2026 fantasy anthology, stories in Roberts' Teacup Magic setting.
It's meant for people who have read the longer works already
written for that setting, but I didn't find myself lost. (Strange
geography, but basically Regency and magic. Tea is important.) Indeed,
several of these were written for anthology editions of the books as
as bonuses for Kickstarter backers: pay enough and you could request a
story on a particular topic. There is also a great deal of Roberts'
description of her writing process, which is pleasingly real: yes, she
sets out with a plan, but then the characters go having Ideas at her…
"I've been working on the plan," Thornbury added.
"The Five Point Plan for Emergency Elopement?"
"It's now a Thirteen Point Plan and it does not require an
Emergency. Honestly, a light breeze would set it off at this point."
"Don't tempt me."
I won't go into the details of individual stories, but we meet various
characters (some of whom are book protagonists, some of whom aren't
yet but may become so), and here is the one with extra piracy, and
here is where Roberts had just met Wodehouse for the first time…
(Fret not, she does not try to pastiche him, but rather to catch some
of that sensibility in her own style.)
"Oh, you men," grimaced Lady Dolores, who had not been able to
consume anything but toast and ginger tea for three months now, and
did not feel the least bit radiant no matter how often her husband
told her that she probably was. "How you suffer."
It's mostly rather slight, and of course this isn't the intended
introduction to the characters who have their own books; but it does a
good job even so, and I find myself inclined to seek out more of
Roberts' writing in this setting.