Something Magic This Way Comes

by Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Sarah A. Hoyt (Editor), Fran LaPlaca

Anthology of stories.
"In the earliest days of humankind, everything in the world seemed magical. Gods and demons, spirits and sprites were considered to be responsible for everything from life and death, to the turning of the seasons, to the abundance or failure of crops.Today, much that was once attributed to magic has been explained by science, and in our technologically driven world, the question is whether there is still a place for magic. For twenty of fantasy's finest imaginers, the answer is obviously, "Yes."So welcome to visionary, modern-day realms of magic where surprising things can still happen. From a Gypsy fortune-teller's transforming prophecy...to a troubled teen seeking a haven from his family woes...to a mysterious gathering of cats at Cape Canavaral...and a kid out to spook his best friend into believing that werewolves are real...here are stories that will amuse you or send chills down your spine or have you looking wistfully around the next corner, hoping to find a bit of magic all your own..."

“The Power of Magic” by Sarah A. Hoyt
“More to Truth than Proof,” by Phyllis Irene Radford
“In a Dark Wood, Dreaming,” by Esther M. Friesner
“The Thing in the Woods,” by Harry Turtledove
“The Star Cats,” by Charles Edgar Quinn
“Lighthouse Surfer,” by Daniel M. Hoyt
“Something Virtual This Way Comes,” by Laura Resnick
“Tears of Gold,” by Paul Crilley
“Houdini’s Mirror,” by Russell Davis
“Angel in the Cabbages,” by Fran LaPlaca
“Raining the Wild Hunt,” by Kate Paulk
“Still Life, With Cats,” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“The Case of the Allergic Leprechaun,” by Alan L. Lickiss
“The Flood Was Fixed,” copyright © 2008 by Eric Flint
“Visitor’s Night at Joey Chicago’s,” by Mike Resnick
“A Midsummer Nightmare,” by Walt Boyes
“Winds of Change,” by Linda A. B. Davis
“Firebird and Shadow,” by Darwin A. Garrison
“Night of the Wolf,” by John Lambshead
“Opus No. 1,” by Barbara Nickless
“Regency Sprite,” by Dave Freer

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Anthologies, Magic, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Horror

311 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 2008

About the author

Martin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.

For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.

Reviews

[Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the stories in this collection are good. Some particularly great ones are Esther M. Friesner’s “In a Dark Wood, Dreaming”; Charles Edgar Quinn’s “The Star Cat’s”; Paul Crilley’s “Tears of Gold”; Russell Davis’ “Houdini’s Mirror”; Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s “Still Life, With Cats” (lots of cats in here, hm?); Mike Resnick’s “Visitor’s Night at Joey Chicago’s”; Walt Boyes’ “A Midsummer Nightmare”; Barbara Nickless’ “Opus No. 1”.

And that’s about half the stories in the collection, and since they’re all good... definitely worth reading. You might find a new favorite author, or a dozen, or...

[Charlie Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly good stories. A few I didn't like. The best of the stories was "Firebird and Shadow" by Darwin Garrison. The funniest was "The Case of the Allergic Leprechaun" by Alan Lickiss.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why do I even attempt these short story anthologies any more?

[Vickie Woodard · Rating 4 out of 5]

UNEVEN, BUT STILL GOOD

Story collection with a variety of different types of magic and different magical situations.
As with most story collections the quality of writing isn't uniform. Still, there is enough ingenuity to make this book worthwhile.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most frustrating thing about collections of short stories is that they stop when I think they were really just getting startedn but this was fun.

[Chantal · Rating 5 out of 5]

These short stories that feature magic in contemporary settings are wonderful gems. In "Houdini's Mirror" an elderly man tries to return to his wife via a portal in a mirror. A troubled teen in New York nearly self-destructs until he is rescued by a Mexican forest god. An electronic gremlin plays havoc with an entire office in "Something Virtual This Way Comes." "Angel in the Cabbages" features a girl who gains self-confidence after befriending a sarcastic fairy in a grocery store.

None of these stories are for children yet they appeal to the child in us that wants magic to be real. What gives the stories their edge is that they are set in the present time.

[Mailis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Besides couple of unexpected good story gems in there, i was overall a bit confused with the choice of the stories in general, besides labeling most of them boring and predictable. Some of them were clearly meant for kids, next ones had a hint of naked ass behavior in them, so it didn't feel very in sync. Now it gets kudos from me, because couple of the stories had potential. Or it is more right to say, some of the authors had potential.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found plenty to like in the collection of short stories that all share the concept of magic arriving to disrupt or save the situation. I enjoyed the twist ending for "The Thing in the Woods" by Turtledove. Flint provided entertainment with " The Flood was Fixed"", while "Raining the Wild Hunt," "Something Virtual This Way Comes," and The Case of the Allergic Leprechaun" all had me going "Hmmm." In all a good crop of stories.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the short stories in the collection were average, in my opinion, though one or two are good enough to make me want to keep the book.

There were enough typos to stick out (including one on the blurb before the title page, which makes such a great impression), but not enough to drive someone crazy.

[AliceAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally, finally finished this book. I ended up liking most of the stories, had to skip one, and the others were okay. Now it's on to either the YA series or the 'Hero' series I started earlier this month - will decide later today.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an anthology. Some of the stories are very good. I liked: 'Something Virtual This Way Comes', 'Opus 1', 'Midsummer Nightmare', 'Angel in the Cabbages'