Year's Best Fantasy [Mass Market Paperback]

David G. Hartwell (Author), Kathryn Cramer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Year's Best Fantasy | Publication Date: July 3, 2001

Tales As Deep As Legend
And As New As DawnAcclaimed editor David G. Hartwell has gathered a harvest of shimmering beauty and powerful writing in this inaugural volume of the very best fantasy from the last year. Established masters rub elbows with rising stars in this outstanding collection of short stories rich with imagined lands and finely etched, unforgettable characters. Travel to distant realms -- and around the block -- with stories by: Terry Goodkin
Nicola Griffith
Nalo Hopkinson
George R.R. Martin
Robert Sheckley
Michael Swanwick

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David G. Hartwell is a Senior Editor at Tor/Forge Books. He is the proprietor of Dragon Press, publisher and bookseller, which publishes The New York Review of Science Fiction. He is the author of Age of Wonders and the editor of many anthologies, including The Dark Descent, Masterpieces of Fantasy and Enchantment, The World Treasury of Science Fiction, Northern Stars, The Ascent of Wonder (co-edited with Kathryn Cramer), and a number of Christmas anthologies. Recently he edited his sixth annual paperback volume of Year's Best SF and co-edited the new Year's Best Fantasy. He has won the Eaton Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Science Fiction Chronicle Poll and has been nominated for the Hugo Award twenty-four times to date.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Harper Voyager (July 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038081840X
• ISBN-13: 978-0380818402
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,168,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathryn Cramer is a writer, anthologist, & Internet consultant who lives in Pleasantville, New York. She won a World Fantasy Award for best anthology for The Architecture of Fear, co-edited with Peter Pautz; she was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for her anthology Walls of Fear. She co-edited several anthologies of Christmas and fantasy stories with David G. Hartwell and now does the annual Year's Best Fantasy and Year's Best SF with him. She is on the editorial board of The New York Review of Science Fiction, (for which she has been nominated for the Hugo Award many times). She is a consultant with the Scientific Information Group for Wolfram Research.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheating? Maybe. Still some good material? Definitely!, June 11, 2005

By 

Jennifer Messer (Rock Springs, Wyoming United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Year's Best Fantasy (Mass Market Paperback)

Response to review below...

I can see the point of the reviewer below in regards to George R.R. Martin and Terry Goodkind's work as excerpted or relating to their best-selling series. But I think this review is missing some details.

First the collection is titled "Year's Best Fantasy", not "Best fantasy this editor could find from your very favorite authors that you have never seen before `cuz I picked their brains for fresh stuff and then they promised never to use any of it again in a series". This kind of anthology is ALWAYS made up of the good, the bad and the excerpted.

Second collections are great for those already in love with the genera, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they are really about drawing in the readers who do not normally seek out Fantasy books. Although I like Sci/Fi and Fantasy work just fine I would NEVER have picked up George R.R. Martin's beefy series Song of Ice and Fire series without this intro to the series. The series is just too far off my usual list of interest.

I do sympathize with the other reviewer, if you have read it already then if feels like you're being cheated. But you can't really think that every anthology ever would have only fresh new stories. If having excerpts pulls even a few readers over, then so much the better.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Must Have Been a Bad Year, October 18, 2003

By 

jrmspnc (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Year's Best Fantasy (Mass Market Paperback)

Most of the stories in this edition of "Year's Best Fantasy Stories" are not terrible. Unfortunately, none of them are destined to be classics, either. By and large, the stories are readable but not memorable. Perhaps the sole exception is "Wrong Dreaming" by Kain Massin, which is an Australian tale of aboriginal magic that is very evocative and moving. Sarah Singleton's "Ebb Tide" is also moving, although its story of mermaid love has been done many times before. The contributions of the heavyweights, George R.R. Martin and Terry Goodkind, are excerpted or related to their best-selling series, and so are almost cheating. Read this one if you've not much else to read, but do not expect to be impressed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Like a Good Story..., March 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Year's Best Fantasy (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought this first "inaugural" volume of short fantasy stories on a whim. Some of the longer stories (George R.R. Martin & the Terry Goodkind stories I have already read, but read them again!). This collection doesn't limit itself to "sword & sorcery" stories. There really is something for everyone here.

If you are a reader, who truly enjoys something imaginative,intelligent, & entertaining, you DESERVE this book. I think you will find it's many twists, turns, and writing styles irresistible. Take a chance on this one. I truly think you will find yourself unable to put it down for long!

This is one of the best short story collections I have ever read... Go on... pick up a copy!

j