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Lord Ermenwyr
Year's Best Fantasy 8
The legendary editing team of David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer return with the much-anticipated eighth installment of their popular anthology series showcasing the best-selling authors and rising stars of fantasy fiction. This engaging volume collects the essential fantasy stories of 2007. Representing the breadth of talent in the fantasy genre and collecting each year’s most outstanding stories, the Year’s Best Fantasy series continues to be the definitive treasury of fantasy fiction.
375 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2008
About the author
David G. Hartwell
115 books99 followersDavid Geddes Hartwell was an American editor of science fiction and fantasy. He worked for Signet (1971-1973), Berkley Putnam (1973-1978), Pocket (where he founded the Timescape imprint, 1978-1983, and created the Pocket Books Star Trek publishing line), and Tor (where he spearheaded Tor's Canadian publishing initiative, and was also influential in bringing many Australian writers to the US market, 1984-date), and has published numerous anthologies. He chaired the board of directors of the World Fantasy Convention and, with Gordon Van Gelder, was the administrator of the Philip K. Dick Award. He held a Ph.D. in comparative medieval literature.
He lived in Pleasantville, New York with his wife Kathryn Cramer and their two children.
He lived in Pleasantville, New York with his wife Kathryn Cramer and their two children.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 13, 2014
I apologize in advance for the length of this review. This is a collection of the "Year's Best Fantasy" for 2007. Overall the collection was pretty dark fantasy. I definitely enjoyed it and I look forward to reading books by authors I discovered here. For a more accurate review (and for my own future recollection), I feel like I have to review all 23 stories contained within this book. Again, I apologize, and don't feel like you have to read all of this.
"Paper Cuts Scissors: by Holly Black--4 stars--The main character's girlfriend folds herself inside a book during an argument. Of course the guy feels guilty and tries to find someone who can get her out. This idea was original to me, so I enjoyed it.
"A Portrait in Ivory" by Michael Moorcock--2 stars--Some elvish kind of guy has his portrait carved into dragon ivory. I don't know the Eternal Champion cycle this is based on, so it doesn't make sense to me. Fans of the bigger work would surely enjoy this one though.
"The Witch's Headstone" by Neil Gaiman--4 stars--A live boy living in a graveyard and being taken care of by the ghosts there accidentally meets the witch buried just outside the fence. Trouble follows. I like Gaiman and I liked this story. The introduction says the story is "perhaps part of a novel in progress." I hope so. I would read it. Who wouldn't love a boy named Nobody Owens?
"The Ruby Incomparable" by Kage Baker--5 stars--The daughter of the evil Master of Mountains and the Saint of the World learns magic and rejects all her mother has to teach. But does she have something to learn from her mother after all? This was more my kind of fantasy. Not too dark, full of magic, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. I enjoyed this one enough that I'll be looking for Baker's books.
"And Such Small Deer" by Chris Roberson--4 stars--The introduction to this one says that it's based on a line from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire." "'Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young woman, Watson,' said Holmes in a reminiscent voice. 'It was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.'" This story mixed up characters from several different works in unexpected ways. I enjoyed it.
"Unpossible" by Daryl Gregory--3 stars--A middle-aged man who's lost everything that matters tries to find his way back to Neverland. Again, this story has references to several other childhood works sprinkled throughout, but it was a little dark and depressing.
"Winter's Wife" by Elizabeth Hand--4 stars--A man meets a woman from Iceland online and eventually marries her and brings her home to Maine. She does some pretty inexplainable, protector-of-the-forest things. I liked the "green" tint to this story, but it was a little dark also.
"The King of the Djinn" by David Ackert and Benjamin Rosenbaum--3 stars--A Muslim man is befriended by the king of the djinn. The king eventually grants him a wish. This is a precautionary "Be careful what you wish for" tale set in the Middle East. There's a lot to think about in this little story, but it was a little too real and dark for me.
"Stilled Life" by Pat Cadigan--5 stars. A girl who likes to busk as a human statue gets a little too good at what she does. This was very creepy. I would have probably placed it in more of a light horror collection than a fantasy collection, but I'm a fan of both, so I enjoyed it.
"Poison" by Bruce McAllister--4 stars--A boy's cat is poisoned and he blames the "witch" who lives next door. But it's always easier to blame people when we don't know their stories. This one was pretty creepy also.
