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Fantasy Anthologies

There must be thousands of fantasy anthologies on the market, so we won't try to list them all. We have presented here some that we've actually read and reviewed. Anthologies compiled by editors who are also fantasy novelists can be found by looking up the author in the menu above. On this page, you'll mainly find books compiled by editors who we don't have an author page for. They are arranged by editors' last name and then by date.

Click covers for publication dates & formats including audio & Kindle).

John Joseph Adams

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse — (2008) Publisher: Famine, Death, War, and Pestilence: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the harbingers of Armageddon — these are our guides through the Wastelands... From the Book of Revelations to The Road Warrior; from A Canticle for Leibowitz to The Road, storytellers have long imagined the end of the world, weaving tales of catastrophe, chaos, and calamity. Gathering together the best post-apocalyptic literature of the last two decades from many of today's most renowned authors of speculative fiction, including George R.R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Orson Scott Card, Carol Emshwiller, Jonathan Lethem, Octavia E. Butler, and Stephen King, Wastelands explores the scientific, psychological, and philosophical questions of what it means to remain human in the wake of Armageddon.

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse

John Joseph Adams assembles a wide variety of apocalypse-related fiction in Wastelands. some of which are older than I am, while others are more recent. What you end up with is a diverse anthology covering topics such as religion, war, and exploration while containing horror, comedy, and a sense of wonder.

The majority of the stories are easy to get into. Some stories are more subtle than others. Overall, Wastelands is an enjoyable read and the selection seems balanced. Having said that, here are my top three stories:

"Bread and Bombs" by M. Rickert is one of the more horrifying stories in this anthology, and this is achieved through her characterization and commentary on society. It's easy to jump into Rickert's text and there is a foreboding established early on which rewards the reader by the time they reach the end.
"Artie's Angels" by Catherine Wells is another favorite; the author succeeds in using a first-person narrative to tell another character's story. Again, characterization is a key strength of this piece and the ending has that perfect combination of hope and complexity.
"The End of the World as We Know It" by Dale Bailey is perhaps the post-modern apocalypse story as it's one-part meta-fictional commentary and one-part anti-thesis to the conventions of the sub-genre.

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse is an interesting ensemble and I enjoyed many of the stories in this anthology. Adams succeeds in providing a diverse array of pieces despite the seemingly specific theme. —Charles Tan FanLit thanks Charles Tan from Bibliophile Stalker for contributing this guest review.

The Living Dead — (2008) Publisher: When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth! From White Zombie to Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil to World War Z, zombies have invaded popular culture, becoming the monsters that best express the fears and anxieties of the modern west. Gathering together the best zombie literature of the last three decades from many of today's most renowned authors of fantasy, speculative fiction, and horror, including Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, George R. R. Martin, Clive Barker, Poppy Z. Brite, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Joe R. Lansdale, The Living Dead covers the broad spectrum of zombie fiction.

The Living Dead

I never knew there were so many ways to tell a zombie story. I pretty much thought that the George Romero version was it — dead people wandering around holding their arms out in front of them and calling out “braaaaaaains,” looking to munch on the living. I never did know why they had to hold their arms that way, but they all did — I thought.

John Joseph Adams has chosen his material wisely in The Living Dead, a collection of short stories about zombies by some of the biggest and best names in the horror business, as well as the newest and hottest. I resisted this book for a long time because I’ve never been fond of zombies, but upon diving in, I discovered that the zombies aren’t really the point; the point is to tell a good story. And these authors do that, with a vengeance.

My favorite story is “Almost the Last Story by Almost the Last Man” by Scott Edelman, a metafiction about a writer caught in the library when the zombie plague hits. He tries to tell the story of what has happened in several ways, meandering through several false starts, before he latches onto the notion of just telling the truth without any veneer of fiction. It doesn’t have an ending, exactly, because our author is still alive when we leave him, unable to write of his demise — he doesn’t know yet how the end will come. This Stoker-Award nominee is just flat out brilliant.

John Langan gives Edelman a run for his money in the only tale original to this anthology, “How the Day Runs Down.” This take on the classic play Our Town, written as a script narrated by the Stage Manager, will likely never be performed, but it brings vivid images to mind (particularly if you ever cried your eyes out watching your baby sister play the lead in the original). Langan is a remarkable new talent on the horror scene; I have yet to read anything he’s written without being bowled over.

“Death and Suffrage,” by Dale Bailey, will make anyone who has ever hailed from Chicago chuckle, as the dead line up to vote. Sherman Alexie’s “Ghost Dance” finally lets Native Americans get their revenge on Custer. Susan Palwick looks at zombies from a completely different angle in “Beautiful Stuff,” portraying the dead as infinitely distractible beings with no malign intent — until one zombie shows signs of thinking for himself. Clive Barker contributes “Sex, Death and Starshine,” in which the dead seek only to continue doing what they loved doing in life, with a single-minded passion. Joe Hill, another fairly new horror writer who seems never to set a word in the wrong place, is represented by “Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead,” something of an aberration in this anthology as it is about filming a zombie movie, rather than actual zombies, though it does speak — movingly — of the end of things.

There are 34 stories in this mammoth anthology, with contributions by almost every horror writer a regular reader of the fantastic will want to see: Dan Simmons, Kelly Link, Jeffrey Ford, Norman Partridge, Joe R. Lansdale, Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, Poppy Z. Brite, Robert Silverberg and Harlan Ellison among them. Usually anthologies have a few throw-away stories, a few that just don’t work as well as the others do; one expects it, understanding that one’s own taste will not correspond 100% with the editor’s. But either John Joseph Adams had such a wealth of stories at his disposal or he and I are utterly simpatico, because there was not a single story here that I feel one could skip without regret. Everyone who wants to understand contemporary horror fiction needs to read this book. If you’re a critic, reviewer or scholar, you’ll most definitely want to own a copy. —Terry Weyna

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes — (2009) Publisher: Sherlock Holmes is back! Sherlock Holmes, the world's first — and most famous — consulting detective, came to the world's attention more than 120 years ago through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels and stories. But Conan Doyle didn't reveal all of the Great Detective's adventures... Here are some of the best Holmes pastiches of the last 30 years, twenty-eight tales of mystery and the imagination detailing Holmes's further exploits, as told by many of today's greatest storytellers, including Stephen King, Anne Perry, Anthony Burgess, Neil Gaiman, Naomi Novik, Stephen Baxter, Tanith Lee, Michael Moorcock, and many more. These are the improbable adventures of Sherlock Holmes, where nothing is impossible, and nothing can be ruled out. In these cases, Holmes investigates ghosts, curses, aliens, dinosaurs, shapeshifters, and evil gods. But is it the supernatural, or is there a perfectly rational explanation? You won't be sure, and neither will Holmes and Watson as they match wits with pirates, assassins, con artists, and criminal masterminds of all stripes,including some familiar foes, such as their old nemesis, Professor Moriarty. In these pages you'll also find our heroes crossing paths with H. G. Wells, Lewis Carroll, and even Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and you'll be astounded to learn the truth behind cases previously alluded to by Watson but never before documented until now. These are tales that take us from the familiar quarters at 221B Baker Street to alternate realities, from the gaslit streets of London to the far future and beyond. Whether it's mystery, fantasy, horror, or science fiction, no puzzle is too challenging for the Great Detective. The game is afoot!

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (on audio)

In this collection of stories, compiled by John Joseph Adams, a variety of authors invent cases that Sherlock Holmes might encounter if our world were just a bit different. These are cases in which the “improbable” occurs. Most of the stories involve some sort of fantastical situation in which Holmes is required to go outside of his normal logic-based abilities and enter the realm of fantasy. The array of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi authors is quite extensive. Laurie King, Neil Gaiman, Stephen Baxter and Robert Sawyer are just a few of the names that grace this anthology.

