I admit that I bought this book because it had an all-too-rare Changeling: The Dreaming story in it. Turns out, it's the last story in the book, is only a handful of pages and not even remotely resembling the actual plot, rules or storyline of the game. I DID read through all of the stories though and here's my take.The Five Petals of the Lotus by Kevin Andrew Murphy (Kindred of the East) was a pretty ho-hum opening to the book. They didn't bother cluing you in on game terms or anything so if you're not familiar with the system (as I was not) it took a bit to force you way through things which simply weren't explained. Didn't really go anywhere and you didn't feel like you accomplished anything when it was done. It also ends rather abruptly. The concept seems interesting enough, and perhaps if given a full novel treatment it could have been good, but as it stands it just wasn't anything that great.
The Silver Crown by William Bridges (Werewolf: The Apocalypse) came up next and it was pretty decent. Again, I'm not all that familiar with Werewolf, but while they didn't really explain things per se, you didn't feel left out of the story. It flowed along well enough, telling the tale of the Heir to the throne's return to werewolf society, his challenge (and loss) to claim his crown, and his quest within the Umbra for a legendary treasure to help remove the Wyrm infestation threatening his homeland.
Mister Magick by Edo Van Belkom (Mage: The Ascension) was probably the best story of the lot. It actually made me interested in reading up some more on the Mage series. It's quite long actually, and starts off as the growing-up story of an impoverished kid in Canada and his love of stage magic. It progresses through his journey to stardom and his meeting and eventual apprentiship to a famous magician - and Mage. Has a good overall story and brings you along on the generalities of the Mage world.
Beyond the Shroud by Rick Hautala (Wraith: The Oblivion) was by far and without a doubt the WORST story in the book. It was simply a HORROR. First off, I can't ever imagine, if the game was anything like the story, that anyone would ever in their right mind, want to play this unbelievably depressing and repetitively boring game. The story itself is well over two hundred pages and only had plot for about fifty. I don't know how many times you can read about the main character feeling disoriented, lost for time, falling in a pit of blackness, feeling the darkness pulling at him, thinking that he should just give up (and then, mustering his courage not to - until the next scene where we repeat ad nasuem), the fact that everything is distant and muffled, etc. etc. etc. but my gods, it just drags on. This story just shouldn't be. There are no redeeming qualities to it and it's just a huge waste of paper.
The Muse by Jody Lynn Nye (Changeling: The Dreaming) wraps up the book with a scant TWENTY PAGES (were most stories took around a couple HUNDRED pages). But, it doesn't matter because I don't know what it's trying to talk about, but it's certainly not Changeling. Yeah, there's some vague, kithless and undescribed fae who's inspiring some artist and then there's also some faceless "seelie" (again, no kith, description or even physical characters) trying to stop her from reopening a gate to Arcadia. But...there are so many things wrong with this story, that listing them would take up more pages then the story itself. It's such a shame that no one took the time to tap this HUGE resource of Changeling storyline into fiction and novel (possessing only the Immortal Eyes Novel Trilogy, The Vampire/Changeling cross-over "Pomegranates Full and Fine", and the anthology "The Splendor Falls" as the entire novel catalog). I mean, it's a game about the limitless possibility of Dreams for crying out loud! *sighs*
Anyway, the Werewolf and the Mage stories were the only ones worth reading. The book's in no way worth it's $15.99 cover price, but if you can borrow it from the library or a friend, those two tales aren't half-bad. Beyond that, I'd say pass this one by.