"Who Slays the Gyant, Wounds the Beast" by Mark Chadbourn--4 stars--Queen Elizabeth I's favorite poet is in love with the imprisoned Queen of the Fairies, causing more trouble between the two worlds. I like fairies and historical fiction. This combination worked well.
"Under the Bottom of the Lake" by Jeffrey Ford--3 stars--The author writes about the thoughts a writer has as he tells the story of a story that has never been heard, housed in a rose-colored bubble under the bottom of the lake. I liked the form, but the story within the story didn't do much for me.
"A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or the Devil's Ninth Question" by Andy Duncan--3 stars--A foundling girl growing up in a sort of freak show runs away into the world on the back side of the show's "Diorama of the Infernal Regions." She finds many wonderful things there, from ghosts to the devil's son-in-law to her own true nature. I think the problem with this story was that there was enough within it to make a really good novel. It was just frustrating as a short story.
"Don't Ask" by M. Rickert--1 star--The sons of a town are kidnapped by the wolves. When the sons eventually come back, they are not the same sons who left. The townspeople want someone to blame. All I can say about this is that I didn't like it. The introduction points out that the story is probably actually about war and compares it to "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. I didn't like that when I had to read it in high school either.
"The Stranger's Hands" by Tad Williams--4 stars--Two strangers wander into the woods close to a little village and set up camp there. The villagers eventually discover that the big, silent stranger can sometimes grant a person's heart's desire. His fame spreads throughout the land. Again, this was my kind of fantasy, good vs evil, magic, the whole works.
"Soul Case" by Nalo Hopkins--2 stars--A little village defends itself from an advancing army with the help of three witches. But there is always a price to be paid. The biggest factor in deciding whether I like what I read is plot. There wasn't much actual plot to this story. Someone who like ideas more would probably enjoy it.
"Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again" by Garth Nix--4 stars--The two main characters travel around as mercenaries, but there's more to their quest than meets the eye. More high fantasy with magic, gods, swordplay, and mysterious quests. My kind of story.
"Debatable Lands" by Liz Williams--2 stars--A warrior sees a terrifying star-beast as his quest. Trouble follows. This was a fantasy/science fiction hybrid. I'm not that into science fiction, and the plot was a little vague. It just wasn't for me.
"The Forest" by Laird Barron--2 stars--A cinematographer goes to visit his old entomologist friend and an old flame. There's not much more to say without giving away anything. It was just too much of an "end of the world as we know it" kind of story.
"The Great White Bed" by Don Webb--2 stars--How would you like to be read by a book? That's what happens to a 13-year-old boy one summer when he's taking care of his increasingly-senile grandfather. Uber-creepy. I didn't like it.
"Dance of Shadows" by Fred Chappell--4 stars--In a world where shadows are collected like artwork, a master of collecting is hired by a master collector to find the person who cast the most exquisite shadow in his collection. A little mystery mixed in with some high fantasy. I liked it. I'll probably look for more of Chappell's work.
"Grander Than the Sea" by T.A. Pratt--5 stars--In the hidden wizarding world, there's an asylum for insane sorcerors. One of the sorcerors asks to see the city's guardian, Marla Mason, a woman whose existence he shouldn't even be aware of. She meets with him and learns of a plot to destroy "the world as we know it." This one was actually pretty funny. I'll be looking for Pratt's books also.
"Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon" by Theodora Goss--5 stars--The other one of my two favorite stories in this collection. Princess Lucinda isn't exactly happy as a princess. Strange events occur that do lead to her happiness. I love Neil Gaiman's Stardust. This had that same sort of fairytale feeling without all the sugar.
"Paper Cuts Scissors: by Holly Black--4 stars--The main character's girlfriend folds herself inside a book during an argument. Of course the guy feels guilty and tries to find someone who can get her out. This idea was original to me, so I enjoyed it.
"A Portrait in Ivory" by Michael Moorcock--2 stars--Some elvish kind of guy has his portrait carved into dragon ivory. I don't know the Eternal Champion cycle this is based on, so it doesn't make sense to me. Fans of the bigger work would surely enjoy this one though.
"The Witch's Headstone" by Neil Gaiman--4 stars--A live boy living in a graveyard and being taken care of by the ghosts there accidentally meets the witch buried just outside the fence. Trouble follows. I like Gaiman and I liked this story. The introduction says the story is "perhaps part of a novel in progress." I hope so. I would read it. Who wouldn't love a boy named Nobody Owens?