I enjoyed the premise of the book very much. I’m an urban fantasy fan, and this sounded right up my alley. Many of the stories stay true to the theme, but a significant number are just typical Holmes stories: he gets involved in a case that seems fantastic, but by the end he is able to explain what happened in his usual surprisingly mundane way. I was a little disappointed that so many of these stories were not the “improbable” type that the book advertises. The whole hook was supposed to be that these are Sherlock Holmes stories that go beyond the normal. That small complaint aside, I found the majority of the tales enjoyable. I love a good mystery, and I love to watch Sherlock Holmes pick apart a case using his inhuman deduction skills. You will find plenty of that in The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

There are a few stories that really stand out. Tim Lebbon’s “The Horror of the Many Faces” captures the spirit of the collection perfectly. Watson bears witness to a series of grisly murders. The story takes an unnatural path, and stretches the imagination by the time it concludes. Although the things that happen would be impossible in the actual Holmes universe, “The Horror of the Many Faces” never loses the spirit of a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Neil Gaiman’s entry, “A Study in Emerald,” is another that stood out for me. In a Lovecraftian world, where the dark beasts are now our rulers, Holmes works a case involving a murder of one of the ruling races. Very entertaining and twisted stuff, as we have come to expect from Gaiman.

I listened to The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on a set of 18 discs released by Brilliance Audio. As in the original Holmes tales, the stories are primarily dictated from the point of view of Holmes’ friend and sidekick, Dr. Watson. Simon Vance provides the voice of the male characters, and he is nothing short of brilliant. He switches from Watson to Holmes seamlessly, and adds inflections that match the ages and personalities of the characters perfectly. His voice acting instantly took me away to the Holmes world. I did cringe a little whenever he was forced to do an “American” accent, but I will say that his American accent is worlds better than my English one! Anne Flosnick is another voice contributor and does a great job as well. It’s obvious that the voice actors were cast with great care.

The beginning of the book gives a welcome introduction to the Holmes universe. I am not altogether familiar with the cast of characters that appear in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s work, so I was grateful for the short history lesson, and it left me much more knowledgeable about certain figures in the stories.

I had a lot of fun listening to this anthology, and the production quality was flawless. My hour-long commute to work went by much more quickly, and for that I’m grateful. I would also suggest that readers take their time with Adams’ collection. The stories are best enjoyed one or two at a time. I found they tended to mesh together when going through them one after the other. When I read one or two and then moved on to something else, I found that to be the most enjoyable way to experience these stories.
—Justin Blazier

Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories — (2011) Publisher: YOU ARE BEING WATCHED. Your every movement is being tracked, your every word recorded. Your spouse may be an informer, your children may be listening at your door, your best friend may be a member of the secret police. You are alone among thousands, among great crowds of the brainwashed, the well-behaved, the loyal. Productivity has never been higher, the media blares, and the army is ever triumphant. One wrong move, one slip-up, and you may find yourself disappeared — swallowed up by a monstrous bureaucracy, vanished into a shadowy labyrinth of interrogation chambers, show trials, and secret prisons from which no one ever escapes. Welcome to the world of the dystopia, a world of government and society gone horribly, nightmarishly wrong. In his smash-hit anthologies Wastelands and The Living Dead, acclaimed editor John Joseph Adams showed you what happens when society is utterly wiped away. Now he brings you a glimpse into an equally terrifying future — what happens when civilization invades and dictates every aspect of your life? From 1984 to The Handmaid's Tale, from Children of Men to Bioshock, the dystopian imagination has been a vital and gripping cautionary force. Brave New Worlds collects 33 of the best tales of totalitarian menace by some of today's most visionary writers, including Neil Gaiman, Orson Scott Card, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Ursula K. Le Guin. When the government wields its power against its own people, every citizen becomes an enemy of the state. Will you fight the system, or be ground to dust beneath the boot of tyranny?

Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories

Even people who don’t usually read science fiction will often be familiar with a few classic titles in the “dystopian SF” sub-genre. After all, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and of course the famous Aldous Huxley novel Brave New World are some of the few SF titles that have entered the mainstream literary canon to such an extent that they’ve become assigned school reading for many students. However, novel-length dystopian SF didn’t stop with those venerable classics, and can even be said to be thriving at the moment. See, for example, the recent success of Paolo Bacigalupi’s debut The Windup Girl — admittedly one of the finest SF novels of the last few years, but undoubtedly even more successful because its vision of an environmentally ruined future taps into many people’s concerns over one of the biggest challenges of our time. In fantasy, there seems to be a similar revival of darker and grittier books that mirrors this renewed popularity of gloomy genre fiction. There are even dystopian YA novels out there.

Less well known but equally deserving of our attention are the many excellent short stories written in the sub-genre. To rectify this situation, we now have Brave New Worlds, a brand new anthology of dystopian SF short stories edited by John Joseph Adams. And, while “definitive” is not a word to be thrown around lightly, in this case it’s more than appropriate: Brave New Worlds is as perfect an anthology as you could hope for, and if there’s ever a college-level class about dystopian SF, this book is almost guaranteed to be assigned reading.

One of the great things about a broad anthology like this one, collecting 33 different stories that still all fall under the umbrella of dystopian SF, is that you get the chance to sample a large variety of styles and approaches. Classics and brand new stories, short vignettes and longer tales, and almost every variety of what could constitute a dystopia: age discrimination — against the old AND the young; sexual discrimination — against women, men, or based on sexual orientation (both hetero- and homosexual); environmentally damaged worlds; societies with too many babies, not enough babies, or even no babies at all; people living too long; people dying too soon. Almost anything that could conceivably go wrong with our world goes wrong in one or more of these stories.

Another result of reading so many different stories that still broadly fall in the same category is that it will inevitably lead you to notice the common threads that run through all of them, e.g. the common story dynamic of conflict between two or more characters is often replaced by the conflict between character and society. More interestingly, John Joseph Adams points out in his introduction to the anthology: “Whether or not a society is perceived as a dystopia is usually determined by one’s point of view; what one person may consider to be a horrible dystopia, another may find completely acceptable or even nigh-utopian”. The inhabitants of these broken, damaged societies have often become used to whatever miserable set of circumstances they are living in. In some cases, they are no longer even aware that things used to be different and have started considering their current lives as acceptable by default. This leads to some stories that generate a sense of discomfort so acute that it borders on the claustrophobic. The strongest stories in this collection verge on horror, although of the psychological or even existential kind rather than blood and gore. There are a few stories in Brave New Worlds that will simply stay with you forever — and whenever literature can do that to you, you know you’ve got a winner in your hands.

Brave New Worlds contains a whopping 33 stories, delivering great value for your money but making it hard to write something meaningful about every single one without ending up with an extremely long review. So instead, here are my personal favorites in the order in which they appear in the anthology:

“The Funeral” by Kate Wilhelm is one of those stories that feels as if you’re seeing a five minute glimpse of a brilliant movie that has an elaborate plot you can only guess at. You know there’s a lot going on, even if you don’t really grasp all of it. It’s also over much too soon.

“O Happy Day!” by Geoff Ryman is another stunning, claustrophobic story that focuses on a very small — and very dark — part of a much larger conflict. (Geoff Ryman actually has two stories in the anthology, which struck me as a great, confident decision on the part of the editor: both stories are excellent, so why choose one over the other?)

“Pop Squad” by Paolo Bacigalupi was (for me at least) the standout story in the author’s brilliant collection Pump Six and Other Stories, so I’m glad to see it included in this anthology. There’s a lot going on here, some of it brutally evident and some of it much more subtle, but as with all of these stories I’d rather let you discover it for yourself than describe it here in too much detail.

While these three stories all get an unqualified five stars from me, Matt Williamson’s “Sacrament” somehow outdid them all with its outrageous juxtaposition of cold-eyed, rational horror and spine-tingling beauty. There are two distinct parts to the story, and the way they combine at the end is so powerful that reading it for the first time was a stunning experience. Not for the first time when finishing a story in Brave New Worlds, I had to close the book and walk away for a second to let it all sink in. According to John Joseph Adams’ typically insightful and thoughtful introduction to the story, Matt Williamson is currently working on his first novel, and I for one am very excited to read it.

And then, towards the end, there’s “Jordan’s Waterhammer” by Joe Mastroiani, another gem with such a chilling and gorgeous conclusion that I still get chills thinking about it. In between these five superb examples of short form SF, you’ll find a collection of excellent stories, including some established classics as well as many great entries by newer authors. Even though everyone will have their favorites and their least favorites, Brave New Worlds doesn’t contain any story that’s less than excellent, which is quite rare for such a large anthology.

If you’re not convinced yet, please check out the anthology’s great companion website, where you’ll find some free sample stories (some also available in audio format) as well as fascinating short interviews with some of the stories’ authors, my favorite being Joe Mastroiani’s because it puts the story’s world in more detail and heightened my appreciation even more.

