The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy (Mammoth Books) [Paperback]

Mike Ashley (Editor), John Cleese (Contributor), Connie Booth (Contributor), Tom Holt (Contributor), Garry Kilworth (Contributor), Esther Friesner (Contributor), Marilyn Todd (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Mammoth Books | Publication Date: June 9, 2001

With the hilarious "Happy Valley," a story originally written by John Cleese and Connie Booth for Monty Python's Flying Circus, this third volume in an extraordinarily popular Mammoth Book series gets off to a suitably silly start. It continues merrily apace with "Attack of the Charlie Chaplins" by Garry Kilworth, visits "The Strawhouse Pavilion" by Ron Goulart, and takes in "A Bad Day on Mount Olympus" with Marilyn Todd. Along the way it introduces Esther Eisner's "Gunsel and Gretel" and Cherith Baldry's "Broadway Barbarian" and renews acquaintance with F. Anstey's "Ferdie." It bemuses as well as amuses with "A Case of Four Fingers" concocted by John Grant, not to mention "The Absolute and Utter Impossibility of the Facts in the Case of the Vanishing of Henning Vok" from Jack Adrian. And before this wildly comic romp ends, it discovers "Math Takes a Holiday" (Paul Di Filippo) and "Mother Duck Strikes Again" (Craig Shaw Gardner). Fantasy finds broad definition in this wackily comic tour. While some of the stories approach the domain of science fiction, others are lodged in an everyday reality. None of them, though, fails to entertain. Together, the more than thirty selections -- thirteen of them brand-new and the balance of them often rare finds or forgotten gems -- provide a fresh sampling of comic genius in the sphere of fantasy fiction and a wide range of tales to suit every taste in humor.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As prolific editor Ashley shows in this third comic fantasy anthology, a mix of reprints and original tales, humor comes in many varieties, but it's the most fragile of literary forms, often not traveling or aging well. Such a story as Stan Nicholls's "Polly Put the Mockers On" remains untranslatably British. Wizards, nearly all British, pop up drearily in far too many of the entries. In her heavy-handed, wizard-laden pastiche of Damon Runyon, "Broadway Barbarian," Cherith Baldry manages to convert gold to lead. More successful on the whole are the reprints, notably Porter Emerson Browne's "The Diplodocus" (1908), about a Luther Burbank type who combines animal instead of plant species with hilarious results, and Nelson Bond's "Nothing in the Rules" (1943), an ingratiating romp about horse racing and a rakish, scholarly centaur. Sheer silliness pays off in the opening tale, John Cleese and Connie Booth's "Happy Valley," later adapted for an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. More serious silliness underlies Avram Davidson's delightful Ruritanian pastiche, "Milord Sir Smiht, the English Wizard." In the shaggy dog category, with their punning twists, are James Bibby's "Pale Assassin" and Jack Sharkey's "The Blackbird." And Scott Edelman's all-dialogue "You'll Never Walk Alone" is the ultimate "magnetic personality" story. While only a dozen or so of the volume's 32 tales rank as truly "awesome," the laughs come often enough. Try it, you'll like it.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Mike Ashley is a prolific and knowledgeable editor. His most recent successes include The Mammoth Book of Locked Room Mysteries, The Mammoth Book of Sword and Honour, The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens, the Whodunits series including Historical Whodunits, Shakespearean Whodunits, Classical Whodunits, Royal Whodunits and also Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy and The Mammoth Book of Arthurian Legend. His books for Robinson have been widely translated and have sold over a million copies worldwide. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (June 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786708670
• ISBN-13: 978-0786708673
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #822,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonder? Breed? How Foul is your Seed??, January 5, 2006

By 

Coroner "The Original Dangerous Competitor" (Guam) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy (Mammoth Books) (Paperback)

What to expect from "The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy"--a mosaic of waggish rogues and wayward wizards, misinformed planet-skippers, and would-be assassins in the grain...and from the skies. I recommend reading the book starting with the hyperactive final tale, "You'll Never Walk Alone Again"; its frenetic rhythm demands your perception be sharply angled! "Put Down that Universe!" is the second-to-last tale and features characters equally extraordinary and intriguing. Other meritorious additions: "Dragonet", "Nothing in the Rules", "How Much Would You Pay?","Math Takes a Holiday", "Polly Put the Mockers On", and "The Absolute and Utter Impossibility of the Facts in the Case of the Vanishing of Henning Vok"...On the flip side, skip "Ferdie", "Milord Sir Smiht...", "Touched By a Salesman", "The Swords and the Stones", "Fair Weather Fiend" and "Mother Duck Strikes Again". TEDIOUS!! Overall, great book...

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars One more in a series of ... books, August 3, 2001

By 

Dennis Cole (Morgantown, WV USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy (Mammoth Books) (Paperback)

What is with these British anthologizers? How perverse a talent it is to find short, comedic stories which are not funny. Sweet merciful heavens this guy found a John Cleese story that was tedious. Imagine how hard you must work to find a tedious John Cleese anything. At least in this volume you can tell that most of the authors were trying to be at least a little funny.