Title: The Sacrifice and Other Stories
Author: Kim Fielding
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages/Word Count: 416 Pages
At a Glance: There is an enjoyable story for everyone in this eclectic mix of fantasy stories.
Reviewed By: Angel
Blurb: A sickly man seeks recovery in a seaside cottage.
A temple slave tends a man due to be sacrificed.
A soldier releases a genie.
In seven fantasy short stories and novellas, men find passion with other men in the most unexpected places, and even the gravest circumstances may open the door to hope and love.
This anthology includes two brand-new short stories. In “The Sacrifice,” Rylo is a temple slave tasked with comforting a man who is scheduled to be killed in the morning. In “Chasing Away Cold,” Daku builds an ice sculpture of the god Jarli in order to ensure the end of winter. The collection also includes three novellas and two additional short stories, gathered for the first time in a single volume. “Treasure” introduces Jules, a young man who travels to the quirky seaside town of Urchin Cove to regain his health—and finds an unexpected treasure washed up on the beach. Xolani, a soldier in “Three Wishes,” picks up a small glass bottle and unleashes a surprise. Another soldier, Volos in “Guarded,” will risk everything to save Prince Berhanu. In the sequel, “Mato’s Tale,” an unassuming innkeeper gets a chance for adventure. And in “The Downs,” Enitan is unjustly banished and comes to discover that the demons he must face aren’t the ones he expected.
Join Kim Fielding on journeys through imagined worlds where magic is commonplace and romance lies just around the next bend. All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontiers.
Review: Kim Fielding is a new to me author, and I thoroughly enjoyed my first go round with this writer. Fantasy is a hit or miss genre with me, but I liked this book. It was an elegant mix of stories—some dark, others light—and really showed the author’s prowess in world building and character creation. Five of these stories are previously published and can be downloaded for free, but the addition of the two new tales, all of the others in one book, and the worthy cause, make this book an extra special delight.
I think my favorite story, at this moment, is Treasure, but honestly I really liked each of the tales so it was hard to decide. I loved the evolution of Julian’s character and how he finds himself, especially after being coddled because of his illness. I loved the little town of Urchin Cove and would really enjoy seeing more of Julian and Kit.
My least favorite of the entire series, though not because it wasn’t well written, was Guarded. I think this one hit me wrong just because of the subject matter. This is an extremely well-crafted and detailed story, but I must include a rape warning as this was what brought the entire story down for me, and as such, I kinda had misgivings about reading the follow-up, of Mato’s Tale.
I was rewarded, though, at the end, with all the lovely adventure and happy endings. Thank you, Kim Fielding, for a wondrous book.
You can buy The Sacrifice and Other Stories here:
The Novel Approach Reviews 
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