Enjoyable stories. Range from SF to fantasy to space. Femme fatales leave heartbreak behind them even when they don’t mean to. ( )

Was not really my cup of tea. While the stories were well written, there were more fantasy stories than sci-fi. So though I didn't rate it highly, others may enjoy it more. ( )

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Title: Noir Fatale
Editors: Larry Correia & Kacey Ezell
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 296
Words: 120.5K

Synopsis:

A collection of short stories that are all femme fatale themed in some or other. Here is the table of contents, ie, the list of stories with their authors:

AIN’T NO SUNSHINE: Christopher L. Smith and Michael J. Ferguson

RECRUITING EXERCISE: David Weber

SPOILS OF WAR: Kacey Ezell

THE PRIVILEGES OF VIOLENCE: Steve Diamond

A GODDESS IN RED: Griffin Barber

KURO: Hinkley Correia

SWEET SEDUCTION: Laurell K. Hamilton

A STRING OF PEARLS: Alistair Kimble

HONEY FALL: Sarah A. Hoyt

THREE KATES: Mike Massa

WORTH THE SCARS OF DYING: Patrick M. Tracy

THE FROST QUEEN: Robert Buettner

BOMBSHELL: Larry Correia

My Thoughts:

At 4stars, I obviously enjoyed this. Unfortunately, much like in Correia's Monster Hunter Files, there was ONE story that just annoyed the viss and pinegar out of me. So let me get that out of the way then I'll go into all the good stuff.

Exactly like MHF, there was one urban fantasy story from a long running series. Unlike Jane Yellowrock, Anita Blake managed to annoy me in a new way. Where Jane was an asshole with an attitude, Blake was a completely competent, beautiful and “everything else” woman, with such huge inadequacy issues that THEY were as big as Yellowrock's attitude. You want to write that in your novels, to your target audience of women, go for it. But packing in a whole novels worth of feelings of inadequacy into a short story? While I was never going to read anything by Hamilton anyway, that story cemented that determination. It was well written, I actually liked the premise, but my goodness, the “feelinz” just about made me gag.

The other stories on the other hand, I pretty much enjoyed across the board. My favorite though, was the one by Correia. It is a Grimnoir story set in the 1950's and my guess is it is being used like Detroit Christmas was, ie, to introduce the main character of the new Grimnoir trilogy that Correia has promised is on its way. Grimnoir Chronicles is my favorite by Correia and once the new trilogy is completed, I'll re-read the original and dive into the new. I am very excited about that prospect, even if it is years down the road. I've waited this long, I can wait some more.

Each story has a femme in some sort of pivotal role. Not always front and center, but without them, the story would simply fall apart. I'd never heard of Ezell before, but after this I'll probably go check out what else she has written to see if it aligns with my tastes. She was the driving force behind this anthology and since I enjoyed it so much I'm hoping I like her full length novels.

★★★★☆ ( )

I really should have known better. I only recognized three names in this anthology and have read none of them before. And I usually avoid themed anthologies as they can be monotonous, especially if they are authors trying to write in a "style", which this is. This is a collection of SF and fantasy stories meant to evoke pulpy noir and which feature a femme fatale in some capacity. That's pretty limiting as it is. But I am very into noir crime fiction right now and it seemed like it would be a fun summer read.

All the tropes are there, and in many cases the SF/fantasy elements are superficial, meaning that the story would have worked just as well (or not) without them. The only stories I read that reached the level I require to consider it worth spending my valuable time on were the ones by Kacey Ezell and Hinkley Correia. Griffin Barber's story, a cringey adult-oriented piece that seemed to be aimed at the 50 Shades crowd, was so poorly written I decided to skip it after a few pages. Some of the others were fair on their own merits but I wouldn't want to read a book of them. By the time I got to Laurell K. Hamilton I had completely lost interest. Started it but didn't finish. Same tropes, again and again.

I guess I'll stick with Hard Case Crime; they are generally reliable and their authors are authentic.

I like themed anthologies and I like mysteries, so this was a natural to read. With the idea of the feme fatale in a noir setting as the basis for the stories most but not all of them hit the mark. Some of these are samples of new story universes and those I liked a lot more and hopefully will be able to read more in those settings. If detective mysteries in all sorts of settings work for you then this is fun read that takes the Noir idea and plays with it just fine and dandy.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
( )