The Father of Lies

The Father of Lies is a collection of short novels and novellas by K.J. Parker (a.k.a. Tom Holt). It's a brick of a book, well over 500 pages, and contains 12 pieces which run the gamut from first person revenge/love tales, to (mostly) straightforward mythology retellings, complete with the drama and infighting immortals get up to, and a couple of decent Faustian stories for good measure.

Most of the time when I'm reviewing collections and anthologies, I swear I'm going to savor them like a box of chocolates and wind up devouring the whole thing cover to cover.  That's not really the way to experience this book.  I enjoyed this book a lot more for having read a story at a time interspersed with other completely different genres and styles.

Picking out stories to highlight is difficult, they're consistently well written and the author has a deft hand and sure voice.

I honestly enjoyed all of the stories, but No Rest for the Wicked, The Things We Do for Love, and The Devil You Know were outstanding.  It's worth noting that all of the stories in this collection were previously published elsewhere, but it's nice having them conveniently accessible together.

There is no additional author background or introduction included with the book; the stories stand up quite well on their own merits.

Enjoyable, savor them over time.

Four stars (on average, trending toward a five, there are many flashes of brilliance here).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes