Chicks in Chainmail

A massive collection of three collections. I found most of them to be good reads, so the collection on the whole is pretty enjoyable. Some of the authors had provided stories that offered some continuity in the sense that the same characters reappeared in subsequent collections. And some of them had great twists on everyday-themes and gender role-reversals.

Chicks in Chain Mail

Lady of Steel - Roger Zelazny - 2/5 - too short a story to really convey much
And Ladies of the Club - Elizabeth Moon - 5/5 - this was really fun
Exchange Program - Susan Schwartz - 1/5 - probably something only a reader familiar with the Clintons would “get”
Goddess for a Day - Harry Turtledove - 4/5 - love the humourous way it's told in
Armor-Ella - Holly Lisle - 4/5 - funny the way the inspiring story gets turned around
Career Day - Margaret Ball - 5/5 - love the humour in this one
Armor/Amore - David Vierling - 2/5 - a twist on Cinderalla; the humour in this one feels a little forced
The Stone of War and the Nightingale's Egg - Elizabeth Ann Scarborough - 3/5 - set in China; interesting, but didn't quite hit it for me
The Growling - Jody Lynn Nye - 4/5 - cute play on words and the everyday routines
The New Britomart - Eluki bes Shahar - 2/5 - had a lot going on but didn't develop to the point that you'd want to care
On the Road of Silver - Mark Bourne - 2/5 - about remembering past glories; didn't find it much enjoyable
Bra Melting - Janni Lee Simner - 3/5 - liked it but felt it was all too short and didn't quite conclude
The Old Grind - Laura Frankos - 3/5 - a somewhat typical coming of age story except that it involves giants
The Way to a Man's Heart - Esther Friesner - 4/5 - interesting twist on the frog-prince story
Whoops! - Nancy Springer - 5/5 - really funny portrayal of a guardian angel
The Guardswoman - Lawrence Watt-Evans - 3/5 - not quite sure how to take this story of a female soldier but it was kinda fun
Teacher's Pet - Joseph Sherman - 3/5 - fun story about shapechanging going awry, but a little clichéd
Were-Wench - Jan Stirling - 4/5 - interesting combination of several fantasy tropes
Blood Calls to Blood - Elisabeth Waters - 2/5 - elves, a policewoman, and her children; rather lacklustre for me
Maureen Birnbaum in the MUD - George Alec Effinger - 2/5 - it started off novel but it got tedious really quickly, what with the odd mixture between prancing bimbo and a funny take of MUD gaming

Did You Say Chicks?!

No Pain, No Gain - Elizabeth Moon - 5/5 - a sequel of sorts to And Ladies of the Club, brilliantly done; loved the humourous take on magical plastic surgery
Slue-Foot Sue and the Witch in the Woods - Laura Frankos - 2/5 - about a woman who got bounced into a faraway place and encountered a witch; didn't like it
A Young Swordswoman's Garden Primer - Sarah Zettel - 4/5 - I liked this liberating-the-old-family-inheritance plot; it was fun but felt that it ended too abruptly
The Old Fire, Jody Lynn Nye - 3/5 - nice tale about an adventurer coming out of retirement
Like No Business I Know - Mark Bourne - 1/5 - didn't like the first one, didn't like this one
A Bone to Pick - Marina Frants & Keith R. A. DeCandido - 3/5 - and so a witch is made; it's ok
The Attack of the Avenging Virgins - Elizabeth Ann Scarborough - 4/5 - interesting view points on a raid, and a very unexpected form of retaliation
Oh, Sweet Goodnight! - Christina Briley & Walter Vance Awsten - 5/5 - nice and simple; with a side about perspectives and presuppositions
A Bitch in Time - Doranna Durgin - 3/5 - the first one with a non-human POV, and it's ok
Don't You Want to Be Beautiful? - Laura Anne Gilman - 1/5 - couldn't relate at all; uses shopping urges and make-up as the themes
A Night with the Girls - Barbara Hambly - 4/5 - a rather fun-to-read all-girl hunt for a dark creation
A Quiet Knight's Reading - Steven Piziks - 4/5 - an enjoyable twist to the typical knight-questing-for-dragon-slaying quest
Armor Propre - Jan Stirling & S. M. Stirling - 3/5 - sequel to Were-Wench, this time on how the protagonist managed to defeat an invasion
A Big Hand for the Little Lady - Esther Friesner - 2/5 - a petite girl with strong arms finds trouble and love; felt rather forced to me
Blade Runner - K. D. Wentworth - 1/5 - the story went all over the place, like it's not quite sure what its central plot is meant to be
Keeping Up Appearances - Lawrence Watt-Evans - 5/5 - this was a fun read, a nice double-twist of an assassination attempt on a wizard
La Difference - Harry Turtledove - 5/5 - a rare sci-fi-themed plot that turned out to be a short and sweet tale of escape
Tales from the Slushpile - Margaret Ball - 5/5 - the same setting as Career Day; this is just awesome stuff

Chicks ‘N Chained Males

Myth Manners' Guide to Greek Missology #1 - Harry Turtledove - 4/5 - a funny gender-swap to the story of Perseus
Chain, Link, Fence - Steven Piziks - 4/5 - a nice twist of a swindling act
Fool's Gold - Elizabeth Moon - 4/5 - a third take on that club of women warriors, this time tangling with a miser and a dragon
In for a Pound - Lawrence Watt-Evans - 2/5 - a werewolf who got mistaken for a wild dog and taken to the pound. Can you really mistake a wolf for a dog?
Death Becomes Him - Marina Frants - 2/5 - a follow-up from previous volumes about a witch-in-the-making
Straight Arrow - Susan Shwartz - 2/5 - not too sure how to take this story about Amazons lost in time, and getting a visit from modern day soldiers
Bad Heir Day - Rosemary Edghill - 3/5 - a rather irreverent look at well-known pulling-sword-out-of-rock episode
Why Do You Think They Call it Middle Earth? - Susan Cooper - 4/5 - funny parody of the well-known epics
Leg Irons, the Bitch, and the Wardrobe - Laura Frankos - 5/5 - a rather brilliant play on plays
Shiftless - Josepha Sherman - 5/5 - great take on shapeshifters
May/December at the Mall - Brian D. Akers - 2/5 - an odd setting of a meeting point of time travelers
Yo, Baby! - Jan Stirling - 4/5 - another episode of this odd, but interesting couple, as they get involved with a baby and royalty
Don't Break the Chain! - Jody Lynn Nye - 5/5 - a funny take on chain letters and Prince Charming
Cross CHILDREN Walk - Esther M. Friesner - 4/5 - getting back at corrupt and foolish people and an enterprising little girl; I just don't get the title
... But Comedy Is Hard - Kate Daniel - 3/5 - an Amazon and a comedy actor, and getting inspired by the muse
Baubles, Bangles, and Beads - Kevin Andrew Murphy - 5/5 - a really enjoyable African-themed tale of a sorceress, a warrior, and of curses coming true
Hallah Iron-Thighs and the Five Unseemly Sorrows - K. D. Wentworth - 1/5 - the plot was alright, but it just felt a bit too over-the-top
Miss Underwood and the Mermaid - Sarah Zettel - 5/5 - an enjoyable mix of role-reversal and a squabble between fey folk