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Fantasy: The Best of 2001
Here in one affordable volume is the best short fantasy of the year as selected from magazines, anthologies and journals. It includes stories by Jack O'Connell, Brian Hopkins, Rosemary Edghill and many more. It is the first in a prestigious new series from ibooks.
424 pages, Paperback
First published April 26, 2001
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About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,346 books1,606 followersThere are many authors in the database with this name.
Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.
Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 26, 2017
Not bad. The Shepard story is a killer, though, ten times as long as it needs to be.
February 14, 2010
The Bones of Earth - Ursula K. LeGuin
An old wizard sacrifices his life to save a coastal town form a major earthquake. One of his apprentices goes to live at the wizard’s place after the events.
6/10
Legerdemain - Jack O’Connell
A young man is offered a book during a train trip. He becomes obsessed with this novel and, years later, he realizes that it has in fact shaped his adult life.
8/10
Diving the Coolidge - Brian A. Hopkins
Ghost story. Two divers explore the wreck of a luxury liner: President Coolidge. It is haunted by ghost, which are sometimes eager to claim new souls.
8/10
The Mould of Form - Rosemary Edgill
16xx. After being expelled from Eton for cheating at car games, a young man heads towards London. During the night he sees an ethereal ship called the “Revenge” and decides to join its eerie crew.
[It follows nicely the two previous stories, as it uses cards games and sea ghosts:]
7/10
Eternity and Afterwards - Lucius Shepard
In Russia, a hit man has saved enough money to pay for the freedom of the woman he loves. Because she is the property of the local mafia, he has to meet its boss. But on the way to his office, he is subjected to numerous hallucinations.
4/10
Wolves Till The World Goes Down - Greg Van Eekhout
Battle of power between the Nordic Gods. Baldr, son of Odin, has been exiled from the living. In order to give the world a new beginning, he decides to suffer real death.
3/10
The Lady of the Winds - Poul Anderson
After being banished from the leading empire (following a sorry affair involving a woman), Cappen finds himself in a little mountain village plagued with atrocious weather. To get out of this situation, he goes to speak to the local goddess, using his charm to seduce her.
6/10
Ave De Paso - Catherine Aparo
Two young people grieving the loss of their parents have an encounter with Yahval Balamil, the Earth Lord. The God is taking advantage of their weakness to claim their soul.
5/10
Grass - Lawrence Miles
Story about US President Thomas Jefferson and his belief that Mammoths were still living in the unexplored mid-west. Before Lewis and Clarke’s expedition, the presence, in the Shinning Mountains, of a French woman and her Indian guide. Description of what they see in a valley.
8/10
Slipshod, at the end of the Universe - Robert Thurson
On their way to finding the edge of the universe, the Slipshod vessel has trapped a non-corporeal entity that lives within its computer system. When Elaine, one of the crewmembers, decides to check the edge by herself, the entity joins her.
8/10
Hell is the Absence of God - Ted Chiang
In a world where visitations from angels are common place, Noel Frisk, a widow, struggles with his faith.
3/10
An old wizard sacrifices his life to save a coastal town form a major earthquake. One of his apprentices goes to live at the wizard’s place after the events.
6/10
Legerdemain - Jack O’Connell
A young man is offered a book during a train trip. He becomes obsessed with this novel and, years later, he realizes that it has in fact shaped his adult life.
8/10
Diving the Coolidge - Brian A. Hopkins
Ghost story. Two divers explore the wreck of a luxury liner: President Coolidge. It is haunted by ghost, which are sometimes eager to claim new souls.
8/10
The Mould of Form - Rosemary Edgill
16xx. After being expelled from Eton for cheating at car games, a young man heads towards London. During the night he sees an ethereal ship called the “Revenge” and decides to join its eerie crew.
[It follows nicely the two previous stories, as it uses cards games and sea ghosts:]
7/10
Eternity and Afterwards - Lucius Shepard
In Russia, a hit man has saved enough money to pay for the freedom of the woman he loves. Because she is the property of the local mafia, he has to meet its boss. But on the way to his office, he is subjected to numerous hallucinations.
4/10
Wolves Till The World Goes Down - Greg Van Eekhout
Battle of power between the Nordic Gods. Baldr, son of Odin, has been exiled from the living. In order to give the world a new beginning, he decides to suffer real death.
3/10
The Lady of the Winds - Poul Anderson
After being banished from the leading empire (following a sorry affair involving a woman), Cappen finds himself in a little mountain village plagued with atrocious weather. To get out of this situation, he goes to speak to the local goddess, using his charm to seduce her.
6/10
Ave De Paso - Catherine Aparo
Two young people grieving the loss of their parents have an encounter with Yahval Balamil, the Earth Lord. The God is taking advantage of their weakness to claim their soul.
5/10
Grass - Lawrence Miles
Story about US President Thomas Jefferson and his belief that Mammoths were still living in the unexplored mid-west. Before Lewis and Clarke’s expedition, the presence, in the Shinning Mountains, of a French woman and her Indian guide. Description of what they see in a valley.
8/10
Slipshod, at the end of the Universe - Robert Thurson
On their way to finding the edge of the universe, the Slipshod vessel has trapped a non-corporeal entity that lives within its computer system. When Elaine, one of the crewmembers, decides to check the edge by herself, the entity joins her.
8/10
Hell is the Absence of God - Ted Chiang
In a world where visitations from angels are common place, Noel Frisk, a widow, struggles with his faith.
3/10
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews