Last week was Small Press Week II. I enjoyed it a lot; I read a good deal of books that I would not otherwise have found, and they were all excellent. Some were even spectacular. In any case, I decided that I kind of like themed weeks, so this week (which will probably be the last themed week for a bit) will be Short Story Collection Week. Today’s short story collection is by Megan Whalen Turner, author of The Thief and The Queen of Attolia, both of which I reviewed here. She has also written the third book in that series, entitled The King of Attolia, which I haven’t read yet.

There are seven stories in this short collection, which only spans 150 pages or so. The characters include ghosts, leprechauns, faeries, and cockroaches; there are high fantasy stories and urban fantasy (in the ‘elves in New York’ sense); horror, ghost stories, and one set in the future. I don’t believe that any of them were published prior to this collection, which was originally released in 1995. The titles include “Instead of Three Wishes,” “Leroy Roachbane,” “Factory,” “Aunt Charlotte and the NGA Portraits,” “A Plague of Leprechaun,” “The Nightmare,” and “The Baker King.”

The length and the marketing would suggest that this short-story collection is best for middle-grade readers, between ages 9 and 12. I’m not 100% sure I agree. My ever-so-shortly-to-be-mother-in-law expressed the same reservations to me, especially regarding the story “Factory.” While this is ostensibly a ghost story, the ending is pretty unambiguous and rather shocking. I don’t think I’d like to be the parent or teacher on the other end attempting to explain the ending to a nine-year-old — or even a twelve-year-old. Certainly there are readers who could handle it, but if one is an older reader considering this book for a younger reader, I’d suggest reading it first and making a judgment call after that.

That having been said, I really enjoyed these stories very much. Even though the rest of them are definitely intended for younger readers (especially “Leroy Roachbane” and “The Nightmare”), I wouldn’t say that adults should skip them. Fans of her novels would definitely enjoy these tales. My favorites were probably the title story and “The Baker King,” which was the last story in the book. “Instead of Three Wishes” involves Selene, our intrepid heroine, who helps an elf prince out of a slightly sticky situation in her city, and receives three wishes in exchange — which she doesn’t want, being mostly content with her life. The elf prince then has to figure out what would be a good reward for her. In that story, the characters were definitely what drove it. I loved Selene and her mother; the elf prince’s mother was great as well.

“The Baker King” involves a country where the king has died, and his son has gone missing. Nine years have passed, and the council still can’t locate the crown prince; the king placed him in a school without telling anyone else where he was. The story has a good deal of different motivations, and some interesting characters. I also very much enjoyed the projection of what might happen in a smallish, content country if there wasn’t a ruler for a significant period of time. Overall, it’s definitely a cute collection of stories; I’d even say that most of the stories (other than “The Factory”) would be great for reading out loud. 4/5 stars.