The Year's Best Fantasy Stories 9

The Year's Best Fantasy Stories #9

by Arthur W. Saha (editor)

Contents:

* "Introduction" (Arthur W. Saha)
* "Another Orphan" (John Kessel)
* "Square and Above Board" (R. A. Lafferty)
* "The Horror on the #33" (Michael Shea)
* "Djinn, No Chaser" (Harlan Ellison)
* "Sentences" (Richard Christian Matheson)
* "Influencing the Hell Out of Time and Teresa Golowitz" (Parke Godwin)
* "'Other'" (Jor Jennings)
* "The Malaysian Mer" (Jane Yolen)
* "Lest Levitation Come Upon Us" (Suzette Haden Elgin)
* "Mirage and Magia" (Tanith Lee)

Genres: Fantasy, Anthologies, Fiction

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 4, 1983

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one because it was different than my usual reads and not what I was expecting. When I think fantasy I think swords and magic and dragons, and where there was a little of that here, this is more contemporary type fantasy. I know some people disliked this for the exact reason I like it, but that's to be expected when "fantasy" can cover such a broad topic.

Most of the stories in this volume leaned towards humorous fantasy, but there were some more traditional and serious stories as well. If you don't mind having your fantasy read set in modern cities rather than medieval castles, give this one a try.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up in the free book bin at Dog-Eared Books, a little bedraggled and missing the front cover. It gave me several train rides worth of entertainment. Lots of reflection in the short volume on free will. "The Horror on the #33" truly was horrifying. I thought the short story "Lest Levitation Come Among Us" was hilarious. And, surprisingly, I really liked "The Orphan" - which happened to be a Nebula-award winning novella.

Now that I've read it, I'm going to go put it back in the free book bin.

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Saha took a much wider view of fantasy than Lin Carter, and some people probably liked that. I didn't. I wanted more adventure and this selection seemed to contain a lot of surrealistic elements that just didn't seem like fantasy to me. I didn't care for it at all.