Small Magic, an anthology of short fantasy stories, stays true to Terry Brooks' style of stories. Brooks tells the tale of a changeling, of Garret Jax, of an imaginary fairy world, and others in this compilation of short tales. Brooks creates a visual world with action and adventure. Each tale leaves you wanting more but they do end satisfactory. I enjoyed the adventures and the characters he created.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

Small Magic is a collection of short fiction by Terry Brooks from 1977 to 2020. Due out 2nd March 2021 from Penguin Random House on their Del Rey imprint, it's 464 pages (print edition) and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats.

Despite having said himself that he prefers the longer forms and generally finds short fiction more challenging, Terry Brooks writes very very well no matter what he's writing. He's a titan of the speculative fiction genre, and the stories included in this collection are all top-shelf selections and provided me hours of enjoyment.

There are 11 stories included in this collection and they run the gamut - many providing background story for existing characters from his other longer works. The lead story (oddly, to me) was written for an anthology for Poul Anderson's Multiverse anthology, and ties in with Anderson's own iconic "Queen of Air and Darkness" (which is one of my favorite stories of all time and which won the 1972 Hugo). They're all good and varied. The author himself provides introductory notes for each story which are always a lot of fun to read.

Four and a half stars. I would recommend this collection to fans of Terry Brooks and/or fans of classic speculative fiction and fantasy. Four stars. There are several standout stories here and will enthrall fans of the genre.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Small Magic is full of beloved characters set in well-known worlds, comprising stories that range from satisfying to remarkably bittersweet.

I loved the introductions before each story. Brooks’ gave me a peek into his creative world with these anecdotes as to why each story came to be. I always find this type of background information as fascinating as the stories themselves, and I was not disappointed. The rare glimpse behind the curtain utterly enthralled me.

Overall, I enjoyed the range of action and emotions brought out and new stories discovered. The world-building and characters are as well-developed as I have ever found in the novels, and the fact that it is done in just a few pages is commendable and enjoyable to read. I particularly enjoyed the stories from Shannara, but that is only because these are the characters I know and love. It is also helpful that each story provided just enough back story to help the reader remember which series it is from without weighing down the story with too much exposition.

My favorite Shannara-based story is hands down, Last Ride. It is about Tiger Ty of the Wing Rider Elves, who initially transported Wren Ohmsford through part of her heroic adventure (Heritage of Shannara). Even if you do not know the original tale he first appeared in, this short story will still resonate as it is a story about the universals of aging, family, traditions, and passions. It is the only story – and it is next to last – that brought a tear to my eye as I could empathize with Ty, his son, his grandson, and even his Roc, Spirit, as they took one last journey to save Ty’s son who had gone missing.

I also particularly enjoyed Aftermath and Allanon’s Quest, which features characters I know and remember well. I’ve always been a massive fan of Allanon, so I was happy to read the story about how he came to find Shea Ohmsford before the beginning of the original tale. As I would have expected, it was quite a complex tale, and it kept me captivated from beginning to end. Aftermath featured two other beloved characters – Garet Jax and Stee Jans – and answers the fan question, is there a connection between the two characters, and if so, what is it? It puts all the rumors to rest and explains it so that even though it was not part of any of the original novels felt as if he could be.

With a collection as full as this, how can any fantasy fan not pick it up and enjoy just a bit more of the stories that have now been laid to rest? I know that I couldn’t!

What a treat for the mind! This short story collection is full of previously published stories and a couple of new ones as well. Before each story there is a quick blurb from the author to let you know the circumstances surrounding the story and the reason he wrote it. There are also a few reminders about any characters from his novels that are in the story, which is helpful if you haven't read any of the books from that series lately. I highly recommend it!

I haven't read terry Brooks before, due to not knowing where to start. The Shannara series is so large and a bit intimidating, but this set of short stories was a great introduction into Terry's world. I enjoyed the brief *notes* at the beginning of each story, most of the time these are at the end and can get be forgotten at some point. Having them at the beginning really helped set up the stories themselves. One thing you may notice when reading this book is the author doesn't like to write short stories, I'm not sure why since he is so good at it.

A few of my favorite stories include: Imaginary Friends, Warrior, The Weapon Master's Choice, and The Fey of Cloudmoor. The Fey of Cloudmoor was an interesting read and definitely different from the other stories.

After having read this book I know now where to start my reading... The Word and The Void series.

Highly recommend!

This is a great collection of short stories. If you like the world of Shannara
Then this is a book for you. The short introduction of each of the stories is helpful you will get more out of the stories if you have read the previous books.

This is a fast read and very enjoyable, I highly recommend this book if you have read and enjoyed other Terry Brooks books.


I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this title!

Every fan of Terry Brooks and Shannara will love this collection. Not every story is from the world of Shannara, but every story has an introduction with an explanation for where the story fits into his books, or what sparked it. It's not only a great collection of fiction, but a peek into the mind of one of the greatest fantasy authors of all time.

