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Strange Dreams
A new collection of fantasy short stories personally selected by bestselling author Stephen R. Donaldson, these are the "strange dreams" that stir the heart and mind, written by authors past and present - from Rudyard Kipling and Franz Kafka to Theodore Sturgeon, John Varley, Harlan Ellison, and Sheri S. Tepper.
Here are witches, ghosts, a demon child, a boy who never grows old, a prehistoric monster that never died, a dragon in the snow, a wolfman, an unusual private eye, and a very modern woman swallowed by the past. In Patricia A. McKillip's medieval fantasy, "The Lady of the Skulls," a group of knights enter a forbidden tower to find the most precious treasure contained therein - or die in agony. In "The House of Compassionate Sharers," by Michael Bishop, a human turned into a machine learns to love in a mysterious brothel catering to twisted desires and secret fears.
Here are witches, ghosts, a demon child, a boy who never grows old, a prehistoric monster that never died, a dragon in the snow, a wolfman, an unusual private eye, and a very modern woman swallowed by the past. In Patricia A. McKillip's medieval fantasy, "The Lady of the Skulls," a group of knights enter a forbidden tower to find the most precious treasure contained therein - or die in agony. In "The House of Compassionate Sharers," by Michael Bishop, a human turned into a machine learns to love in a mysterious brothel catering to twisted desires and secret fears.
531 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
7 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
About the author
Stephen R. Donaldson
149 books2,724 followersStephen Reeder Donaldson is an American fantasy, science fiction, and mystery novelist; in the United Kingdom he is usually called "Stephen Donaldson" (without the "R"). He has also written non-fiction under the pen name Reed Stephens.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION:
Stephen R. Donaldson was born May 13, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, James, was a medical missionary and his mother, Ruth, a prosthetist (a person skilled in making or fitting prosthetic devices). Donaldson spent the years between the ages of 3 and 16 living in India, where his father was working as an orthopaedic surgeon. Donaldson earned his bachelor's degree from The College of Wooster and master's degree from Kent State University.
INSPIRATIONS:
Donaldson's work is heavily influenced by other fantasy authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Roger Zelazny, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, and William Faulkner. The writers he most admires are Patricia A. McKillip, Steven Erikson, and Tim Powers.
It is believed that a speech his father made on leprosy (whilst working with lepers in India) led to Donaldson's creation of Thomas Covenant, the anti-hero of his most famous work (Thomas Covenant). The first book in that series, Lord Foul's Bane, received 47 rejections before a publisher agreed to publish it.
PROMINENT WORK:
Stephen Donaldson came to prominence in 1977 with the The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, which is centred around a leper shunned by society and his trials and tribulations as his destiny unfolds. These books established Donaldson as one of the most important figures in modern fantasy fiction.
PERSONAL LIFE:
He currently resides in New Mexico.
THE GRADUAL INTERVIEW
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION:
Stephen R. Donaldson was born May 13, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, James, was a medical missionary and his mother, Ruth, a prosthetist (a person skilled in making or fitting prosthetic devices). Donaldson spent the years between the ages of 3 and 16 living in India, where his father was working as an orthopaedic surgeon. Donaldson earned his bachelor's degree from The College of Wooster and master's degree from Kent State University.
INSPIRATIONS:
Donaldson's work is heavily influenced by other fantasy authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Roger Zelazny, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, and William Faulkner. The writers he most admires are Patricia A. McKillip, Steven Erikson, and Tim Powers.
It is believed that a speech his father made on leprosy (whilst working with lepers in India) led to Donaldson's creation of Thomas Covenant, the anti-hero of his most famous work (Thomas Covenant). The first book in that series, Lord Foul's Bane, received 47 rejections before a publisher agreed to publish it.
PROMINENT WORK:
Stephen Donaldson came to prominence in 1977 with the The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, which is centred around a leper shunned by society and his trials and tribulations as his destiny unfolds. These books established Donaldson as one of the most important figures in modern fantasy fiction.
PERSONAL LIFE:
He currently resides in New Mexico.
THE GRADUAL INTERVIEW
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 30, 2023
8,5 A doorstopper of a short story collection, 704 pages in total, this collection was put together with no overarching theme, according to the foreword. Stephen R. Donaldson just picked fantasy stories that made an impact on him. But through his personal taste he manages to give an overview of fantasy writing from the 20th century, with tales from different periods, male and female authors and different genres represented. As for me, I was interested in this collection because I read mainly science fiction anthologies. It is often said SF is best suited for short stories, but this collection makes a pretty convincing case for fantasy in short form as well. And, looking through an historical lens this makes sense, as the pulp magazines like 'Weird tales' also published a lot of fantasy stories. Here a few of the stories are 'weird tales' like those you would be able to find in those magazines. There are also a few horror stories, and a few stories that I would classify as SF (but with a bit of a fantastical twist). There were also some faerie-stories (in the sense of concerning themself with faerie) and some time travel tales, but also secondary world fantasy dealing with magical pirates was represented. Most stories work very well, at least to my taste. A few left me scratching my head. I don't like inconclusive endings myself, and I don't care much for stories that are all atmosphere and let me scramble around for a sense of plot. But those were the minority here. Also this was a chance for me to sample stories by Jorge Luis Borges and Rudyard Kipling on the more classic spectrum and C.J. Cherryh and Sherri S. Tepper on the more modern side. So, in short, a smorgasbord of engaging fantasy stories.
Patricia A. McKillip's 'Lady of the Skulls' was a well written fairytale.
R.A. Lafferty explores a comical situation in 'Narrow Valley' that made me grin.
'The Dreamstone' by C.J. Sherryh had a melancholic feel and was written in a high style evocative of Tolkien and other faery-tales.
Rudyard Kiplings 'The Mark of the Beast' contains some orientalism probably, but it was still an effective 'weird tale' taking place in India.
John Kessels 'The Big Dream' was a fascinating story combining hard boiled SF with weird fiction, inspired by Raymond Chandler. I enjoyed it a lot.
I liked 'The Fallen Country' by Somtow Sucharitkul about a counselor talking with a kid who suffered abuse, but it turns out there's another layer ...
'Strata' by Edward Bryant is a unique ghost story ... It reminded me of 'Fish Night' in the first season of Love, Death + Robots.
Greg Bear's 'The White Horse Child' was, to me, one of the best stories in this collection. But well, that's maybe because it's about a child growing up to be a story teller, in a family that does not encourage that ...
'Consequences' by Walter Jon Williams was not deep, but as a nautical fantasy filled with excitin sea battles it certainly kept me interested. This is also the longest story in here, I think.
'The Stone Fey' by Robin McKinley was a beautifully told story about a sheperdess falling in love with the hills ... I felt the love in this story, especially for the dog ...
Gary Kilworths 'Hogfoot Right and Bird-Hands' was a short, horriffic SF-story ...
'Longtooth' by Edgar Pangborn was well written adventure, about a creature in the snowy woods.
I loved 'With the Original Cast' by Nancy Kress, another highlight of the collection. It's a SF story, but what does that matter? How the theater would be transformed if technology existed for actors to remember their past lives. Well done.
Franz Kafka's 'In the Penal Colony' hasn't lost any of it's capacity to make me shiver ...
'Jeffty is five' by Harlan Ellison had that bitter tang that I associate with Ellison.
'Air Raid' by John Varley is another SF-story that is action packed and made me grin.
Sadly I didn't like the M. John Harrison story that closes this collection. It feels like a precursor the the 'New Weird', but it felt to me a bit too opaque and I didn't really care for its descriptions that bordered on the nonsensical. But it was not enough to sour me on the whole of it. So if you - like me - like to explore the history of the fantasy genre, and want to know if fantasy is suited for short fiction as well, this is a good starting point, if you can find it in a second hand shop!
Patricia A. McKillip's 'Lady of the Skulls' was a well written fairytale.
R.A. Lafferty explores a comical situation in 'Narrow Valley' that made me grin.
'The Dreamstone' by C.J. Sherryh had a melancholic feel and was written in a high style evocative of Tolkien and other faery-tales.
Rudyard Kiplings 'The Mark of the Beast' contains some orientalism probably, but it was still an effective 'weird tale' taking place in India.
John Kessels 'The Big Dream' was a fascinating story combining hard boiled SF with weird fiction, inspired by Raymond Chandler. I enjoyed it a lot.
I liked 'The Fallen Country' by Somtow Sucharitkul about a counselor talking with a kid who suffered abuse, but it turns out there's another layer ...
'Strata' by Edward Bryant is a unique ghost story ... It reminded me of 'Fish Night' in the first season of Love, Death + Robots.
