Some interesting takes on the theme. Fun, cozy. ( )

A lot of stories, and a lot of them with unhappy outcomes. Magic is hard...Mr. Death Goes to Washington - odd, interesting, a world I'd like to see more of. Death is conquered by bureaucracy...3.5. Nethan's Magic - hm, in this case the child is the (only) one without magic. Morrah still has a lot to learn (wait till he turns into a teenager!), but Nethan has changed her considerably. 3. Touching Faith - I like this one. Though it took me more than half the story to figure out that the main character was male (so what was the problem with it being men doing the healing on TV?) - first person makes it easy to be confused. Nice guy, I'd like to see a story with him in it later. Pink pajamas...4. The Horses of the High Hills - mm, it's OK. I don't much like the main character (she's a little self-absorbed), the magic is confusing at best - though I like the horses - and the end is rather ambiguous. 2.5. An End to All Things - weird. The notion of balance in magic is OK, but is she the only one? Makes for a lot to balance. And the poor girl...3. After School Specials - nice to see Tony again. Brianna is a pain, but she might grow up interesting. Or Tony might have to deal with her at some point. 3.5. Titan - again, weird. I don't really like it - I like both Prometheus and Leonardo (outside this story) and this diminishes both of them. 2.5. Shades of Truth - Nasty, really. The poor boy (and this is another one where it took me quite a while to figure out gender) has to lose something - the magic, or his family, or his life. It's a bad situation, and one that is somewhere between hard and impossible to change (steal the children before they get taught to fear the magic? But what about the ones that don't connect? 3. The Winter of Our Discontent - seriously nasty. Did she cause the rain, or just keep it from ending, or what? Blood and binding and evil magic and just nasty. 2.5. The Rustle of Wings - Not bad, not wonderful. It does have a sort of happy ending - Rayenn doesn't reject him. But he's still out on the road with no idea what he'll really do or be. 3. Basic Magic - weird. It feels rather Zenna Henderson - awakening people to what they won't see. I don't like that the repeat is almost exactly the same, word for word - makes it less awakening and more following a ritual. The idea is neat, the execution is lacking. 3. Fever Waking - another nasty. Triumph and disaster all in one - and the complaint of the dead isn't foreshadowed particularly well, the story shows her showing plenty of emotion at their bedsides. Not good. 2.5. Starchild Wondersmith - Love love love this. The True Beings are great, the idea of their type of magic is wonderful, Star's dealing with the Normals is lovely, it's got a happy ending, and there's a lot more to say in that universe. I hope it's written! 4.5. Far From the Tree - Neat story, nice people, nasty ending. The decent people get hurt and the mean ones don't. It's an interesting world but I don't want to read more. 2.5. The Weight of Wishes - lovely. I like Nina, when her stories are on the cheerful side - and this one is, all the changes are more-or-less taken in stride. Seems to me this particular shift is a watershed in dealing with Lisa - between what her father figures out and the gifts, she won't be nearly as impossible any more. Again, I'd like to read more. 4. The Trade - ick. He's a sneaky manipulator, the world is full of lies and nasty people - the most innocent is (are) the girls who give him charms to manipulate him into loving them. And it ends with him winning. I want to see him get his comeuppance, but not enough to read any more (if there is any). 2.5. Shahira - this one's annoying, mostly. I understand all the beginning part, until they go underground - until the egg hatches, really. It's a very strong story, with, again, no happy ending possible. Then...I honestly don't know what happens. Does the dragon eat her or not? She seems to be there at the end, unless that's the dragon with her memories. Or something. Disappointing. 2.5. So - a couple good ones, several quite decent ones, and many unpleasant or confusing ones. I'll keep an eye out for Starchild and Louise Marley, and for Lisa's family from Nina Kiriki Hoffman, and Evan and Alexander Potter. However, I don't think I'll try to find this book to own it. ( )