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Realms 2: The Second Year of Clarkesworld Magazine
Selected from the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-nominated Clarkesworld Magazine, Realms 2 collects the work of twenty-four visionary writers of short fiction, including such World Fantasy, Philip K. Dick, Tiptree, Hugo and Campbell Award winners and finalists as Jeffrey Ford, Mary Robinette Kowal, Jay Lake, Cat Rambo, Tim Pratt, and Catherynne M. Valente — and amazing stories from up-and-comers like, Paul Jessup, Yoon Ha Lee, Margaret Ronald and many more!
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2009
3 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
About the author
Nick Mamatas
187 books246 followersNick Mamatas is the author of the Lovecraftian Beat road novel Move Under Ground, which was nominated for both the Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild awards, the Civil War ghost story Northern Gothic, also a Stoker nominee, the suburban nighmare novel Under My Roof, and over thirty short stories and hundreds of articles (some of which were collected in 3000 Miles Per Hour in Every Direction at Once). His work has appeared in Razor, Village Voice, Spex, Clamor, In These Times, Polyphony, several Disinformation and Ben Bella Books anthologies, and the books Corpse Blossoms, Poe's Lighthouse, Before & After: Stories from New York, and Short and Sweet.
Nick's forthcoming works include the collection You Might Sleep... (November 2008) and Haunted Legends, an anthology with Ellen Datlow (Tor Books 2009).
A native New Yorker, Nick now lives in the California Bay Area.
Nick's forthcoming works include the collection You Might Sleep... (November 2008) and Haunted Legends, an anthology with Ellen Datlow (Tor Books 2009).
A native New Yorker, Nick now lives in the California Bay Area.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 13, 2019
This was really enjoyable, but it had a lot going on. I ended up happy I’d read it, but also a little confused.
At the end of time, a war is raging. The Blue Woman walks the battlefield, smells the stench of death, and is tired.
In another universe—another possibility—a young girl looks up from her math homework and finds the Blue Woman, who brings her to the end of time—to the war. The eternally losing fight.
The Blue Woman walks through possibilities, and she tells the girl that she is the very last possibility—the very last chance to win this war. But the Blue Woman cannot make the girl fight. That is a choice the girl must make for herself.
The story is fascinating, beautifully written and with undertones of heroism and self-sacrifice that inevitably made my heart sing happily in my chest. The landscape, very present and lavishly described, was also really interesting.
I think it’s part of the art of the story that it’s supposed to leave a large chunk of itself up to your imagination; but it also served to make me slightly befuddled.
Overall, the read was definitely worth it, and it was a super fun story :)
At the end of time, a war is raging. The Blue Woman walks the battlefield, smells the stench of death, and is tired.
In another universe—another possibility—a young girl looks up from her math homework and finds the Blue Woman, who brings her to the end of time—to the war. The eternally losing fight.
The Blue Woman walks through possibilities, and she tells the girl that she is the very last possibility—the very last chance to win this war. But the Blue Woman cannot make the girl fight. That is a choice the girl must make for herself.
The story is fascinating, beautifully written and with undertones of heroism and self-sacrifice that inevitably made my heart sing happily in my chest. The landscape, very present and lavishly described, was also really interesting.
I think it’s part of the art of the story that it’s supposed to leave a large chunk of itself up to your imagination; but it also served to make me slightly befuddled.
Overall, the read was definitely worth it, and it was a super fun story :)
August 21, 2019
No idea what just happened, but enjoyed it none the less!
October 28, 2017
Not my favorite Clarkesworld collection - I found the majority of the stories to be more vignettes/sketches versus complete stories and a lot of them are impregnable/didn't make a lot of sense to me. But, as with anything from Clarkesworld, the writing in all the stories if first class and there is a lot of weird and daring and stuff that is new and different. Even if the end result fell a bit flat for me I still admire what the authors and editor were trying to achieve.
November 16, 2023
Yes, there is a lot of fiction here and much of it has won or been nominated for awards. And it's not high-priced.
There is a story herein that I think the title of it summarizes the whole thing: "Acid and Stoned Reindeer". that's what I think all the authors and the editor were on when they put this together. For some people, that's a lot of fun, but I can't do it.
There is a story herein that I think the title of it summarizes the whole thing: "Acid and Stoned Reindeer". that's what I think all the authors and the editor were on when they put this together. For some people, that's a lot of fun, but I can't do it.
June 7, 2023
I'm not sure what it is, but it seems like every Realms anthology is 40% great stories, 55% amazing mind blowing stories, and then there's one that is just... How did this even get published!?
October 5, 2010
I liked it - some of the stories were a bit bizarre, but apparently I'm in the mood for bizarre. One I ended up skipping over, because it was too much like work to get through it.
March 3, 2014
A very ecclectic selection of some very beautifully written short stories with a wide range of subjects. Looking forward to reading "Vaction Stories" I think more though...
March 17, 2019
This is a story that has been told before, and will be told again; this version doesn't add much.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews