Kelly Link
Books: Fantasy
Anthologies
A Wolf at the Door (2000), Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixteenth Edition (2003), The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm (2004), The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventeenth Annual Collection (2004), Year's Best Fantasy 4 (2004), Firebirds Rising (2006), The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (2007), Troll's Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales (2009), The Way of the Wizard (2010), Happily Ever After (2011)
A Wolf at the Door (2000) edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
I love folk tales and fairy tales, and I love the idea of stories that have been told and retold, and then finally captured on paper. The problem of course, is finding an author who is good at translating stories from an oral tradition into something that works well written.
There's something wonderful about a well-told short story, and I think that the best short stories in the world are folk and fairy tales.
Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling are very good at finding authors who can take these stories and retell them, and they always put together wonderful anthologies. They brought together thirteen writers for this collection of retold fairy tales.
- The Months of Manhattan by Delia Sherman
- Cinder Elephant by Jane Yolen
- Instructions by Neil Gaiman
- Mrs Big: "Jack and the Beanstalk" Retold by Michael Cadnum
- Falada: The Goose Girls Horse by Nancy Farmer
- A Wolf at the Door by Tanith Lee
- Ali Baba and the Forty Aliens by Janeen Webb
- Swans by Kelly Link
- The Kingdom of Melting Glances by Katherine Vaz
- Hansel's Eyes by Garth Nix
- Becoming Charise by Kathe Koja
- The Seven Stage a Comeback by Gergory Maguire
- The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Patricia A. McKillip
Although one or two of the stories I found to be just okay, others were nothing short of excellent. It also seems as if the stories were I liked the best were towards the end of the book. For me the collection started out okay, and then got better and better the more I read.
Not that I think the purpose of these stories is necessarily to scare us, as much as it is to make us pay attention to what is happening around us.
Rating: 7/10
Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixteenth Edition (2003) edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
Published by St. Martin's Griffin
The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm (2004) edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
Any time I see a fantasy anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, I'll often as not pick it up, because I know that it's going to be good. Usually very good. This volume however, has the added bonus of poems by both Charles de Lint and Neil Gaiman.
Needless to say I snatched it up--even thought it was in hardback--when I came across it.
These faery tales are based not upon the fairies of Disney but upon the faery of folktales. As they say in the introduction:
In this book about our good neighbors, we've asked a number of our favorite writers to travel into the Twilight Realm (an ancient name for the land of Faerie) and to bring back stories of faeries and the hapless mortals who cross their path. "No butterfly-winged sprites," we pleaded. "Read the old folktales, journey farther afield, find some of the less explored paths through the Realm.
It would be hard for me not to love this book.
- The Boys of Goose Hill by Charles de Lint
- Catnyp by Delia Sherman
- Elvenbrood by Tanith Lee
- Your Garnet Eyes by Katherine Vaz
- Tengu Mountain by Gregory Frost
- The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link
- The Price of Glamour by Steve Berman
- The Night Market by Holly Black
- Never Never by Bruce Glassco
- Screaming for Aferies by Ellen Steiber
- Immersed in Matter by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
- Undine by Patricia A. McKillip
- The Oakthing by Gregory Maguire
- Foxwife by Hiromi Goto
- The Dream Eaters by A. W. Dellamonico
- The Faery Reel by Neil Gaiman
- The Shooter at the Heartrock Waterhole by Bill Congreve
- The Annals of Eelin-OK by Jeffrey Ford
- De La Tierra by Emma Bull
- How to Find Faery by Nan Fry
All in all an excellent anthology. But I hardly expected anything less.
Published by Viking
Rating: 8/10
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventeenth Annual Collection (2004) edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
Published by St. Martin's Griffin
Year's Best Fantasy 4 (2004) edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
- King Dragon by Michael Swanwick
- The Big Green Grin by Gahan Wilson
- The Book of Martha by Octavia E. Butler
- Wild Thing by Charles Coleman Finlay
- Closing Time by Neil Gaiman
- Catskin by Kelly Link
- Dragon's Gate by Pat Murphy
- One Thing about the Night by Terry Dowling
- Peace on Suburbia by M. Rickert
- Moonblind by Tanith Lee
- Professor Berkowitz Stands on the Threshold by Theodora Goss
- Louder Echo by Brendan Duffy
- The Raptures of the Deep by Rosaleen Love
- Fable from a Cage by Tim Pratt
- A Quartet of Mini-Fantasies by Arthur Porges
- Señor Volto by Lucius Shepard
- Shen's Daughter by Mary Soon Lee
- Basement Magic by Ellen Klages
- The Tales of Zanthias by Robert Sheckley
- Of Soil and Climate by Gene Wolfe
- Almost Home by Terry Bisson
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Firebirds Rising (2006) edited by Sharyn November
- Huntress by Tamora Pierce
- Unwrapping by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
- The Real Thing by Alison Goodman
- Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles de Lint
- I'll Give you My Word by Diana Wynn Jones
- In the House of the Seven Librarians by Ellen Klages
- Wintermoon Wish by Sharon Shinn
- The Wizards of Perfil by Kelly Link
- Jack O'Lantern by Patricia A. McKillip
- Quill by Carol Emshwiller
- Blood Roses by Francesca Lia Block
- Hives by Kara Dalkey
- Perception by Alan Dean Foster
- The House on the Planet by Tanith Lee
- Cousins by Pamela Dean
- What Used to be Good Still Is by Emma Bull
This is a collection of fantasy, urban fantasy (minus the boinking) and science fiction. Interestingly, I didn't mind most of the science fiction too much, though they weren't my favorite stories in the collection.
Published by Firebird
Rating: 7/10
The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (2007) edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
I love short stories. Aside from collections by Charles de Lint, I best love anthologies by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling best. Their books are like comfort food, and I save them up for when I'm sick or feeling low.
In the same vein as The Green Man and The Faerie Reel, Datlow and Windling have this time collected stories about tricksters, and they've got some of my favorite authors in this collection: Charles de Lint, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Ellen Kushner. As usual, they manage to collect stories by some of my favorite story tellers.
- One Odd Shoe by Pat Murphy
- Coyote Woman by Carolyn Dunn
- Wagers of Gold Mountain by Steve Berman
- The Listeners by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
- Realer than You by Christopher Barzak
- The Fiddler of Bayou Teche by Delia Sherman
- A Tale for the Short Days by Richard Bowes
- Friday Night at St. Cecilia's by Ellen Klages
- The Fortune Teller by Patricia A. McKillip
- How Raven Made his Bride by Theodora Goss
- Crow Roads by Charles de Lint
- The Chamber of Music Animals by Katharine Vaz
- Uncle Bob's Visits by Caroline Stevermer
- Uncle Tompa by Midori Snyder
- Cat of the World by Michael Cadnum
- Honored Guest by Ellen Kushner
- Always the Same Story by Elizabeth E. Wein
- The Senorita and the Cactus Thorn by Kim Antieau
- Black Rock Blues by Will Shetterly
- The Constable of Abal by Holly Black
- God Clown by Carol Emshwiller
- The Other Labyrinnth by Jedediah Berry
- The Dreaming Wind by Jeffery Ford
- Kwaku Anansi Walks the World's Web by Jane Yolen
- The Evolution of Trickster Stories Amount the Dogs of North Park after the Change by Kij Johnson
Another favorite was "The Constable of Abal" by Kelly Link. The story ranged near and far and I was never quite sure where it was going, but that was ok because I was glad to be along for the ride.
If like short story collections, or trickster tales, then you will want to read The Coyote Road. It has stories from many of my favorite writers, and as with all their collections, I was delighted to discover new authors for whom I'll be on the lookout.
Rating: 9/10
Troll's Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales (2009) edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
- "Wizard's Apprentice" by Delia Sherman
- "An Unwelcome Guest" by Garth Nix
- "Faery Tales" by Wendy Froud
- "Rags and Riches" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
- "Up the Down Beanstalk: A Wife Remembers" by Peter S. Beagle
- "The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces" by Ellen Kushner
- "Puss in Boots, the Sequel" by Joseph Stanton
- "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" by Holly Black
- "Troll" by Jane Yolen
- "Castle Othello" by Nancy Farmer
- "‘Skin" by Michael Cadnum
- "A Delicate Architecture" by Catherynne M. Valente
- "Molly" by Midori Snyder
- "Observing the Formalities" by Neil Gaiman
- "The Cinderella Game" by Kelly Link
Published by Viking Books for Young Readers
The Way of the Wizard (2010) edited by John Joseph Adams
I love anthologies. They give me an escape in bite size pieces that won't keep me up past my bed time on a work night, and they also often a wonderful introduction to authors I have not read previously.
This anthology focuses upon wizards of all sorts, doing wizardly things, though not very many evil wizards.
