the kind that specifies the pronoun choice, but doesn’t mention the person’s name. Seriously? Because someone’s going to come up to a counter and say hey, she, can I get a…or that she at the counter was very nice. When the efforts to accommodate every personal preference go too far, it actually depersonalizes people. It takes away what’s important and substitutes it for what is frankly no one’s business. Who wants to go through life as a pronoun when they can have a name. But anyway, maybe people who wrote this book and people who will enjoy it do. To each their own. Thanks Netgalley.