Year's Best Fantasy 2

by David G. Hartwell (Editor, Contributor), Kathryn Cramer (Editor, Contributor), Ursula K. Le Guin (Contributor)

Remarkable Journeys to Fantastic Realms.

Undreamed-of wonders from the farthest reaches of imagination.

In this second volume of the previous year's finest short fantastic fiction, acclaimed editor and anthologist David G. Hartwell showcases new works by stellar literary artists--acknowledged masters of the genre and exceptionally talented newcomers alike. Astonishing worlds come alive in these pages--realms of strange creatures and remarkable sorceries, as well as twisted shadow versions of our inhabited earthly plane. A bold and breathtaking compendium of tales--including a new Earthsea story from the incomparable Ursula K. Le Guin--YEAR'S BEST FANTASY 2 is the state-of-the-art of a unique and winning genre, offering unforgettable excursions into new realities wondrous, bizarre, enchanting.. and terrifying.

*"The Finder" by Ursula K. Le Guin
*"Senator Bilbo" by Andy Duncan
*"Big City Littles" by Charles de Lint
*"What the Tyger Told Her" by Kage Baker
*"In the Shadow of her Wings" by Ashok Banker
*"The Heart of the Hill" by Marion Zimmer Bradley & Diana L. Paxson
*"Queen" by Gene Wolfe
*"The Black Heart" by Patrick O'Leary
*"On the Wall" by Jo Walton
*"Hell is the Absence of God" by Ted Chiang
*"The Man Who Stole the Moon" by Tanith Leen
*"Firebird" by R. Garcia y Robertson
*"My Case for Retributive Action" by Thomas Ligotti
*"The Shadow" by Thomas M. Disch
*"Stitchery" by Devon Monk
*"To Others We Know Not Of" by Kate Riedel
*"The Lady of the Winds" by Poul Anderson
*"His Own Back Yard" by James P. Blaylock
*"A Place to Begin" by Richard Parks
*"Nucleon" by David D. Levine
*"My Stolen Sabre" by Uncle River
*"Apologue" by James Morrow

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

512 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

About the author

David Geddes Hartwell was an American editor of science fiction and fantasy. He worked for Signet (1971-1973), Berkley Putnam (1973-1978), Pocket (where he founded the Timescape imprint, 1978-1983, and created the Pocket Books Star Trek publishing line), and Tor (where he spearheaded Tor's Canadian publishing initiative, and was also influential in bringing many Australian writers to the US market, 1984-date), and has published numerous anthologies. He chaired the board of directors of the World Fantasy Convention and, with Gordon Van Gelder, was the administrator of the Philip K. Dick Award. He held a Ph.D. in comparative medieval literature.

He lived in Pleasantville, New York with his wife Kathryn Cramer and their two children.

Reviews

[Aphelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

#28 in my #20for2020tbrchallenge, to read 20 TBR books this year

I'm not sure why the co-editor Kathryn Cramer is listed on the inside but not on the cover or the spine?

A collection of 22 reprints, all Fantasy, originally published in 2001. Many of the authors were new to me. Great collection!

Quick Breakdown:

5⭐ = 7
4⭐ = 7
3⭐ = 1
3⭐ = 2
1⭐ =3
DNR (Did Not Read): 2

1. "The Finder", Ursula K. LeGuin (Earthsea novella); 4⭐
Story of the founding of the wizard school on Roke and how the doorkeeper came to be.

2. "Senator Bilbo", Andy Duncan; 1⭐
Weird. Places a real life racist senator in Middle Earth; comeuppance by Orc.

3. "Big City Littles", Charles de Lint; 5⭐
A children's book author is petitioned for help by her own creations.

4. "What the Tyger Told Her", Kage Baker; 5⭐ (read before)
Disturbing morality play.

5. "In the Shadow of Her Wings", Ashok Baker; 4⭐
An assassin sent to quell a women-only resistance movement finds the goddess Kali more real and terrible than he believed.

6. "The Heart of the Hill", Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson; DNR
I am no longer reading MZB, due to accusations of extensive abuse.

7. "Queen", Gene Wolfe; 1⭐
Bizarre and cryptic. Very short.

8. "The Black Heart", Patrick O'Leary; 4⭐
A man stranded at an airport is a destroyer of worlds - until challenged by a fortune teller.

9. "On the Wall", Jo Walton; 3⭐
Too bad it isn't longer, it had great protentional. How the enchanted mirror from Snow White came to be.