- In the Lost Lands by George R.R. Martin
- Family Tree by David Barr Kirtley
- John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner by Susanna Clarke
- Wizard's Apprentice by Delia Sherman
- The Sorcerer Minus by Jeffrey Ford
- Life So Dear or Peace So Sweet by C.C. Finlay
- Card Sharp by Rajan Khanna
- So Deep That the Bottom Could Not Be Seen by Genevieve Valentine
- The Go-Slow by Nnedi Okorafor
- Too Fatal a Poison by Krista Hoeppner Leahy
- Jamaica by Orson Scott Card
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Robert Silverberg
- The Secret of Calling Rabbits by Wendy N. Wagner
- The Wizards of Perfil by Kelly Link
- How to Sell the Ponti Bridge by Neil Gaiman
- The Magician and the Maid and Other Stories by Christie Yant
- Winter Solstice by Mike Resnick
- The Trader and the Slave by Cinda Williams Chima
- Cerile and the Journeyer by Adam-Troy Castro
- Counting the Shapes by Yoon Ha Lee
- Endgame by Lev Grossman
- Street Wizard by Simon R. Green
- Mommy Issues of the Dead by T.A. Pratt
- One-Click Banishment by Jeremiah Tolbert
- The Ereshkigal Working by Jonathan L. Howard
- Feeding the Feral Chidren by David Farland
- The Orange-Tree Sacrifice by Vylar Kaftan
- Love Is the Spell That Casts Out Fear by Desirina Boskovich
- El Regalo by Peter S. Beagle
- The Word of Unbinding by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Thirteen Texts of Arthyria by John R. Fultz
- The Secret of the Blue Star by Marion Zimmer Bradley
"The Wizards of Perfil" by Kelly Link is another story I'd read previously, in another anthology. Onion and Halsa are chosen (or not) to become apprentices to the wizards of Perfil. This story made more sense to me the second time through, but it's still rather depressing.
There were multiple stories I didn't care for, but on the whole, I found it a good and enjoyable collection. After all, I don't have to read the stories I don't like.
Published by Prime Books
Rating: 7/10
Happily Ever After (2011) edited by John Klima
Not sure how I missed this when I first came out, but this anthology is full of things I love: authors whose books I love, stories based on folk and fairy tales–lovely!
The only thing I didn't like, is I wish the anthology hadn't ended on such a dark and depressing story.
Mind you, the dark and depressing stories were good–very good–but these tales ran very true to the original stories, with a not insignificant amount of rape and incest and general horribleness. Just like the original tales.
But there's also a good amount of humor as well, and I just wished the collection had ended with one of the funnier stories.
- The Seven Stage a Comeback by Gregory Maguire
- And In Their Glad Rags by Genevieve Valentine
- The Sawing Boys by Howard Waldrop
- Bear It Away by Michael Cadnum
- Mr. Simonelli or the Fairy Widower by Susanna Clarke
- The Black Fairy's Curse by Karen Joy Fowler
- My Life As A Bird by Charles de Lint
- The Night Market by Holly Black
- The Rose in Twelve Petals by Theodora Goss
- The Red Path by Jim C. Hines
- Blood and Water by Alethea Kontis
- Hansel's Eyes by Garth Nix
- He Died That Day, In Thirty Years by Wil McCarthy
- Snow In Summer by Jane Yolen
- The Rose Garden by Michelle West
- The Little Magic Shop by Bruce Sterling
- Black Feather by K. Tempest Bradford
- Fifi's Tail by Alan Rodgers
- The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link
- Ashputtle by Peter Straub
- The Emperor's New (And Improved) Clothes by Leslie What
- Pinocchio's Diary by Robert J. Howe
- Little Red by Wendy Wheeler
- The Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman
- The Price by Patricia Briggs
- Ailoura by Paul Di Filippo
- The Farmer's Cat by Jeff VanderMeer
- The Root of The Matter by Gregory Frost
- Like a Red, Red Rose by Susan Wade
- Chasing America by Josh Rountree
- Stalking Beans by Nancy Kress
- Big Hair by Esther Friesner
- The Return of the Dark Children by Robert Coover
"The Faery Handbag" by Kelly Link didn't particularly follow any existing fairy tale, but instead had bits and pieces of tales built into something that was still a fairy tale while still being modern.
The funeral parlor had made her up with blue eyeshadow, and blue eyeliner. She looked like she was going to be a news anchor on Fox television, instead of dead.
Please note, as previously mentioned, the stories have rape and incest and lots and lots of sex in addition to evil stepmothers and other such killers.
There were also a fair number of very dark and very depressing tales that were very good, but that I didn't enjoy at all.
Published by Night Shade Books
Rating: 8/10