Isaac Asimov's Fantasy!

by Shawna McCarthy (Editor), Isaac Asimov (Photographer)

This anthology And Who Would Pity a Swan by Connie Willis; The Storming of Annie Kinsale by Lucius Shepard; Greek by Leigh Kennedy; A Surfeit of Melancholic Humours by Sharon N. Farber; Close of Night by Daphne Castell; What Seen but the Wolf by Gregg Keizer; Galatea by Kristi Olesen; How F. Scott Fitzgerald Became Beloved in Springfield by George Alec Effinger; Chand Veda by Tanith Lee; The Fire at Sarrah Siddons by Robert Thurston; The Rim of the Wheel by Lillian Stewart Carl; The Laughter of Elves by Juleen Brantingham; Closing Time by George R. R. Martin; Son of the Morning by Ian McDowell; and The Big Dream by John Kessel.Contents10 The Storming of Annie Kinsale (1984) interior artwork by Nicholas Jainschigg10 The Storming of Annie Kinsale (1984) shortstory by Lucius Shepard29 Greek (1983) shortstory by Leigh Kennedy29 Greek (1983) interior artwork by James T. Ceribello42 A Surfeit of Melancholic Humours (1984) novelette by Sharon N. Farber42 A Surfeit of Melancholic Humours (1984) interior artwork by Ron Lindahn62 Still Life with Scorpion (1984) shortstory by Scott Baker62 Still Life with Scorpion (1984) interior artwork by Nicholas Jainschigg [as by Nick Jainschigg ]77 Close of Night (1984) shortstory by Daphne Castell77 Close of Night (1984) interior artwork by Laura Lakey and Artifact92 Street Magic (1984) interior artwork by Bob Walters [as by Robert Walters ]93 Street Magic (1984) shortstory by Ron Goulart106 What Seen but the Wolf (1984) interior artwork by Gary Freeman107 What Seen but the Wolf (1984) novelette by Gregg Keizer137 Galatea (1984) interior artwork by Arthur George137 Galatea (1984) shortstory by Kristi Olesen148 How F. Scott Fitzgerald Became Beloved in Springfield (1984) novelette by George Alec Effinger148 How F. Scott Fitzgerald Became Beloved in Springfield (1984) interior artwork by Arthur George168 The Leopard's Daughter (1984) novelette by Lee Killough168 The Leopard's Daughter (1984) interior artwork by Gary Freeman187 Chand Veda (1983) shortstory by Tanith Lee187 Chand Veda (1983) interior artwork by Odbert199 The Fire at Sarah Siddons (1984) shortstory by Robert Thurston199 The Fire at Sarah Siddons (1984) interior artwork by Val Lakey Lindahn [as by Val Lindahn ]214 The Rim of the Wheel (1984) novelette by Lillian Stewart Carl214 The Rim of the Wheel (1984) interior artwork by Judy Mitchell234 The Laughter of Elves (1984) shortstory by Juleen Brantingham234 The Laughter of Elves (1984) interior artwork by Laura Lakey and Artifact246 The Power of the Press (1983) interior artwork by Richard Crist247 The Power of the Press (1983) novelette by Richard Kearns268 Closing Time interior artwork by OBI and Odbert269 Closing Time (1982) shortstory by George R. R. Martin279 And Who Would Pity a Swan? (1985) shortstory by Connie Willis279 And Who Would Pity a Swan? (1985) interior artwork by George Thompson292 Son of the Morning (1983) interior artwork by Val Lakey Lindahn [as by Val Lindahn ]293 Son of the Morning (1983) novelette by Ian McDowell314 The Big Dream (1984) interior artwork by Hank Jankus315 The Big Dream (1984) novelette by John Kessel

Genres: Fantasy, Anthologies, Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction

Hardcover

Published April 1, 1985

Reviews

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 19 fantasy tales, all dating from the 1980's from Asimov's science fiction magazine.

There are three top- notch tales 1)The Storming of Annie Kinsale--A tale off witchcraft in modern Ireland--but not your typical witch--by Lucius Shephard. 2) What Seen But the World--by Gregg Keizer. A well written tale of a werewolf--set on an ancient Viking longship. 3) The Leopard's Daughter--by Lee Killough. A story set in very ancient Africa--great writing and good characterization. I don't want to say more as I'm afraid of spoiling it--but don't miss this one!

Close runners up were Street Magic, by Ron Goulart and Chand Veda by Tanith Lee.

These five alone are worth the price of the book--it out of print but you may find a used copy. The other 14 tales are acceptable--two fairly weak, and the other twelve a good misture of different types of fantasy locales and situations.

REcommended for all fantasy fans; and imho science fiction fans would enjoy several of the tales.

[Nadia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing selection. A few interesting stories surrounded by incredibly mediocre and some unreadable stories. My edition has fascinating illustrations in it, most of the reason why I picked it up in the first place, but overall would not recommend for the content.

[SBC · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the LocusMag.com index:
Isaac Asimov’s Fantasy! ed. Shawna McCarthy (Ace 0-441-05499-4, Jan ’90 [Dec ’89], $3.95, 264pp, pb, cover by David Archer) Reprint (Dial 1985) anthology of fantasy stories that first appeared in Asimov’s. This is an abridged edition containing only 15 of the 19 stories in the first edition.
1 · The Storming of Annie Kinsale · Lucius Shepard · ss IASFM Sep ’84
19 · Greek · Leigh Kennedy · ss IASFM Oct ’83
32 · A Surfeit of Melancholic Humours · Sharon N. Farber · nv IASFM Mar ’84
52 · Close of Night · Daphne Castell · ss IASFM May ’84
67 · What Seen but the Wolf · Gregg Keizer · nv IASFM Feb ’84
97 · Galatea · Kristi Olesen · ss IASFM Mar ’84
108 · How F. Scott Fitzgerald Became Beloved in Springfield · George Alec Effinger · ss IASFM Aug ’84
128 · Chand Veda · Tanith Lee · ss IASFM Oct ’83
140 · The Fire at Sarah Siddons · Robert Thurston · ss IASFM Aug ’84
155 · The Rim of the Wheel · Lillian Stewart Carl · ss IASFM Feb ’84
174 · The Laughter of Elves · Juleen Brantingham · ss IASFM Jan ’84
186 · Closing Time · George R. R. Martin · ss IASFM Nov ’82
196 · And Who Would Pity a Swan? · Connie Willis · ss IASFM Jan ’85
209 · Son of the Morning [Mordred mac Lot] · Ian McDowell · nv IASFM Dec ’83
231 · The Big Dream · John Kessel · nv IASFM Apr ’84

The earlier edition also contained stories by Scott Baker (Still Life with Scorpion), Ron Goulart (Street Magic), Lee Killough (The Leopard's Daughter), Richard Kearns (The Power of the Press).

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty uninspiring set of short stories. I read the ones that others had recommended and a few more, but if they are the good ones, I don't think I will bother with the rest. Chand Veda and Closing Time were okay though and would deserve 3 stars on their own merit.

Oddly, my book (an old version that I can't remember the origins of) doesn't have at least one of the stories a reviewer mentioned so I assume there must have been slightly different versions of the book.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice collection of short stories. Obviously some stories are better than others, but I thought the overall quality pretty high. On the whole I found them a little dark, but there was a nice mix. I especially liked Chand Veda by Tanith Lee and The Storming of Annie Kinsale by Lucius Shepard. Closing Time by George R. R. Martin was pretty nice too, a very compact and quirky story.

[Andreea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really nice collection!