The Mammoth Book of Fantasy

by Mike Ashley (Editor), Theodore R. Cogswell (Contributor), Michael Moorcock (Contributor)

However you take your fantasy—comic, dark, heroic, or supernatural—your taste will be tantalized by this outstanding collection that brings together in one generous volume originators of this ever-popular genre like George MacDonald and Lord Dunsay; great writers from the golden age of fantasy like Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, and J. R. R. Tolkein, who captivated readers worldwide with The Lord of the Rings; and such contemporary masters of the craft as Terry Pratchett, Michael Moorcock, David Eddings, David Gemmell, Tanith Lee, and Ursula K. LeGuin. Compiled by Mike Ashley, the esteemed editor of the popular Mammoth Comic Fantasy trilogy, this new Mammoth anthology explores the realms of the bizarre, extraordinary, and impossible in more than two dozen ingeniously fashioned tales. Among them stand such classics as Theodore Sturgeon's "Yesterday Was Monday," in which a man wakes to discover he has lost more than a Tuesday; Cleveland Moffett's "The Mysterious Card," a tale chillingly and brilliantly contrived out of opposing perceptions; and "The Wall Around the World," Theodore Cogswell's story of a young boy who masters flight in order to escape the world that has entrapped him. Offering a wide and varied selection of fantasy tales, Mike Ashley's newest anthology promises adventures, journeys, passages, and quests sure to delight readers of every type of fantasy fiction—from the ardent fans of J. R. R. Tolkein to the exuberant followers of Harry Potter.

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

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Michael Raymond Donald Ashley is the author and editor of over sixty books that in total have sold over a million copies worldwide. He lives in Chatham, Kent.

Reviews

[Rick Cook, Author · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic compendium of short stories by the grand masters of fantasy, this book features 23 tales pulled from every decade of the 20th century, from 1911 through 2001 (several from the 1990's), and including one from George MacDonald, published in 1857. Notable authors include Ursula K. LeGuin, Fritz Leiber and Roger Zelazy (the trifecta of reasons for which I bought the book), as well as Theodore Sturgeon, Harlan Ellison, Jack Vance, Tanith Lee, Michael Moorcock, and others.

[Benj · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice idea - a sort of potted history of fantasy. However, the stories he picked were a very poor collection - hardly any of them made me think 'Ooh, I must check out more by this author'.

Mind you, anyone who includes JK Rowling in the same sentence as Tolkien and Pratchett whilst discussing fantasy obviously has very suspect taste.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trying to read this book felt like homework, and I just kept hoping that if I could get to the end of a story the next one would be better. Never really happened. None of the stories I read made me want to read any more from that particular author.

[Jouni Koskinen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great classic fantasy short stories mostly, with a couple of misfires in it. Especially Le Guin, Shepard, Sturgeon and Swanwick stories really shine. But what a weeeeird choice to go for a pretty blatantly racist R.E.Howard story. It's not like there's no others to choose from.

[Elentarri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag

[Rodney Sloan]

Well worth owning if you love fantasy or just want to read a wide collection of fantasy authors.

[Shanna Baesler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice mix of fantasy stories. Some I wanted 2 end quicker and others to never end