Greg Bear's 'The White Horse Child' was, to me, one of the best stories in this collection. But well, that's maybe because it's about a child growing up to be a story teller, in a family that does not encourage that ...
'Consequences' by Walter Jon Williams was not deep, but as a nautical fantasy filled with excitin sea battles it certainly kept me interested. This is also the longest story in here, I think.
'The Stone Fey' by Robin McKinley was a beautifully told story about a sheperdess falling in love with the hills ... I felt the love in this story, especially for the dog ...
Gary Kilworths 'Hogfoot Right and Bird-Hands' was a short, horriffic SF-story ...
'Longtooth' by Edgar Pangborn was well written adventure, about a creature in the snowy woods.
I loved 'With the Original Cast' by Nancy Kress, another highlight of the collection. It's a SF story, but what does that matter? How the theater would be transformed if technology existed for actors to remember their past lives. Well done.
Franz Kafka's 'In the Penal Colony' hasn't lost any of it's capacity to make me shiver ...
'Jeffty is five' by Harlan Ellison had that bitter tang that I associate with Ellison.
'Air Raid' by John Varley is another SF-story that is action packed and made me grin.
Sadly I didn't like the M. John Harrison story that closes this collection. It feels like a precursor the the 'New Weird', but it felt to me a bit too opaque and I didn't really care for its descriptions that bordered on the nonsensical. But it was not enough to sour me on the whole of it. So if you - like me - like to explore the history of the fantasy genre, and want to know if fantasy is suited for short fiction as well, this is a good starting point, if you can find it in a second hand shop!
May 15, 2024
DNF at 150/531. a decent collection of short stories i'm sure, but most of them simply haven't been to my taste, & upon a quick flip through the remainder of the book i don't think this will change. i always hate to DNF, but life's too short to linger on books you don't even enjoy opening. the concept & cover art rule, though.
June 23, 2025
Most of the stories weren’t my cup of tea, BUT I came here for Patricia A. McKillip and wasn’t disappointed by her “Lady of the Skulls” story.
April 5, 2018
Strange Dreams is an anthology of Fantasy and Fantasy-adjacent stories edited by Stephen Donaldson, entirely because they are stories he likes and thinks have been helpful and interesting to him. There’s some older stuff including a Borges, a Kipling and a quite horrific Kafka – but most of them date from the 70s (when Donaldson came onto the Fantasy scene) to the 90s (when this was published).
Some of the highlights to me include Walter Jon Williams Consequences which is a bit of age of sail fantasy about mutinies and ship battles; As Above So Below by John M Ford about the end of dragons; and R A Lafferty’s Narrow Valley, a very funny story about land and America.
Read This: If you like fantasy stories, especially if you like some off-beat or dangling ends in the mix.
Don’t Read This: If fantasy is not your thing, or short stories aren’t, or you want everything to wrap up nicely.
Some of the highlights to me include Walter Jon Williams Consequences which is a bit of age of sail fantasy about mutinies and ship battles; As Above So Below by John M Ford about the end of dragons; and R A Lafferty’s Narrow Valley, a very funny story about land and America.
Read This: If you like fantasy stories, especially if you like some off-beat or dangling ends in the mix.
Don’t Read This: If fantasy is not your thing, or short stories aren’t, or you want everything to wrap up nicely.
October 30, 2017
an older but still wonderful collection of various short sf/f/fantastika stories. i've never been much for Donaldson's work, but he has good taste.
EDIT 10/30/2017: the reason i hold on to this collection even as the covers curl and the pages yellow and dog-ear is that i can never remember the exact contents, and so i can always return to it and find new joy.
EDIT 10/30/2017: the reason i hold on to this collection even as the covers curl and the pages yellow and dog-ear is that i can never remember the exact contents, and so i can always return to it and find new joy.
December 4, 2021
Rating each story in this 1993 collection individually, they average out to just three-out-of-five stars overall for me. It's an uneven bunch, yet there are still some winners among the lot. (No fives, but 10 fours, along with 11 threes, 5 twos, and 2 ones.) I also like the idea behind the project: rather than a call for submissions to meet a particular prompt or theme, editor Stephen R. Donaldson has gathered together an assortment of tales he'd already read that have stuck with him over the years. It's nearly all science-fiction and fantasy, as with his own work, with contributors ranging from Franz Kafka and Rudyard Kipling to more contemporary authors like Patricia A. McKillip and Nancy Kress. Excepting "Air Raid" by John Varley, every piece has been new to me, so I appreciate the exposure especially to those older titles.
Although I haven't loved all the entries -- and have actually hated a couple -- in general, I would say the book is worth checking out for fans like me interested in seeing what kind of fiction has sparked a lasting impression on the genre stalwart. I can detect no clear lines of influence between anything here and Donaldson's own Thomas Covenant or other writing, but I do feel there's insight to be gained in exploring the material a favorite writer finds favorable to read in turn.
[Content warning for rape, gore, amputation, torture, incest, pedophilia, gun violence, racism, and domestic abuse.]
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Although I haven't loved all the entries -- and have actually hated a couple -- in general, I would say the book is worth checking out for fans like me interested in seeing what kind of fiction has sparked a lasting impression on the genre stalwart. I can detect no clear lines of influence between anything here and Donaldson's own Thomas Covenant or other writing, but I do feel there's insight to be gained in exploring the material a favorite writer finds favorable to read in turn.
[Content warning for rape, gore, amputation, torture, incest, pedophilia, gun violence, racism, and domestic abuse.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
June 28, 2025
this is a vibes collection and I had a fun time. my highlights are the murderous baby that's actually guilt; the fantasy pirates of the Caribbean; the android with body dysmorphia; the body part animals; the personification of nostalgia; and of course I always love Franz Kafka he's one of my favorite writers
July 3, 2013
It's hard to review a collection of short stories because you really don't want to go through every story (if you even remember all of them) and say all of its good points and bad points. However, I found that the stories in this collection fit into three categories: Stories I Liked, Okay Stories, and What the Hell and/or Why Did I Waste My Time Reading This? I would recommend reading all of the stories in the first group, reading the ones in the second group if you're feeling adventurous, and avoiding the third group at all costs, but that, of course, is up to you.
Stories I Liked
Eumenides in the Fourth-Floor Lavatory
The Storming of Annie Kinsale
The Fallen Country
Prince Shadow Bow
The Stone Fey
Jeffty is Five (my favorite in this collection)
Air Raid
Okay Stories
Lady of the Skulls
Narrow Valley
The House of Compassionate Sharers
The Girl Who Went to the Rich Neighborhood
Close of Night
My Rose and My Glove
With the Original Cast
In the Penal Colony
What the Hell and/or Why Did I Waste My Time Reading This?
The Aleph
As Above, So Below
The Dreamstone
Green Magic
The Mark of the Beast
The Big Dream
Strata
And Now the News...
The White Horse Child
Consequences
Hogfoot Right and Bird-Hands
Longtooth
The Dancer From the Dance
Stories I Liked
Eumenides in the Fourth-Floor Lavatory
The Storming of Annie Kinsale
The Fallen Country
Prince Shadow Bow
The Stone Fey
Jeffty is Five (my favorite in this collection)
Air Raid
Okay Stories
Lady of the Skulls
Narrow Valley
The House of Compassionate Sharers
The Girl Who Went to the Rich Neighborhood
Close of Night
My Rose and My Glove
With the Original Cast
In the Penal Colony
What the Hell and/or Why Did I Waste My Time Reading This?
The Aleph
As Above, So Below
The Dreamstone
Green Magic
The Mark of the Beast
The Big Dream
Strata
And Now the News...
The White Horse Child
Consequences
Hogfoot Right and Bird-Hands
Longtooth
The Dancer From the Dance
May 27, 2009
This was a fun ride and an interesting escape from the world around me.
Short stories are fantastic, in that you can invest 10-20mins and complete the ride.
Highly recommend this to anyone who likes to have strange dreams.
Short stories are fantastic, in that you can invest 10-20mins and complete the ride.
Highly recommend this to anyone who likes to have strange dreams.
February 17, 2021
Donaldson as editor of fantasy stories that he really liked or influential. A hodgepodge: some really good, some really bad. More interesting are inclusions that made Donaldson tick. He selects older, more literary, ones. He has broad definition of fantasy. This was labor of love.
August 6, 2011
I was a bit dissapointed - maybe I've just moved on from fantasy. The Kiipling especialy was a dissapointment. 18.02.09
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March 5, 2013A disparate grouping of short stories, although interesting (some), they didn't have any overall theme. It was a journey through various writing styles.
February 24, 2017
A superb anthology with some of the most famous authors. A very enjoyable read.
April 12, 2017
A few hits, more misses
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May 1, 2017Edition: New edition
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews