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I'm sure you're all excited. ;-)
I'm not sure what to say about this one in general that doesn't come across as a total "duh!" I mean, it's a Datlow & Windling anthology - it is nothing short of wonderful. Plus, right on the cover it says "A World Fantasy Award Finalist." Not like they're being subtle about how much it rocks. So you know, onto the individual stories:
I read "The Boys of Goose Hill" through "Tengu Mountain" in one sitting - speaks highly in that the prose moves fluidly from one author to the next - no transition too jarring despite the different styles. Both Charles de Lint ("The Boys of Goose Hill") and Neil Gaiman ("The Faery Reel") made me want to tap my feet in time to their meter - though Gaiman's was much more melancholy.
Delia Sherman's "CATNYP" is lovely in premise and form, and all I can think is how I'm happy that The Changeling will be taking place in the same universe, because it deserves further exploration. As does Neef herself.
Tanith Lee is really growing on me. I wasn't completely sure what to make of her after White as Snow, but I really enjoyed "Elvenbrood." Her lyrical style was just perfect for this tale, very evocative and wonderful for setting up that dangerously enticing atmosphere.
I don't think I'd seen Katherine Vaz before "Your Garnet Eyes," but I fell in love very quickly. Her protagonist is very accessible and at the same time foreign - loved and very lonely, prickly, proud. She presents the setting well, vivid and evocative. I got a good sense of the environment in a few short but well-placed places.
Gregory Frost's "Tengu Mountain" was just fun. I loved his monks, his tengu, his... well, his everything. And the protagonist is fat!
And then there's the trifecta of goodness that was Kelly Link, Steve Berman, and Holly Black. For some reason these stories are very much linked in my mind though on the surface they couldn't be more different. "The Faery Handbag" (recently the winner of a Nebula), "The Price of Glamour" (which happens to be my favorite title ever because it's just so perfect for so many things), and "Night Market" are worlds and time apart, and yet they're so very familiar. And all brilliant.
Bruce Glassco's "Never Never" made me love Captain Hook. It made me love Bruce Glassco more, what with his appreciation of your local villain.
"Screaming for Faeries" was deliciously adolescent, "Emmersed in Matter" recalled "Flotsam" from Firebirds, not the least because it was by Nina Kirki Hoffman and set within the same "family" (sorta). "Undine" started out ethereal and ended hilarious. It was the most beautiful transition. "The Oakthing" and "Foxwife" were rather sad, though I'm pretty sure the latter wasn't meant to be. "The Shooter at the Heartrock Waterhole" clearly demonstrated how I have no grounding in Australian mythology, or the current environment there. I do like how modern-day concerns clashed with the timelessness of the land.
"The Dream Eaters" was nothing short of out there, and quite surreal. "The Annals of Eelin-Ok" took some getting into, but heartily enjoyable once you're appropriately grounded in the story. And "De La Tierra" was a perfect note with its message of hope amidst invasion and murder and, with Nan Fry's "How to Find a Faery," a perfect note to end on.
I'm not sure what to say about this one in general that doesn't come across as a total "duh!" I mean, it's a Datlow & Windling anthology - it is nothing short of wonderful. Plus, right on the cover it says "A World Fantasy Award Finalist." Not like they're being subtle about how much it rocks. So you know, onto the individual stories:
I read "The Boys of Goose Hill" through "Tengu Mountain" in one sitting - speaks highly in that the prose moves fluidly from one author to the next - no transition too jarring despite the different styles. Both Charles de Lint ("The Boys of Goose Hill") and Neil Gaiman ("The Faery Reel") made me want to tap my feet in time to their meter - though Gaiman's was much more melancholy.
Delia Sherman's "CATNYP" is lovely in premise and form, and all I can think is how I'm happy that The Changeling will be taking place in the same universe, because it deserves further exploration. As does Neef herself.
Tanith Lee is really growing on me. I wasn't completely sure what to make of her after White as Snow, but I really enjoyed "Elvenbrood." Her lyrical style was just perfect for this tale, very evocative and wonderful for setting up that dangerously enticing atmosphere.
I don't think I'd seen Katherine Vaz before "Your Garnet Eyes," but I fell in love very quickly. Her protagonist is very accessible and at the same time foreign - loved and very lonely, prickly, proud. She presents the setting well, vivid and evocative. I got a good sense of the environment in a few short but well-placed places.
Gregory Frost's "Tengu Mountain" was just fun. I loved his monks, his tengu, his... well, his everything. And the protagonist is fat!
And then there's the trifecta of goodness that was Kelly Link, Steve Berman, and Holly Black. For some reason these stories are very much linked in my mind though on the surface they couldn't be more different. "The Faery Handbag" (recently the winner of a Nebula), "The Price of Glamour" (which happens to be my favorite title ever because it's just so perfect for so many things), and "Night Market" are worlds and time apart, and yet they're so very familiar. And all brilliant.
Bruce Glassco's "Never Never" made me love Captain Hook. It made me love Bruce Glassco more, what with his appreciation of your local villain.
"Screaming for Faeries" was deliciously adolescent, "Emmersed in Matter" recalled "Flotsam" from Firebirds, not the least because it was by Nina Kirki Hoffman and set within the same "family" (sorta). "Undine" started out ethereal and ended hilarious. It was the most beautiful transition. "The Oakthing" and "Foxwife" were rather sad, though I'm pretty sure the latter wasn't meant to be. "The Shooter at the Heartrock Waterhole" clearly demonstrated how I have no grounding in Australian mythology, or the current environment there. I do like how modern-day concerns clashed with the timelessness of the land.
"The Dream Eaters" was nothing short of out there, and quite surreal. "The Annals of Eelin-Ok" took some getting into, but heartily enjoyable once you're appropriately grounded in the story. And "De La Tierra" was a perfect note with its message of hope amidst invasion and murder and, with Nan Fry's "How to Find a Faery," a perfect note to end on.
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