Assassin Fantastic

Assassin Fantastic (2001) edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Alexander Potter

I know that Martin Greenberg puts together good anthologies, however there’s something about the “Fantastic” that gets tacked onto the end of each anthology theme title that puts me off for some reason. However, I’ve always been fond of Assassin characters, so I picked up the book.

After the first few stories I almost gave up–the story by Tanya Huff I found confusing, and I saw the trick of Stephen Leigh’s “Green Stones” almost immediately, so although it was a good story, it wasn’t a great story. The same went for Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s “Coin of the Realm” I knew where the story was going, so it lost much of its punch. (It’s an anthology about assassins–chances are that the main character–especially in a first person narrative–is going to be the assassin. Because it’s hard for the assassinated to tell their story after the fact. So that pretty much kills any surprise or twist.) However, it picked up from there.

I really liked Anna Oster’s “History and Economics”. It was well written, and I wasn’t sure where it was going up until the end. I think I would have liked Josepha Sherman’s “Never Say Die” far better if it hadn’t be written in the first person–or perhaps if it had been in a slightly different style. What is it about assassin stories that so many were written in first person? As if assassins have to channel hard boiled detectives? For instance:

The neat little sign in my tiny office reads simply, “Alexei Danilovich,” which is almost my true name. And beneath that, in smaller, precise letters: “Removal Service–Discreet and Efficient”

I would think that assassins and detectives would have quite different voices–the in-your-face bragging of detectives seems to have little place in the world of death by stealth. But here, the narrative voice just doesn’t strike me as discreet.

On the other hand, Teresa Edgerton’s “Dying by Inches” was very good. It was quite different and not what I was expecting.

Miss Odilia Rowan–with eighteen years to her name, and a world of bitterness in her heart–moved through the maze of Cour-de-Fer prison with the studied nonchalance of a long time resident.

Quite lovely. It drew me in immediately. Mickey Zucker Reichert’s Nightfall story was also very good, although I have to admit that I already liked Nightfall. (This story would be pre-Legend of Nightfall I think.)

Also excellent were Jane Lindskold’s “A Touch of Poison” and Michelle West’s “Echoes”. I particularly liked “A Touch of Poison”

Watching the plump, dark-haired young widow working up to her elbows in break dough, a dusting of flour on her cute, slightly up-turned nose, no one would have guessed that Adalia Backer had sworn to kill a man–a man who trusted her.

Well, maybe I could have done without the cute nose bit, but I really enjoyed this story as well.

All in all it was a good anthology, and I quite enjoyed it. There were lots of original stories, and for the most part even the ones I didn’t care for were well-written, making it more a matter of taste than of quality. And I found a couple of new authors to look for as well, which is always a good thing.
Rating: 7/10

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