Product Description

Culled from the best of a wide variety of sources, this eleventh annual collection of fantasy fiction features contributions by Kim Newman, Joyce Carol Oates, Ellen Kushner, Jack Womack, Karen Joy Fowler, and others.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1203292 in Books
• Published on: 1998-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 503 pages

Amazon.com Review
The collaborative efforts of Ellen Datlow (horror) and Terri Windling (fantasy) are becoming something of a legend, as year after year they deliver the best horror and fantasy short fiction in a fat (500 double-length pages) anthology that avoids pigeonholes with its mingled, unlabeled sample of the two genres. As in previous years, this volume includes more than 100 pages of summaries about the year 1997 in horror and fantasy publishing, horror and fantasy in the media, and comics. The fiction includes 18 stories and 8 poems with just Terri Windling's initials, and 18 stories and 1 poem with Ellen Datlow's initials, with some (presumably dark fantasy) that are tagged by both.

Even more than usual, Ellen Datlow's horror selections introduce a remarkable variety of types of stories. One of the best tales is Molly Brown's "The Psychomantium," about a mirror that allows alternative time lines to intersect, creating double fates for the characters. "The Skull of Charlotte Corday" (photos included) by Leslie Dick takes an essayistic approach to a famous female assassin and some creepy details in the history of sexual surgery. Douglas Clegg's "I Am Infinite, I Contain Multitudes" is a striking body-horror tale that was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. Christopher Harman, P.D. Cacek, Joyce Carol Oates, and Vikram Chandra contribute old-fashioned ghost stories. Gary Braunbeck's "Safe" is reminiscent of the best of Stephen King in its portrayal of realistic horror in a small town. Michael Chabon's "In the Black Mill" more than proves that Lovecraftian horror can transcend shallow pastiche. And other horror notables--such as Michael Cadnum, Christopher Fowler, Caitlín Kiernan, Stephen Laws, Kim Newman, Norman Partridge, and Nicholas Royle--make appearances.

Terri Windling's selections include familiar fantasy names such as Peter Beagle, Charles de Lint, Karen Joy Fowler, and Jane Yolen, and famous genre-crossers such as Ray Bradbury, Howard Waldrop, and Jack Womack. She also provides welcome space for fantasy poetry--charming pieces with images of the Trickster Coyote, Sheela Na Gig, and a mermaid, and titles like "Coffee Jerk at the Gates of Hell." The Pulitzer Prize-winning Steven Millhauser contributes an enchanting tale that originally appeared in the New Yorker. Other tales are inspired by an intriguing range of sources: Gulliver's Travels, Marilyn Monroe, the Scottish legend of the Sineater, the art of glass blowing, Aztec myth, and ancient Jewish lore.

There's no better way to take in the best of these two genres, both for the great selections and the ample pointers to 1997's novels, magazines, art, movies, and comics that you may not have heard about. --Fiona Webster

From Publishers Weekly
The 48 stories and poems in this third annual collection encompass a wide variety of subjects and styles. Several pieces, such as Dan Daly's "Self-Portrait Mixed-Media on Pavement, 1988," are set in a recognizable time and place but offer a bracing--and sometimes shocking--twist, while others, like Tanith Lee's "White as Sin, Now," create realities far removed from our everyday world. The volume features work by such stalwarts of these genres as Edward Bryant, Jane Yolen and Lisa Tuttle. Of particular note are Joyce Carol Oates's chronicle of the debilitating physical and psychological effects of a nuclear-like holocaust in "Family"; James Powell's wry account of a murder investigation in Clowntown, where everyone looks literally as if they belong in a circus ("A Dirge for Clowntown"); Steven Millhauser's "The Illusionist," about a magician who conjures people into existence using the power of his mind; and Robert R. McCammon's terrifying version of the end of the world in "Something Passed By." Also included is a summation of the year's fictional and film works in fantasy and horror. Datlow is fiction editor at Omni magazine and Windling is a veteran fantasy editor.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Fantasy and horror fans will welcome this sixth annual collection of the "best" offerings for 1992. Datlow, the fiction editor of Omni , and noted anthologist Windling have selected 49 stories and seven poems for this year's edition. Essays summarize the state of each literary field in 1992 and take a look at fantasy/horror in the media. There are many familiar names here: Brian W. Aldiss, Margaret Atwood, Clive Barker, Harlan Ellison, Joyce Carol Oates, and Robert Silverberg, among others. Added features include author backgrounds, obituaries, and a ten-page bibliography of honorable mentions. Highly recommended.
- Gary D. Barber, SUNY at Fredonia Lib.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

pure magic
If you`ve read too much minimalist academic fiction, you`re in for a treat. These stories, both dark and light, and infused with magic and poetry, have been culled from sources as diverse as the New Yorker, the Iowa Review, and some very obscure zines. Established masters of their craft such as Ursula Leguin and N. Scott Momaday rub shoulders with intruiguing newcomers such as Linnet Taylor and Mary Sharratt. Kelly Link`s fabulous story "The Girl Detective" is not to be missed.

Delightfully Wonderful
Every year the annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Collection keeps my eyes glued to a book. The Stories and magical and entertaining, written by some of today's best fantasy and horror writers. The stories range from Tolkienesque tales with magical creatures to more serious fiction stories. Many sparked my imagination And of course, quite a few frightened me to a point where I left nail prints in the binding. I recommend this book to fans of fantasy and/or horror or simply anybody looking for a good read.

Fabulous Anthology
What a beautiful, fabulous anthology. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling have turned out another of their elegant and amazing collections.

This anthology starts off fast with another of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea stories, but it's the second one, Ian MacLeod's 'The Chop Girl' that starts the anthology off with a bang. MacLeod's story is creepy, eerie, spooky, and thoroughly delightful. The anthology never loses steam. Nearly every story is wonderful.

Excellent stories by Charles de Lint, Gemma Files, Jeffrey Ford (be sure to check out his books here on Amazon. They're fabulous!), Tim Lebbon, Steven Millhauser, Paul McAuley, Michael Marshall Smith, Kim Newman, and on and on.

What makes this anthology so special is the breadth of sources that Datlow and Windling draw from. They have a few stories from the usual suspects, F&SF, Realms of Fantasy, Asimov's and so on, but the amount of stories, really good stories, that they grab from tiny obscure publications that probably less than 3,000 people read is astounding. In my mind this makes this series of anthologies infinitely more valuable than their SF counterparts.

I highly recommend this volume.