Eight: Fantastical Tales from Here, There and Everywhere - Poornima Manco - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Poornima Manco

GENRE: Short Story Anthology.

SERIES: Around the World, #2

RATING: 4.25 stars.

The title and the tagline of this book tell you precisely what this book has: eight fantasy stories from around the world. But is that ever enough in a review? Aren’t you always curious to know more? Read on to see if the book does justice to every part of its name.

“Eight”: The number of the stories in this little anthology was just right for me. Not too many, not too few. I read a story a day, but each tale is so different from each other than even if you read it in a go, you won’t find it repetitive.

“Fantastical”: Often assumed to be only the adjective form of ‘fantasy”, “fantastical” actually contains a broader meaning: strange, bizarre, outworldly. Every story in this book fits most of these adjectives as each has some content from out of this world, literally. Don’t take this to be your typical fairies and dragons kind of fantasy. Each tale has a specific magical element and in almost all cases, the magic is unexplained. (As it must be; how is it “magic” otherwise?) But the stories are set in our actual world and hence better fit into “magical realism” than “fantasy” as a genre.

“Tales”: Yeah, well… self-explanatory. Short stories. Divided across about 200 pages, each story received enough attention from the author. Hence each main character was carved well enough, each tale had a definite structure (not necessarily your traditional start-middle-end), and each one had enough food for thought.

“From Here, There & Everywhere”: Every tale is set in a separate location from across the world. This further ensures that your interest levels stay sustained as the use of the local language and in some cases, the culture and places, adds to the distinctiveness of each story. So the story set in Germany has some lines in German, the one in Argentina has Spanish words, and so on. While this works wonderfully for most of the stories, it seems a little forced at times.

Here’s my brief feedback on the eight tales.

1. The Butterfly Effect - Argentina - 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A girl has sworn off dancing after her tango-loving mother left her. But her prosthetic leg seems to have a will of its own. Beautifully written. The end felt complete yet abrupt. Maybe I was enjoying the story so much that I wanted more.

2. Osterhase – Germany - 🌟🌟🌟💫

Nine year old Stefan encounters the Osterhase (Easter Bunny) on one Easter. But the Osterhase has come to dole out not easter eggs but wisdom. I liked the idea but the story felt like it could have explained more. Some ideas are raised but not fully developed. My least favourite story from the book.

3. The Invisible Suitcase – France - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫.

Ottilie and her cat Minou set up Café L’amour with only one purpose in mind: to provide a happy ending for one chosen patron. A really sweet and touching story that has the potential to be developed into a novella. Maybe we could also have an episodic series with more of Ottilie’s successful romantic interferences.

4. New Year, New You – Egypt - 🌟🌟🌟🌟

An interview with a Pharaoh’s slave, but set in the modern time period. Interesting premise. Though I could figure out where it was going, it was still fun to read. A tad too slow.

5. Idol - S. Korea - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

Heejin dreams of being a K-pop star but is the journey worth the destination? Loved how this story used contemporary K-pop to drive a point.

6. The Perfect Wife - Hong Kong - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

When thrice-divorced fifty-something billionaire is fed up of women, he asks the most trusted inventor in his employ to build him a custom-made perfect wife. Absolutely loved this! A perfect blend of sci-fi and contemporary drama.

7. Lala Lakshmi – India - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

A Diwali version of a very, very famous Christmas classic. I don't want to reveal the name here as it will be a direct spoiler. But I’ll just say, though I know the original tale almost by heart and hence I guessed the direction this story would take, I still enjoyed it thoroughly. Brilliantly moulded to the Indian ambience.

8. A Thank You Would Be Nice – USA - 🌟🌟🌟🌟

(The title itself gets 10 stars from me. So many of us forget this simple act of saying 'thank you', whether online or offline.)

Elaine, a flight purser whose idea of service goes much beyond flights. This starts off very simply until you reach the one sentence that clarifies what Elaine does – it will make you do a double take for sure. A very interesting read, though I would have enjoyed a bit more magic in it. It seemed quite straightforward compared to the rest of the stories.

As you can see, I enjoyed almost all of the stories in this book. Pick it up whenever you want some light and quick and magical. Recommended for sure.

My rating: 4.25 shiny stars (the average of the ratings mentioned above.)

Before I forget, I must add: I simply loved that cover design. Such a perfect fit for the book!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and these are my honest thoughts about it.

Here are my reviews for the other two books in the 'Around the World' anthology trilogy:

Book One: Twelve: Stories From Around the World

Book Three: Six: Strange Stories of Love