Book Review: Across The Wall by Garth Nix

Title: Across The Wall: Tales of The Old Kingdom and Elsewhere
Author: Garth Nix
Social Media: Facebook and Twitter
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Price and Format: eBook at $15.49
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

About The Book:
Nicholas Sayre will do anything to get across the Wall.

In additional short stories that range from two widely different takes on the Merlin myth to a gritty urban version of Hansel and Gretel and a heartbreaking story of children and war, Garth Nix displays the range and versatility that has made him one of today’s leading writers of fantasy for readers of all ages.

General Observations:
~Short Story Collections: I’m not usually a fan of short story collections, however Across The Wall was an enjoyable read.

~Misleading Blurb: From the blurb, I was under the impression that this would be a collection of short stories mostly centered around The Old Kingdom with a couple of miscellaneous short stories added. It turns out to be the other way around, the first and last short stories in the book are Old Kingdom related, but all the other short stories are mixed genres and are unrelated to each other.

~The Author Doth Protest Too Much: Garth Nix states in the introduction of short story Under The Lake that he’s not a fan of Arthurian myths and legends, I find this difficult to believe especially considering:

~Across The Wall features two short stories based on Arthurian myths and legends

~Garth Nix can list more than three books (all by different authors) that feature Arthurian myths and legends

~Arthur Penhaligon is the name of his main character in his series The Keys to The Kingdom

~Author Notes: Garth Nix writes introductions for all of the short stories in the novel and I found it interesting to know the behind-the-scenes motivations for certain stories.

So, even though I was a little disappointed with the lack there of Old Kingdom short stories and Across The Wall wasn’t what I would usually read, it was still enjoyable.