Hey, that fantasy audiobook was awesome! I totally lost myself in those amazing worlds and loved the sound effects – felt like I was in the stories! The Queen's Kitchen, The Guardian's Twin, Beams of Faelleria, and Magics and the Tale of Two Kings were my faves. The narrators were fantastic, bringing the characters to life. The emotional bits really hit hard, you know? A few stories were a bit slow, but overall, it was totally enchanting. A perfect choice for fantasy fans who want quick stories.

Thanks, Netgalley, for the audiobook!

This collection of short stories was entertaining and transporting. I would love to read more from these authors. I am always interested in learning more about the Orishas. The stories range from locations on Earth to completely different worlds. I'll be keeping my eye out for more stories like these. Perfect for bedtime stories or long trips, very immersive and engaging.

*Tales from the Otherworlds: A Middle Grade Fantasy Anthology* by Antoine Bandele is a delightful collection of fantasy stories that transports readers into magical realms filled with adventure, wonder, and excitement. Most of the stories were incredibly well done—each offering something unique while still fitting perfectly into the enchanting theme of the anthology.

Listening to the audiobook version made the experience even more immersive. The narration brought the stories to life, making me feel as if I was stepping into these worlds alongside the characters. Each tale left me wanting more, and I found myself eagerly moving on to the next one, fully captivated by the imaginative storytelling.

What I loved most was the variety of voices and perspectives that this anthology offered. It introduced me to some talented authors whose works I now want to explore further. If you enjoy middle-grade fantasy with rich storytelling and magical adventures, *Tales from the Otherworlds* is definitely worth picking up—especially in audiobook form!

I loved these short stories so much. I loved how it was a combination of gods/monsters etc in other worlds. My only concern is that this book is very much aimed and marketed to children and I am not sure the first story about the drunk human builder appeals as much. I do not think it is inappropriate or anything of the sort. I just think my children would find that one boring and unfortunately that marks the start of the book.

This audiobook was pure magic. The narration pulled me in, making the story feel alive and almost cinematic. It was enchanting and hard to stop listening. A perfect blend of wonder and meaning prefect for audiences of all ages.

Such an interesting summary!
11 marvelous stories of mystical portals, magical lands, and mythical creatures.

Journey with children, fae creatures, and gods alike as they navigate the joy of friendship, the struggles of finding identity, and the unclear pathways of strange new worlds.

From bestsellers to rising voices, 11 terrifically talented authors explore the many faces of whimsy and wonder, mischief and misdoings.

This book contains eleven tales by various authors. The tales contain mythical creatures in lands of magic. The stories were well written with imagery. The authors dig deep into their imaginations. Some tales were inspired by folklore, mythology and history. My favorite tale was the one with warm, delicious food coming from the basement but upon investigation the basement is empty without a kitchen or a cook.
The tales are short and diverse. They were written for middle school age children. These tales will encourage readers to use their imagination. The tales are just long enough to entice and introduce readers to fantasy fiction.
I suspect the stories are from a longer article for none of them felt complete.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I am unsure of how to feel about this Anthology. Each story was unique and every single one had an interesting premise. I would have gladly read a novel based on each. There are several authors from this collection that I will be looking into their other work.

The part that is confusing to me is none of them felt like a complete short story. I have read a lot of essays and short stories in my life some with very clear conclusion and others with more open ended conclusions but they all at least felt wrapped up. Every one of these stories felt as if they just cut off in the middle of a story. It felt more like reading a sampler of small portions of larger stories or novels and not actual short stories.

Coming up with a rating for this was hard because the writing we got was really good but if these were truly intended to be short story’s the structure seems very incomplete.

The audiobook was really well done and all the narrators did a good job. It even had immersive sound effects in them.

I appreciate getting a chance to read some work by these different authors thanks to NetGalley and the publishers offering me the e-arc

Ａｕｄｉｏｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ
4 ☆
Eleven marvelous stories of mystical portals, magical lands, and mythical creatures. Journey with children, fae creatures, and gods alike as they navigate the joys of friendship, the struggles of finding identity, and the unclear pathways of strange new worlds. Eleven terrifically talented authors explore the many faces of whimsy and wonder, mischief, and misdoings.

The audiobook is phenomenal! You have a cast of many different narrators telling eleven different stories, by mostly BIPOC authors. I enjoyed this YA anthology very much. The illustrations after the end of each story were nice as well.

Thank you, Netgellay, and Bandele for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

Tales From The Other Worlds
Edited by - Antoine Bandele

🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was a brilliant collection of short stories by various authors all based around the magical and the wonderous and what a brilliant introduction to the epic fantasy genre for our younger readers.

I used to love reading fantasy when I was younger - Enid Blyton of course - but as I got older, I kind of drew away from it and when I returned, I found it difficult to access as an adult fantasy reader due to the sheer size of the novels.

Apart from the fact that I'm way above the target age audience range for this book, I absolutely loved being able to get drawn into a fantasy story, connect with it and not get too bogged down in it.

The world building was short and sweet and it does just go to show how open to this, our minds are at a younger age.
But this didn't feel lacking in any way and each of the worlds was presented in a clear and vivid way that had me engrossed for the entire story.

Each story (varying in length) managed to pack so much into such a short space, with relatable characters and beautiful settings and the perfect mini story to grab your attention, complete itself but made me want to read more and I honestly could see each of these short stories having the potential to be added to and continued in the future.

I particularly liked The Queen's Kitchen and The Guardian's Twin - but each story had its own merits and I really enjoyed the whole book.
A great read with something for everyone.



💕Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my ARC copy - this is my honest review 💕

Despite this book having come out a couple of years ago the audiobook was available in NetGalley and since I was looking for more content from BIPOC authors for Februarys Black History Month it seemed like a perfect addition to my reading.. and it was.

This is a collection of fantasy based short stories from BIPOC authors for middle grade readers. I really liked the production of the audiobook as it was complete with some light sound effects and narrators who did a great job with their respective stories. I also appreciated that after the story there was a short biography of the author which is something missing in other anthologies I’ve read.

Like all collections there are going to be hits and misses but overall it is a wonderful collection that I think young readers will love. My biggest criticism was that in some of them, particularly the first story, some of the language was well above the average middle grade reader insofar as vocabulary. But don’t let that dissuade you for getting this beautiful book for your young reader to enjoy.

I am thankful to have gotten the audio ALC for free from Bandele Books through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system for Middle Grade and children’s books

⭐️ Significant problems and would never recommend to the audience.
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea but may have some appeal.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ an ok book which I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend but it has some value for young readers
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! I would recommend for the age or reading level appropriate for the book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Would recommend highly, especially to school programs as a wide spread reading opportunity.