10. "Hell is the Absence of God", Ted Chiang; 4⭐
What is the merciless, implacable, cruel and capricious Old Testament God is real and still intervening in human affairs?

11. "The Man Who Stole the Moon", Tanith Lee (The Flat Earth); 5⭐
A clever thief must steal the moon to save his life. Plus, a flying carpet!

12. "Firebird", R. Garcia Y Robertson; 5⭐
Excellent. A witch's girl and an errant knight.

13. "My Case for Retributive Action:, Thomas Ligotti; DNR
Something to do with spiders. NOPE.

14. "The Shadow", Thomas M. Disch; 1⭐
Horror. Shadows taking over people, causing Alzheimer's. Doesn't belong in this anthology.

15. "Stitchery", Devon Monk, 4⭐ (seems to be inspiration for her House Immortal series)
A patchwork girl tries to save her two-headed lover with magic stitches but he thinks it's unnatural.

16. "The Others We Know Not Of", Kate Riedel; 4⭐
A nurse remembers a young boyfriend who had an unusual talent.

17. "The Lady of the Winds", Poul Anderson (Cappen Varra); 4⭐
A comically verbose lover-boy thief is run out of town but must appeal to a goddess for fair weather while travelling. He strikes a bargain and writes her the song she wants - which is Gilbert & Sullivan tune from another world. Highly enjoyable, but the G&S joke went over my head.

18. "His Own Back Yard", James P. Blaylock; 5⭐
A man goes back to his boyhood. Nostalgic.

19. "A Place to Begin", Richard Parks; 5⭐
Sorcerer's Apprentice retelling, set in China. A young girl is apprenticed to an elderly witch and faces a test of will.

20. "Nucleon", David D. Levine; 5⭐
An artist befriends the owner of a very unique junkyard.

21. "My Stolen Sabre", Uncle River, 2⭐
Weird, jokey story (tall tale?) about Power Beings.

22. "Apologue", James Morro; 2⭐
Short piece about mythical monsters returning to New York to help out after 9/11.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a collection of 22 short stories, most of which I enjoyed, with a few that I didn’t.

1. The Finder by Ursula K LeGuin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A story of how the gatekeeper came to be on the island of Roke. I’ve actually never read anything by Le Guin but will have to change that after this. Really good story and I loved the writing.

2. Senator Bilbo by Andy Duncan ⭐️
I hated this. Racist senator in the shire that doesn’t like intermingling of races. Why would you write this. Horrible story.

3. Big City Littles by Charles de Lint ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A children’s book writer helps a colony of tiny magical creatures regain their wings. Really cute. I love this one, it had a cozy magical vibe.

4. What the Tyger Told Her by Kage Baker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A girl befriends the tiger in her family’s garden and learns to listen and see all of the family strife going on around her. Really good. Tyger over here stirring up trouble but in the best kind of way.

5. In the Shadow of her Wings by Ashok Banker ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Not my fave but not bad. An agent sent to destroy a civilization of women led resistance finds the goddess Kali is more difficult to deal with than he had anticipated. A bit odd but the ending was a fun twist.

6. The Heart of the Hill by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L Paxson ⭐️
While this story was good on its own, I can’t rate it well because of the sexual abuse allegations against the author. There can be no separation of artist and art in this case.

7. Queen by Gene Wolf ⭐️⭐️✨
An old woman is escorted to a coronation by two strange men, but before she goes, the richest man in town gives her a feast and vows to take care of her house. Cryptic and kinda odd, but decent. An allegory about Jesus and Mary I believe but not 100% positive. Too vague.

8. The Black Heart by Patrick O’Leary ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
An ancient being who consumes and destroys worlds and has his sights set on Earth is confronted in an airport and stopped by an unlikely hero, a fortune teller. Really like this one, wish it was a little longer, but enjoyed it just the same.

9. On the Wall by Jo Walton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The origin story of the evil Queen from the Snow White legend, and the origin of her mirror. Loved this. Told through the perspective of the mirror.

10. Hell is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang ⭐️✨
I actually ended up hating this. In a world where the Christian God and Angels actively participate in human life (for better or worse) a man loses his wife and tries to find love for God so he can reunite with her in heaven. I thought this was gonna go a different direction but by the end it just felt like religious propaganda. I don’t read fantasy for a sermon on why we should love God. Did not like this one. If you’re religious you might I guess but it was so heavy handed I felt like I was being forced into a “sinners repent” church sermon.

