Naked City

Naked City (2011) edited by Ellen Datlow

This collection of urban fantasy stories has several of my favorite authors, so it was a no-brainer to get. The bad thing is that I’ve been reading this collection for several months, so I now have no idea what the stories at the start of the anthology were about, which is dangerous, because it means I may end up accidentally rereading several of them.

First up was Jim Butcher‘s HarryDresden story “Cursed.” I’ve become frustrated by the Dresden Files series the past couple books, so a nice short story about baseball was a pleasant change. Harry is asked to find out about a possible curse on the Chicago Cubs.

Delia Sherman‘s story was next, “How the Pooka Came to New York City.” It’s 1855 and tells how a pooka came to NY with a human, Liam O’Casey.

Worth the cost of the anthology alone was Ellen Kushner‘s “The Duke of Riverside.” I love Swordspoint, and the chance to read more about St. Vier and Alec met? Bliss.

I love Christopher Fowler‘s Bryant & May mystery series. This is an unrelated stand-alone story about, well… in theory it’s about a hold up, but it isn’t. Not really.

Patricia Briggs story “Fairy Gifts” is a vampire story, but it’s not one of those vampire stories. It’s of a boy who was forced to become a vampire, and more.

Pat Cadigan’s story “Picking Up the Pieces” was another story about fairy, but it’s also about family, and a woman looking after her sister.

Peter S. Beagle‘s story, “Underbridge” was unexpectedly dark, almost more horror than fantasy. It’s about a troll. And it isn’t a nice troll.

Naomi Novik, who wrote the Temeraire series, has a non-dragon entry–another vampire story, only this one about the problems of the housing market in New York city.

I’m not certain I’d classify Matthew Kressel’s story, “The Bricks of Gelecek” as urban fantasy. It’s not a modern setting, and it’s not especially urban. It is interesting and depressing.

Lavie Tidhar’s story, “The Projected Girl” was meloncholy. A boy discovers a magician’s diary, and wants to learn more about the magician and the trick he reads about in the book.

Holly Black‘s story “Noble Rot” is a ghoul love story. Really.

The last story in the anthology is Elizabeth Bear‘s “King Pole, Gallows Pole, Bottle Tree.” It’s a story of Las Vegas and memory and magic. It’s also extremely good.

Although there were several stories I didn’t care for, I believe that was more a matter of personal taste than quality. And the stories I did like, I liked very much.
Rating: 8/10

Published by St. Martin’s Griffin

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