Back in the 1990s, publishers were keen on books that were “The Best of the 20th Century Blah-Blah-Blah” in various genres. Dozens of books of this type flooded the bookstores (remember them?) The Oxford University Press got into this market in 1994 with books like Tom Shippey’s The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories. Shippey’s choices hit all the right notes: H.P. Lovecraft rubs shoulders with Ray Bradbury and Poul Anderson. And examples of many of the classic fantasy characters found their way into this collection: Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, C. L. Moore’s Jirel of Jory, and Manley Wade Wellman’s Silver John. If you’re looking for a solid collection of classic fantasy stories, The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories delivers. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Demon Pope (1888), Richard Garnett
The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth (1908), Lord Dunsany
Through the Dragon Glass (1917), Abraham Merritt
The Nameless City (1921), H. P. Lovecraft
The Wind in the Portico (1928), John Buchan
The Tower of the Elephant (1933), Robert E. Howard
Xeethra (1934), Clark Ashton Smith
Jirel Meets Magic (1935), Catherine L. Moore
The Bleak Shore (1940), Fritz Leiber
Homecoming (1947), Ray Bradbury
See You Later (1949), Henry Kuttner
Liane the Wayfarer (1950), Jack Vance
The Desrick on Yandro (1952), Manly Wade Wellman
The Silken-Swift (1953), Theodore Sturgeon
Operation Afreet (1956), Poul Anderson
The Singular Events which Occurred in the Hovel on the Alley off of Eye Street (1962), Avram Davidson
The Sudden Wings (1962), Thomas Burnett Swann
Same Time, Same Place (1963), Mervyn Peake
Timothy (1966), Keith Roberts
The Kings of the Sea (1968), Sterling E. Lanier
Not Long Before the End (1969), Larry Niven
The Wager Lost by Winning (1970), John Brunner
Lila the Werewolf (1974), Peter S. Beagle
Johanna (1978), Jane Yolen
The Erl-King (1979), Angela Carter
Beyond the Dead Reef (1983), James Tiptree Jr.
Subworld (1983), Phyllis Einstein
Bite-Me-Not or Fleur de Fur (1984), Tanith Lee
The Night of White Bhairab (1984), Lucius Shepard
Thorn (1986), Robert Holdstock
Troll Bridge (1992), Terry Pratchett
Select Bibliography
Sources
Source Acknowledgements.
I must admit I don’t read a lot of fantasy stories these days (Lord Dunsany, Neil Gaiman, a few others) but this looks like a good collection.
Jeff, THE OXFORD BOOK OF FANTASY STORIES is a solid collection. The only authors missing that I would have included had I been editor are Michael Moorcock and Robert Bloch.
Looks massive!
Bill, THE OXFORD BOOK OF FANTASY falls just qualifies as Big Fat Book weighing in at 528 pages.
Pretty solid collection, I’d say. It would certainly take a while to get through, but these big ones I only pick them up and read a story or two maybe once a week if that. Seems Shippey leans toward the horror side of fantasy.
Rick, Shippey makes a lot of “safe” choices. And yes, he does lean toward the Dark Side.
Yes, this kind of book will tend to gather chestnuts…but it’s aimed, after all, at young readers, readers who haven’t realized they’ve read much fantasy, or, like Jeff, haven’t read much in a while or have otherwise lost touch with the field. The book could’ve gone a Lot more into horror and still been a good representative of fantasy as a whole…”It” in for “The Silken Swift”…”Smoke Ghost” in for “The Bleak Shore” (and there are certainly better examples of Leiber’s duo than that early story)…
Todd, I would have gone with “Bazaar of the Bizarre” rather than “The Bleak Shore.” But I’m sure Shippey had to walk a tightrope between the page count and the cost of the stories.
I suspect even more that he might’ve decided the early stories had a strong historical interest…and perhaps also wanted more UNKNOWN in his book. I think I might’ve opted first for “Ill Met in Lankhmar”…but that does make for a fatter book. (But, you know, “The Ship Sails at Midnight”…”Smoke Ghost”…”The Girl with the Hungry Eyes”…”Space-Time for Springers”…F&GM his touchstones, but…)
Or at least one UNKNOWN story. I’d still go with “Smoke Ghost” in that wise, possibly the most important single story UNKNOWN published…unless that’s CONJURE WIFE…
It’s interesting to have such a volume favor SCIENCE FANTASY over every other magazine.
