Review – The Golden Yarn (Ancient Magus Bride World) edited by Kore Yamazaki (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Seven Seas
Release Date: December 11, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1626929753
Stand Alone or Series: Set in the Ancient Magus Bride world
Source: Bought
Rating: 3/5 stars

“The world of The Ancient Magus’ Bride is bigger than Elias and Chise, and many are the folk and spirits who cross their lives’ path. Their tales twist together in a tapestry, words like golden yarn, a weaving of memories and secrets. Contained within these pages are new stories of Yamazaki Kore’s fantasic Britain, penned by the author herself and a star-studded lineup of Japanese authors. From a Celtic vampire in love with a human, to a gemstone knight, and even a glimpse into what Silky does in her spare time, let this enchanted collection take you to the hidden corners of a beloved fantasy world.”

This book is a series of stories set in the Ancient Magus’ Bride world. As with most anthologies these were hit and miss. There were some I really loved and some I thought were pretty boring.

Most of these stories are about some characters in the series. Although some of them were about characters I didn’t remember from the series (although this may be my faulty memory). There were maybe three stories I really enjoyed, the rest were so-so.

I really loved “Rainbow Day, Feast Day” which gives background on Silky. I also loved “The Main Who Hungered for Trees” about a computer programmer whose genius comes from an unlikely source. Lastly “The Sun and the Dead Alchemist” was also very good. The other stories I was very indifferent towards, some of them were flatout boring and I ended up skimming through them.

Overall this was an okay set of stories set in the Ancient Magus Bride world. Like any anthology I thought it was very hit or miss. Some of the writing doesn’t flow as well as it could because of translation. I probably won’t be picking up the next short story collection “The Silver Yarn” just because I didn’t enjoy this one all that much.