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Book Review of The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales / With an Introduction by Lemony Snicket

PhoenixFalls avatar reviewed on + 185 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2


Given the pedigree of the authors included in this collection, I expected much more magic. Unfortunately, most of the stories were frankly mediocre: either completely mundane or simplistically horrifying. There were a couple standouts: Sherman Alexie's "A Strange Day in July" was wonderfully bizarre; Cory Doctorow's "Another Place, Another Time" was pure magic and surprisingly bittersweet at its core. Chris Van Allsburg's own contribution felt right (obviously) but annoyed me with its extremely outdated gender roles. But beyond those stories, the entire collection was sadly forgettable.