Tales of Erana by A. L. Butcher

This book is a collection of five short stories that take place in the world of Erana.  They are about the history and legends of this world where magic is illegal.  It is a supplemental book to the Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles, so it’s interesting to read into the history and lore of this world.

What I liked the most about this collection is that you have named characters narrating most of the tales.  So you get a feel for those in the myth and the people who are telling the stories.  It isn’t a nameless being who is sharing the world’s history, but someone whose life has been impacted by the legend.  This brought a lot more weight to the stories in my mind as well as drawing me in more.  The non-narrator scenes reminded me a lot of reading Greek myths, which was a pleasant surprise.

The exception is the first story, which I had a hard time getting into.  It’s great that Trolls were put in a role besides scary monster guarding a bridge.  Yet I couldn’t tell who was the focus of that first story, which led to me losing interest once or twice.  This was also the story that had some very long, confusing sentences that I had to reread.  All that being said I’m really glad I read through this one and I did get a sense of Erana’s troll history that will probably play into the main series.

I would recommend this collection for anyone who enjoys fantasy, mythology, or just looking for a few quick, fun reads.