The House of Illusionists and Other Stories

The House of Illusionists and Other Stories by Vanessa Fogg is a charming collection of speculative stories about love, connection, family, life, death, and more, with lyrical languages and ranging from fantasy to horror to magical realism to sci-fi to a beautiful folkloric tale within a tale.

I really enjoyed reading through this collection, and I can see dipping back in to reread some of them.

My favorite stories were those closest to fairy/folktales and horror, such as the opening tale “Wild Ones”, whose world sees teen children run with the Queen of the Hunt each summer, some of which never return home.

Two of the stories which involved shapeshifting were bittersweet, as a girl must transform in order to protect her loved ones and others against a Sea Witch in “All the Souls Like Candle Flames” and a woman also transforms in order to be with her true love in “Wings”.

And the titular tale, the final story in the book, “The House of Illusionists” in which a group of young students of illusions and their masters are sheltering in their academy as war rages nearby. They are concerned about relatable things:  their safety, food costs, flaring tempers, and - perhaps most relatable of all for me as an American right now - “the Emperor’s latest mad proclamation.”  The masters and students alike are cautioned that illusions are not real and cannot become real, but as their situation becomes more desperate, they start to realize that perhaps they can create the world of safety and love that they want.

Thank you to NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for sharing this review copy for my honest opinions.

Support your favorite indie bookstore (and give us both 20% off if it’s your first purchase) by using my link at https://refer.bookshop.org/candidanorwood.