An Unimpressive Medley

Like its two predecessors (each reviewed previously), A Fantasy Medley 3 (2015), edited by Yanni Kuznia, contains modern fantasy tales by four authors. This volume has two authors new to me (Kevin Hearne and Laura Bickle), and two whose names are familiar to me, though I'd never read their works before (Aliette de Bodard and Jacqueline Carey). All four stories are run of the mill, though if I had to pick one that was slightly better I'd pick the Carey. None of them are horrible, though their styles are similar and not especially memorable. As examples of world-building (each story relates in some way to its authors other writings), none of them stand out. If any of the tales were intended to tempt me to read more by its author, they didn't succeed. Rather all four are typical examples of the dreary quirky shape that modern fantasy has taken in the last few decades.