Year’s Best Fantasy

Year’s Best Fantasy (2001) edited by David G. Hartwell

I’m a sucker for short story collections–I love short stories, and fantasy collections are my favorite, so if I come across a collection, I usually buy it. This has, of course, led to some rather poor choices, such as “The Sorcerer’s Academy” and “Earth, Air, Fire, Water”, neither of which I’ve been able to finish. But for the most part collections tend to be good, and help to give me that reading fix, at times when I just can’t get involved in a novel.

I’m not certain that I’d agree with the tag at the top of the book “A dazzling treasury of stories,” but it is a nice collection. Some stories I liked, other I didn’t care as much for, but on the whole it is a good collection.

“Hunger of the Leaves” by Joel Lane was one story that particularly struck me–it was more horror than fantasy, but still good. Although from a biological point of view, I did take issue with the premise of the tale. I also liked “The Golem” by Naomi Kritzer, but then I’ve always been fond of golem tales and Jewish folklore. This story has many of the elements I like about folklore–especially the dark side of the tale.

Scott Bradfield’s “The Devil Disinvests” was very short, and very good. There’s something about very short stories that are well done that is perfect. “Magic, Maples, and Maryanne” by Robert Sheckley I also liked, although like many of the stories in this collection, it was set in modernish times rather than a fantasy realm (as one would be lead to modern-ish by the cover of the book.)

I have two other collection, volumes two and three, of which I’ve read volume three I believe. I’m not sure that they live up to the year’s best fantasy, but the stories are good.

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