Todd, I might review Shippey’s SF anthology for Oxford in an upcoming FFB.
I was incorrect…despite a knot of SCIENCE FANTASY/SF IMPULSE choices in the mid ’60s, F&SF still trumps:
The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories ed. Tom Shippey (Oxford University Press 0-19-214216-X, Feb ’94 [Jan ’94], £17.95, xxii+499pp, hc, cover by Pete Lyon) Anthology of 31 stories tracing the development of fantasy from Richard Garnett in 1888 to Terry Pratchett in 1992.
ix · Introduction · Tom Shippey · in
1 · The Demon Pope · Richard Garnett · ss The Twilight of the Gods, London: Unwin, 1888
9 · The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth · Lord Dunsany · ss The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories, London: G. Allen, 1908
23 · Through the Dragon Glass · Abraham Merritt · ss All-Story Weekly Nov 24 ’17
35 · The Nameless City · H. P. Lovecraft · ss The Wolverine Nov ’21
46 · The Wind in the Portico · John Buchan · nv The Pall Mall Magazine Mar ’28
66 · The Tower of the Elephant [Conan] · Robert E. Howard · nv Weird Tales Mar ’33
88 · Xeethra [Zothique] · Clark Ashton Smith · ss Weird Tales Dec ’34
105 · Jirel Meets Magic [Jirel of Joiry] · Catherine L. Moore · nv Weird Tales Jul ’35
135 · The Bleak Shore [Fafhrd & Gray Mouser] · Fritz Leiber · ss Unknown Nov ’40
144 · Homecoming · Ray Bradbury · ss Mademoiselle Oct ’46
156 · See You Later [Hogben] · Henry Kuttner · ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Jun ’49
174 · Liane the Wayfarer [Dying Earth] · Jack Vance · ss The Dying Earth, Hillman, 1950
184 · The Desrick on Yandro [John] · Manly Wade Wellman · ss F&SF Jun ’52
195 · The Silken-Swift… · Theodore Sturgeon · nv F&SF Nov ’53
212 · Operation Afreet [Steven Matuchek; Ginny Greylock] · Poul Anderson · nv F&SF Sep ’56
238 · The Singular Events Which Occurred in the Hovel on the Alley Off of Eye Street · Avram Davidson · ss F&SF Feb ’62
244 · The Sudden Wings · Thomas Burnett Swann · nv Science-Fantasy #55 ’62
263 · Same Time, Same Place · Mervyn Peake · ss Science-Fantasy #60 ’63
271 · Timothy [Anita] · Keith Roberts · ss sf Impulse Sep ’66
283 · The Kings of the Sea [Brigadier Ffellowes] · Sterling E. Lanier · ss F&SF Nov ’68
300 · Not Long Before the End [Mana] · Larry Niven · ss F&SF Apr ’69
311 · The Wager Lost by Winning [Traveler in Black] · John Brunner · nv Fantastic Apr ’70
342 · Lila the Werewolf [“Farrell and Lila the Werewolf”; Sam Farrell] · Peter S. Beagle · nv guabi #1 ’69
361 · Johanna · Jane Yolen · ss Shape Shifters, ed. Jane Yolen, Seabury Press, 1978
364 · The Erl-King · Angela Carter · ss The Bloody Chamber and Other Tales, London: Gollancz, 1979; revised from Bananas, #9, Winter ’77.