11. The Man Who Stole The Moon by Tanith Lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A thief is sent on an impossible quest to steal the moon in order to save his life. Features a demon prince and his subjects. This one was great. Good ending, everyone gets what the deserve by the end. Loved every second.

12. Firebird by R Garcia y Robertson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A girl raised by a witch encounters a knight hiding in the woods with a mysterious treasure. She aims to help him escape his pursuers, but is captured herself. Humorous in spots. This one is a precursor to the full book by the same name. Made want to read the whole book to find out what happens, so it’s a success in my eyes.

13. My Case for Retributive Action by Thomas Ligotti ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I enjoyed this one quite a bit despite not knowing what was going on really. It had a more horror vibe than fantasy. The story seems to be told as if he’s writing a letter, and follows a man sent “across the border” by his doctor to work for a mysterious company pushing papers. The guy he’s replacing disappeared mysteriously and he suspects he’s the new test subject they’re going to target. He takes swift and decisive action to ensure he is not, and described the events to the person he is writing his letter to. Good overall, wish there was more, interesting if kind of vague. Maybe seek out more as this is apparently a series of connected stories.

14. The Shadow by Thomas M Disch ⭐️
Did not like this one. Angie Seawater loses her body to the control of her shadow, the impulsive nature of humans personified. Interesting concept, but ruined by the audacity of a man. I will always rate a story poorly that uses sexual assault the way it is treated in this story. Sometimes men just…absolutely disgust me. He mentions that she is SAd by the attendants at the nursing home and then two pages later says this “But who is to say there is no joy in Africa or in the prisons of Texas? Or none in the life of Angie Seawater, at least in her life as a shadow? She enjoyed good physical health, the attentions of two devoted admirers, and an uncommonly long life”. Her “admirers” are the men that SA her but oohhh her shadow is usually in control so it’s probably fine right she most likely would agree if she has the choice /sarcasm. He rationalizes this by saying her and her shadow are basically the same so it’s more or less consensual except for when she realizes her situation every now and then when the shadow isn’t in control and sits there and cries. Like I’m not joking this is absolutely disgusting. And from the man who wrote the Brave Little Toaster books too. Repulsive.

15. Stitchery by Devon Monk ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
This story follows a woman who has the ability to stitch living things, and a man with two heads who can connect with the minds of animals. Not much happens, it is simply a short life story that delves into them being a bit odd and having found one another. I do wish there’d been some more development and that the author had explained what exactly Stitchery is and how the mind melding worked and why, but if you take it at face value it’s a cute story overall.

16. To Others We Know Not Of by Kate Riedel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A sweet story about a woman remembering her college sweetheart and their relationship, prompted by his sudden appearance on her doorstep after many years. He has a strange ability to know things nobody else could possibly know, and feels the emotions of people and places very intensely. An empath in the truest definition. I liked the reveal at the end.

17. The Lady of the Winds by Poul Anderson ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
A man, on the run from a lord after sleeping with his wife, seeks passage through an early winter in the mountains, and must appease a goddess who is raging there after being ridiculed by the other gods for her song. He helps her to write a song in hopes she will quell the storm and grant them passage. This one was a little dull at first and the writing is kinda dry. But I liked the story well enough even though I did skim a couple paragraphs here or there.

18. His Own Back Yard by James P Blaylock ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A man returns to the past when he visits his old family house. This one was very sweet and nostalgic. The ending confused me at first but once I realized what had happened it was super sweet. Made me smile.

19. A Place To Begin by Richard Parks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Follows a young girl who is sold to a witch by her family. She is given only the job of fetching water twice a day and sweeping the path. After being told not to drink the water, but doing so anyway, she gains the gift of sight and begins to see things she couldn’t before. This one was good, set in what seems to be ancient Japan.

20. Nucleon by David D Levine ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
This story follows an artist that visits a junkyard full of strange things that seem to come from another time, and the man that seems to always know where they are among the mess. He befriends the man as he works on his art pieces. Very good story about friendship and the oddities of the world.

21. My Stolen Sabre by Uncle River ⭐️
This story is about the life of a war sabre as it changes hands from person to person. It was incredibly boring. I feel like I wasted 15 minutes of my life by reading this story. Felt like a story a great grandpa would tell you about the war. But not a good war story, one where he falls asleep in the middle because he’s 97 and forgot he was talking.

22. Apologue by James Morrow ⭐️⭐️✨
A two page story about the movie monsters coming out after 9/11 and helping with relief efforts. Relevant to the time the book was published (early 2002) but not really very remarkable on its own.

