The Lady in Glass and Other Stories is an anthology of Anne Bishop’s short writing pieces from various times in her career. It’s a bit of a hodge-podge—some are new, some are old, some from existing worlds, others not—connected solely by Bishop as the author.

While I liked all of the stories, what I’m realizing more and more is that I prefer Bishop’ older writing style to her newer works. There’s something about it that draws me in. I thought it was just her most recent books I didn’t love, but seeing the dates of each writing piece in the back of the book, I could clearly predict when each one was written based on how much I enjoyed it. To that end, here is a list of the works in this collection with some keywords:

“Scribere”—Short poem. Reprint.
“The Lady in Glass”—Snow White retelling. Reprint.
“Bear Trap”—Girl gets caught in hunter’s trap. New story.
“Not A Princess”—Rapunzel as an adopted princess. New story.
“The Weapon”—War telekinetic explosion ability. Reprint.
“Hotting Fuggam and the Dragon”—Talkative town guest. Reprint.
“Tunnel”—Title covers it. Reprint.
“Match Girl”—Pheonix. Reprint.
“Rapunzel”—Sold for some lettuce. Reprint.
“The Wild Heart”—Personality-split Sleeping Beauty. Reprint.
“Fairest One of All”—Danger of aging Snow White. Reprint.
“By the Time the Witchblood Blooms”—Surreal assassination. Reprint.
“Khaldharon Run”—Deleted scene; Test of Lucivar’s healing. New story.
“The Price”—Surreal tracking down an assassin. Reprint.
“The Voice”—Eating sorrows. Reprint.
“Home for the Howlidays”—Meg’s first Christmas. New story.
“The Dark Ship”—Others of the sea. Reprint.
“Friends and Corpses”—Reanimated Body Collectors. New story.
“The Day Will Come”—9/11 Reaction story. Reprint.
“Truth and Story”—Anthropomorphized attributes of Truth and Story. Reprint.
“Stands a God Within the Shadows”—Apocolype survivor and remaker. Reprint.
“She Moved Through the Fair”—Fairground Guardian Ghost. Reprint.
“A Strand in the Web”—Restorers of Destroyed Ecosystems. Reprint.

Short stories are always a bit hit or miss with me, but I read pretty much everything that Anne Bishop publishes and so I decided to give this a try. The Lady in Glass is a collection of stories spanning a wide range of genres and giving a great overview of Anne Bishop's development as a writer. There are fairy tale retellings, dark fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and a few stories set in her familiar universes.

Like most short story collections some of these entries hit with me more strongly then others. Some of the stories I loved, some I felt lukewarm towards, and it's always nice to revisit favorite characters from previous books. One of the things that Anne Bishop does best is use her storytelling to evoke strong emotions, and that talent is in full view here. Whether a story creates horror, joy, amusement, discomfort, or a plethora of other emotions, you can always trust Bishop to make you feel something with her writing.

If you like Anne Bishop's other work then you are very likely to enjoy at least many of these short stories. It's interesting to see her development as a storyteller throughout this collection, and it was also nice to see some very different types of stories from her (since all of her series trend towards fantasy, the more sci-fi leaning shorts were particularly interesting to see). If you are already an Anne Bishop fan then I highly suggest picking up this collection. If you are unfamiliar with her work then this might be a reasonable place to start.

Twisted fairy tales, science-fiction, paranormal urban fantasy... this is a collection of short stories were Bishop plays with the tools of her trade, learning how to tell a dark and satisfying story.

Why I started this book: I will request any and all Bishop ARCs that I find on Netgalley.

Why I finished it: Fun to read the various stories were Bishop learned her craft... and explored different genres. I'd tracked down most of these before, but I am thrilled to have them all in one volume. Plus there are two new short stories. Win, win.

Author of The Black Jewels and The Others is back with a collection of short stories. Anne Bishop is one of my personal favorite fantasy authors but I felt this collection fell short of her usual storytelling. I did enjoy the stories set in her already created worlds as they added dimension to some characters or gave us more building on some of the background characters. It was in some of her retelling of stories that I didn’t feel the connection to characters or that in some of them they just did not make sense to me. Overall I enjoyed this collection, it just does not hit the same as her other works.

I have been on the edge of my seat waiting for the next installment of Anne Bishop's world and was thrilled with The Lady in Glass and Other Stories. Long time fans will enjoy both the new tales and visiting friends from past books. SO good!

A big fan of this author, and enjoyed the stories, some of which were old, and some brand new. Nice assortment, and enjoyed "Home for the Howlidays", an addition to her World of the Others series. Recommended, and will be purchasing for my library.

A lovely book of short stories from the worlds created by this writer, A must read for any Anne Bishop fans.

The stories are a mixture of dark fantasy, fairytale retellings, horror, and science fiction.

What I love most about Anne Bishop’s writing regardless of the setting is her ability to create characters that I become thoroughly enwrapped in, totally invested in their stories.

Like her novels, these short stories are full of vivid, detailed descriptions that draw you in. The stories resonate on an emotional level - provoking a reaction whether it’s wonder, horror, fear, or even amusement.

While the stories don’t shy away from the darkest of the darks, they always have hope and sometimes even humor.