It doesn’t happen very often that you find an anthology that’s perfectly executed from start to finish, but Brave New Worlds is exactly that. The stories in this collection are science fiction in the truest sense of the word, starting from an often painful sociological premise and extrapolating it to the most private and emotional aspects of our lives. The only reasons I can think of for not liking this book would be if you have an aversion to either dystopian SF or short fiction. If you don’t fall in either of those categories, you simply won’t find a finer anthology than Brave New Worlds. —Stefan Raets

Mike Allen

Strange Wisdoms of the Dead — (2006) Publisher: How many ways can the world end? In fire. In ice. In howls of laughter or tears of madness. As a flip cosmic joke or a tragedy of love destroyed. In private agony or sweeping apocalypse. In our ignorance we turn to the dead for enlightenment, but even they despair of the answer. In STRANGE WISDOMS OF THE DEAD, award-winning poet Mike Allen's first book-length collection, the mysticism of tarot fuses with the magic of the Mayans, and childhood nightmares caress your face in the middle of the night. A playful kick sends Earth out of orbit, plots to steal time arethwarted, windows pulse with ghostly breath. The sacrifice of a daughter damns the world, and the dead struggle to communicate a fate beyond all understanding. These poems and stories, spanning a 10-year career on the cutting edge of the alternative press, take you through bends in reality to bring you to places you've never imagined.

fantasy book review anthology Mike Allen Strange Wisdoms of the Dead Strange Wisdoms of the Dead

I thought Strange Wisdoms of the Dead would be yet another attempt to convert me into a fan of speculative poetry, but leafing through the pages of this book I found something more massive. This is a comprehensive Mike Allen anthology covering ten years of work, compiling not just his poems but his fiction and collaborations as well.

Allen's poetry does dominate this book. Whether he's talking about time sharks, spiders, or decapitated heads, Allen evokes visceral images that surprise and entice. If you're just looking for variety, Strange Wisdoms of the Dead delivers as the poet tackles fantasy, science fiction, and horror in an array of tricky and fanciful poems. "Morse Code," for example, approaches the title through more "natural" means, evoking the buzzing of insects’ wings to replicate what seems like a monotonous sound. "Momentum," on the other hand, is a real rollercoaster. Don't worry if it's not readily apparent how to read or recite it — that’s part of the charm.

Another impressive aspect of the book is its division. It's broken into four sections, and at the end of each section is a fiction piece. While I wouldn't identify the stories as the best of the best, they certainly leave an impression. The first story, "Humpty," for example, is both fanciful and tense, diving directly into the action. When you reach the end, there remains a sense of dread that a longer or more complicated piece couldn't capture. The fourth section is also interesting because this is where Allen showcases his collaborations with other authors. These pieces are different from the rest of his work and give us a glimpse of the end result of such fusion.

My one regret is that Allen's poems need to be reread and savored. A hundred-plus page book is already a lot when it comes to poetry, and going through it in one sitting doesn't do it justice. The format is certainly to be lauded, from the sequencing to the combination of poetry and token prose. If you've been following Allen's body of work, Strange Wisdoms of the Dead features some of his more daring and experimental work and so you might want to check this out for that. Otherwise, this is a splendid collection that you might enjoy for its breadth if nothing else. —Charles Tan
FanLit thanks Charles Tan from Bibliophile Stalker for contributing this guest review.

Mythic — (2006) Publisher: Amid the hard-scrabble West Virginia coal mines, a terrible magical vengeance takes an equally terrible toll on a young boy's heart. Ancient gods provide metaphors for a father's love and a child's grief, and Cinderella's shattered glass slippers become a window into the horror of the Holocaust. A mythic tale of a little girl's rebellion explains all the craziness of weather, and the Wandering Jew reveals the truth about the Loch Ness Monster... The first release from Mythic Delirium Books, Mythic is a 136-page trade paperback digest of fantasy prose and verse. This volume, the first of a planned anthology series, places off-beat new talents like Matthew Cheney, Theodora Goss, Richard Parks, and Sonya Taaffe alongside veterans such as Joe Haldeman and Ian Watson to offer a unique literary smorgasbord of humor and horror, wonder and wisdom.

fantasy book review anthology Mike Allen Mythic Mythic

While a relatively short anthology, what Mythic lacks in quantity is more than made up for with the quality of its selections. Each poem and story stands out as well as fitting the "mythic" tone the book is attempting to capture. Right from the very start, I was already enamored by the opening poem, "Syllables of Old Lore" by Vandana Singh and Mike Allen keeps the interest, flow, and beat consistent throughout the volume.

There are some editorial choices I'd like to highlight. The first is the sequencing. The poems alternate with the short stories and, if you're like me who reads anthologies in the sequence they're presented, this formula works. I can imagine my interest waning if I was barraged with poems initially followed by short stories and vice versa. As it is, Mythic gives readers enough time to digest and appreciate the poem that preceded it before moving into short story territory. The alternation keeps the reading experience refreshing. Admittedly, the length of the book (under 200 pages) also helps. Mythic is the type of book that you can read in one sitting and it keeps you mesmerized the whole time.

The second item worthy to note is that the poems and stories are consistently readable and easy to understand. The poems aren't threatening to those of us who don't often read poetry and the short stories are relatively short reads, with a few delving into experimental territory, such as "Of the Driving Away of a Certain Water Monster by the Virtue of the Prayers of the Holy Man or What Really Happened at Loch Ness in the Summer of 565 A.D," by Bud Webster. I also noticed that Allen included some authors twice (e.g., Singh and Theodora Goss). Not many anthologies do repetitions and I think Mythic is a stronger anthology because of this inclusion.

Here are the top three poems and short stories that caught my eye: "Kristallnacht" by Lawrence Schimel played with my expectations and usurped the Cinderalla myth for his own. Aside from having a steady beat, Schimel ties it with the Jewish experience, giving this simple verse an extra layer of depth and cultural identity.

Catherynne M. Valente's "The Eight Legs of Grandmother Spider" features two parallel narratives; one has a fable feel while the other has more modern sensibilities. Much like "Kristallnacht," Valente plays with the reader's expectations, not only thematically tying the two poem-stories together, but taking them into a truly horrifying yet beautiful direction.

Erzebet YellowBoy's "Misha and the Months" is one of the stories that stand out. Subversion seems to be a common theme of the anthology and this one is no different. Using old tropes, YellowBoy turns them around which makes for an interesting and refreshing story.

Overall, Mythic is a great anthology that could serve as the perfect "breather" when you're overwhelmed by thick novels and collections. This isn't a "meaty" book when it comes to length, but I think that's a strength of Mythic. You get the best of the best, a consistent theme, and accessible language.
—Charles Tan FanLit thanks Charles Tan from Bibliophile Stalker for contributing this guest review.

Mythic II — (2006) Publisher: The world's greatest sorcerer is losing his mind, and all the nations wait in fear for his next move. The faces of the future gaze forward and back, and sirens don't always sing the songs you expect. Deserts speak with the voices of girls, mothers and stepmothers are two pages of the same book, and churches house things stranger than angels. But in the afterlife, you never know when an absinthe spoon will come in handy... The second volume in the critically acclaimed fantasy anthology series from Mythic Delirium Books, edited by Rhysling Award-winning poet Mike Allen, with new writings by Leah Bobet, Richard Parks, Cherie Priest, Catherynne M. Valente, Lawrence Schimel, Sonya Taaffe, Steve Rasnic Tem, Jo Walton and more.

Mythic II

Much like its predecessor Mythic, Mythic 2 feels compact and precise. Both the prose and poetry (and everything else in between) are easy to read and have a lyrical tonality. The anthology is even and consistent, with no sudden drops or spikes in the quality. Editor Mike Allen also continues the format of alternating between both mediums, which makes the book work.

For the most part, I found the poems to be decent and the fiction enjoyable. Mythic 2 continues the tradition of weaving or re-inventing fairy tales, legends, and myths and infusing them with the sensibilities of the various authors. This isn't a long anthology, but the quality more than makes up for the brevity. I really liked all of the prose and appreciated the poetry but I think the former wins out overall, at least in this volume of Mythic.

Particularly striking is Catherynne M. Valente's "Temnaya and the House of Books," an amalgam of well-known fairy tales appropriated by the author and transformed into a modern narrative, all the while retaining its fairy tale tone and sensibilities. The ending is to be applauded as it is open enough for the reader to wonder at its implications.

Jo Walton's "Post-Colonial Literature of the Elves" is an appropriately-titled poem and makes great use of rhyme without sounding childish, especially considering the subject matter.