And that’s all folks!

Probably won’t ever read a compilation by Hartwell again, as it appears we have differing fundamental moral values. However, I did love some of these stories and am glad to have been exposed to them so I can support them directly in the future.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many people have little real idea of what makes up horror or fantasy. Those who shun the genres would probably be suprized to find they enjoy many of the titles listed here. The editors of this series stick to the genre magazines more than those of the competing series- The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror.

Noteworthy stories in this collection are:

"What the Tyger Told Her", by Kate Baker, orig. pub. in Realms of Fantasy magazine.

"Hell is the Absence of God" by Ted Chiang, orig. pub. in Starlight 3

"Firebird" by R. Garcia y Robertson, orig. pub. in the magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

"Stitchery" by Devon Monk, orig pub. in Black Gate

Of these "Hell is the Absence of God" is my favorite.

[Anthony Panegyres · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impressive and consistently strong anthology. Out of the twenty two stories, there was only four that I didn't enjoy. Some personal favourites (and I could mention 18 stories here) include Ursula K. Le Guin's novella The Finder; 'What the Tyger Told Her' by Kage Baker; 'The Man Who Stole the Moon' by Tanith Lee, 'Nucleon' by David D. Levine; and 'Hell is the Absence of God' by Ted Chiang.

The absolute standout for me is 'Firebird' by R. Garcia y Robertson. Although a fantasy in the more traditional vein, the story delights, and all its elements come together in a clever fashion. It also held me glued throughout.

[Sara]

In shadow of her wings by Ashok Kumar Banker
in storm night go after star
kill flower after flower
still there sea of flower
turn the box of song
that go on
like breath of morning
but how can that kill the spirit
still light go over black road
the power of spirit
take all the pryer with
make the wing wide strish
thee hiden more than strong star
there powen cant stop it
the every day with it
can be or cant be
there many woman in war befor one man
pardise or hill
but that kiss can be any sesson
stormy
hot
dew
mix with hony
parphan of her
music of her ring
its not many woman befor one man
its many woman in one
power of spirit

[Janet Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Low 3

[Jessica Lerbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I'd read this years ago, or else I'd read a bunch of them in other places. Still liked some of them.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

*****
Kage Baker, What the Tyger Told Her
Ted Chiang, Hell is the Absence of God
Devon Monk, Stitchery

****
R. Garcia y Robertson, Firebird
Poul Anderson, The Lady of the Winds
James P. Blaylock, His Own Back Yard
Richard Parks, A Place to Begin
David D. Levine, Nucleon

***
Andy Duncan, Senator Bilbo
Charles de Lint, Big City Littles
Ashok Banker, In the Shadow of Her Wings
Gene Wolfe, Queen
Jo Walton, On the Wall
Tanith Lee, The Man Who Stole the Moon
Kate Riedel, The Others We Know Not Of
Uncle River, My Stolen Sabre
James Morrow, Apologue

**
Marion Zimmer Bradley & Diana L. Paxson, The Heart of the Hill
Patrick O'Leary, The Black Heart
Thomas Ligotti, My Case for Retributive Action
Thomas M. Disch, The Shadow

[Christopher Hivner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rare collection of stories where there simply aren’t any bad ones. All are well written with magical characters. The themes are disparate but all fall squarely into the fantasy genre, some taking place in our modern world and others in a place of the author’s creation. While all the stories are good obviously some rose to the top for me. My favorites were “The Finder”, “What the Tyger Told Her”, “In the Shadow of her Wings”, “Hell is the Absence of God”, “The Man Who Stole the Moon”, “Firebird” and “Stitchery”.

[Maddalenah · Rating 3 out of 5]

è del 2002, e ci ho messo 4 anni a finire il primo racconto di 100 pagine... gli altri però sono carini, al momento sono circa a metà libro
edit a fine lettura: non la raccolta migliore che abbia mai letto, molti racconti noiosi, alcuni belli. Comunque, finalmente l'ho finito :)

[bluetyson]

Year's Best Fantasy (Volume 2) by David G. Hartwell (2002)

[Frank Taranto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good group of short stories from 2001.

[Frank Taranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

as it's title says

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were great, some just did not speak to me. All of them were well written and certainly written by masters of the craft.

[Jonathan Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had some really great stories and some that are just okay, but it was an enjoyable read all in all.

[Sparrow Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine collection of short stories! Definitely some authors whom I will be looking up more of their work.