This is collection of short stories that take place in the worlds that Terry Brooks has created, except for the first one. I have not read the novel that the first short story expands on and it did not pull me in, so I got off to a slow start. The rest of the stories added to the books and characters that they drew from and were worthwhile to read.

I received a copy of this book to review through NetGalley.

I have read all of the author’s books and this series of short stories does not disappoint. While the introduction to each story gives some background, it would be helpful to ready the author’s other books (although that will take a while for a new reader) as the stories tie into minor characters in the books. As with all of his works, this one is well written, engaging and a fast read. I recommend this book to all fans of Terry Brooks.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Small Magic: Short Fiction 1977-2020 will be available on March second.

Terry Brooks is a giant among fantasy authors. Even if you haven’t read any of his works, chances are you recognize the name. He’s most well known for his Shannara books, although I personally like Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold! the best. When I was given the opportunity to check out his short fiction collection, I jumped at the chance.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it’s Terry Brooks! Some of these stories add a new level to already established worlds and characters. His writing skill is on full display and is fantastic, as usual. It’s been quite a while since I’ve read any of his works, and it was fun to catch up.

On the other hand, some of the story additions were just odd. For example, the very first story was written for an anthology by Poul Anderson called Multiverse. It did not really make a lot of sense to make that the very first story, seeing as it was written for someone else’s anthology collection, and it alienated me a bit. If it was going to be in Small Magic, I personally would have preferred to see it pop up later on, after there had been some short stories that took place in worlds created by Terry Brooks.

My favorite story of the collection featured a cantankerous dragon. While I definitely felt that some stories were much better than others, I feel that most Terry Brooks fans will enjoy the collection, even if only for the sense of nostalgia it provides.

I personally didn’t love it as much as I was expecting, but it wasn’t awful. While Small Magic is worth checking out, I strongly suggest reading some of Terry Brooks’ full length fiction first.

This is an interesting collection of shorts stories about characters from author Terry Brooks fictional worlds. I enjoyed getting to see characters from these worlds that I liked. It was great to see Allanon again. I enjoyed some of these stories very much., some not so much.

Sadly I will not be able to pick this up before it expires. I am interested, but I am not sure I am interested enough to pick it up any time soon.

I have never read anything from this author before and it was the perfect introduction to his intricate and interesting writing styles through a multitude of short stories

Terry Brooks is a master of Fantasy, and his books never cease to delight fans. This book is a collection of short stories that he has written during his 40+ years as an author. The fans of Brooks and his Shannara series have already read most of them, and the casual observer will not be disappointed either. They are a must read from the father of modern fantasy.

Small Magic is a collection of stories that Terry Brooks has written over the years as he worked on his books. It is always magical to step into one of Terry's stories and here we have several that carry us away. Thank you #NetGalley for the chance to give my honest review of #smallMagic. Knowing that the Shanara series recently ended, I was very happy to be given the chance to delve into Small Magic and it did not disappoint.

Small Magic is a collection of tasty morsels from Mr. Brooks' worlds. If you are not a Terry Brooks reader, these short stories give you some idea of his prodigious talent.

Amazing. I loved being able to visit the various worlds that Terry Brooks has offered readers over the years.

Small Magic provides readers with the ability to spend more time with some of their favorite characters and possibly some new ones if you haven't read all of Terry Brook's work. I have read many of the Shannara short stories included over the years when they were digitally published so rereading them was a nice refresher into some of the stories I had forgotten about.

I enjoyed that Small Magic included stories from his Landover series, which I have never read. These stories provided a nice sampling into a series that I have debated starting for years and their inclusion may interest other Shannara readers as well.

The reason I rated Small Magic 4 out of 5 stars is due to the very first story in the book that added onto Poul Anderson's "The Queen of Air and Darkness". In short it's a fanfiction ending to a book I have never read or heard of, included in a book of the author's original stories. It not only didn't make much sense why it was there but it was a distracting opening to the rest of the book when you were trying to follow along with something you were not prepared for.

I received an eARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

I was terribly excited to read this as I love Terry Brooks stories. I was hoping my lack of interest in short stories would not be an issue here, however I was wrong. I enjoyed some of the stories, but some were such a turn off for me that I stopped reading. I found it difficult to relate to some characters before the story ended.
If you love novels versus short stories, this may not be the book for you.

I've been a reader of Brooks's novels for almost two decades, but I have to say, he may have missed his calling. This collection of short fiction contains some of Brooks's very finest writing of his career, in particular the "Warrior" and "Indomitable" novellas. It was such a pleasure to return to the Word and Void world, to say nothing of Shannara and Landover. Unequivocally recommend this one to all fans of Brooks—I'd say it's better than the last three or four Shannara book sets, honestly.