Fantasy: The Best of 2004

by Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Strahan, Peter S. Beagle

An array of fantasy prose offers a collection of fantasy stories from magazines, anthologies, and journals, published during the previous year and written by some of the genre's finest writers. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416504001
• ISBN13: 9781416504009
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: iBooks
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Not Free SF Reader

A little better than I expected, averaging 3.59. I guess Gaiman, Swanwick, Beagle and Silverberg is a pretty fair batting order. A brief overview at the beginning talking about difficulties of pinning down fantasy, referencing Cluteian Encyclopedias, etc. Also going over where the stories were from: all over the place. Fantasy Best of 2004 : Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire - Neil Gaiman Fantasy Best of 2004 : The Word That Sings the Scythe - Michael Swanwick Fantasy Best of 2004 : The Little Stranger - Gene Wolfe Fantasy Best of 2004 : The Faery Handbag - Kelly Link Fantasy Best of 2004 : Quarry - Peter S. Beagle Fantasy Best of 2004 : The Enchanted Trousseau - Deborah Roggie Fantasy Best of 2004 : The Sorcerer's Apprentice - Robert Silverberg Fantasy Best of 2004 : The Annals of Eelin-Ok - Jeffrey Ford Fantasy Best of 2004 : Pat Moore - Tim Powers Fantasy Best of 2004 : The Angel's Daughter - Jay Lake Fantasy Best of 2004 : The Silver Dragon - Elizabeth A. Lynn Writing supposed to be less funny, have less monsters. 4 out of 5 Mid-life memory crisis. 4 out of 5 Witchybread woman. 3 out of 5 Accessory home hunt. 4 out of 5 Pursuit of rejection showdown vegie trap. 4 out of 5 How we stitched up the wife-beating wizard, I don't see. 4 out of 5 Bugged by being otterly in love. 4 out of 5 Mini sandkings. 3 out of 5 Ghost namesake Hold'Em, mushroom ante like a demon. 3 out of 5 Changing tune suit. 2.5 out of 5 Dragon besieges, sneaks, server and scarpers. 4 out of 5

Great!

This book is a collection of eleven of the best Fantasy short stories to appear in 2004. Each of these stories was written by a different author, and they range far and wide in style and subject matter. Now, I would normally expect to find some stories I liked and some I didn't, but I found all of these stories to be great. (Though I will say that I thought that the stories got better as the book advanced!) Yep, this is a very nice anthology, and a great read. If you are a fan of Fantasy literature, like me, then you must get this book, it is great! In case you are interested, the eleven stories are: Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire by Neil Gaiman - Writing realistic fiction can be so dreadful...especially when reality is so unreal! The Word That Sings the Scythe by Michael Swanwick - Will has much that he wishes he could forget, but he can't. And then he meets a charming little girl, one who can't remember anything. The Little Stranger by Gene Wolfe - There once was a little old lady who lived by herself in the woods, and such strange things happen around her. But, is she really a witch? The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link - Genvieve's grandmother jealously guarded her handbag, her magical handbag. But, now that she is dead, Genvieve prepares for an adventure. Quarry by Peter S. Beagle - A young man, fleeing for his life, meets an old man who will help him and teach him what he needs to survive. But, it soon becomes apparent that the old man is fleeing something himself. The Enchanted Trousseau by Deborah Roggie - When a wizard comes to woo her wayward daughter, Gerinet, Alrea knows what she must do. And so, like her mother and grandmother before her, she begins to sew spells into her daughter's trousseau. The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Robert Silverberg - When Gannin Thidrich becomes apprentice to a sorcerer, he did not expect his teacher to be a sorceress, and a beautiful one at that. Things are going to get very complicated for Gannin. The Annals of the Eelin-Ok by Jeffrey Ford - There is a species of fairy that lives in children's sandcastles on beaches, and they live as long as the castle exists. This is the story of the life of Eelin-Ok and Castle While Away. [Actually, I think that this is my favorite.] Pat Moore by Tim Powers - Pat Moore never questioned how common his name was...until he started meeting ghosts with the same name. The Angel's Daughter by Jay Lake - Once upon a time, in a magical desert city, there lived an angel's daughter who could only be freed by a man who could win her heart. The Silver Dragon by Elizabeth A. Lynn - In the land of Ryoka, an evil lord prepares for war against his neighbors, including the Silver Dragon. In order to neutralize the dragon, the lord steals his wife. But, the dragon will stop at nothing to get his wife back.