Richard Parks's "A Pinch of Salt" is a narrative that strikes an emotional chord as it deals with all too human predicaments and a web of relationships. Characterization and dialogue are easily the author's strengths, and the story is filled with conflict. The final line of the story is perfect as it leaves enough room for ambiguity.

Mythic 2 is another fascinating anthology that combines speculative fiction prose with poetry. This is certainly easy to pick up and recommendable to anyone. —Charles Tan
FanLit thanks Charles Tan from Bibliophile Stalker for contributing this guest review.

Lou Anders

For anthologies edited with Jonathan Strahan, visit our Jonathan Strahan page.

Masked — (2010) Publisher: WELCOME TO THE SECOND “GOLDEN AGE” OF SUPERHEROES AND HEROINES. Superheroes have come a long way since the “Man of Steel” was introduced in 1938. This brilliant new collection features original stories and novellas from some of today’s most exciting voices in comics, science fiction, and fantasy. Each marvelously inventive tale shows us just how far our classic crusaders have evolved — and how the greatest of heroes are, much like ourselves, all too human. In “Call Her Savage,” MARJORIE M. LIU enters the dark heart of a fierce mythic heroine who is forced, by war, to live up to her own terrible legend. In “A to Z in the Ultimate Big Company Superhero Universe (Villains Too),” BILL WILLINGHAM presents a fully-realized vision of a universe where epic feats and tragic flaws have transformed the human race. In “Vacuum Lad,” STEPHEN BAXTER unveils the secret origins of the first true child of the space age — and disproves the theory that “nothing exists in a vacuum.” In “Head Cases,” PETER DAVID and KATHLEEN DAVID blast through the blogosphere to expose the secret longings of a Lonely Superhero Wife. In “The Non-Event,” MIKE CAREY removes the gag order on a super-thief named Lockjaw... and pries out a confession of life-altering events. Also includes stories by Mike Baron •Mark Chadbourn • Paul Cornell • Daryl Gregory • Joseph Mallozzi • James Maxey • Ian McDonald • Chris Roberson • Gail Simone • Matthew Sturges... and an introduction by Lou Anders, “one of the brightest and best of the new generation of science fiction editors” (Jonathan Strahan, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year).

Masked

Superheroes — and supervillains — have always been problematic. They are usually all but impossible to kill, but have a single vulnerability that everyone seems to know about, and to aim for, a tradition that goes all the way back to Achilles (who was invulnerable because he was dipped in the River Styx as a baby — except for the ankle by which his mother held him when doing the dipping). Even after death, they always seem to come back in some form or another; Superman, for instance, has been resurrected quite a few times (though losing him led nearly 20 years ago to one of the best graphic novels ever written, World Without a Superman). Because they are so superhumanly strong, they sometimes appear ludicrous, fighting off impossible task after incredible burden after outrageous situation. No wonder authors have sometimes taken their creations in odd directions, as Alan Moore did in Watchmen — another one of the best graphic novels out there.

In Masked, superheroes and supervillains move off the illustrated page and into the realm of pure prose. Sometimes this works beautifully, and sometimes it doesn’t work at all, making this anthology uneven. The best stories are those in which the notion of super beings is taken with the utmost seriousness; the weakest are those that seem to mock the tradition.

One of the best stories in this anthology is “Where Their Worm Dieth Not” by James Maxey. Despite a beginning that makes various oddly-powered superheroes look rather silly, the story takes a deeply serious turn. The existential ending will make you shudder, and maybe even bring forth a tear or two. It somehow brings to mind Grant Morrison’s take on Animal Man, when that character realizes that he is fictional and confronts his maker. It’s amazing what a skilled writer can do with costumed men and women when he or she brings philosophy into the picture.

Another exceptional story is “Vacuum Lad,” by Stephen Baxter. This story takes a strict science fictional approach to the whole idea of superheroes, suggesting that perhaps the powers enjoyed by the titular character were deliberately developed in a laboratory, and not for that character alone. This picture of a world dealing with climate change through various scientific endeavors is nicely drawn. The particulars of Vacuum Lad’s abilities make sense in the context carefully developed by Baxter, who fully lives up to his reputation as a writer of hard science fiction.

Ian McDonald contributes “Tonight We Fly,” the story of a superhero grown old. What do you do with your powers when you’re retired and aging? When the public health nurse comes around and insists on giving you a flu shot despite the fact that you never get the flu — and that no needle can pierce your skin? When those kids next door just won’t be quiet, but insist on kicking a ball against your garage door over and over and over until your head is ringing — how do you get them to stop without hurting someone? It’s a beautiful picture of the impotence of old age, and the struggle to remain vital even as the years pile up.

“Head Cases,” by Peter and Kathleen David, is an example of one of the less successful stories. It attempts to be humorous by making fun of superheroes, but fails. The authors try to make their costumed characters appear to be mental and emotional teenagers playing dress-up in a way reminiscent of an Adam Sandler movie, full of attempts at cheap laughs and without any real point. This sort of knowing tone just doesn’t work. Nor does Daryl Gregory’s story, “Message from the Bubblegum Factory,” manage to entertain with a similar tone. Superheroes and supervillains are ludicrous on their face; pointing that out in prose is superfluous.

Still, the ratio of good stories to bad stories is high. Even so, the stories started to seem repetitive to me after I’d read 200 pages, and I was still only halfway through the book. There are only so many things you can say about these fictional beings, and most of them have already been said in comic form. It’s hard to see that this book of prose really adds anything to what one can find in illustrated form from DC or Marvel. —Terry Weyna

Kevin J. Anderson located on our Kevin J. Anderson page.

Kevin Brockmeier

Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy 3 — (2010) Publisher: A city in a bottle. Kings. Genies. Jane Austen and Frankenstein. Grandmothers at sea... The acclaimed Best American Fantasy series continues with 20 stories chosen by best-selling writer Kevin Brockmeier. With stories by established writers, such as Peter S. Beagle, Laura Kasischke, Jeffrey Ford, and Lisa Goldstein, alongside tales by brilliant newcomers like Kellie Wells, Thomas Glave, Ryan Boudinot, and Rebecca Makkai, Real Unreal delivers a richly diverse experience of contemporary fiction. Guest editor Brockmeier knows fantasy inside and out: he is the recipient of three O. Henry Awards, the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Award, and an Italo Calvino Short Fiction Award. His stories have been published widely, including The New Yorker, The Georgia Review, McSweeney's, and The Oxford American, and have been reprinted in Best American Short Stories, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and the first volume of The Best American Fantasy.

fantasy anthology review Kevin Brockmeier Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy 3 Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy 3

On a hypothetical chart, with high epic fantasy in the vein of J.R.R. Tolkien and Stephen Donaldson on one end and (for want of a better term) the magical realism of Gabriel García Marquez and Graham Joyce on the other, the twenty stories in the excellent Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy 3 fall, for the most part, close to or smack on the latter extreme of the scale. If you then add a y-axis, describing how pulpy a story is, everything in this collection would trend towards the end of the scale where the most accomplished and literary pieces of short fiction reside.

However, describing the beautiful and often unique stories in this anthology as points on a chart is simply cruel. I can almost see Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society making his students tear this review from a text book: "Begone, Stefan Raets!" To avoid that fate, I'll just try to introduce some of my favorite stories:

The first story in the collection, "Safe Passage" by Ramona Ausubel, is representative of much of this collection, as it resides in that vague place where reality, fantasy and dream meet. It's also one of several stories that deals with death — a persistent theme that gives Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy 3 as a whole a melancholy atmosphere. "Safe Passage" is a beautiful story, and I found it hard to believe that it is the author's first published piece of fiction.

Peter S. Beagle's "Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel" continues strongly with its touching, insightful and compassionate look at a boy's childhood, spent in his uncle's painting studio. The main characters in this story are unforgettable, and the irreverent but heartfelt look at religion and mercy make this one of the strongest stories in the entire collection.

The mood changes with the next few stories, including Ryan Boudinot's "Cardiology", in which all the people in a small town share one central heart, and Will Clarke's "The Pentecostal Home for Flying Children" about the wayward children of a local superhero. Both stories are surreal, quirky and original.

Listing all twenty stories would make this review too long and, again, reduce this excellent collection to a list, so here are just a few more of my favorites:

Chris Gavaler's "Is" is a gorgeous evocation of childhood memory. I was impressed with the way it analyzes its own symbology, but then spins it back out to a touching finale. Another unforgettable story.
Lisa Goldstein's "Reader's Guide", told in the form of a book discussion questionnaire, is hilarious and thought-provoking at the same time. It reminded me of Jasper Fforde's THURSDAY NEXT stories, as well as the section in Jeff Vandermeer's City of Saints and Madmen that's told in the form of a bibliography.
John Kessel's "Pride and Prometheus" is an elegant mash-up of Jane Austen and Frankenstein. Part of the fun of reading it is being aware that you know more than the characters — and still being surprised at the end.
Shawn Vestal's "The First Few Hundred Years Following My Death" offers such a bleak view of the afterlife that I found it almost physically painful. The contrast of life's small pleasures with the darkness of being trapped with your memories is very effective.
In Rebekka Makkai's "Couple of Lovers on a Red Background", Bach comes back to life to share the apartment of a lonely real estate agent. The story is quite funny, but the way it manages to combine the fantastic with the main character's private tragedy makes it much more than just a gimmick story.

There are several more excellent stories in this collection, and only one or two I found disappointing. Maybe the best compliment I can give Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy 3: prior to reading it, I'd only heard of 4 of the 20 authors, but after finishing it, more than half of them are firmly on my watch list. You won't find dragons, elves or sexy vampires here, but if you're interested in checking out some truly excellent stories that show how varied fantasy as a genre can be, give Real Unreal: Best American Fantasy 3 a try. —Stefan Raets

Ellen Datlow has been moved to our Ellen Datlow page.

Nick Gevers

The Book of Dreams — (2010) Publisher: Perchance to dream... To dream is to enter inner worlds of terror and revelation, to look the collective unconscious in the face. In this ground-breaking anthology, five modern masters of the fantastic conjure especially potent encounters with the stuff of the sleeping mind, unveiling dark hints about who (or what) we truly are, about our uncertain relationships with the waking world. The stories in The Book of Dreams are bold ventures into the kingdom of Morpheus, upon which individual destinies crucially depend — or perhaps the destiny of the entire human species. In The Prisoner, Grand Master Robert Silverberg, long an explorer of visionary realms, indicates just how dangerous it can be to respond to a cry for help — especially when you are unconscious at the time. In Dream Burgers At The Mouth of Hell , the commanding prose of Lucius Shepard explores the secret dream factories of Hollywood, tracing where the inspiration of scriptwriters really originates. In Testaments , Jay Lake brilliantly employs the language of prophecy to consider the totality of human history, and where its contradictory trends may lead us as new kings dream of glory. In Rex Nemorensis, Kage Baker incisively considers the violent dream landscape of Vietnam veterans, and fuses it with the territory of ancient myth and ritual. And in 86 Deathdick Road, Jeffrey Ford, dreamer of dreamers, plunges into an oneiric domain in which fateful symbols are everywhere, but truth is forever elusive. The Book of Dreams is a cornucopia of strange enlightenment, a quintet of voyages to wonderful yet disturbing worlds within.

The Book of Dreams

The Book of Dreams is a small but satisfying collection of short stories that are thematically, albeit loosely, connected by the theme of "dreams." The book features original stories by Robert Silverberg, Lucius Shepard, Jay Lake, Kage Baker and Jeffrey Ford, and was edited by Nick Gevers for Subterranean Press.

Somewhat surprisingly, my least favorite story in the collection comes courtesy of Grand Master Robert Silverberg. "The Prisoner" is a somewhat repetitive and heavily symbolic story about a man facing an onslaught of nightmares that gradually threaten his sanity. It's not a bad story, but I found it a bit predictable. (2 stars)

"Dream Burgers at the Mouth of Hell" by Lucius Shepard, on the other hand, is wildly inventive and completely unpredictable. This story about a Hollywood screenwriter's surreal business lunch is funny, trippy and at times almost uncomfortable to read. I think Philip K. Dick would have been proud of this one. As a bonus, Lucius Shepard's prose is simply a pleasure to read. I hadn't read anything by this author before, but based on this story, I plan to seek out more of his works very soon. (4 stars)

The quality continues to be very high with "Testaments" by Jay Lake. The sequence of six (plus one) miniatures paints a powerful story, filled with prophetic language and gorgeous imagery. This is definitely one of those stories you can read and re-read. The final sentence of the story is a perfect summation of the entire collection: "For now, dreaming is enough. There is no higher truth." Jay Lake is another author who's going on my must-read-more list. (4 stars)

Next up is "Rex Nemorensis" by the consistently excellent Kage Baker. A Vietnam veteran tells his story, and as always, Baker manages to capture the voice of her narrator perfectly. If you're not familiar with the phrase "rex nemorensis," look it up after reading the story to see how cleverly Kage Baker connects the scars of post-traumatic stress disorder to a millennia-old myth. (4.5 stars)

The final story is the somewhat unpleasantly titled "86 Deathdick Road" by Jeffrey Ford. This one really captures the hallucinatory character that some dreams have, and the way they gather the scattered images we collect during the day into a surreal stream of symbols. I admired how Jeffrey Ford captured the feeling of powerlessness during unpleasant dreams and infused the story with touches of dark sexuality. (3 stars)

At just under 120 pages, The Book of Dreams may be a bit short, but it contains some great stories that justify the price of admittance, especially the contributions by Lucius Shepard, Jay Lake and Kage Baker. —Stefan Raets

Sharyn November has been moved to our Sharyn November page.

William Schafer

Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2 — (2011) Edited by William Schafer. Publisher: Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy, published in 2008 to widespread critical and popular acclaim, provided a unique showcase for some of our finest practitioners of dark, disturbing fiction. This much anticipated second volume more than meets the standards set by its predecessor, offering a diverse assortment of stories guaranteed to delight, unsettle, and enthrall. Volume two proper is a full 20,000 words longer than the first installment in the series. This stellar collection leads off with Joe Hill s dazzling Wolverton Station, in which a predatory businessman travels to England, and to a primal confrontation he could never have imagined. Elsewhere, a number of contributors revisit familiar, well-established themes and settings. Glen Cook s Smelling Danger gives us a brand new chapter in the long-running annals of The Black Company. The Passion of Mother Vajpai is a story of exotic and erotic initiation set against the backdrop of Jay Lake s novel, Green. Kelley Armstrong reenters the Otherworld with Chivalrous, the account of a devious and long-delayed act of revenge. And there s more, much more, including a hallucinatory portrait of guilt, angst, and drug-fueled violence by Caitlin R. Kiernan, and an affecting reflection on love, death, and acceptance by Steven R. Boyett. These stories, together with first-rate work by the likes of K. J. Parker and Norman Partridge, offer provocative, sometimes visceral entertainment. As this rich, rewarding volume amply demonstrates, the tale of dark fantasy is alive and thriving, and continues to develop in new and unexpected ways.

Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2

EDITOR INFORMATION: William K. Schafer is the head editor at Subterranean Press, which was founded in 1995. Schafer’s bibliography includes Embrace the Mutation: Fiction Inspired by the Art of J.K. Potter and the first Tales of Dark Fantasy anthology.

ABOUT SUBTERRANEAN: TALES OF DARK FANTASY 2: Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy — published in 2008 to widespread critical and popular acclaim — provided a unique showcase for some of our finest practitioners of dark, disturbing fiction. This much anticipated second volume more than meets the standards set by its predecessor, offering a diverse assortment of stories guaranteed to delight, unsettle, and enthrall. Volume two proper is a full 20,000 words longer than the first installment in the series.

This stellar collection leads off with Joe Hill’s dazzling “Wolverton Station,” in which a predatory businessman travels to England, and to a primal confrontation he could never have imagined. Elsewhere, a number of contributors revisit familiar, well-established themes and settings. Glen Cook’s “Smelling Danger” gives us a brand new chapter in the long-running annals of The Black Company. “The Passion of Mother Vajpai” is a story of exotic — and erotic — initiation set against the backdrop of Jay Lake’s novel Green. Kelley Armstrong reenters the Otherworld with “Chivalrous,” the account of a devious — and long-delayed — act of revenge.

And there’s more, much more, including a hallucinatory portrait of guilt, angst, and drug-fueled violence by Caitlin R. Kiernan, and an affecting reflection on love, death, and acceptance by Steven R. Boyett. These stories, together with first-rate work by the likes of K.J. Parker and Norman Partridge, offer provocative, sometimes visceral entertainment. As this rich, rewarding volume amply demonstrates, the tale of dark fantasy is alive and thriving, and continues to develop in new and unexpected ways...

FORMAT/INFO: Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2 is 292 pages long divided over eleven stories by eleven different authors. Publication date is April 2011 via Subterranean Press with the anthology available as a fully cloth bound hardcover trade edition and a signed leatherbound/custom slipcased edition limited to 250 numbered copies. The limited edition will also feature exclusive full color art not available in the trade edition and a chapbook by Joe R. Lansdale which includes two original short stories (over 15,000 words): “The Case of the Lighthouse Shambler” and “The Case of the Stalking Shadow”. The tales mark the beginning of a new series featuring supernatural sleuth Dana Roberts. Cover art is once again provided by Dave McKean.

ANALYSIS: As far as anthologies go, Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy may have fallen on the short end of the spectrum with only eleven entries — and not all of them of the same quality — but for the most part, the book offered readers a diverse and rewarding selection of stories penned by an impressive mix of established authors and exciting new talent. Looking to improve upon the successful formula that was established in the first anthology, Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2 is certainly longer than its predecessor, featuring an additional 20,000 words of content despite containing the same number of stories, but is it any better?

1) “Wolverton Station” by Joe Hill. What better way to start off an anthology that explores the darker side of fiction than a story by the critically-acclaimed, award-winning author Joe Hill? Or at least that’s what I thought upon opening the book. Unfortunately, while “Wolverton Station” is written with the author’s usual skill and keen insight, the story itself — a Twilight Zone-like tale about an American businessman specializing in franchise expansion who one day finds himself on a train with passengers that are anthropomorphic wolves/werewolves — was a letdown. In fact, “Wolverton Station” is one of the weakest Joe Hill short stories I’ve read, and a disappointing start to the anthology.

2) “The Passion of Mother Vajpai” by Jay Lake and Shannon Page. “Wolverton Station” may have been a disappointment, but “The Passion of Mother Vajpai” certainly made up for it. Set in the same world as Jay Lake’s fantasy novel, Green, “The Passion of Mother Vajpai” is the story of an aspirant who is only a test away from becoming a Lily Blade. Normally, the Seventh Petal involves killing someone, but in this particular case, the aspirant must attend a banquet and deliver a message to the master of the house. Of course the test is not nearly as simple as it sounds, and what follows is a passionate and poignant tale of seduction, love and regret. Now I haven’t read Green yet, but after reading “The Passion of Mother Vajpai”, I definitely want to. As far as Shannon Page, I’ve never heard of the author before, but if she’s even half as talented as Jay Lake, then I need to become more acquainted with her work.

3) “Chivalrous” by Kelley Armstrong. For every anthology I’ve read that included Kelley Armstrong, her contribution always ended up being one of the better stories in the book. This is also true with “Chivalrous”, an Otherworld story about a werewolf just trying to live a normal life, who then becomes involved in a romantic relationship that leads to heartbreak, tragedy, and revenge. Admittedly, “Chivalrous” is a familiar tale with a twist that is fairly easy to predict, but the writing and execution is sharp with the short story serving as yet another reminder that I should be reading more of Kelley Armstrong’s books...

4) “Smelling Danger” by Glen Cook. “Smelling Danger” is basically a sequel to “Tides Elba,” which can be found in the Swords & Dark Magic anthology by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan. Like “Tides Elba,” “Smelling Danger” is short on action and heavy on dialogue, banter and things not being what they seem, with the actual plot covering matters that were left unresolved in “Tides Elba” including the mysterious disappearance of the sorcerers One-Eye and Goblin, and incriminating evidence against the Taken Limper. As a fan of the series, I enjoyed the short story even though it’s not one of Glen Cook’s stronger efforts, but for readers unfamiliar with The Black Company, “Smelling Danger” is not a good place to start...

5) “The Dappled Thing” by William Browning Spencer. When was the last time you could say you read a story that channeled H.G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling and H.P. Lovecraft all at the same time? Well that’s exactly what readers can expect with William Browning Spencer’s “The Dappled Thing”, an elegantly written story - “a palpable evil, a malevolent spirit, had settled in his mind with the authority of truth, bringing with it a suffocating terror, a need to run, to flee, but robbing him of volition” - about an aged explorer sent on a mission to rescue a lord’s daughter, the mechanical sphere with tentacles that Sir Bertram Rudge uses for transportation, and a nameless horror that haunts the jungle natives...

6) “Not Last Night But the Night Before” by Steven R. Boyett. Michael can see people’s deaths. Not dead people. Not when a person is going to die or how, but their deaths, which is kind of like a diminished reflection or shadow of a person that is always hanging around, even though it may be entertaining itself by reading the newspaper or watching teevee. Why Michael has this ability isn’t important. What’s important is what happens to Michael after he starts seeing people’s deaths. After he watches someone die and learns the reason his death is always following him. And after he meets Hayley, a nurse who can also see people’s deaths. The end result is a uniquely touching and contemplative examination on life and death...

7) “Hydraguros” by Caitlin R. Kiernan. I love reading Caitlin R. Kiernan’s fiction, I really do, but sadly, “Hydraguros” was one of the author’s weaker offerings. At first I was intrigued by the mystery about the silver liquid and the gritty, hard-boiled narrative: “Nothing pisses me off worse or quicker than some bastard spinning off the rails, running around with that first-person shooter mentality that, more often than not, turns a simple, straight-up hit into a bloodbath. And that is precisely the brand of unnecessary crimson pageantry that me and Joey the Kike have just spent the last three hours mopping up.” But then there was the dream and the obvious reason behind it and the story’s sudden ending, which quickly turned my interest into disappointment...

8) “The Parthenopean Scalpel” by Bruce Sterling. Best known as a co-founder of cyberpunk, Bruce Sterling’s inclusion in Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2 was a bit surprising. Even more surprising was the story he contributed, about an Italian terrorist called “the Scalpel” who takes refuge in Tuscany after a political assassination, where he falls in love with a two-headed woman and crosses paths with an enemy he calls “the Transylvanian.” Sounds interesting, right? Unfortunately, there are so many different ingredients stirring in the pot that I had a hard time figuring out what “The Parthenopean Scalpel” was supposed to be: a love story, a historical fiction set during the First Italian Independence War in 1848, a vampire tale? If Sterling had done more to flesh out the story’s many different elements, then perhaps “The Parthenopean Scalpel” could have been something really special. Instead, “The Parthenopean Scalpel” is a disjointed and ultimately unsatisfying reading experience.

9) “A Pulp Called Joe” by David Prill. You’ve heard this story before. Boy falls for girl who is out of his league, but still thinks he has a chance. But then the old boyfriend — “Mr. Perfect” in every way imaginable — shows up and complicates matters. What happens next is inevitable right? Perhaps in a romance film. Except, “A Pulp Called Joe” is no ordinary tale of romance. Instead, David Prill’s story takes place in a town where the people’s skin has turned into paper. The boy of this story is a lowly pulp with untrimmed edges and mildew growing behind his ears while the girl of his dreams, Penelope, is a vellum: “She looked like a supple limited edition, flawless vellum with printed silk panels. I blushed when my eyes drifted down to her peach endpapers.” So even though the plot and themes in “A Pulp Called Joe” are familiar ones, the unique setting transforms an otherwise ordinary story into something extraordinary...

10) “Vampire Lake” by Norman Partridge. One complaint I had about the first Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy was the anthology’s lack of horror. As a result, I was pleased to see Norman Partridge’s inclusion in the new volume. After all, the author is considered a master of dark fiction, and after reading “Vampire Lake”, it’s easy to see why. Combining horror and fantasy within a gritty Western setting — think Jonah Hex meets Preacher meets John Carpenter — Norman Partridge’s unapologetically dark, violent and bloody tale about a bounty killer, a blacksmith, a dynamite man, a preacher and a boy who possesses the second sight, and their suicidal quest to reach Vampire Lake and the vampire queen that resides there, is wickedly entertaining. Easily my favorite story in the anthology.

11) “A Room With a View” by K.J. Parker. Despite repeated efforts, K.J. Parker’s novels have never managed to maintain my interest. The author’s short fiction on the other hand, has been a joy to read and “A Room With a View” is no exception. The story itself concerns an underachieving wizard sent on a menial job inspecting dogs for demonic possession and mentoring a student, only to become involved in matters much more personal and tragic than he ever suspected. “A Room With a View” is probably not the story I would have chosen to conclude the anthology, but it’s a fun read nonetheless, thanks mostly to the story’s humor, imagination and deception...