"The Ruby Incomparable" by Kage Baker--5 stars--The daughter of the evil Master of Mountains and the Saint of the World learns magic and rejects all her mother has to teach. But does she have something to learn from her mother after all? This was more my kind of fantasy. Not too dark, full of magic, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. I enjoyed this one enough that I'll be looking for Baker's books.
"And Such Small Deer" by Chris Roberson--4 stars--The introduction to this one says that it's based on a line from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire." "'Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young woman, Watson,' said Holmes in a reminiscent voice. 'It was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.'" This story mixed up characters from several different works in unexpected ways. I enjoyed it.
"Unpossible" by Daryl Gregory--3 stars--A middle-aged man who's lost everything that matters tries to find his way back to Neverland. Again, this story has references to several other childhood works sprinkled throughout, but it was a little dark and depressing.
"Winter's Wife" by Elizabeth Hand--4 stars--A man meets a woman from Iceland online and eventually marries her and brings her home to Maine. She does some pretty inexplainable, protector-of-the-forest things. I liked the "green" tint to this story, but it was a little dark also.
"The King of the Djinn" by David Ackert and Benjamin Rosenbaum--3 stars--A Muslim man is befriended by the king of the djinn. The king eventually grants him a wish. This is a precautionary "Be careful what you wish for" tale set in the Middle East. There's a lot to think about in this little story, but it was a little too real and dark for me.
"Stilled Life" by Pat Cadigan--5 stars. A girl who likes to busk as a human statue gets a little too good at what she does. This was very creepy. I would have probably placed it in more of a light horror collection than a fantasy collection, but I'm a fan of both, so I enjoyed it.
"Poison" by Bruce McAllister--4 stars--A boy's cat is poisoned and he blames the "witch" who lives next door. But it's always easier to blame people when we don't know their stories. This one was pretty creepy also.
"Who Slays the Gyant, Wounds the Beast" by Mark Chadbourn--4 stars--Queen Elizabeth I's favorite poet is in love with the imprisoned Queen of the Fairies, causing more trouble between the two worlds. I like fairies and historical fiction. This combination worked well.
"Under the Bottom of the Lake" by Jeffrey Ford--3 stars--The author writes about the thoughts a writer has as he tells the story of a story that has never been heard, housed in a rose-colored bubble under the bottom of the lake. I liked the form, but the story within the story didn't do much for me.
"A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or the Devil's Ninth Question" by Andy Duncan--3 stars--A foundling girl growing up in a sort of freak show runs away into the world on the back side of the show's "Diorama of the Infernal Regions." She finds many wonderful things there, from ghosts to the devil's son-in-law to her own true nature. I think the problem with this story was that there was enough within it to make a really good novel. It was just frustrating as a short story.
"Don't Ask" by M. Rickert--1 star--The sons of a town are kidnapped by the wolves. When the sons eventually come back, they are not the same sons who left. The townspeople want someone to blame. All I can say about this is that I didn't like it. The introduction points out that the story is probably actually about war and compares it to "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. I didn't like that when I had to read it in high school either.
"The Stranger's Hands" by Tad Williams--4 stars--Two strangers wander into the woods close to a little village and set up camp there. The villagers eventually discover that the big, silent stranger can sometimes grant a person's heart's desire. His fame spreads throughout the land. Again, this was my kind of fantasy, good vs evil, magic, the whole works.
"Soul Case" by Nalo Hopkins--2 stars--A little village defends itself from an advancing army with the help of three witches. But there is always a price to be paid. The biggest factor in deciding whether I like what I read is plot. There wasn't much actual plot to this story. Someone who like ideas more would probably enjoy it.
"Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again" by Garth Nix--4 stars--The two main characters travel around as mercenaries, but there's more to their quest than meets the eye. More high fantasy with magic, gods, swordplay, and mysterious quests. My kind of story.
"Debatable Lands" by Liz Williams--2 stars--A warrior sees a terrifying star-beast as his quest. Trouble follows. This was a fantasy/science fiction hybrid. I'm not that into science fiction, and the plot was a little vague. It just wasn't for me.
"The Forest" by Laird Barron--2 stars--A cinematographer goes to visit his old entomologist friend and an old flame. There's not much more to say without giving away anything. It was just too much of an "end of the world as we know it" kind of story.
