The Weird Tales of Tanith Lee

by Tanith Lee

“A story by Tanith Lee unveils a voice alone, a true Scheherazade, someone with a distinctive vision of the world and who explored that world, or those worlds to be accurate, with a highly perceptive and mindful set of eyes.” From the introduction, ‘An Awareness of Worlds’, by Mike Ashley This anthology of twenty-eight tales comprises all the short stories by Tanith Lee that were published in the seminal magazine Weird Tales during her lifetime. Some of them are previously uncollected, and appeared in print only in the magazine, so will be new to many of Tanith’s fans. Tanith Lee’s highly-respected and influential work spanned every genre, and this sumptuous collection demonstrates the range of her versatility. From the dark high fantasy of ‘The Sombrus Tower’, through the Arthurian-influenced ‘The Kingdoms of the Air’, the achingly beautiful ‘Stars Above, Stars Below’ of a science-fantasy Mars, the sinister retelling of a fairy tale in ‘When the Clock Strikes’, the real-world mysteries of ‘The Unrequited Glove’ and ‘Arthur’s Lion’, and the almost whimsical steampunk of ‘The Persecution Machine’, The Weird Tales of Tanith Lee showcases the myriad styles of the writer rightly known as the High Priestess of Fantasy.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Horror, Fiction, Collections, Anthologies, Science Fiction

422 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2017

About the author

Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.

Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.

Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.

Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.

Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.

Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.

Reviews

[Meredith is a hot mess · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Shalini Gunnasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost dnf'ed this book, as the prose in the first few works were driving me nuts. Purple prose and I aren't too compatible. I am glad that I continued though, as there were some stellar stories (sans purple prose) I would have missed.

When The Clock Strikes - 3/5. Cinderella retelling."

The Sombrus Tower - 1/5. Silly. Dude gets punished because he can't choose between his sexy black girlfriend or his pretty white girlfriend. Uggghhhh

Death Dances - 4/5. Nice!

The Kingdoms of the Air - Skipped. Language and plot blergh.

The Unrequited Glove - 4/5. Great old-school horror.

The Lily Garden - 3/5. Could have been a proper horror but fizzled.

Antonius Bequeathed - 2/5. Interesting but no real direction.

Mirror, Mirror - 3/5. Nice.

One for Sorrow - 5/5. Loved this. Great twist.

The Persecution Machine - 4/5.

Flower Water - 3/5.

Stars Above, Stars Below - 3/5. Sci-fi? Strange work. With an explanation at the end which is rather dated for this day and age.

Unlocking the Golden Cage - 4/5. Good gothic horror.

Scarlet & Gold - 4/5. Nice fairy-tale like story.

An Iron Bride - 3/5. Beautifully written.

Girls in Green Dresses & The Sea Was in Her Eyes - 4/5. A story-pair, variation on the mermaid fable. Together this is a great story.

La Vampiresse - 4/5. Very nice! Like the twist.

Where All Things Perish - 4/5. Old-school horror. Good stuff.

Flicker of a Winter Star - 3/5.

Blood Chess, The Return of Yane, An Evening at Home, The Chess-Game, How Fair the Day - 3/5. Could have been a bit better? A lot of style, not enough substance. But such style!

Midnight - 3/5. Another Cinderella retelling. Much more positive and likeable.

Arthur's Lion - 4/5. Good resolution to old-school gothic supernatural story.

Sold - 3/5.

The Heart of Ice - 2/5. Dull.

Magpied - 2/5. Dull!

The Waters of Sorrow - 5/5. Tragic. This is the among the strongest stories in this collection.

[K. Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I was going to like Tanith Lee but I was taken aback by just how impressive the first couple stories in the collection were. Her fairytale and high/dark fantasy stuff is more interesting to me than the contemporary fantasy, but all were enjoyable.

[Teodora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not sure whether I should mark this book as read - constantly reading and rereading would be a better label for it. It’s difficult to choose a favourite story out of 33 magical, dark, weird-tales but I suppose “The Lilly Garden” is the one I love the most.

[Ozsaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a substantial collection, so I chose to dip in and out of the book as the mood struck. If you like Tanith Lee's signature Baroque style, then you'll get plenty of it with this book. I generally don't like purple prose, but I do like Tanith Lee.

Many images and descriptions are still vivid in my mind, and there are a couple of stories I'm still mulling over. I liked most of the fairy tale re-tellings, but I really enjoyed the original stories that felt like old tales. There weren't many truly happy stories, most fairy tales aren't, but there was a nice range from tragic, to poignant, to bittersweet. There was only one story that I felt was nicely horrifying and that was The Unrequited Glove. Very creepy.

While most of the stories had a strong atmosphere, a few fizzled out in the end. Some of the stories deserved a stronger ending.

Overall, a good collection that can be read between other books.

[Tom]

An Awareness of Worlds - introduction by Mike Ashley


When the Clock Strikes
The Sombrus Tower
Death Dances
The Kingdoms of the Air
The Unrequited Glove
The Winter Ghosts
The Lily Garden
Antonius Bequeathed
Mirror, Mirror
One for Sorrow
The Persecution Machine
Flower Water
Stars Above, Stars Below
Unlocking the Golden Cage
Scarlet and Gold
An Iron Bride
Girls in Green Dresses
The Sea Was in Her Eyes
La Vampiresse
Where All Things Perish
Flicker of a Winter Star
Blood Chess
Midnight
Arthur’s Lion
Sold
The Heart of Ice
Magpied
The Waters of Sorrow

[Robert Bagnall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wavered between four and five stars for this, as anyone who can make knights-in-shining-armour type fantasy and re-engineered fairy tales not completely shit deserves at least six stars on that scale. But I found the last story something of a let down, and many seemed to peter out a tad, so four stars on balance. But, hey, way better than most short fiction being produced today.

[Bjorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a delightfully imaginative collection of short stories. But that comes with the caveat that a lot of those short stories can be a hit and miss. Nevertheless, I'm curious for more of Tanith Lee's work now.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthology was a mixed bag but the best stories shine with weird flavor.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection.