"This is the fifth book in the Chicks in Chainmail series edited by Esther Friesner. The book is a collection of 22 short stories by fantasy authors (including one by the editor) that almost all involve at least three elements: a chick (er, woman), chainmail (or other body armor), and adventure with the chick wearing said chainmail. Most of the stories are told tongue-in-cheek, with some more entertaining and coherent than others. My favorites are as follows: The Girl's Guide to Defeating the Da...

http://www.baenebooks.com/p-437-turn-...22 short stories have styles from straight to goofy. Among humor twists, life truths, and duds, you may like more than my four * starred favorites, still the best, happy celebrations of how strong females can change their worlds, if not ours, so on re-reading, I re-rated the whole book up for them. http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/07... The Girl's Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord. First publication by novice Cassandra Claire (aka Clare, City of Bones) i...

Just read the newest Chick novel, so I went back to find the one volume in the series I had not read. I enjoyed the tales, but they seemed a bit more pedestrian and less entertaining then other volumes. My favorite stories were Hemry's "Mightier Than the Sword", Turtledove's "Of Mice and Chicks", and Claire's "The Girl's Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord". The others were all right, but this is not a volume I would be rereading often.

The newest of the Chicks in Chainmail anthologies. A mixed bag, but no story that I totally despised, which is the way with all the Chicks anthologies. I was disappointed that Elizabeth Moon and Margaret Ball didn't include stories in the universes they've created specifically for this series. Still a very fun read.

Just a lot of fun. Sword and Sorcery with women taking the leading parts. This was Vol 5 - I got to find the other 4 books....

The same irreverent tone as earlier entries in this series, but I found a lot less politically-questionable humour* in this one than in the first volume (which I reread this fall). Interesting item of historical curiosity: This volume contains Cassandra Clare's first published story, back when she was still writing as Claire-with-an-I, a fairy tale deconstruction very similar in tone to her LOTR parodies in the style of Bridget Jones' Diary which people who spent the early 2000s in the same inte...

There are several short stories I enjoyed, but I was sorry not to see some of my favorite characters from the first three anthologies. Glad for another story of Hallah Iron Thighs and Gerta. Cassandra Claire's story was my favorite, though "Stuffed to Conquer" was a runner-up. Several good ones in here.

This wasn't as good as some of the previous collections, and a couple of them were surprisingly flat, given the authors' usual writing skills. It seems as though the last 4-5 books were the least interesting. Notably the best were the stories from Leslie McBain, Jan Sirling, Jody Lynn Nye and of course Esther herself. Love the introduction!!

This is the 5th in a series of short story anthologies that started with 'Chicks in Chainmail'. This one has 22 stories by different authors. They're all over the map for style, and their take on a woman who can swing a sword.

what can I say... I love Friesner and her uncanny ability to nab authors of such diversity that twirl such insightful and hilarious spins on the stereotype of the bimbo with a sword.Oh, and her intro, with it's ode to Buffy and Zena (not to mention Hermione) brought tears to my eyes.

Cassandra Clare's first published story is in here. It is very funny, and the only one I've read so far. It was cute, 4 stars to this one only.Most of the stories in this book have characters with names you can not pronounce, and places that are just a little to weird to be interesting.

Warped, but hilarious!

Collection of short stories about women warriors. Most are of a humorous bend. Recommended

A fun read. i like this series. Short stories of strong women fighting battles, saving lives. Most of the stories are women warriors.

One of Friesner's anthologies of short stories that are a humorous take-off on the cliches of scantily-clad sword-and-sorceress adventures. Enjoyable, but no real amazing standouts.

"Giants in the Earth", Esther Friesner

Too many were poor attempts at the humor Friesner does so well, and most other writers don’t. Some good stories, but overall a disappointment.

Some stories are stronger than others, some quite good.

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No socially redeeming stories here, just pure fun fantasy by a variety of well-known authors.

Decent collection, but omits some of the better authors.

usually an anthology has several weak stories that seemingly are just there to fill pages. i enjoyed all of these stories.

A fun group of stories with bold and engaging female leads.

If you've read any of the other "Chicks" books, you'll know the kind of humorous stories included in this volume. There isn't any story that really stands out as exceptional, but there was one that I did enjoy more than any of the others. It was Jody Lynn Nye's Defender of the Small. It's a story of a mercenary hired by some cats to protect them from some abusive townsfolk who do not appreciate the worth of a cat.Can I recommend this book? Not really unless you are already familiar with the othe...

I like a lot of Fantasy but this was just too far out there.