The daughter of a beloved children's author becomes entangled in a classic tale; a dedicated club of gourmands pursues the strangest and most exotic meal ever; the Ferryman on the river Styx takes a boatman's holiday; some kids at camp tell scary stories of a monster just beyond the reach of the campfire's light; and, after nearly forty years, Peter S. Beagle continues the beloved adventures of a magician and a girl who once met a unicorn. These are just some of the sixteen outstanding stories that acclaimed anthologist Jonathan Strahan has assembled in his second annual survey of the best new fantasy stories of the year. Jonathan Strahan has edited eleven anthologies, including The Locus Awards and assorted year's best annuals, and is currently working on several new anthology projects. He has won the Ditmar, William J Atheling Jr, and Peter McNamara Awards for his editing, and is the Reviews Editor for Locus, the magazine of the science fiction and fantasy fields. He lives in Perth, Western Australia with his wife and two daughters.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Strahan's wonderful "best of" anthology provides a little something for everyone, from traditional fantasy that pays homage to J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and M.R. James to slipstream wackiness that defies categorization. Of the 16 stories, the three standouts are Peter Beagle's gorgeous return to his Last Unicorn world, "Two Hearts"; Jane Yolen's scary classic Scotland-infused witch fantasy, "A Knot of Toads"; and Richard Bowes's "There's a Hole in the City," a gripping 9/11 ghost story. Other highlights include Neil Gaiman's funny epicurean adventure, "Sunbird"; Paul Di Filippo's delightful cyberfantasy, "The Emperor of Gondwanaland"; Theodora Goss's bittersweet fairy tale about grief recovery, "Pip and the Fairies"; Bruce Sterling's powerful fable, "The Denial"; and Kelly Link's hilarious campfire chiller, "Monster." Four tales overlap with a rival anthology, Fantasy: The Best of the Year (2006 Edition) (Reviews, July 31). (Sept.)
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
Strahan's "very best" selection has a deliciously large quotient of left-field choices, beginning with Charles Stross' Scots-dialect devil's-bargain tale, "Snowball's Chance," and including Jeffrey Ford's "Boatman's Holiday" (the boatman in question is Charon); Christopher Barzak's "The Language of Moths," one of whose narrators is autistic; M Rickert's wrenching substitutionary atonement parable, "Anyway"; Seana Graham's genially feminist confection, "The Pirate's True Love"; Ellen Klages' vision of God's childhood in "Intelligent Design"; Simon Brown's touching "Leviathan"; and Bruce Sterling's sad glimpse of the Balkan past, "The Denial." And Kelly Link's "Monster" is characteristically peculiar, thanks to her peerless mastery of tone, which in this tale suggests Emo Philips interpreting Lovecraft. To balance all the flat-out outre-ness, Strahan offers a sturdy, traditional witchcraft chiller, Jane Yolen's "A Knot of Toads," and Richard Bowes' melancholy 9/11 ghost story, "There's a Hole in the City." Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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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 Very Best of 2005 (Paperback)
The other Locus save Year's Best volume, after the Strahan-Haber books ended when Ibooks went bye-bye. This volume overlaps significantly with the other fantasy/horror books, perhaps more than any other volume I have rated so far.
So if you have those others - Hartwell/Datlow/Betancourt etc., you will have almost all of this. That being said, Strahan gives a quick fantasy magazine and anthology and collection overview. Overall, this is pretty good, just a half star under a 3.50 story average. Fantasy Best of 2005 : Two Hearts - Peter S. Beagle Fantasy Best of 2005 : Snowball's Chance - Charles Stross Fantasy Best of 2005 : Sunbird - Neil Gaiman Fantasy Best of 2005 : A Knot of Toads - Jane Yolen Fantasy Best of 2005 : Boatman's Holiday - Jeffrey Ford Fantasy Best of 2005 : The Language of Moths - Christopher Barzak Fantasy Best of 2005 : Anyway - M. Rickert Fantasy Best of 2005 : The Emperor of Gondwanaland - Paul Di Filippo Fantasy Best of 2005 : The Pirate's True Love - Seana Graham Fantasy Best of 2005 : Intelligent Design - Ellen Klages Fantasy Best of 2005 : Pip and the Fairies - Theodora Goss Fantasy Best of 2005 : Leviathan - Simon Brown Fantasy Best of 2005 : The Denial - Bruce Sterling Fantasy Best of 2005 : The Farmer's Cat - Jeff VanderMeer Fantasy Best of 2005 : There's a Hole in the City - Richard Bowes Fantasy Best of 2005 : Monster - Kelly Link Griffin snacking leads to senile sovereign's swan song. 4.5 out of 5 Global warming Devil deal destruction wish banking. 4 out of 5 "I have a presentiment of doom upon me," ..."And I fear it shall come to us with barbecue sauce." 4 out of 5 Witchy windmilled. 3.5 out of 5 Contrary to the advice of the sage Accadacca, Hell Is A Bad Place To Be. Generally. Barring sneaky loopholes. 3.5 out of 5 Autistic lepidoptera whisperer. 4 out of 5 Bloodstones, no Ulysses or Swords of Power, unfortunately. 2 out of 5 Online getaway hookup. 4 out of 5 Bakesale broadsided. 3.5 out of 5 Holy KAPOW! 3 out of 5 Obit teaparty flashback. 2.5 out of 5 Out of the exploding aeroplane into the big biblical beastie. 3 out of 5 We're dead, stupid. 3.5 out of 5 Moggie ursa major makes troll mob minor. 3.5 out of 5 Toasty ghosty. 3.5 out of 5 Hey, Bungalow Jim I Might Eat Him 3.5 out of 5
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