Search Results for: edited

A Masterful Three Novella Original Anthology: The New Atlantis, edited by Robert Silverberg

The New Atlantis (Warner Books paperback reprint, 1978). Cover by Lou Feck My latest look at a book from the 1970s treats a major anthology from 1975. The New Atlantis and Other Novellas collects three long stories: “Silhouette,” by Gene Wolfe; “The New Atlantis,” by Ursula K. Le Guin, and “A Momentary Taste of Being,” by James Tiptree, Jr. The project received plenty of notice at awards time – the book as a whole was fifth in the Locus Poll…

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Two Classic Fantasy Anthologies: Barbarians and Barbarians II, edited by Robert Adams

Barbarians, edited by Robert Adams and Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh, and Barbarians II, edited by Pamela Crippen Adams, Robert Adams, and Martin H. Greenberg (Signet New American Library, January 1986 and February 1988). Covers by Ken Kelly Besides editing the Friends of the Horseclans books (discussed here last week), Robert Adams also edited — along with others — two thick anthologies from Signet entitled Barbarians (1985) and Barbarians II (1988). Covers by Ken Kelly. I bought these…

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Folk Horror edited by Paul Kane & Marie O’Reagan

Folk Horror is one of those terms that’s never quite fashionable or unfashionable. To me there’s only either good or bad horror fiction, and that’s what really matters to the readers. This anthology — part of the Beyond & Within series from Flame Tree Publishing — fortunately is very good, regardless of labels. So kudos to the editors (excellent horror writers themselves) for assembling such an amount of creepy and entertaining material. To be precise the book includes two little…

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Recognizing Genius: Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, edited by David E Schultz and S.T. Joshi

Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and and Clark Ashton Smith, 1922-1931, Volumes 1 and 2 (Hippocampus Press, July 14, 2020). Cover art by David C. Verba I’ve been reading Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, a two-volume set edited by David E. Schultz and S.T. Joshi. I talked about this in my company newsletter sent out a short while ago, and I’ll repeat it here for the interested. Lovecraft…

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Ladies Are Dangerous: Dastardly Damsels, edited by Suzie Lockhart

Dastardly Damsels (Crystal Lake Publishing, October 11, 2024) Dark fiction anthologies are currently very popular and, with a few exceptions, tend to be a medley of horror, fantasy, mild SF or something in between. I don’t like the expression “speculative fiction” but maybe this is an acceptable label. Some are published exclusively in digital format, which explains why the number of stories included is getting increasingly higher. The present anthology, for instance, features thirty-two contributions (including a couple of short…

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A Red Desert World, Full of Mystery: Old Mars, edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois

Old Mars (Bantam Books, October 8, 2013). Cover by Stephen Youll This isn’t a Sword & Planet collection per se but is likely to prove interesting to readers of S&P. It’s a big book, 548 pages of reading in 15 longish stories and an introduction by Martin. All the tales evoke the kind of Mars that readers of Burroughs, Bradbury, and Brackett will recognize — a red desert world full of mystery.

Quatro-Decadal Review: Weird Tales, November 1989, edited by John Betancourt, George H. Scithers, and Darrell Schweitzer

Weird Tales, Fall 1989 (Terminus Publishing). Cover by J.K. Potter There has been quite the gap in my reviews. I’ve been high-centered on Weird Tales. Many factors played a role in this — mostly that it is not a small magazine by any stretch. Then there is the fact that I read it in early 2023, got distracted by other things, and had to re-read it to write about it. As readers of these reviews know, I don’t hold back…

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Besties: The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by R.F. Kuang

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 (Mariner Books, October 17, 2023) Perhaps the most overused title for short story anthologies beings with “Best of.” In genre fiction, the heavyweight (in terms of both size and breadth of coverage) was the Gardner Dozois-edited The Year’s Best Science Fiction Stories that ran for 35 years until his death in 2018. And there are a whole slew of similar “Best of’s” for horror, dark fantasy, speculative fiction, you name a subgenre…

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A Paean to the Outsider: A Review of Neither Beg Nor Yield, edited by Jason M. Waltz

Neither Beg Nor Yield (Rogue Blades Entertainment, April 2024) I can’t say if Jason M. Waltz and his Rogue Blades Entertainment’s swansong is the largest collection of Sword & Sorcery ever published, but it’s damn close. It’s also the most metal. From this over-the-top, blood-splash cover featuring an axe headed toward the reader’s face to the powerful black & white line art that runs throughout. there’s a Savage Sword of Conan-meets-Heavy Metal vibe to the layout that tells you exactly…

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Datlow’s Latest Treat: The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Fifteen, edited by Ellen Datlow

The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Fifteen (Night Shade, January 16, 2024) Once again legendary editor Ellen Datlow has released her annual anthology featuring the Best horror stories that appeared in print the previous year. And once again the volume includes, in the front, a detailed, invaluable overview of the year in horror (this time 2022). Being a short story lover I am particularly interested in anthologies and collections and, as it happens, once again I discovered how many interesting…

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