"The Great White Bed" by Don Webb--2 stars--How would you like to be read by a book? That's what happens to a 13-year-old boy one summer when he's taking care of his increasingly-senile grandfather. Uber-creepy. I didn't like it.
"Dance of Shadows" by Fred Chappell--4 stars--In a world where shadows are collected like artwork, a master of collecting is hired by a master collector to find the person who cast the most exquisite shadow in his collection. A little mystery mixed in with some high fantasy. I liked it. I'll probably look for more of Chappell's work.
"Grander Than the Sea" by T.A. Pratt--5 stars--In the hidden wizarding world, there's an asylum for insane sorcerors. One of the sorcerors asks to see the city's guardian, Marla Mason, a woman whose existence he shouldn't even be aware of. She meets with him and learns of a plot to destroy "the world as we know it." This one was actually pretty funny. I'll be looking for Pratt's books also.
"Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon" by Theodora Goss--5 stars--The other one of my two favorite stories in this collection. Princess Lucinda isn't exactly happy as a princess. Strange events occur that do lead to her happiness. I love Neil Gaiman's Stardust. This had that same sort of fairytale feeling without all the sugar.
January 28, 2021
The year of which this is the best fantasy is 2007 and the book was published in 2008, though I suppose it doesn't matter. Fantasy is pretty timeless.
'Paper Cuts Scissors' by Holly Black is about a library where the characters come out of the books and party. Our hero is trying to find his girlfriend who has put herself into a book. A bold premise, neatly handled.
'A Portrait in Ivory' by Michael Moorcock is about Elric having his portrait done in the aforesaid medium. My low opinion of this story is clearly not shared by editors as I keep coming across it in anthologies.
Like Moorcock, Neil Gaiman is a big name writer but I am not familiar with his work. Having read 'The Witch's Headstone' I will keep an eye out for it. This charming little tale of assorted characters living in a graveyard had wit, a plot and fine writing. The latter quality is common in this age of polished prose but the first two are often lacking.
In 'The Ruby Incomparable' a living saint and Goddess has married a brigand of a sorcerer, much to the consternation of the world at large. Kage Baker's story is about one of their daughters and despite its gaudy trappings is basically about Motherhood. And why not? Fantasy can be wedded to any theme and this had interesting characters and a mildly surprising conclusion. Apple pie, thankfully, was not mentioned.
In 'Such Small Deer' Chris Roberson takes a couple of well-loved characters from Victorian literature and makes a story from a throwaway line in Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire'. The hero is Abraham Van Helsing, the villain is a famous doctor whose identity is kept secret until the end. Good fun can be had exploiting characters now, presumably, in the public domain, as Alan Moore has shown.
Daryl Gregory wrote 'Unpossible' in both the second person and the present tense. Either one of these would prejudice me against the story but both together is too much. The story was okay but would have been better told the usual way, either first or third person. There is an awful lot of competition in the short story markets nowadays and some editors obviously like tricks that make you stand out. I first encountered this mode of telling in Gerry Conway's Spider-Man stories of the 1970s and I hated it instantly.
'Winter's Wife' by Elizabeth Hand was simply brilliant. An old-fashioned woodcutter named Winter gets himself a wife from Iceland on the internet. She is strange and very cool. At thirty pages this is practically a novelette and the telling is not rushed. The first person narration by a simple country lad is so well handled that it reminded me of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Excellent.
'Stilled Life' by Pat Cadigan is about a girl who does the living statue gig in Covent Garden and a mysterious Svengali who takes it to a whole new level. A strong sense of place and a sympathetic narrator made this a gentle pleasure.
'Poison' by Bruce McAllister is about an Italian witch and a boy. It was nice.
'Who Slays the Giant Wounds the Beast' by Mark Chadbourn is set in Elizabethan England. The Queen's top spy, Will Swyfte is trying to save Edmund Spenser from the Faerie Queen, who he loves madly. This was brilliantly imagined and well told. Definitely worth a look.
'Under the Bottom of the Lake' is a metafiction by Jeffrey Ford. Metafiction seems to consist of the writer telling you how he's making up the story as it goes along. If you've never met a fiction this is your chance and I hope you like it. I didn't. I am in agreement with the principle of experimental works being published - yea, even unto second person present tense narration - and this example had some merit with its rich vocabulary and clever prose but the general idea is not to my taste.
