Print Anthologies
Reviews of print anthologies.
Visual Journeys: A Tribute to Space Artists, edited by Eric T. Reynolds
Sometimes, if you look at a picture long enough, it will tell you its story. One of them, anyway—every picture contains the essence of many stories, depending on the imagination of the beholder. Contained in Visual Journeys: A Tribute to Space Artists, edited by Eric T. Reynolds, are eighteen pieces of space art, […]
Continue ReadingInferno: New Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, edited by Ellen Datlow
All stories in Inferno: New Tales of Terror and the Supernatural had to conform to one requirement, editor Ellen Datlow (who says she’s not prolific, but she’s just being modest) says in the preface: They had to cause the reader “a sensation of fear so palpable that [he or she] feels impelled to turn up […]
Continue ReadingThe Maker’s Mark: Remnants, edited by Jon Garrad
The Maker’s Mark: Remnants, edited by Jon Garrad, is, we are told, an exercise in “world-building.” Every story in this volume is set on the same desert planet inhabited by robots that scattered from the City that lies at the centre of their world at some indeterminate time (a “generation” at least) in the […]
Continue ReadingVoices for the Cure, edited by James Palmer
Voices for the Cure: A Speculative Fiction Anthology, edited by James Palmer, is an anthology to benefit the American Diabetes Association with a variety of stories that seem to accord to no particular theme other than—as indicated by the title—speculative fiction. The anthology starts off strong, and while it does weaken at points, it works […]
Continue ReadingHorror Library, Volume 2, edited by R.J. Cavender and Vincent VanAllen
Horror Library, Volume 2: An Anthology of Terror, edited by R.J. Cavender and Vincent VanAllen, starts out with the short but haunting “A Season of Sleep” by John Rector. The characterization makes this story—Mattie, a young girl left in her parents’ farmhouse to care for her sick brother; Nathan, burning with fever after being […]
Continue ReadingTattered Souls, edited by Frank J. Hutton
The first offering in anthology Tattered Souls, edited by Frank J. Hutton, is Jeff Crook’s “The Monkey Skin Cloak,” a battle against primal frenzy in the African jungle. Theo, his wife, Stanci, and guide, Doc Palmer, are on safari when their jeep runs over a native girl. It soon becomes clear that Stanci has somehow […]
Continue ReadingBandersnatch, edited by Paul Tremblay and Sean Wallace
Given the editors of the anthology Bandersnatch—Sean Wallace and Paul Tremblay, who until recently co-edited Fantasy Magazine—it would make sense to expect similar stories to those in the magazine. That would be a mistake here—their selected stories give a different feel to this anthology, and while the broad result is less to my taste, […]
Continue ReadingL. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XXIII, edited by Algis Budrys
The Writers of the Future Volume XXIII anthology opens beautifully with “Primetime” by Douglas Texter, a humanist tale of a future history channel that brings the past alive through live streaming coverage of history’s highest rating events. Alex, a lower level feed recorder for historical shows catches the attention of the head of the channel […]
Continue ReadingCrossTIME Science Fiction Anthology, Vol. VI, edited by Anthony Ravenscroft
The CrossTIME Science Fiction Anthology VI publishes the best of the stories contributed to the Crossquarter Annual Short Science Fiction Contest in 2006. The competition has been running since 2001 and is organised in memory of Paul B. Duquette, a friend of the publisher’s and an sf fan. The Crossquarter competition specifies that it […]
Continue ReadingHeroes in Training, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Jim C. Hines
I approached Heroes in Training expecting stories starring child and teen heroes undergoing rites de passage in order to prove their maturity. The term “hero” is much more loosely defined in this book, however. Within its pages, we meet a variety of species, ages, and moral orientations, whose common challenge is a […]
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