Good book, sure answers a lot of questions that were left unanswered in Zelazny's last Amber novel, as well as expanding on a few side stories that seemed like they were left on the editing floor from that same novel. The balance of the book is traditional Zelazny, always leaves you wanting more....alas, I imagine this is truly the last from him. RIP RZ

I was impressed with Zelazny's ability to make short stories great stories. I knew from reading the Great Book of Amber that he could write a spot-on novel; Manna From Heaven confirms his ability to turn one page into a whole universe...

While this book contains a few short (some very VERY short) stories I had not read before, most have already appeared in other volumes of stories (such as the Kalifriki of the Thread stories and the title story). This volume has some significance in that it was edited and put together posthumously. I was someone disappointed in the quality of editing in this book, noting numerous typographical and spelling errors.

Like most Zelazny fans, I was very pleased to find a "new" collection of Zelazny stories available for purchase. The "post-_Chronicles_ Amber shorts are both difficult and expensive to find individually. Had I known _Manna.._ was coming out, I could have saved about $ 30.

The "non-Amber" stories in the book, IMHO, varied greatly in quality. I can certainly understand why some of them have been reprinted so infrequently. On the other hand, some Zelazny is better than no Zelazny, so I would still recommend purchasing this collection.

Ron Bliss

Ron Bliss

This book was eagerly anticipated by fans of Zelazney's 'Amber' fiction, because all of the 'Amber' short stories had been out of print for years. "Manna From Heaven" places all of the 'Amber' short stories-- along with a number of Zelazney's other uncollected pieces-- together under a single cover.

If the 'Amber' stories were ALL that this edition offered, I'd still give the book three or four stars. What a joy to discover that "Manna From Heaven" is FULL of quality fiction by Roger Zelazney, and that many of the other stories in this book even manage to surpass its 'Amber' material! I've read several anthologies of Zelazney's short stories, and I've enjoyed them all, but "Manna From Heaven" EASILY takes the cake!

Aside from the 'Amber' shorts, which were great by the way, I particularly enjoyed "Kalifriki of the Thread" and the title story, "Mana From Heaven" [sic]. These stories were so good that I was surprised not to have seen them collected elsewhere. (Makes you wonder what other Zelazney goodies may still be lying around in the vault???). Naturally, some of the tales in this collection are more compelling than others, but not a single story falls flat. Each carries its own weight. This is unusual enough for any collection of short stories, but as a fan of Roger Zelazney's work, I was also intrigued by the fact that these selections represented a fair cross section of his work as an adult author-- several of the short stories in this volume were from Zelazney's later years, but "Manna From Heaven" also includes a couple of wonderful unpublished pieces from Roger's pre-fame college days!

I would recommend this collection for all readers, whether they're already fans of Zelazny's work, or merely readers who enjoy a well-crafted short story. There's truly something for just about everybody between these two covers.