'A Diorama of the Infernal Regions' by Andy Duncan is an inventive fantasy full of lively language about an orphan girl and her dealings with a wizard and the Devil's son-in-law. Great fun and Tim Burton could make a brilliant film of it. At 28 pages I think its the second longest story here.
Missing boys come back as werewolves in M. Rickert's melancholy story 'Don't Ask'.
Two strangers appeared in the woods and a young boy's burning desire to go to the city was granted instantly when he clasped 'The Stranger's Hands'. Tad Williams fable of wish fulfilment is entertaining and has the air of a child's fairy tale.
'Paper Cuts Scissors' by Holly Black is about a library where the characters come out of the books and party. Our hero is trying to find his girlfriend who has put herself into a book. A bold premise, neatly handled.
'A Portrait in Ivory' by Michael Moorcock is about Elric having his portrait done in the aforesaid medium. My low opinion of this story is clearly not shared by editors as I keep coming across it in anthologies.
Like Moorcock, Neil Gaiman is a big name writer but I am not familiar with his work. Having read 'The Witch's Headstone' I will keep an eye out for it. This charming little tale of assorted characters living in a graveyard had wit, a plot and fine writing. The latter quality is common in this age of polished prose but the first two are often lacking.
In 'The Ruby Incomparable' a living saint and Goddess has married a brigand of a sorcerer, much to the consternation of the world at large. Kage Baker's story is about one of their daughters and despite its gaudy trappings is basically about Motherhood. And why not? Fantasy can be wedded to any theme and this had interesting characters and a mildly surprising conclusion. Apple pie, thankfully, was not mentioned.
In 'Such Small Deer' Chris Roberson takes a couple of well-loved characters from Victorian literature and makes a story from a throwaway line in Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire'. The hero is Abraham Van Helsing, the villain is a famous doctor whose identity is kept secret until the end. Good fun can be had exploiting characters now, presumably, in the public domain, as Alan Moore has shown.
Daryl Gregory wrote 'Unpossible' in both the second person and the present tense. Either one of these would prejudice me against the story but both together is too much. The story was okay but would have been better told the usual way, either first or third person. There is an awful lot of competition in the short story markets nowadays and some editors obviously like tricks that make you stand out. I first encountered this mode of telling in Gerry Conway's Spider-Man stories of the 1970s and I hated it instantly.
'Winter's Wife' by Elizabeth Hand was simply brilliant. An old-fashioned woodcutter named Winter gets himself a wife from Iceland on the internet. She is strange and very cool. At thirty pages this is practically a novelette and the telling is not rushed. The first person narration by a simple country lad is so well handled that it reminded me of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Excellent.
'Stilled Life' by Pat Cadigan is about a girl who does the living statue gig in Covent Garden and a mysterious Svengali who takes it to a whole new level. A strong sense of place and a sympathetic narrator made this a gentle pleasure.
'Poison' by Bruce McAllister is about an Italian witch and a boy. It was nice.
'Who Slays the Giant Wounds the Beast' by Mark Chadbourn is set in Elizabethan England. The Queen's top spy, Will Swyfte is trying to save Edmund Spenser from the Faerie Queen, who he loves madly. This was brilliantly imagined and well told. Definitely worth a look.
'Under the Bottom of the Lake' is a metafiction by Jeffrey Ford. Metafiction seems to consist of the writer telling you how he's making up the story as it goes along. If you've never met a fiction this is your chance and I hope you like it. I didn't. I am in agreement with the principle of experimental works being published - yea, even unto second person present tense narration - and this example had some merit with its rich vocabulary and clever prose but the general idea is not to my taste.
'A Diorama of the Infernal Regions' by Andy Duncan is an inventive fantasy full of lively language about an orphan girl and her dealings with a wizard and the Devil's son-in-law. Great fun and Tim Burton could make a brilliant film of it. At 28 pages I think its the second longest story here.
Missing boys come back as werewolves in M. Rickert's melancholy story 'Don't Ask'.
Two strangers appeared in the woods and a young boy's burning desire to go to the city was granted instantly when he clasped 'The Stranger's Hands'. Tad Williams fable of wish fulfilment is entertaining and has the air of a child's fairy tale.
December 13, 2017
A really nice, varied anthology with some great stories in it!
January 8, 2012
And yet another short story collection...I seem to quite like them lately.
This one is Year's Best Fantasy 8, edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, published in 2008.
