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Best New Romantic Fantasy 2
An annual anthology of outstanding stories of love and wonder are compiled and honored as the best of the year. Enchanting and enchanted lovers, magical romance, dark desires, otherworldly sensations, ethereal encounters, paranormal thrills, sensual spells, supernatural suspense, sizzling speculations... Highly imaginative short fiction and novellas from the best fantasy romance writers.
Contents
9 • Titles & Things: An Introduction • essay by Paula Guran
13 • An Autumn Butterfly • (2006) • shortstory by Esther M. Friesner [as by Esther Friesner ]
24 • A Light in Troy • (2006) • shortstory by Sarah Monette
30 • The Moment of Joy Before • (2006) • novelette by Claudia O'Keefe
70 • Jane. A Story of Manners, Magic, and Romance • (2006) • shortstory by Sarah Prineas
87 • Journey into the Kingdom • (2006) • novelette by M. Rickert
114 • The Wizard of Eternal Watch • (2006) • shortstory by Eugie Foster
128 • Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge • (2006) • novelette by Richard Parks
165 • The Depth Oracle • (2006) • shortstory by Sonya Taaffe
175 • Smoke & Mirrors • (2006) • shortstory by Amanda Downum
192 • The Desires of Houses • (2006) • shortstory by Haddayr Copley-Woods
195 • Evergreen • (2006) • novelette by Angela Boord
219 • The Red Envelope • (2006) • shortstory by David Sakmyster
237 • The Mountains of Key West • (2006) • shortstory by Sandra McDonald
250 • The Story of Love • (2006) • shortstory by Vera Nazarian
268 • La Fée Verte • (2006) • novelette by Delia Sherman
Contents
9 • Titles & Things: An Introduction • essay by Paula Guran
13 • An Autumn Butterfly • (2006) • shortstory by Esther M. Friesner [as by Esther Friesner ]
24 • A Light in Troy • (2006) • shortstory by Sarah Monette
30 • The Moment of Joy Before • (2006) • novelette by Claudia O'Keefe
70 • Jane. A Story of Manners, Magic, and Romance • (2006) • shortstory by Sarah Prineas
87 • Journey into the Kingdom • (2006) • novelette by M. Rickert
114 • The Wizard of Eternal Watch • (2006) • shortstory by Eugie Foster
128 • Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge • (2006) • novelette by Richard Parks
165 • The Depth Oracle • (2006) • shortstory by Sonya Taaffe
175 • Smoke & Mirrors • (2006) • shortstory by Amanda Downum
192 • The Desires of Houses • (2006) • shortstory by Haddayr Copley-Woods
195 • Evergreen • (2006) • novelette by Angela Boord
219 • The Red Envelope • (2006) • shortstory by David Sakmyster
237 • The Mountains of Key West • (2006) • shortstory by Sandra McDonald
250 • The Story of Love • (2006) • shortstory by Vera Nazarian
268 • La Fée Verte • (2006) • novelette by Delia Sherman
301 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2007
55 people want to read
About the author
Paula Guran
97 books211 followersPaula Guran is senior editor for Prime Books. She edited the Juno fantasy imprint from its small press inception through its incarnation as an imprint of Pocket Books. She is also senior editor of Prime's soon-to-launch digital imprint Masque Books. Guran edits the annual Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror series as well as a growing number of other anthologies. In an earlier life she produced weekly email newsletter DarkEcho (winning two Stokers, an IHG award, and a World Fantasy Award nomination), edited Horror Garage (earning another IHG and a second World Fantasy nomination), and has contributed reviews, interviews, and articles to numerous professional publications.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 27, 2009
There's very little romance in these stories, and very little love. In fact, none of the stories felt romantic to me. The anthology has the usual mix of forgettable stories and stories that offer something interesting.
My favorite story in the anthology is definitely The Moment of Joy Before by Claudia O'Keefe, but I'm a sucker for apocalyptic stories. This particular story involves a deadly plague.
To the extent there's any love or romance at all, all but one of the stories focuses on a heterosexual relationship. The final story, Le Fee Verte, has both a heterosexual and lesbian relationship. I enjoyed that story as well, which is set in Napoleonic France.
Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge is also more historical fantasy than anything else. This story takes place before the rise of the samurai in Japan.
There are a handful of standout stories in this anthology, but there are more that seem flat or fail in other ways.
My favorite story in the anthology is definitely The Moment of Joy Before by Claudia O'Keefe, but I'm a sucker for apocalyptic stories. This particular story involves a deadly plague.
To the extent there's any love or romance at all, all but one of the stories focuses on a heterosexual relationship. The final story, Le Fee Verte, has both a heterosexual and lesbian relationship. I enjoyed that story as well, which is set in Napoleonic France.
Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge is also more historical fantasy than anything else. This story takes place before the rise of the samurai in Japan.
There are a handful of standout stories in this anthology, but there are more that seem flat or fail in other ways.
May 3, 2025
These tales are NOT typical Hallmark happily-ever-afters. Many of the stories are unconventional takes on “romance,” one standout being “The Desires of Houses” by Haddayr Copley-Woods, featuring a house’s infatuation with its female occupant. An excerpt:
The floor is sulking. She almost always wears shoes in the basement, and the cement lies all day in agony listening to the first floor’s boards sighing loudly in ecstasy at the touch of her bare heels.
The woman, oblivious to the house’s adoration, lies in bed after her shower feeling “flabby, flat-chested, gray, and wrinkled.”
Another story that captured my imagination was “The Depth Oracle” by Sonia Taaffe. The tale deftly jumps forward and back in time between a narrator visiting a sea witch and the witch consulting a drowned man (the depth oracle of the title). We also learn how the drowned man became the oracle in a truly chilling scene. The narrative is a complex and multilayered exploration of the nature of love and ambition.
Sarah Monette’s offering, “A Light in Troy” is a tender story of a Trojan woman living as a slave, the elderly and blind librarian she serves, and a wild boy living among dogs. The narrative explores surviving colonialism and the price everyone pays in war and its aftermath.
“Jane. A Story of Manners, Magic, and Romance” by Sarah Prineas is a fun tale about an aristocratic woman uninterested in the young warlocks pursuing her and a young academic sent to solve the riddle of the magical storms plaguing her uncle’s estate. It manages to be true to its setting in the 1800s and provide a fresh take on women’s roles.
M. Rickert spins a compelling yarn in “Journey into the Kingdom.” A man reads an artist’s statement about her paintings and becomes obsessed with ghosts. We don’t know until the very end if he’s crazy or inspired.
“The Wizard of Eternal Watch” by Eugie Foster had a great opening hook:
Within the castle at the end of the world, the wards and enchantments stirred, rousing themselves like heavy beasts emerging from a long winter’s sleep. They stretched and glanced about, triggered to alertness by the necessity of waking the next Wizard of Eternal Watch.
The story is about a wizard and her fellow keeper who harness the power of gods and demons by imprisoning them inside elaborate illusions.
Another compelling read was “Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge” by Richard Parks. It’s beautifully layered with equal parts lyrical beauty, cryptic poetry, and political intrigue. Much of the narrative involves a disgraced courtier called back to the imperial city to help solve a mystery. He fears his strong feelings for the princess who enlists his aid. The closing sentence completely changes all that came before, making it a masterful example of a plot twist. This is a story worth rereading.
The other stories rounding out the anthology are all solid fantasy tales: the heart of a lonely woman consumed by work is rescued by an out-of-season butterfly; a witch gets an invitation to rejoin the circus and hunt demons; a young man falls in love with a forest fairy; an American falls afoul of ancient Japanese tradition and marries a ghost; a young wife is seduced by a handsome stranger who might be imaginary; a dutiful daughter marries to escape her abusive father and finds unexpected love; and a prostitute pursues love in war-torn Paris. These brief synopses don’t convey the pleasure of savoring such well-told tales. Thank you to my local library for carrying Best New Romantic Fantasy.
The floor is sulking. She almost always wears shoes in the basement, and the cement lies all day in agony listening to the first floor’s boards sighing loudly in ecstasy at the touch of her bare heels.
The woman, oblivious to the house’s adoration, lies in bed after her shower feeling “flabby, flat-chested, gray, and wrinkled.”
Another story that captured my imagination was “The Depth Oracle” by Sonia Taaffe. The tale deftly jumps forward and back in time between a narrator visiting a sea witch and the witch consulting a drowned man (the depth oracle of the title). We also learn how the drowned man became the oracle in a truly chilling scene. The narrative is a complex and multilayered exploration of the nature of love and ambition.
Sarah Monette’s offering, “A Light in Troy” is a tender story of a Trojan woman living as a slave, the elderly and blind librarian she serves, and a wild boy living among dogs. The narrative explores surviving colonialism and the price everyone pays in war and its aftermath.
“Jane. A Story of Manners, Magic, and Romance” by Sarah Prineas is a fun tale about an aristocratic woman uninterested in the young warlocks pursuing her and a young academic sent to solve the riddle of the magical storms plaguing her uncle’s estate. It manages to be true to its setting in the 1800s and provide a fresh take on women’s roles.
M. Rickert spins a compelling yarn in “Journey into the Kingdom.” A man reads an artist’s statement about her paintings and becomes obsessed with ghosts. We don’t know until the very end if he’s crazy or inspired.
“The Wizard of Eternal Watch” by Eugie Foster had a great opening hook:
Within the castle at the end of the world, the wards and enchantments stirred, rousing themselves like heavy beasts emerging from a long winter’s sleep. They stretched and glanced about, triggered to alertness by the necessity of waking the next Wizard of Eternal Watch.
The story is about a wizard and her fellow keeper who harness the power of gods and demons by imprisoning them inside elaborate illusions.
Another compelling read was “Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge” by Richard Parks. It’s beautifully layered with equal parts lyrical beauty, cryptic poetry, and political intrigue. Much of the narrative involves a disgraced courtier called back to the imperial city to help solve a mystery. He fears his strong feelings for the princess who enlists his aid. The closing sentence completely changes all that came before, making it a masterful example of a plot twist. This is a story worth rereading.
The other stories rounding out the anthology are all solid fantasy tales: the heart of a lonely woman consumed by work is rescued by an out-of-season butterfly; a witch gets an invitation to rejoin the circus and hunt demons; a young man falls in love with a forest fairy; an American falls afoul of ancient Japanese tradition and marries a ghost; a young wife is seduced by a handsome stranger who might be imaginary; a dutiful daughter marries to escape her abusive father and finds unexpected love; and a prostitute pursues love in war-torn Paris. These brief synopses don’t convey the pleasure of savoring such well-told tales. Thank you to my local library for carrying Best New Romantic Fantasy.
February 2, 2017
I had no idea what to expect when I started this collection of stories as it's not normally something I'd read. I actually liked most of the stories but that's probably because almost all the stories were quite dark and not what comes to mind when you think of romance. My favourite story was Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge by Richard Parks. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading short stories.
October 6, 2009
I really did not enjoy most of the stories. One or two were tolerable. T
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews