Renaissance Festival Tales

Five fantasy stories of variable quality make up this thin homage to the Renaissance Faire. Two are delightful little romances: Kim Vandervort's ""Faire Aria"" sweetly pairs a dubious visitor and one of the Faire's denizens, while Julia Dvorin puts an incautious Faire staffer in charge of true love in ""Cupid for a Day."" Paula H. Murray's predictable ""Playing with Fire"" features poorly characterized role-players who inadvertently attract supernatural forces. M.C. Chambers goes for a period feel with ""Silk and Velvet,"" in which a king's messenger swoons over a talented musician. Camille Alexa's confusing, choppy ""The Thief and the Thorn"" describes a realm situated among the Ren Faires of five worlds. This volume will help nostalgic ""rennies"" make it through the cold winter months, but it holds little appeal for a broader audience.