The best stories of the year: here is a collection of the best fantasy prose written in 2006, 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.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Horton fittingly describes lyricism as the quality linking his selections for the best fantasy stories of 2006. The morosely poetic A Fine Magic by Margo Lanagan pits two attractive sisters against a spurned suitor's wizardly wrath; Jeffrey Ford's brilliantly understated The Night Whiskey is a dark fantasy gem about a rural village whose residents commune with the dead; M. Rickert's dreamlike masterwork, Journey into the Kingdom follows a forlorn man who becomes enamored with a mysterious painter and her fantastical history; Benjamin Rosenbaum's contemplative A Siege of Cranes arguably the anthology's most poetic and profoundly moving entry, depicts an improbable journey of retribution across a devastated wonderland of magic and myth.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Horton's fantasy annual showcases the best short speculative fiction that steps beyond the established boundaries of science. The 16 selections represent both magic-oriented fantasy and cross-genre slipstream fiction (see also Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology, 2006). Their inspired and resourceful authors range from veteran fantasists Geoff Ryman and Peter S. Beagle to such newer voices as Matthew Corradi and Ysabeau Wilce. Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, contributes a morbidly amusing piece about a ghost who falls in love with a mortal woman while somehow keeping his disembodied condition secret. Matthew Johnson describes a culture so linguistically adept that it constructs entire vocabularies for individual couples. Other tales explore alternate-history versions of California, a land where fish can fly, and the fate of an old sailor who rescues a merman with a bewitching wine recipe. Fantasy enthusiasts looking for stories that expand the genre's boundaries in unexpected ways will find them in this inventive, enticingly provocative collection. Hays, Carl
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Gaiman and Wolfe: on the cover, NOT in the book,
By
This review is from: Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2007 Edition (Fantasy: The Best of ... (Quality)) (Paperback)
I purchased the mass market version of this book. Neil Gaiman and Gene Wolfe are listed on the cover but neither author has a story in this collection. What's up with that?
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Free SF Reader,
By Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2007 Edition (Fantasy: The Best of ... (Quality)) (Paperback)
The shorter, more whimsical pieces it seemed I didn't like as much here. However, this anthology still averages 3.53. Now given by my numbers I rate fantasy stories 0.20 to 0.25 lower or thereabouts in general, that would seem to be the equivalent of the various Year's Best SF series, for me, at least, somewhere around the 3.50 mark.The standout is clearly Benjamin Rosenbaum's story, and the last in the book, with van Eekhout, Beagle, Ford, Lanagan and Parks the author higher quality work. The introduction here is perhaps a little more in-depth than some of the others, maybe for space reasons, and some space is given to 'collected story intros' if you like, at the start. Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : Journey into the Kingdom - M. Rickert Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : The Water Poet and the Four Seasons - David J. Schwartz Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter - Geoff Ryman Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : The Osteomancer's Son - Greg van Eekhout Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : Salt Wine - Peter Beagle Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : The Original Word for Rain - Peter Higgins Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : The Lineaments of Gratified Desire - Ysabeau Wilce Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : Journey to Gantica - Matthew Corradi Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : Irregular Verbs - Matthew Johnson Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : A Fish Story - Sarah Totton Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : The Night Whiskey - Jeffrey Ford Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : A Fine Magic - Margo Lanagan Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : Naturally - Daniel Handler Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge - Richard Parks Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : Citrine: A Fable - Elise Moser Fantasy Best of the Year 2007 : A Siege of Cranes - Benjamin Rosenbaum Rules for snogging. 1. Check for life. 2. Check if human. 3 out of 5 Multi-part contract has to be seen through. 3 out of 5 Surfeit of spirits. 3 out of 5 Hierarch restructuring. 4 out of 5 The transformational power of mer drink is surprising. 4 out of 5 Getting a bit too apocalyptic with that magic language when the librarian you fancy gets a boyfriend. 3.5 out of 5 Hardhanded with Piggy. 3 out of 5 Oh No! I'm A Giant! At least here, anyway. 3.5 out of 5 Banana leaf dictionary body transfer. 3 out of 5 Could use a bigger rod. 3 out of 5 Death booze corpse recall putdown getaway. 4 out of 5 I'm...Spinning Around. So am I! 4 out of 5 Ghost boyfriend not up to snuff. 3.5 out of 5 Love letter succession subterfuge. 4 out of 5 Wasting away into artistic transport. 3.5 out of 5 Witch girl's zombie baby scorched earth revenge. 4.5 out of 5
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