Book Review: Death and the Librarian and Other Stories

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Death and the Librarian and Other Stories     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Esther Friesner
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   [Short Stories]
Five Star, Dec 2002, $23.95

The twelve stories that make up DEATH AND THE LIBRARIAN AND OTHER STORIES are, for the most part, either ironic or satirical or both, but with one exception, always amusing fantasies. Esther Friesner is at her irreverent best skewing the universe with classic short stores like "How To Make Unicorn Pie", "In the Realm of Dragons", and "Jesus at the Bat", etc. The only new story "Illion" is atypical of Ms. Friesner as this takes a more somber tone than usual as the author provides her perspective to 9/11. The uniqueness of this collection is the writer’s ability to wink at the genre for its excessive rigid formulaic characters and themes yet also parody modern society in the same story. With the well written reverent "Illion" aside, fans who relish humorous skewing of fantasy stereotypes that also encourage the audience to "thine own self be true" will delight in this swift reading anthology. Just because the woks are a parody, one must not think for a moment that the author does not take her work seriously. Each story is finely crafted and appeals to something primal in the reader. This is a great introduction for someone not familiar with the works of Esther Friesner.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner