Voyagers: The Third Ghost is one of a number of IWSG Anthologies. I think I’ve reviewed another, and I have at least one more in my Kindle.
Voyagers: The Third Ghost
Journey into the past…
Will the third ghost be found before fires take more lives? Can everyone be warned before Pompeii is buried again? What happens if a blizzard traps a family in East Germany? Will the Firebird help Soviet sisters outwit evil during WWII? And sneaking off to see the first aeroplane – what could go wrong?
Ten authors explore the past, sending their young protagonists on harrowing adventures. Featuring the talents of Yvonne Ventresca, Katharina Gerlach, Roland Clarke, Sherry Ellis, Rebecca M. Douglass, Bish Denham, Charles Kowalski, Louise MacBeath Barbour, Beth Anderson Schuck, and L.T. Ward.
Hand-picked by a panel of agents, authors, and editors, these ten tales will take readers on a voyage of wonder into history. Get ready for an exciting ride! (Goodreads)
My Review
I have two confessions to make: the first that, from the cover, I assumed this was from a call for sci-fi stories. It was only by the third story I realised the prompt had been historical/fantasy middle-grade. The second confession is that I had the pleasure of reading two of the stories before submission. Then I had the joy of seeing them accepted.
Anthologies are strange beasts to review in any meaningful way. You may like some stories a great deal, you may enjoy others or admire something about them. You may wonder why this one was included. I had all those reactions.
Five of these hit my sweet spot very accurately. They would be worthy of any anthology and, really, only the age of the protagonist(s) sets it into middle grade. This to me is the hallmark of a great MG story, and one of the reasons I’ve virtually stopped reading MG. Too many of the current offerings are trite, trope-ridden, and lacking character. Most of these stories avoided these sins!
To name names, the five were by Yvonne Ventresca, Roland Clarke, Rebecca M. Douglass, Bish Denham, and Katharina Gerlach. (Although I’m tempted to promote two or three more) I would be happy to read more of these in a full novel (let alone an MG one). The sense of time and place provided by these stories does not rely on any historically significant event, but brings the era fully to life. Brava and bravo to all the authors.
My only criticism is that the collection is too short!
An excellent review Jemima, I can see why you were mislead by the cover 💜
Thanks for the review! And I agree about the cover.
That cover got me, too – but maybe that was the point! The stories sound like it was well worth the cover!
Of course it is 😉 My story is pure historical fiction, no fantasy element. Several of the tales, as I recall, were ghost stories.