[Richard Behrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

The literature of fantasy and sword & sorcery is vast, and there are no end of anthologies. The Mammoth Book of Fantasy, originally published in 2001 is a good starting point for anyone new to the genre or a massive Tolkien-head who wants to examine the origins and the diversity of the genre. The book is filled with dying worlds, ancient manuscripts, golden keys to eternity, Hyborean age warriors, double crossing necromancers, eldritch creatures and cynical heroes saving city states from monsters. You can read the early gem The Golden Key by George Macdonald as well as Lord Dunsanay's The Hoard of the Gibbelins. There is a chapter from my all time favorite fantasy book of all time, Jack Vance's Eyes of the Overworld. Weird Stories authors abound with Robert E. Howard's The Valley of the Worm (although this one reeks of Aryan racism -- something for which Howard is always politely forgiven) and Clark Ashton Smith's The Last Hieroglyph. There are sparkling gems from Fritz Lieber, Roger Zelazny, Tanith Lee, Charles de Lint, Harlan Ellison and Ursula K. LeGuin. I was introduced to authors I have never read before like A. Merritt and James P. Baylock. A great anthology to experience some classic fantasy which great notes by Mike Ashley. With constant references to Tolkien, it is clear that this is one of those knock-off reprints exploiting the release of the first Peter Jackson film, but well worth it.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seemed to take forever! There were only a couple of stories that I found easy to get into. The rest I trudged through. And they ended up being okay in the end, but I think some of these writers need to realize that with short stories, you don't have the luxury of time that you do with a novel. You have to get into the story pretty quickly. Also, in fantasy fiction you have to find creative ways of introducing things and concepts that don't exist. We don't know this is another world we are talking about, but we also don't need a 17 page history of that world, either. I just have very mixed feelings about the book.

A few of the stories that I did like, though:
"The Wall Around the World" Theodore R. Cogswell
"Darkrose and Diamond" Ursula K. LeGuin
"The Valley of the Worm" Robert E. Howard
"The Hoard of the Gibbelins" Lord Dunsany
"The Sorcerer Pharesm" Jack Vance
"King Yvorian's Wager" Darrell Schweitzer
"The Howling Tower" Fritz Leiber
"A Hero at the Gates" Tanith Lee
"Lady of the Skulls" Patricia A. McKillip
"The Sunlight on the Water" Louise Cooper
"Paladin of the Lost Hour" Harlan Ellison
"The Edge of the World" Michael Swanwick

Any of these I would recommend. Otherwise, skip over the rest of these stories.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story collection offers a historical tour of fantasy fiction from the 1890s to the 1990s. Like any smorgasbord, there are offerings for everyone but no one will like everything. Choose The Mammoth Book of Fantasy when you have your scholarly thinking cap on -- when you want to ponder the origins of the most common themes and memes in fantasy. For escape and entertainment there are many better choices. But I recommend this collection to committed fans who are getting interested in what came before their time, whether that's before The Lord of the Rings, or before Harry Potter.

[Ruby Hollyberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two were rather awful and the third is not doing it for me. I will pick back up soon I hope.

Update: I have now read the first eight and none have really pleased me. It looks like there are several stories coming up by authors I always like, so maybe it won't be a total washout. Mostly this anthology has shown me that I don't always enjoy old-fashioned "tales of the weird". I usually do, but these are not quite to my taste. Poorly selected, perhaps. I have enjoyed stories by some of these authors elsewhere.

[Nathalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is a collection of short stories written by a mix of forgotten and well-known fantasy authors. I absolutely love this book, it's been in my collection for years but I never get tired of reading the short stories on a chilly night. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy and would like to see how the authors have inspired recent novels/short stories such as Harry Potter and The Phoenix and the Sword.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read this book I was hoping to find some new fantasy authors to read. I was quite disappointed with what I found in this collection.

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[Kiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in probably mid-2002, and loved almost every story in it. I was looking for an introduction to the fantasy greats, and this was definitely it. I discovered some of my favorite authors of all time here.

[K. Axel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite possibly the best fantasy anthology I've ever read!

(I should possibly give it 5 stars, but there were a few stories that didn't really excite me that much.)

[Matthew Shoop · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book quite a while ago, but remember many of the stories very well. These are a good selection of Fantasy stories with a lot of sub-genre variety

[Travis]

I've had this book out from the library for half a year, and I'm only about half way through it. Sometimes when I have some time to sit down, I find myself getting into it a bit, but overall not a very compelling collection of stories. I made it through McKillip's "Lady of the Skulls". I may come back to it sometime, especially since I think I found this book in the library catalog searching for Merritt's "The Moon Pool", which is still 5 or so stories further on. Done for now though.