The Edge of a Knife and Other Stories - Beka Gremikova - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Beka Gremikova

GENRE: Fantasy Short Story Collection.

PUBLICATION DATE: November 30, 2025

RATING: 4.35 stars.

In a Nutshell: A sci-fi fantasy story collection about dealing with various kinds of ‘monsters’ – external and internal. Original premises, even as a couple of the stories pay homage to classic fairy tales. Interesting characters, atmospheric writing, reflective plots. Slow-paced. Recommended to young adults and adults.

This is the author’s second story collection in the Unexpected Encounters series. I had read the first collection, Unexpected Encounters of a Draconic Kind in October 2023 and was blown away by the creativity of the storylines. As such, this sophomore collection was a highly anticipated one. To a great extent, it lived up to my expectations.

The key phrase in both collections is the series title: Unexpected Encounters. Every story contains some kind of an unexpected encounter, whether fulfilling or risky or adventurous or uncertain. The meet-ups could be between friends or foes, siblings or strangers. No matter what the situation, the encounter leads to much pondering over what is to be done. As such, this collection is fairly reflective. In many cases, it left me wondering what I would have done had I been in the character’s place.

The author uses the term ‘folkloric fantasy’ to describe her writing, and this label represents most of the tales accurately. The characters as well as the settings are varied in background.

Certain admirable features from the first collection are present in this one as well. There is a detailed story-wise content warning at the start, as also a note on the language. There is a genre-based banner above the title of each story, which might be helpful for those who wish to avoid certain genres or pick genres based on moods. And of course, a stunning cover!

At the same time, there are enough variances as well. I had found the stories in the first book somewhat predictable, but these eight stories tread the unforeseen path more often. That said, the tone of the stories is somewhat dark and at times, brooding. I missed the diverse emotional experiences of the first collection.

One thing that disappointed me a bit is that this collection has just eight stories, as against twenty-two stories in the earlier book. Given that the book is still of more or less the same length (272 pages vis-à-vis 280 pages in the first book), the stories are much lengthier this time, and slightly uneven in length. Many of the stories begin slowly and take their time to develop. But patience is key in this collection; once a story gets going, it becomes satisfying.

The blurb highlights ‘monsters’ as being key to the book. This factor is used very well in every story. Of course, the definition of ‘monster’, be it literal or figurative, varies. There can be perceived monsters, actual monsters, monsters who are no longer monsters, ordinary beings who are forced to become monsters… the indirect exploration of the keyword in each story is thus quite fascinating.

The endings are satisfying in all of the stories, even if they don’t necessarily fit the tag of ‘happy endings’. They flow from the plot perfectly, and culminate at just the right point.

As always, I rated the stories individually. Every single one of the eight stories reached or crossed 3.5 stars, which means I liked or loved all the tales. A very satisfying performance, indeed. A couple of the 3.5-star stories started off very well for me, but they dragged a bit too far. Some of the stories in the book were originally written as flash fiction entries and then expanded. I am not sure if this padding-up affected their impact as I don’t know which ones have been revised.

Here are my top favourites with 4+ stars each:

🔪 The Edge of a Knife: A Little Mermaid variation and a great start to the book. The original story was dark, Disney made it light. This retelling stays true to the darkness. Loved the narrative point of view. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🐶 The Stardust Smugglers: The best kind of short stories are the ones that surprise you. Oh, and also the ones with doggies. This one has both. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

🎺 Pay the Piper: Obviously, a spinoff of The Pied Piper of Hamelin. And not so obviously, a marvellous revision. I couldn't predict the way this went, and that, to me, is the highest satisfaction a short story can offer. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

✨ Echo Among The Stars: A bit too lengthy for my preference in short fiction, but the story and the emotions were good. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall, while I would have loved for this collection to have more stories, I still enjoyed the variety of the plots and characters. As the stories are slower in pace and darker in content, they need to be picked up in the right mood.

Recommended to fans of fantasy short stories who don’t mind slow-burn storytelling.

4.35 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each story. (The average is higher than that of the earlier book, but this is partly because of the fewer number of stories this time.)

My thanks to author Beka Gremikova and SnowRidge Press for providing the DRC of “The Edge of the Knife and Other Stories” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.