Title: Trifles and Folly (A Deadly Curiosities Collection)
Author: Gail Z. Martin
Series: Deadly Curiosities
Volume: 1/?
Publisher: SOL Publishing
Genre: urban fantasy
Pages: 343
Read in: English
Review copy format: epub
Author: Gail Z. Martin
Series: Deadly Curiosities
Volume: 1/?
Publisher: SOL Publishing
Genre: urban fantasy
Pages: 343
Read in: English
Review copy format: epub
Rate:
A collection of nine adventures: Buttons, The Restless Dead, Retribution, Coffin Box, Wicked Dreams, Collector, Bad Memories, Shadow Garden, and Spook House.
Cassidy Kincaide runs Trifles & Folly in modern-day Charleston, an antiques and curios shop with a dangerous secret. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them and along with her business partners Teag, who has Weaver magic and Sorren, a 600 year-old vampire, they get rid of cursed objects and keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats. An extension of the Deadly Curiosities book series.
Revised Edition 2, 2018. Includes an updated cover, minor edits and the BONUS section with three stories chronicling Sorren’s early days: Vanities, The Wild Hunt, and Dark Legacy.
Cassidy Kincaide, who's got a gift of psychometry, runs Trifles and Folly, an antique and curios shop in Charleston. However, her actual job is to get dangerous, magical objects, often charged with negative energy, off the market. However, from time to time, she also has to eliminate other supernatural threats. She completes her difficult tasks with a help of two exceptional people: Teag, Cassidy's best friend who has Weaver magic, and Sorren, a six hundred-year-old vampire and her business partner.
"Trifles and Folly" is a collection of nine short stories and three bonus stories set in the world of an urban fantasy series, "Deadly Curiosities". In this case, the most important question which we should answer is: "Do we need to read the main novels of the series before we reach for these collection?". The answer is very simple: no. And undoubtedly this is a huge advantage of this book. In my opinion, "Trifles and Folly" is built on the principles similar to these of the TV series, in which the intro contains all the important information that allows us to find our way in the world we "enter". Thus, reading every story we get to know the characters, their appearance and skills, their workplace and the role they play in this universe. Therefore, we don't have to learn all the details and characters to know what's going on in the stories, as we simply remember them thanks to the aforementioned "intro", and thus to repeats of some important information which characterize the series and the characters. It is also worth adding that thanks to all this, regardless of which story we read first, we always know what is going on and who we are dealing with.
As for the short stories themselves, it is worth noting that in the vast majority they have many common points, such as the way in which the plot develops, which is the result of the profession of our protagonists. Thus the pattern repeats – the object filled with negative energy entails a whole series of events, the consequence of which is the fight between "good" – our characters – and "evil" – the cause of the problem. However, it is worth noting that if the pattern is similar, the aforementioned problems, their paranormal background, people's stories presented in the chapters and the events differ from one another, which is an undoubted advantage as we read each short story with new passion and interest. To put it simple, no matter how many times we read these stories, they are never boring. And you can believe me when i say that when you start reading them, you don't want to stop.
Another advantage of "Trifles and Folly", this time definitely more subjective one, is in my opinion the fact that a lot of stories to some extent refer to Voodoo, or in other words Voudon, and Hoodoo. I admit that I have a weakness for this subject, and this is because Voodoo fascinates me, although at the same time I feel great respect for it and I'm afraid of it. Think what you want, but for me Voudon and Hoodoo have always been real and had real power. Therefore, I admit that I read the stories with references to this subject with great interest, and at the same time I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I know it's a fiction, but some reactions are simply unconditional and for me my psyche's reaction to Voodoo and Hoodoo is a great example. Well, in short, reading "Trifles and Folly" has fully engaged me.
Sorren's story at the end of the volume undoubtedly makes an interesting bonus. In these chapters the readers have the opportunity to "meet" the creator of our vampire, they can see to what extent and in what way Alard influenced his protégé and his future related to getting rid of dangerous objects and protecting people. What's more, thanks to all this we have the opportunity to take a closer look at Sorren himself. Although he appears in nine main short stories of this book, he's still a mysterious figure, about which we definitely want to learn more. So I must admit that these last three chapters are as interesting as the rest of the short stories included in this volume and they are a great complement to the "Trifles and Folly" collection.
In summary, "Trifles and Folly" is an addictive collection of short stories that we read with real pleasure and which provides us with great entertainment from the first to the last page. For readers who already know "Deadly Curiosities" series this is a "must read" book, and for those who are just beginning their adventure with the series, it can be a good start of an incredible journey with Cassidy, Teag and Sorren at their side. I highly recommend this collection!
Gail Z. Martin discovered her passion for science fiction, fantasy and ghost stories in elementary school. The first story she wroteat age fivewas about a vampire. Her favorite TV show as a preschooler was Dark Shadows. At age 14, she decided to become a writer. She enjoys attending science fiction/fantasy conventions, Renaissance fairs and living history sites. She is married and has three children, a Himalayan cat, a Maltese and a golden retriever.
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