Amazon Cover
Auntie Heroes (Raconteur Press Anthologies Book 74)
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They’ve been overlooked, underestimated, and politely sidelined for decades. Fine. That’s fine. Let them keep underestimating.
In the pages of Auntie Heroes, meet ten women of a certain vintage who possess particular sets of skills and absolutely zero patience for the alternative. A fire fairy stepmother navigating werewolves and blended family politics. A retired intelligence operative who knits Kevlar scarves and outsmarts Belarusian thieves in a foreign embassy. A grandmother farming fourteen hundred acres with alien assistance — and handling the unfriendly ones with a shotgun full of rock salt. A sharp-eyed matron in a Lovecraftian coastal town who defeats an elder god with Eternal Father Strong to Save and a can of extra-hold hairspray. A suburban gardener who discovers her neighbor’s invasive kudzu is a Cold War-era biological antenna siphoning encrypted data from Fort Meade — and handles it accordingly.
Across fairy tales, spy thrillers, alien farms, suburban horror, and the salt-choked streets of a town that smells permanently of low tide, these women share one defining trait: they have been here long enough to know exactly what needs doing. And they will absolutely do it.
Stories include: “Stepmother Ever After” by Nancy Frye • “Calhoun Blood” by D.S. Ligon • “The Squamous Among Us” by Spearman Burke • “Salon and Subversion” by Tuvela Thomas • “A Dressing Down” by Aelth Faye • “From the Ashes” by TC Ross • “Knit One, Sanction Two” by Ted Begley • “Pruning with Extreme Prejudice” by Michael Patrick Coady • “Walking the Beans” by Rick Cutler • “The Knitting Circle at Innsmouth” by Malory
The world has a great many hind ends that require a proper thrashing. We’re betting on the lady with the flamethrower.
MY REVIEW
Auntie Heroes, like most anthologies, is uneven in tone and skill from the various writers involved in the project. But the shift of tone and skill is minimal, as this is a Raconteur Press Anthology and they have the formula down for creating pulp anthologies on a regular basis. If you like pulp short stories, I highly recommend the whole line for consistent interesting stories. All the anthologies are stand-alone, even the Moggie ones.
I love the theme for Auntie Heroes – older women, whose bodies may be a little long on the mileage, but the experience which came with it makes them forces to be reckoned with. Note that while the anthology is woman-theme, many of the stories are written by men. It was edited by a woman.
As is typical of my reviews of anthologies and collections, I will now do a short one-to-two line review on each of the stories:
Stepmother Eve After by Nancy Frye – Fairy Tale: An epistolary short story between Hansel and Gretel’s new stepmother and her witchy sister. Family will help family. (4 star)
Calhoun Blood by D.S. Ligon – Urban Fantasy: When something walks in with your mother’s face, you need the help of your auntie. (4 star)
The Squamous Among Us by Spearman Burke – Urban Fantasy: Don’t mess with an old woman’s book club members. (4 star)
Salon and Subversion by Tuvela Thomas – Humorous, cozy thriller: Best of the book. My mother laughed herself silly while reading it and kept wanting to share bits with me but couldn’t since I hadn’t read it yet. Very very funny. (5 star)
A Dressing Down by Aelth Faye – Thriller: Most people don’t look beyond the clothes and gray hair, which helps when rescuing kidnapped privileged daughters. (4 star)
From the Ashes by TC Ross – Fantasy: Children are to be protected even when the world, or at least the forest, is on fire. But how can a tiny old fairy save a baby before the fire rushes past? (4.5 star)
Knit One, Sanction Two by Ted Befley – Thriller: The thing about old people is they come with experiences. Is the little old lady working reception a knitter or international spy? (5 star)
Pruning with Extreme Prejudice by Michael Patrick Coady – Science Fiction (techno-biology):Kudzu is always an invading force, no matter how pretty it looks. Gardening club must go to war with a neighbor’s unfortunate taste in landscaping. (If you are not used to technobabble, this can be a rough read. But worth it if you love puttering around in suburbia flower beds.) (4.5 star)
Walking the Beans by Rick Cutler – Science Fiction (Aliens and Men-in-black): Always be neighborly. (4 star)
The Knitting Circle at Innsmouth by Mallory – Horror: Pie-judging at the town faire in this Lovecraft inspired short. Of all the stories, this one is furthest from the feel of the anthology and is very confusing for people not used to seeing a Lovecraftian story mixed in among normal fantasy. (3.5 star)
