For more than a decade, readers have turned to The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror to find the most rewarding fantastic short stories. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling continue their critically acclaimed and award-winning tradition with another stunning collection of stories. The fiction and poetry here is culled from an exhaustive survey of the field, nearly four dozen stories ranging from fairy tales to gothic horror, from magical realism to dark tales in the Grand Guignol style. Rounding out the volume are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantasy and horror, and a long list of Honorable Mentions, making this an indispensable reference as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror.ContentsSummation 1999: FantasyTerri WindlingSummation 1999: HorrorEllen DatlowHorror and Fantasy in the Media: 1999Edward BryantComics: 1999, Seth JohnsonObituaries: 1999, James FrenkelDarkrose and Diamond, Ursula K. Le GuinThe Chop Girl, Ian R. MacLeodThe Girl Detective, Kelly LinkThe Transformation, N. Scott MomadayCarabosse, Delia ShermanHarlequin Valentine, Neil GaimanToad, Patricia A. McKillipThe Dinner Party, Robert GirardiHeat, Steve Rasnic TemThe Wedding at EsperanzaLinnet TaylorRedescending, Ursula K. Le GuinYou Don't Have to be Mad . . .Kim NewmanThe Paper-Thin Garden, Thomas WhartonThe Anatomy of a MermaidMary SharrattThe Grammarian's Five DaughtersEleanor ArnasonThe Tree Is My Hat, Gene WolfeWelcome, Michael Marshall SmithThe Pathos of Genre, Douglas E. WinterShatsi , Peter CrowtherKeepsakes and Treasures: A Love StoryNeil GaimanWhat You Make It, Michael Marshall SmithThe Parwat Ruby, Delia ShermanOdysseus Old, Geoffrey BrockThe Smell of the Deer, Kent MeyersChorion and the PleiadesSarah Van ArsdaleCrosley, Elizabeth Engstromn0 Naming the Dead, Paul J. McAuleyThe Stork-Men, Juan GoytisoloThe Disappearance of Elaine ColemanSteven MillhauserWhite, Tim LebbonDear Floods of Her Hair, James SallisMrs. Santa Decides to Move to FloridaApril SelleyTanuki, Jan HodgmanAt Reparata, Jeffrey FordSkin So Green and Fine, Wendy WheelerOld Merlin Dancing on the Sands of TimeJane YolenSailing the Painted OceanDenise LeeGrandmother, Laurence SnydalSmall Song, Gary A. BraunbeckThe Emperor's Old BonesGemma FilesThe Duke of Wellington Misplaces His HorseSusanna ClarkeHalloween Street, Steve Rasnic TemThe Kiss, Tia V. TravisThe Beast/The Hedge, Bill LewisPixel Pixies, Charles de LintFalling Away, Elizabeth BirminghamHonorable Mentions: 1999
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
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
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.
All of the stories and poems collected in this Sixth edition of the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror are good. *All* of them. There is no filler. The editors choose stories not only from genre fiction, but from unexpected sources as well, giving the reader a wonderful, surprising, eclectic selection.
One of the best of the Best!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
This is the best collection of stories of fantasy and horror I've ever found. I've bought and read a few of these Year's Bests before, but this one was stunning. Great stories by Nancy Pickard, Michael Cadnum, Michael Chabon (who turns in a Lovecraftian tale of all things! Go Michael!), Norman Partridge, Douglas Clegg, Jack Womack, and Gary Braunbeck--this is an amazing collection, and I'm even more enthralled by the editorial eye that found these gems.If anyone wants to find out what's going on in the fiction of the fantastic and of terror, they need look no further than Year's Best Fantasy & Horror 11th Annual Collection. Ellen Datlow and Terry Windling should get some kind of exalted place in fictiondom for their method of selecting an eclectic group, not based on some bestselling names that no longer produce interesting prose or dazzling stories, but based purely on the stories and poems at hand.The Charles de Lint and Stephen Laws stories stood out for me, too. Where else can you get this variety of great short fiction? I miss Karl Edward Wagner's Best Of collections also, but Datlow and Windling, as an editorial team, are number one in my book.Don't hesitate. Grab this one while it's available. If you're a devoted reader of these genres, then you can do no better; if you're a writer, see what's getting noticed these days. There are a lot of talents here I'd never read before that really shine.
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