David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer edited nine volumes (from 2001 to 2009) in the Year’s Best Fantasy series. I’ve decided to review all nine volumes in order starting today. I’ll review another volume in a month or so.
My favorite story in Year’s Best Fantasy was “Golden Bell, Seven, and the Marquis of Zeng” by Richard Parks. A poor boy called Seven falls in love with a beautiful woman named Jia Jin who has been gifted by a vassel of Marquis Yi. The Marquis is dying and this gift–along with his harem–is destined to be buried with him. Seven wants to save Jia Jin and seeks out advice from the mysterious Golden Bell. What happens next sends Seven on an astonishing quest.
I also liked “The Hunger of the Leaves” by Joel Lane. Lane sets his story in Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique where danger lurks and all magic is dark.
If you’re looking for a fantasy anthology with plenty of entertaining stories, give Year’s Best Fantasy a try. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- xiii • Introduction (Year’s Best Fantasy) • essay by Kathryn Cramer and David G. Hartwell
- 1 • Everything Changes • (2000) • short story by John Sullivan
- 12 • A Troll Story: Lessons in What Matters, No. 1 • (2000) • short story by Nicola Griffith
- 30 • The Face of Sekt • [The Magravandias Chronicles] • (2000) • novelette by Storm Constantine
- 54 • Chanterelle • (2000) • novelette by Brian Stableford
- 89 • Path of the Dragon • [A Song of Ice and Fire] • (2000) • novella by George R. R. Martin
- 143 • The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O • [Annie and Crow • 1] • (2000) • short story by Michael Swanwick
- 162 • Ebb Tide • (2000) • short story by Sarah Singleton
- 179 • The Hunger of the Leaves • (2000) • short story by Joel Lane
- 189 • Greedy Choke Puppy • (2000) • short story by Nalo Hopkinson
- 202 • The Golem • (2000) • short story by Naomi Kritzer
- 223 • The Devil Disinvests • (2000) • short story by Scott Bradfield
- 230 • A Serpent in Eden • (2000) • short story by Simon Brown and Alison Tokley
- 240 • Wrong Dreaming • (2000) • short story by Kain Massin
- 257 • Mom and Dad at the Home Front • (2000) • short story by Sherwood Smith
- 270 • The Fey • (2000) • short story by Renee Bennett
- 278 • Golden Bell, Seven, and the Marquis of Zeng • (2000) • novelette by Richard Parks
- 304 • Making a Noise in This World • [Newford] • (2000) • novelette by Charles de Lint
- 327 • Magic, Maples, and Maryanne • (2000) • short story by Robert Sheckley
- 342 • The Prophecies at Newfane Asylum • (2000) • short story by Don Webb
- 354 • The Window • (2000) • short story by Zoran Živković?
- 369 • And Still She Sleeps • (2000) • novelette by Greg Costikyan
- 397 • The Walking Sticks • (2000) • short story by Gene Wolfe
- 410 • Debt of Bones • [Sword of Truth Universe] • (1998) • novella by Terry Goodkind
An annual I should look back into, as well…this was the decade+ of my 60-hour work weeks, however, and leisure reading was less common than in most other periods of my life. I think I picked up a volume or three.
Also, given this is fantasy, did a vessel or a vassal make a gift of a person in the Parks story?
Todd, thanks again for the heads up on WORDPRESS’s latest changing of my post. Yes, it’s vassal–that’s what I typed in–and the moment my head was turned, WORDPRESS changed it to vessel. Maddening!
My taste for fantasy is limited and grows ever more so with the rise of romantasy and the increasingly adolescent stuff clogging the shelves of bookstores post TikTok. I do keep meaning to pick up Hartwell’s “Dark Descent” along with some of his other horror anthologies. Glad to see you enjoyed this. Huzzah.
Byron, David Hartwell is one of my favorite editors. I have over a couple dozen of his collections. DARK DESCENT is a winner!
Current day (for current day, read over the past 25 years or so) fantasy and science fiction hold little attraction for me. Nonetheless, I do have this book somewhere on Mount TBR and will probably read a couple of stories from it. Some day…eventually…maybe,