Some highlights: (this is going to be a long list, because this is a truly excellent collection!)
Paper Cuts Scissors by Holly Black: a young man starts studying library science in order to find out how to get his girlfriend out of a book she put herself into after a fight. Obviously reminded me a lot of Inkheart, although this is a slighty more mature take on the subject. Really good.
A Portrai in Ivory by Michael Moorcock: an Elric story. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to read Elric with a certain irony or not...is the pretentious/pathetic attitude serious? I've never read a full Elric novel.
The Witch's Headstone by Neil Gaiman: a chapter of The Graveyard Book, published as a standalone short story. Young Bod decides to somehow get a headstone for a young witch who was killed and buried in the potter's field without a marker. Like the rest of the novel it belongs into, really good. (of course I'm a Neil fangirl, soo)
The Ruby Incomparable by Kage Baker: a story from the Anvil of the World universe, about one of the daughters of the Dark Lord and the Saint of the World. I really like the setting. It's heartbreaking that there won't be any more stories in this wonderful universe :(
Unpossible by Daryl Gregory: a story about what happens when you grow out of Narnia, or Neverland...really good but rather sad.
Stilled Life by Pat Cadigan. A story about a human statue performer who runs into bad company...really creepy.
Under the Bottom of the Lake by Jeffrey Ford: a metafictional account of how to write a fantasy story. Quite nicely done.
A Diorama of the Infernal Regions by Andy Duncan: an orphan working at a Victorian freakshow/museum suddenly is transported to the famous Winchester Mansion in California and meets a tall, dark stranger. I quite like the Victorian circus setting.
Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz go to War Again by Garth Nix: really adored this one. It reminded me a bit of Michael Swanwick's Darger and Surplus stories, in that a man and a weird humanoid creature, in this case a kind of android, travel the world. The setting is incredibly complex for a short story, with a society living in cities that each have a godlet at their centre which controls and protects them. Unfortunately, some of those go bad...According to Wikipedia, there's another story in this setting. I hope I'll find it.
The Forest by Laird Barron: a meditation on the future of life on Earth, and a very different take on contact to aliens, and immortality. Also quite creepy.
The Great White Bed by Don Webb: definetely the creepiest story in this collection. And I used to like huge kingsize beds with crisp white blankets...thank you Mr Webb...the fact that there's no explanation doesn't help...
Dance of Shadows by Fred Chappell: in a world where the trade of shadows has become an art form, two shadowhunters are for once not hired to find a shadow, but the one who cast it. Again, a very complex and dense setting and a great story.
Grander Than The Sea by T.A. Pratt: a wizard who has been an inmate of a very special asylum for crazy wizards for over a hundred years wants to raise an evil aquatic god, while a doctor and an investigator/witch try to avoid that. Really nice, funny urban fantasy, a bit of a female take on Harry Dresden. The author also has a series of 4 novels set in the same world, which I'm going to get soon I think.
Apart from those above, there's a bunch of really very decent stories in this collection. Maybe the highest average quality I've seen lately, so I really really recommend it. There's no stinker here, just some stories that aren't quite as brilliant.
9/10.
This one is Year's Best Fantasy 8, edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, published in 2008.
Some highlights: (this is going to be a long list, because this is a truly excellent collection!)
Paper Cuts Scissors by Holly Black: a young man starts studying library science in order to find out how to get his girlfriend out of a book she put herself into after a fight. Obviously reminded me a lot of Inkheart, although this is a slighty more mature take on the subject. Really good.
A Portrai in Ivory by Michael Moorcock: an Elric story. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to read Elric with a certain irony or not...is the pretentious/pathetic attitude serious? I've never read a full Elric novel.
The Witch's Headstone by Neil Gaiman: a chapter of The Graveyard Book, published as a standalone short story. Young Bod decides to somehow get a headstone for a young witch who was killed and buried in the potter's field without a marker. Like the rest of the novel it belongs into, really good. (of course I'm a Neil fangirl, soo)
The Ruby Incomparable by Kage Baker: a story from the Anvil of the World universe, about one of the daughters of the Dark Lord and the Saint of the World. I really like the setting. It's heartbreaking that there won't be any more stories in this wonderful universe :(
Unpossible by Daryl Gregory: a story about what happens when you grow out of Narnia, or Neverland...really good but rather sad.
