Horrifying illusions. Classified government operations.
Heavily guarded secrets.
Cryptic rumors. Dangerous prisoners.
Irresistible passion. Demonic magic.
Piers Anthony weaves this and more into Writer’s Retweet, a collection of five short stories abounding in the adventure, magic, and naughtiness that fans have come to know and love from this author.
In “Experiment,” “Discovery,” and “Mission,” painfully average Bigelow Bilge and Paula Plaintiff are thrust unwillingly into a world fraught with terrifying, victim-specific illusions. Who—or what—is the source of these horrifying encounters? Why have Bigelow and Paula been targeted?
A newspaper reporter in “Dull Street Incident” gets wind of a delicious scandal rumored to have punctuated a stale suburban street. Menacing prisoners, conniving teenage girls, and one well-kept secret leads this reporter to the story of a lifetime. But who will believe it?
In “Forbidden Fruit,” dowdy, middle-aged Edith happens upon a mysterious fruit that completely alters her life—and the life of Kent, an attractive, young neighbor. Seduced by her newfound magical abilities and rediscovered sex appeal, Edith plunges into a world filled with demons, pleasure, and unthinkable risk. – Goodreads
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Writer’s Retweet Review
I was so excited to get a copy of Writer’s Retweet to read for review. Piers Anthony has long been one of my favorite authors. I’ve done my best to get every book in his Xanth series, and can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to enjoy the series herself. Not only do I love the author, but I thought the idea of stories told over tweets was very cool, so I wanted to see what he came up with.
Unfortunately, I think most of the magic behind the stories in Writer’s Retweet were in how they were told. I can definitely appreciate the talent that it takes to distil an enjoyable story down into something that can be parceled out in chunks of 140 characters or less. I can only imagine how cool it must have been for people who had been following him to receive each little tidbit one at a time and watch the story unfold. So, yeah, it was definitely something that must have been exciting to ‘be a part of’, but reading them after the fact takes something away.
While I did enjoy them, it wasn’t because they were particularly good. They were mildly entertaining. It was more that I enjoyed them because it was a chance to read something new from one of my favorite authors. The author’s habit of giving readers just enough description to get the point across, but focusing more on the characters means that there’s lots of room for imagination in these tales. “Forbidden Fruit”, the last story in the collection, was definitely my favorite. It’s an obvious nod to Anthony’s Xanth series.
Overall, it was a fine execution of a great idea, and the stories are enough to make you smile. Long time fans will be happy to read the stories in Writer’s Retweet. It might be a good book for people to get introduced the writer’s work as well. (Though if that’s the case, I’d definitely urge more attention to be paid to the last story than to the others.)
Title: Writer’s Retweet | Author: Piers Anthony (site) | Publisher: Dreaming Big Publications (site) | Pub. Date: 2016-8-13 | ASIN: B01KE9P9XO | Genres: Fantasy & Science Fiction | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 3 out of 5 | Source: Received a copy from the publisher for review consideration.
