Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition

Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz #1 - ... Go to War Again

by Rich Horton (Editor), Daryl Gregory (Contributor), Carrie Laben (Contributor)

The best stories of the year: here is a collection of the best fantasy prose written in 2007, by some of the genre's greatest authors, and selected by Rich Horton, a contributing reviewer to many of the field's most respected magazines.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2008

Reviews

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection -- I didn't read it cover to cover, as you can tell from the liveblogging status updates, but I did end up reading every story in it. (I always feel a little embarrassed when I circumvent an editor's careful sequence of stories, but in this case I'm glad I did: I don't think I would have wanted to end on the last story in this book, which was The Master Miller's Tale by Ian R. MacLeod. I don't like my fantasy (1) emo or (2) mostly horror.)

Stories I did really like were:
* Light by Kelly Link, which reiterates what all of those people who've been recommending Kelly Link to me have been saying about the wacky and interesting;
* Teashop by Zoran Zivkovic, which was not as clever as it thought it was but which was still delightful, especially with the tea;
* The Rope by Noreen Doyle, which was a little bit horror and a little bit non-futuristic science fiction, but all in a really good way;
* Stray by Benjamin Rosenbaum & David Ackert, which has possibly the best characterization of an immortal/mortal pairing I've ever read, seriously;
* Singing of Mount Abora by Theodora Goss, which was a shiny perfect fairy tale of a fantasy story;
* Bufo Rex by Erik Amundsen, which was another excellent fairy tale;
* A Diorama of the Infernal Regions by Andy Duncan, which was a really great use of a girl as a protagonist;
* and The Cambist and Lord Iron by Daniel Abraham, although I'm not entirely sure that this was a fantasy story per se.

[Janine Southard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclosure #1: I tend to deeply dislike short stories written after 1960. They are usually full of over-description with a lack of plot. So, I 'm not a short story kind of person.

Disclosure #2: I bought this collection purely because my childhood friend has a story in it. So I'm more than slightly biased...and I only read as far as her entry.

As you may expect from the above, this volume is not for me. It's full of pretty descriptions that go nowhere. A few notable exceptions that make this volume worthwhile even for the non-short inclined--

"Unpossible" by Daryl Gregory. This story is charming and evocative, exploring the line between childhood fancy and adulthood.

"Light" by Kelly Link. Full of excessive absurbdism rooted in fairy tale, the descriptions were riveting.

"Heartstrung" by Rachel Swirsky (my above-disclosed childhood friend). Structurally a classic short story where the two main character grow into different phases of their lives, it takes this motif a stretch further. The two women, in a way, change places. This story also has something to say about Stepford Wives and making societal roles part of cultural practices.

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Above-average collection of short stories. Most are 'modern' rather than 'classic' fantasy.

Contents:
“Unpossible” by Daryl Gregory
“Light” by Kelly Link
“The Teashop” by Zoran Zivkovic
“The Rope” by Noreen Doyle
“Buttons” by William Alexander
“Brother of the Moon” by Holly Phillips
“A Diorama of the Infernal Regions” by Andy Duncan
“Heartstrung” by Rachel Swirsky
“Something in the Mermaid Way” by Carrie Laben
“Public Safety” by Matthew Johnson
“Stray” by Benjamin Rosenbaum and David Ackert
“The Comb” by Marly Youmans
“Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again” by Garth Nix
“The Last Worders” by Karen Joy Fowler
“Singing of Mount Abora” by Theodora Goss
“Save Me Plz” by David Barr Kirtley
“Bufo Rex” by Erik Amundsen
“The Master Miller’s Tale” by Ian R. MacLeod
“The Cambist and Lord Iron: a Fairy Tale of Economics” by Daniel Abraham

[Liviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable anthology with some great stories mostly read by me when originally published but also two or three new ones.

The Goss and Abraham stories published originally in Logorrhea are outstanding, but I loved several more stories too including Zivkovic and McLeod.

[Punk]

Includes a story by Kelly Link.

[Nicole]

The stories in this collection were not engaging enough to draw me to finish reading it. Not recommended.