372 · Beyond the Dead Reef · James Tiptree, Jr. · nv F&SF Jan ’83
388 · Subworld · Phyllis Eisenstein · nv F&SF Jan ’83
409 · Bite-Me-Not or, Fleur de Fur [“Bite-Me-Not or, Fleur de Feu”] · Tanith Lee · nv IASFM Oct ’84
433 · The Night of White Bhairab · Lucius Shepard · nv F&SF Oct ’84
464 · Thorn · Robert Holdstock · ss Birmingham SF Group, 1984
480 · Troll Bridge [Discworld] · Terry Pratchett · ss After the King, ed. Martin H. Greenberg, Tor, 1992
489 · Select Bibliography · Misc. · bi
Man, I read “The Wind in the Portico” so long sago that I had no idea who John Buchan was, otherwise…
Todd, I read Buchan’s spy novels when I was a kid. I had no idea he was also a fantasy writer.
Todd, my sense was that Shippey included more British fantasy writers in his anthology.
While ASTOUNDING/ANALOG runs away with the SF volume, perhaps to a disproportionate extent!
The Oxford Book of Science Fiction Stories ed. Tom Shippey (Oxford University Press 0-19-214204-6, Oct ’92 [Aug ’92], $22.50, 587pp, hc, cover by Victor Stabin) Anthology of 30 sf stories written from 1903 to 1990, with an introduction by Shippey and a selected bibliography.
ix · Introduction · Tom Shippey · in
1 · The Land Ironclads · H. G. Wells · nv The Strand Dec ’03
22 · Finis · Frank L. Pollock · ss Argosy Jun ’06
33 · As Easy as A.B.C. · Rudyard Kipling · nv The London Magazine Mar ’12 (+1)
59 · The Metal Man · Jack Williamson · ss Amazing Dec ’28
70 · A Martian Odyssey [Tweel] · Stanley G. Weinbaum · nv Wonder Stories Jul ’34
95 · Night [as by Don A. Stuart; Dying Earth] · John W. Campbell, Jr. · nv Astounding Oct ’35
115 · Desertion [City (Websters)] · Clifford D. Simak · ss Astounding Nov ’44
127 · The Piper’s Son [Baldy] · Lewis Padgett · nv Astounding Feb ’45
154 · The Monster · A. E. van Vogt · ss Astounding Aug ’48
171 · Second Night of Summer [Vegan Agents] · James H. Schmitz · ss Galaxy Dec ’50
198 · Second Dawn · Arthur C. Clarke · nv Science Fiction Quarterly Aug ’51
228 · Crucifixus Etiam · Walter M. Miller, Jr. · ss Astounding Feb ’53
247 · The Tunnel Under the World · Frederik Pohl · nv Galaxy Jan ’55
278 · Who Can Replace a Man? [“But Who Can Replace a Man?”] · Brian W. Aldiss · ss Infinity Science Fiction Jun ’58
287 · Billenium · J. G. Ballard · ss New Worlds Nov ’61
302 · The Ballad of Lost C’Mell · Cordwainer Smith · nv Galaxy Oct ’62
322 · Semley’s Necklace [“The Dowry of Angyar”] · Ursula K. Le Guin · ss Amazing Sep ’64
340 · How Beautiful with Banners · James Blish · ss Orbit 1, ed. Damon Knight, Berkley Medallion, 1966
350 · A Criminal Act · Harry Harrison · ss Analog Jan ’67
363 · Problems of Creativeness · Thomas M. Disch · ss F&SF Apr ’67
385 · How the Whip Came Back · Gene Wolfe · ss Orbit 6, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970
400 · Cloak of Anarchy · Larry Niven · ss Analog Mar ’72
420 · A Thing of Beauty · Norman Spinrad · ss Analog Jan ’73
435 · The Screwfly Solution · Raccoona Sheldon · ss Analog Jun ’77
454 · The Way of Cross and Dragon · George R. R. Martin · nv Omni Jun ’79
472 · Swarm [Mechanist-Shapers] · Bruce Sterling · nv F&SF Apr ’82
496 · Burning Chrome · William Gibson · nv Omni Jul ’82
516 · Silicon Muse · Hilbert Schenck · ss Analog Sep ’84
535 · Karl and the Ogre · Paul J. McAuley · ss Interzone #23 ’88
550 · Piecework · David Brin · nv Interzone #33 ’90
577 · Select Bibliography · Misc. · bi
Todd, I found my copy of THE OXFORD BOOK OF SCIENCE FICTION STORIES so that may be a FFB in the weeks ahead.