The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy [Paperback]

Mike Ashley (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1998

Brilliant new collection of comic fantasy masterpieces This dazzling new collection of off-the-wall fantasies features stories from the minds of the funniest writers in the field, including Esther Friesner, Neil Gaiman, Tom Holt, Paul di Filippo. Adam Roberts and Molly Brown. Here are 35 stories guaranteed to reassure us that the next-door world will be just as mad as this one. It includes a mix of brand-new stories and rare finds or forgotten gems, with a wide range of tales to suit every taste in humour. From the missionary plunged into the bizarre initiation rituals of a lost tribe to the bloke who thought magic would help his love life, from a wizard allergic to magic who sneezes his way into chaos to a man who finds his shoes have taken over control of his life, The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy unfalteringly turns fantasy and horror fiction on its head and makes magic into mayhem. A welcome new shot of comic genius in the sphere of fantasy fiction.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

" 'Mike Ashley collects 35 stories that amply demonstrate the breadth of the sub-genre, and, by the gods, it's funnyl' Stan Nicholls, Time Out 'Fine addition to any fan's library... The quality of the works that are included is quite superb.' Sharon Gosling, SFX Magazine 'A bargain read in which to browse, with repeat visits almost a reader requirement. Ashley deserves a medal.' Birmingham Evening Mail 'A splendid collection of bizarre comic fantasies.' Publishing News" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Mike Ashley is author and editor of several bestselling Mammoths including The Mammoth Book of Seriously Comic Fantasy, The Mammoth Book of Fantasy and The Mammoth Book of Sorcerer's Tales. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 524 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786705337
• ISBN-13: 978-0786705337
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,928,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good, long collection, but nothing outstanding., October 5, 1998

By A Customer

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

Upon seeing this in a bookstore my reaction was "hmm... this looks pretty damn good", and upon seeing it contained a Pratchett short (one I already have admitedly) I thought 'hmm... couldn't be too bad' and purchased it. I had pretty high expectations and to be honest it didn't meet them- but I did still like the collection. I wouldn't really describe this personally as a humourous collection- there were *very* few 'laugh out loud' moments. I would however describe it as a comical collection. Depending on your tastes you might enjoy it better than I- but personally I think as a humourous collection it fails, but just as an interesting anthology with a sense of the comical it was a decent read- there were very few stories that were actually outstanding, but even less that were below par- it just kind of skims along.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Two or three good stories can't save this book..., February 8, 2001

By 

Sarah Calkins (Orange County, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

I love Fantasy. I love Comedy. I saw this and thought "This is the book for me!"

No.

A couple of bright spots (Neil Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's stories, both of which I believe are available elsewhere) aren't quite enough to save this wheezing collection. Many of the stories aren't particularly funny at all, they just aren't serious High Fantasy. Others are just groaningly bad. Reading the first story, "Peregrine: Alflandia" by Avram Davidson, made me feel like I was trapped next to a particularly stupid and obnoxious person on a plane. Maybe that was the "funny" part, but if so that's the kind of comedy I can live without. Most of the rest of the stories were better, but too many are better by too little.

Maybe the editor's sense of humor is just much different from mine, but something tells me that that is probably not so. I'll say it just in case I've missed something that's readily apparent to everyone but me, though. I personally would stay away from this one.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some great stories, some terrible... most in-between, April 15, 2006

By 

Blake Petit "Novelist, columnist & reviewer" (Ama, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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

This is one of the many, many volumes in Carroll & Graf's "Mammoth" series of short fiction compendiums. (Other volumes have held mysteries, vampire stories, Sherlock Holmes stories and many, many other subjects.) Basically, it's 500 pages of comedic fantasy, sci-fi and horror tales, and as you would have to expect with a book of this sort, the quality varies wildly. Some -- such as Tom Holt's "Pizza To Go," Neil Gaiman's "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" and R.A. Lafferty's "Been a Long, Long Time" are fantastic reads. Others are almost painful in their lack of humor. Most fall somewhere in that gray area in-between. As someone who likes reading anthologies in the hopes of finding new authors, it was worth a read for me, and I've already read one of the three sequels (The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy II). I intend to pick up the other two (The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy and The Mammoth Book of New Comic Fantasy) as well -- I expect those, like the other two, will vary in quality, but to me it's worth slagging through some of the boring stories to find the gems.