The Line Between

by Peter S. Beagle

Grade: Good
Story: Various (short stories).

It was a while ago that I read this, so forgive the lack of quotes and fascinating observations. Not that there is any really when I do write my review immediately after reading the book...

"Gordon, the Self-Made Cat" -- Awesome and funny.

"Two Hearts" -- Excellent addition to The Last Unicorn. Sometimes short stories set in the same world as novels seem slightly weird, like perhaps simply giving in to the desire to have MORE. But this was good. Excellent characters and slightly sad, like TLU. Why weren't Molly and Schmendrick married though? I like married people, so there.

"Four Fables" -- Great, awesome. The last one had weird theology, though.

"El Regalo" -- Reminded me of Diana Wynne Jones. In a good way. Kids and unsuspected magical powers, and the whole tone of the thing. Great fun. Also--Buffy mention! And Willow poster!

"Quarry" -- I think this would be better if I knew the story that this is connected to. As it was, it was good, but I would have preferred to understand the relationship between the two characters better. But the monsters were cool as anything.

"Salt Wine" -- It was slightly boring for me at first, but I loved it nearer the end. It just seemed to take a while to get there. Plus--accents. They're hard to read. This type especially.

"Mr. Sigerson" -- Great! Unusually melancholy for a SH story, though. Because that is Beagle's style, I suppose. Now I'll have to buy this book to add to a future Sherlock collection.

"A Dance for Emilia" -- The switch to fantasy was slightly strange. It really seemed like a real-life story (which it was supposed to be, according to the intro), and then all of a sudden there was a talking cat. I guess that is part of Beagle's style too. I have to figure him out still. He reminds me so much of something, I just can't think what.