Fantasy Gone Wrong [Paperback]

Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Brittiany A. Koren (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2006

Sixteen Hilarious tales of the paths that shouldn't have been taken

Everyone knows that heroes should triumph, dragons should be slain, and maidens should be rescued. But what if things don't go according to plan? Here are fun-filled tales of magic gone awry, from an author whose unicorn protagonist takes control of the story, to a person who can hear food talking, to a confusing case of murder in fairy-tale land-with many strange events and surprising consequences in between.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this delightful anthology, 16 authors take traditional fantasy premises and color them ironic. The only criteria for inclusion is a whimsical sense of humor and a keen appreciation for the fantasy genre, giving the writers—among them veterans like Alan Dean Foster, as well as virtual unknowns—plenty of room to make their unique voices heard. Almost without fail, the results are entertaining, amusing and original, and remarkably self-contained. Expanding the genre beyond the usual "wizards and dragons" limitations, authors bring to bear such modern phenomena as psychoanalysis, online video gaming, criminology and management techniques. Of particular note are "Food Fight" by Foster, an intensely funny tale of a man whose food speaks to him; Christina F. York's cheeky "A Day at the Unicorn Races"; and "The Murder of Mr. Wolf" by Josepha Sherman, a police procedural that skewers nursery rhyme and fairy tale staples like Hickory Dickory Doc and Little Red Riding Hood. Though not always as clever as it thinks it is, Greenberg and Koren's refreshing collection should strike fantasy fans just right. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Humor and irony abound in these 16 new stories in which the "path isn't always the right one," and the unexpected prevails. Although the collection is uneven, it contains quite a few gems. Chips off the old, well-known fairy-tale block include Josepha Sherman's "The Murder of Mr. Wolf," in which Detective Beau Peep and his partner, Marie Gobeur (sheep in French), investigate the crime and prime suspect Little Red, and also Esther M. Friesner's "Crumbs," in which Hansel's son, Sir Hanson the Hawk-eyed, rides reluctantly into the Dark Woods and finds a very different sort of witch. Brian Stableford, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Alan Dean Foster, and Janny Wurts, among others, offer various takes on unicorns, elves, faery-hounds, goblins, a bored house pixie, hobbitlike beings, computer fantasy gaming, and more. Something for most every taste. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: DAW (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756403804
• ISBN-13: 978-0756403805
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #495,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Anthologies

More About the Author

Author of Net Impact, a spy thriller which incorporates real-world conspiracy theories, GREENSWORD, a dark comedy about global warming, and Forced Conversion, a military science fiction novel set in the near future. Also author of a variety of short fiction in the science fiction, fantasy, thriller, horror, steampunk, romance, and comedy genres, including stories in the Dragonlance and Transformers universes and in a variety of DAW themed anthologies. World's top-ranked player of RPGA Classic roleplaying game tournaments from 1985-2000. See my writing and gaming resumes at www.donaldjbingle.com., including a listing of the more than thirty anthologies in which I have stories. Some of my previously published stories have been collected by theme in my Writer on Demand TM series and published on Kindle, including Tales of Gamers and Gaming, Tales of Humorous Horror, and Tales Out of Time. My award-winning short memoir, Father's Day, is also available on Kindle, as is Gentlemanly Horrors of Mine Alone, the ninth story in Mike Stackpole's Chain Story Project.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great quick read!, February 24, 2007

By 

Brian Hamilton "brianhamilton.com" (Anderson, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fantasy Gone Wrong (Paperback)

I picked up this book when I needed a break from textbooks and was extremely pleased. The collection of shorts are very good, with a couple that stand out as being absolutely wonderful. Here are my favorites:

To start off with, Battle of Wits by Mickey Zucker Reichert is a story about a character taking over the story. I've always wanted to see a story like this, and Reichert doesn't disappoint.

Goblin Lullaby by Jim C. Hines tells a story mocking the typical "quest" from the point of a overworked Goblin mother.

The Murder of Mr. Wolf by Josepha Sherman is a melding of fantasy and detective done in such a smooth way that is fits perfectly in this book and is a great tongue-and-cheek nod to the world of fantasy.

And my absolute favorite is Food Fight by Alan Dean Foster. You just have to love a short that starts off with the line, "My coffee keeps insulting me".

If you're looking for a quick, fun, fantasy read, look no further. This one is guaranteed to please.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 16 by 16, June 7, 2007

By 

R. Howell "boriskhan" (Medford, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fantasy Gone Wrong (Paperback)

I'll be honest, I only bought this book because of the great picture on the cover - two burly milkmaids toting a captured gnome on a spit. Inside are 16 short stories by 16 different authors. The premise was to submit a fantasy story that was humorous and ends ironically. This was in part to the growing number of comedic fantasy books being published. I didn't recognize many of the authors within and everyone will have their own favorite stories. Most of them were amusing and some of them weren't. It's better not to sit down and read the whole book in a short time because you'll become bored with it. I liked the book but really lost any desire to finish the last four stories because I was getting burned out on them. None-the-less, I finished them but didn't enjoy them as much as I probably could have. Instead, just read a story here and there and you'll appreciate the book more. There's a few passing comedic shots taken at some well known stories (LOTR, Harry Potter, etc), a few twisted takes on fairy tale figures, and talking food among other things.

Well, since everyone will do it... my favorites: The Murder of Mr. Wolf, Crumbs, Fellow Traveller, and Moonlighting. Food Fight was pretty good but didn't really fit with the fantasy theme of the book. Overall, if read sparingly, you'll enjoy the stories more and wish some of them were expanded into full books (Murder of Mr Wolf, The Poisoned Chalice).

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy Writers Gone Wild, April 4, 2008

By 

Robert Bohms (Belleville, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fantasy Gone Wrong (Paperback)

As with any anthology, this one has its highs and its lows, but the lows, in this case, make you go "odd. Not bad, just odd". The basic premise: Fantasy has a set of expectations we adhere to. What happens if those "foundational rules" didn't exist?

The result is a collection of sixteen stories from an assortment of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and romance authors, all of whom trample the rules in their own ways. From homicidal hamburgers to digestable spells, goblin nurses to loan-sharking pixies, there are enough takes on "Fantasy Gone Wrong" to make almost anyone laugh.

I initially bought this book because of the contribution by Janny Wurts, and the concept of "Food Fight", by Alan Dean Foster. In my personal opinion, while both amusing, these aren't even the high points of the collection. That might, in fact, be one of the stronger selling points. I personally wouldn't give a single chapter less than an 8/10, and that mostly because they cover areas of fantasy that I don't particularly care for.

There are a lot of laughs to be had here, and the authors do a wonderful job of making each story unique. Consider: three stories are unicorn-themed, but each would be considered noticably different from the others.

Anyway, it's not deep or serious, but it is a great way to brighten up your day.