Reviews for The Oxford book of fantasy stories

The average rating for The Oxford book of fantasy stories based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-10-12 00:00:00 Robbie Ludlow Oct. 12, 2019 On the intermittent occasions when I spend time in the public library at Harrisonburg, Virginia, I typically have a short story anthology that I'm reading in bits and pieces. The current one is this entry in Oxford Univ. Press' long line of quality fiction collections; Tom Shippey is also the editor of a companion volume of science fiction stories, which got five stars from me. Here, he's assembled 31 selections by as many American and British authors, arranged by publication order (dates are given for each story), and dating from 1888 to 1992. (Only six of the authors are women, but of the eight writers represented from 1978 on, five are female.) Shippey's definition of "fantasy," like that of other editors such as Gardner Dozois and David Hartwell, is eclectic, including supernatural fiction set in this world, and the great majority of the included authors are well known in the speculative fiction field. I started to read the Introduction; but since I quickly discovered that it contains a lot of information I consider spoilerish, I decided to read it as an afterword instead. In my reading session last week, I actually read only the first story, "The Demon Pope" by one of the few lesser-known authors here, Richard Garnett. Set mainly in the year 1001 in the pontificate of Pope Sylvester II (reigned 999-1003 --he was a real-life person, and the portrayal here is very consistent with what's known of his character; see ), this is a masterpiece of wry humor. (Garnett doesn't suggest that Pope Sylvester was a demon; the story title... well, you'll just have to read it to understand!) No punches are pulled in delineating the corruption of the Roman Curia in that day, but nonetheless I don't think the tale is anti-Catholic (nor more broadly anti-Christian) in any true sense. Though my immediately recent reading in this book's contents was very limited, though, there are at least six stories here I've previously read in other anthologies/collections. The "swords-and-sorcery" tradition is well represented by "The Tower of the Elephant" by Robert E. Howard (featuring REH's iconic hero Conan) and by C. L. Moore's "Jirel Meets Magic." Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John appears in "The Desrick on Yandro" and the late Tanith Lee's outstanding piece of vampire fiction, "Bite-Me-Not," or "Fleur de Fur" is another fine addition, as is Ray Bradbury's "The Homecoming." Peter S. Beagle's "Lila the Werewolf" uses lycanthropy as a means for exploring human relationships more than for scaring the reader. All of these, IMO, are good selections as quality speculative fiction reading (though I wouldn't label most of them as fantasy). (Note, May 14, 2020: I just discovered that "The Demon Pope" is a story I also read before, some years ago --I just didn't remember it, which is surprising! Anyway, this review will have to be done piecemeal until I finish the book; but at that time, I'll edit it into a unified final form.)

Review # 2 was written on 2017-08-20 00:00:00 Les Herrick A really interesting read. My first introduction to "The Silken-Swift" and "Bite me not or fleur de fur", both awesome stories. Contents: The demon pope /​ Richard Garnett The fortress unvanquishable, save for Sacnoth /​ Lord Dunsany Through the dragon glass /​ Abraham Merritt The nameless city /​ H. P. Lovecraft The wind in the portico /​ John Buchan The tower of the elphant /​ Robert E. Howard Xeethra /​ Clark Ashton Smith Jirel meets magic /​ Catherine L. Moore The bleak shore /​ Fritz Leiber Homecoming /​ Ray Bradbury See you later /​ Henry Kuttner Liane the wayfarer /​ Jack Vance The desrick on Yandro /​ Manly Wade Wellman The silken-swift /​ Theodore Sturgeon Operation Afreet /​ Poul Anderson The singular events which occurred in the hovel on the alley off of eye street /​ Avram Davidson The sudden Wings /​ Thomas Burnett Swann Same time, same place /​ Mervyn Peake Timothy /​ Keith Roberts The kings of the sea /​ Sterling E. Lanier Not long before the end /​ Larry Niven The wager lost by winning /​ John Brunner Lila the werewolf /​ Peter S. Beagle Johanna /​ Jane Yolen The Erl-king /​ Angela Carter Beyond the dead reef /​ James Tiptree Jr. Subworld Phyllis Eisenstein Bite-me-not or fleur de fur /​ Tanith Lee The night of white Bhairab /​ Lucius Shepard Thorn /​ Robert Holdstock Troll Bridge /​ Terry Pratchett.