CONCLUSION: So is Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2 any better than its predecessor? Well, that depends. The anthology is certainly more consistent in quality from beginning to end, with no stories that are only three pages long, or that were noticeably weaker than the others, or were not faithful to the theme. On the contrary, every single story in the anthology is well crafted and skillfully written, brings something different to the table, and is rewarding in its own unique way. So in that regard, Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2 does indeed show improvement over the first anthology.

On the other hand, there is not a single story in the anthology that I would consider a ‘must-read’, except maybe for Norman Partridge’s “Vampire Lake”, while accomplished authors like Joe Hill, Glen Cook and Caitlin R. Kiernan fail to bring their ‘A’ game. Furthermore, I still believe the anthology could have benefited from a few additional stories. There are certainly plenty of authors out there who fit the bill after all, including Clive Barker, Laird Barron, Alan Campbell, Ramsey Campbell, Mike Carey, Steven Erikson, Neil Gaiman, Christopher Golden, Brian Keene, Sarah Langan, Tim Lebbon, China Miéville, Ekaterina Sedia, Catherynne M. Valente, Jeff VanderMeer and Conrad Williams just to name a few.

Regardless of these issues, Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2 maintains the diversity, creativeness and quality of the first volume, while showing enough improvement to easily justify a third Tales of Dark Fantasy. In the end, highly recommended for fans of the first anthology and anyone willing to explore the darker side of fiction... —Robert Thompson

Patrick St. Denis

Speculative Horizons — (2010) Publisher: Speculative fiction is wide in scope and styles, and Speculative Horizons showcases the talent and storytelling skills of five of the genre’s most imaginative voices:

In C. S. Friedman’s “Soul Mate,” it’s love at first sight for Josie at the arts and crafts festival when she meets the handsome Stephan Mayeaux. It all sounds too good to be true until her newfound boyfriend starts to act strangely and unexplained occurrences begin to take place around her.
In Tobias S. Buckell’s “The Eve of the Fall of Habesh,” contragnartii Jazim must carry out one final assignment before the armies of the Sea People lay waste to the city he loves.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. returns to the universe of his bestselling Recluce saga in “The Stranger.” A young herder’s existence will be forever changed by the unexpected arrival of the black-clad man recounting tales of angels living on the summit of the Roof of the World.
In “Flint,” Brian Ruckley introduces us to a young and inexperienced shaman who must venture into the spirit world to discover the source of the sickness which afflicts his tribe before they are all wiped out.
Talk to any cop working for Homicide, Narcotics, or Vice, and they’ll tell you that they get the worst cases imaginable. But in Hal Duncan’s “The Death of a Love,” you realize that they have nothing on Erocide

Speculative Horizons

Speculative Horizons is a lovely little anthology edited by book blogger Patrick St. Denis (of Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist fame). When the good people at Subterranean Press asked him whether he’d be interested in editing a short story collection, he understandably jumped on the idea (who wouldn’t?!), but asked that a portion of the proceeds be donated to breast cancer research. Not only is this an absolutely wonderful initiative, but it also means that you now have an excellent chance to buy a book and actually feel good about it.

This 128 page anthology contains five short stories by authors whose names many people who are interested in speculative fiction will instantly recognize: Celia S. Friedman, Tobias Buckell, L.E. Modesitt Jr., Brian Ruckley and Hal Duncan. Each story has a brief introduction by its author, and the book closes with an afterword by editor Patrick St. Denis, giving the reader a fun glimpse into the writing process and the making of this anthology. On to the stories!

The book opens strongly with Celia S. Friedman’s “Soul Mates,” a subtly terrifying story about a woman who falls in love with Stephan Mayeaux, a handsome stranger who seems almost too good to be true... until he starts behaving oddly. While this is probably the least substantial story in the collection, it does a wonderful job creating a menacing atmosphere right from the start.

Next up is Tobias Buckell’s “The Eve of the Fall of Habesh,” easily the strongest story in the collection. In the city of Habesh, magic is quite common — but using it removes a little bit of the caster’s life force. As a result, the city is filled with child-beggars resembling progeria victims — an image that’s going to stay with me for quite a while. The story’s main character is the corrupt contragnartii Jazim, an enforcer who is tasked with removing the magical abilities of anyone violating the rulers’ precepts. On the eve of a possibly devastating invasion by the Sea People, Jazim has to carry out one final assignment... This story has a beautifully melancholy atmosphere and one of the most interesting settings I’ve ever encountered in such a short piece of fiction. If there’s anything wrong with this story, it’s that it’s too short. Mr. Buckell, please consider writing a novel or, even better, a trilogy set in this fantasy world.

The middle story in the anthology comes courtesy of L.E. Modesitt Jr. and is set in the world of his highly successful Saga of Recluce. Confession: I am a big fan of the author, but I’ve only had the chance to read 4 books in this 15+ book series. One day soon, I will take a few months off and read the entire series. This story made me want to do this sooner rather than later.

Brian Ruckley’s “Flint” is a delicate story about a young shaman in prehistoric times, who is trying to win acceptance from his community after his mentor, the previous shaman, dies. While this is an enjoyable read, it’s probably the weakest story in the collection, although readers with an interest in prehistoric fiction will probably disagree with me.

Closing out the collection is Hal Duncan’s “The Death of a Love,” which is in essence a long, bitter monologue by a detective in the Erocide police department. This is really more a concept than a story, and it probably could have been trimmed by a few pages, but regardless — this is one of those stories you’ll never forget, and you’ll never look at images of Cupid the same way again.

And there you have it: five short stories ranging from good to stunning, and the chance to help support breast cancer research. Order your copy from Subterranean Press today. —Stefan Raets

Jonathan Strahan has been moved to our Jonathan Strahan page.

Gordon Van Gelder

The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology — (2009)
Publisher: Collecting more than two dozen stories that originally appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction — the premiere speculative fiction magazine — this extraordinary anthology celebrates 60 years of top-notch genre fiction. Including “All Summer in a Day,” Ray Bradbury’s lasting tale of what happened on one special day; “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, describing what happened to Charlie Gordon when he was made into a genius; “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut’s absurdist cautionary tale of mandatory equality; and “The Electric Ant” by Philip K. Dick, concerning what Garson Poole learned after the accident that hospitalized him. This remarkable collection also features some of the most highly acclaimed, award-winning authors, including Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison, Shirley Jackson, Peter S. Beagle, Karen Joy Fowler, Ursula K. Le Guin, Theodore Sturgeon, and Roger Zelazny. Hand-picked by the magazine’s current editor, this is an unmatched assemblage of appealing, first-rate fiction.

The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology

The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology is an excellent collection of 23 stories picked from the treasure trove of short fiction that's been published in the eponymous magazine over the past 60 years. Editor Gordon Van Gelder — also the editor of the magazine since 1997 — has done an admirable job, picking stories that illustrate the diversity of both the genre and the magazine. As such, this is a great anthology for SF&F fans as well as newcomers looking for a taste.

The line-up of authors in this collection looks like a veritable Who's Who of speculative fiction: Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Stephen King, Roger Zelazny, Ursula K. Le Guin, Neil Gaiman — just to name a few of the most famous ones. What's even more impressive is the fact that all the stories collected here saw their first publication in the magazine. It really gave me pause when I realized that a towering classic such as "Flowers From Algernon" by Daniel Keyes first appeared in this digest-sized magazine (and if you haven't read that story yet, you have at least one perfect reason to get this anthology right now!). Every story is preceded by a brief and thoughtful editorial note, often highlighting its author's involvement with the magazine.

The quality of these stories is, as could be expected, almost uniformly excellent. Stand-outs for me were: the previously mentioned "Flowers For Algernon" which is about a mentally retarded man who gains a brief period of brilliance via a scientific experiment; "Solitude" by Ursula K. Le Guin, an exquisite and touching story set in her Hainish Cycle; "Creation" by Jeffrey Ford, about a young boy's attempt to create life; and "Mother Grasshopper" by Michael Swanwick, about how a far-future civilization becomes reintroduced to death. If I could give these stories individual ratings, they'd all have five stars by their names, with the majority of the others getting a solid four stars. The only disappointment for me was "Buffalo" by John Kessel, a reverie about a fictional meeting between the author's father and H.G. Wells.