Stilled Life by Pat Cadigan. A story about a human statue performer who runs into bad company...really creepy.
Under the Bottom of the Lake by Jeffrey Ford: a metafictional account of how to write a fantasy story. Quite nicely done.
A Diorama of the Infernal Regions by Andy Duncan: an orphan working at a Victorian freakshow/museum suddenly is transported to the famous Winchester Mansion in California and meets a tall, dark stranger. I quite like the Victorian circus setting.
Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz go to War Again by Garth Nix: really adored this one. It reminded me a bit of Michael Swanwick's Darger and Surplus stories, in that a man and a weird humanoid creature, in this case a kind of android, travel the world. The setting is incredibly complex for a short story, with a society living in cities that each have a godlet at their centre which controls and protects them. Unfortunately, some of those go bad...According to Wikipedia, there's another story in this setting. I hope I'll find it.
The Forest by Laird Barron: a meditation on the future of life on Earth, and a very different take on contact to aliens, and immortality. Also quite creepy.
The Great White Bed by Don Webb: definetely the creepiest story in this collection. And I used to like huge kingsize beds with crisp white blankets...thank you Mr Webb...the fact that there's no explanation doesn't help...
Dance of Shadows by Fred Chappell: in a world where the trade of shadows has become an art form, two shadowhunters are for once not hired to find a shadow, but the one who cast it. Again, a very complex and dense setting and a great story.
Grander Than The Sea by T.A. Pratt: a wizard who has been an inmate of a very special asylum for crazy wizards for over a hundred years wants to raise an evil aquatic god, while a doctor and an investigator/witch try to avoid that. Really nice, funny urban fantasy, a bit of a female take on Harry Dresden. The author also has a series of 4 novels set in the same world, which I'm going to get soon I think.
Apart from those above, there's a bunch of really very decent stories in this collection. Maybe the highest average quality I've seen lately, so I really really recommend it. There's no stinker here, just some stories that aren't quite as brilliant.
9/10.
April 26, 2013
look for more from:
Michael Moorcock: prolific, Elric cycle of the eternal champion
Kage Baker: dark romantic Company series, and more
Daryl Gregory: Pandemonium
Elizabeth Hand:
Bruce McAllister: The girl who loved animals and other stories
Mark Chadbourn: thorough research, novel Underground
Jeffery Ford: The Empire of Ice Cream (shorts) and novel The shadow year
Andy Duncan: southern flavor, Bluthahatchie and other stories
Tad Williams: long high quality fantasy novels
Nalo Hopkinson: Canadian by way of the Caribbean, 4th novel New moon's arm
Liz Williams: detective inspector Chen series, short stories
Don Webb: lots of short stories, magician philosopher
Fred Chappell: densely poetic prose, Southern fiction writer (wrote the shadow collector story)
Theosora Goss: (Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon)
Other anthologies: Logorrhea, John Kilma
January 13, 2010
Okay, it's official: I like short story collections less than novels. It used to be the other way 'round, but I'm having trouble enjoying the format lately. So, it isn't really the fault of the stories here that they only get two stars.
Well, on the other hand, the stories aren't all that exciting. There's big names to draw you in and new voices that hopefully snag your attention, much like any anthology of this sort.
Well, on the other hand, the stories aren't all that exciting. There's big names to draw you in and new voices that hopefully snag your attention, much like any anthology of this sort.
August 23, 2008
This is probably one of the best fantasy anthologies I've ever read. Usually when I'm reading an anthology, I'll attempt to read every story, but some start out boring, so I just skip them. With this one, however, I read every story and some were incredibly excellent.
I like story collections because they are a source of new authors to add to my pool.
I like story collections because they are a source of new authors to add to my pool.
September 9, 2008
Another great sci-fi/fantasy compilation. Each one of the twenty some odd stories in this group was as good as the last, there wasn't a bad one in the batch. With authors like Holly Black and Neil Gaiman, that's no surprise. I was introduced to some authors and storylines that I'll definitely check out in the future - Garth Nix, Michael Moorcock's Elric series and others. This was a great read.
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August 22, 2008Year's Best Fantasy 8 (Year's Best Fantasy) by David G. Hartwell (2008)
October 10, 2008
These are the best that the year had to offer? Ouch.
October 15, 2009
Best of 1999.
March 9, 2023
Most of the stories were quite good and interesting. I can only recall one that I skipped and that more so because it was too weirdly written.
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