By the numbers: out of the 23 stories collected here, I'd call 12 solidly science fiction, 6 definitely fantasy, 1 horror, and the rest hard to place but trending towards the fantastical. Included in that last category is Harlan Ellison's "The Deathbird", which is more or less a genre of its own and one of the oddest things I've read in years. The stories are spread out across the six decades of the magazine's existence, although strangely enough not a single story from the eighties was included. The earlier part of the anthology is predominantly science fiction, and as fantasy became more popular over the years, more stories of that genre appear towards the end of the collection. The only real "high fantasy" story included here is Peter S. Beagle's "Two Hearts," in which the author revisits his classic The Last Unicorn. In terms of length, the stories vary from barely 3 pages (Neil Gaiman's "The Others," a terrifying vision of hell) to Stephen King's 44 page story "The Gunslinger," one of the 5 stories that make up the novel of the same name, originally serialized in the magazine.

Another number, and one that might raise an eyebrow, is 5: the number of female authors represented here, compared to 18 male authors. Also, some readers may look for one or more legendary stories from the magazine that unfortunately aren't represented here. My personal pick would be to add Fritz Leiber's "Ill Met in Lankhmar" novella, originally published in F&SF Magazine and certainly one of its classic — and now sadly underappreciated — stories.

Still, it's easy to second-guess almost any anthology, let alone one that attempts to span the life of one of the most revered magazines in speculative fiction. When all's said and done, this is undeniably an excellent collection of stories — one that will give readers a great look at the history of F&SF Magazine and, in doing so, the history of the entire genre. It's possible that some reader will already be familiar with many of these stories, but if you aren't, The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology is practically a must-read. Highly recommended. —Stefan Raets

Jason M. Waltz

The Return of the Sword — (2008) Publisher: The Return of the Sword is a brand new anthology of blood-pounding, spine-tingling stories by some of fantasy's most critically acclaimed Sword and Sorcery authors. Stacey Berg, Bill Ward, Phil Emery, Jeff Draper, Nicholas Ian Hawkins, David Pitchford, Ty Johnston, Jeff Stewart, Angeline Hawkes, Robert Rhodes, E.E. Knight, James Enge, Michael Ehart, Thomas M. MacKay, Christopher Heath, Nathan Meyer, S.C. Bryce, Allen B. Lloyd, William Clunie, Steve Goble, Bruce Durham, and Harold Lamb present you with enough fast paced adventure to keep you reading for hours. A hand painted, wrap around cover by fantasy artist Johnney Perkins ensures that The Return of the Sword will not only be enjoyable to read, but also look good on your coffee table or bookshelf. Too long have the halls of fantasy been dominated by packs of weak-kneed elves hunting goblins and doughty dwarves mining for gold. Return now to the days of true adventure. Unsheath your sword and enter if you dare!

review The Return of the Sword fantasy anthology The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure

I read and have read a lot of anthologies. They’re great for “in-between-books-reading” and are perfect when you just want a story that you can start and finish in one sitting. Anthologies are also a great source for sampling different writers.

Jason M Waltz did a great job of picking out the stories to use for The Return of the Sword. Except for only one or two stories (even the ones that weren’t particularly something to my personal taste) I found these to be very well and interestingly written.

The Return of the Sword contains twenty sword-and-sorcery tales — too many for me to summarize and rate individually here. I’d say most of the stories fall between 3 and 4 stars, but my personal favorites — "The Battle of Raven Kill" by Jeff Draper, "To Be A Man" by (FanLit’s own) Robert Rhodes, "The Hand that Holds The Crown" by Nathan Meyer, and "The Mask Oath" by Steve Goble are each an easy 5 stars and then some. In fact, I’d buy this book for those stories alone. And I’d venture to say that most any fan of fantasy literature will find something to their liking in this book.

I highly recommend The Return of the Sword to anyone who appreciates a straight-forward adventurous tale, and I applaud the effort to present some quality sword & sorcery tales in a market where the sub-genre seems all but forgotten. I hope more publishers will follow suit and give us more new S & S books. —Greg Hersom

Yanni Kuznia

A Fantasy Medley — (2009) Publisher: A Fantasy Medley features the superlative storytelling abilities of four diverse authors:

In "Zen and the Art of Vampirism," Zoe Takano, the only vampire in Toronto, a city filled with supernatural creatures of Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld, finds her place in the hierarchy threatened by two interlopers.
"Riding the Shore of the River of Death" returns us to the world of Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars. Kareka, daughter of the begh of the Kirshat, hunts to take a man's head. It is her last opportunity to prove herself as a man or else she will find herself restricted to the role of woman and wife in the clan forever.
Robin Hobb revisits her Farseer world in "Words Like Coins." Mirrifen, a failed hedge-witch's apprentice who has married to find security finds that threatened by a severe drought and the appearance of a pregnant female pecksie.
C.E. Murphy takes us to frozen Moscow in "From Russia, with Love." Baba Yaga's daughter is a barmaid at a dive when Janx and Eliseo Daisani walk in. They discover, as they compete for the girl's affections, that Baba Yaga has plans for Janx and that her beautiful daughter had merely been the bait.

A Fantasy Medley

FORMAT/INFO: A Fantasy Medley is 136 pages long divided over four short stories and is published by Subterranean Press in two editions: A fully clothbound hardcover limited to 3000 copies and a numbered hardcover limited to 200 copies and signed by the authors and editor. Dust jacket by Kristy Doherty.

ANALYSIS:

1) “Zen and the Art of Vampirism” by Kelley Armstrong. “Zen and the Art of Vampirism” is an urban fantasy tale with all of the usual trimmings including a female protagonist, a contemporary setting, supernatural elements, humor, etc. The story is actually pretty interesting and follows a lesbian Japanese vampire who uses wits instead of violence to prevent two other vampires from running her out of town. To be honest, I’m starting to get bored of the whole urban fantasy craze and didn’t expect to enjoy this story very much. Instead though, Ms. Armstrong’s contribution was a pleasant surprise and made me interested in checking out more of the author’s work.

2) “Riding the Shore of the River of Death” by Kate Elliott. “Riding the Shore of the River of Death” is set in the world of Kate Elliott’s epic Crown of Stars saga, but generations later, so it’s not necessary for readers to be familiar with the series. However, for those who have read the books, “Riding the Shore of the River of Death” offers some nice treats including the Quman, stone circles, griffin feathers and references to Prince Sanglant, Bulkezu, and Liath. The story itself — which is told in the third-person by Kereka, a begh’s daughter who wishes to live a man’s life — follows Kereka and two other boys on their Quman rite of passage to manhood. During their journey they are captured by a witch. Eventually Prince Vayek, Kereka’s betrothed, comes to their rescue, but Kereka seeks a different kind of liberation… This story was kind of slow for me, but it was nice revisiting the Crown of Stars setting. Plus, as expected, the story was well written and offers a solid glimpse at Elliott’s writing abilities including strong characterization and world-building.

3) “From Russia, with Love” by C.E. Murphy. “From Russia, with Love” is an Old Races tale, the setting for the author’s Negotiator trilogy, and features a couple of familiar faces from the series in the dragon Janx and the vampire Daisani. The plot concerns the daughter of Baba Yaga — a fearsome witch of Russian folklore — who catches the attention of both Janx and Daisani. Unfortunately, they catch the attention of Baba Yaga. Though falling under the urban fantasy/paranormal romance umbrella, “From Russia, with Love” reads more like a fairy tale and shines with elegant prose and creative magic. Easily the highlight of the anthology.

4) “Words Like Coins” by Robin Hobb. “Words Like Coins” returns readers to the author’s popular Realm of the Elderlings setting, but like Kate Elliott’s story, it’s not necessary to be familiar with Hobb’s previous work. In fact, readers will be hard-pressed to find anything recognizable from the Farseer/Liveship Traders milieu. Instead, “Words Like Coins” is basically a YA-friendly fable about being typecast and the power of words. Cleverly written with a timeless moral lesson, “Words Like Coins” was my second favorite story in A Fantasy Medley.

CONCLUSION: Serving as both a delicious indulgence for those readers already familiar with the authors and an enticing appetizer for those who are not, A Fantasy Medley is a successful and diverse glimpse at the magic and wonders that fantasy has to offer. My only complaint with the anthology is that it was so short... but as with anything that brings pleasure, I never wanted A Fantasy Medley to end.
—Robert Thompson

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