The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. Fifth Annual Collection

Summation 1991: Fantasy Terri Windling

In this book, it has been our happy task to gather together the works of writers whose capacity to “evoke ideas and clothe them in symbols, allegory and dream” is great indeed. These works are gathered from far and wide: literary reviews and pulp magazines, mainstream fiction collections and genre anthologies, children’s literature and foreign works in translation—for fantasy literature is a vast field that spills far beyond the confines of the adult fantasy genre created (as a marketing tool) by modern publishers. Fantasy fiction is as old as the first stories told and written down, as old as its mythic and folkloric bones. It is a field that is as literary as the works of its most eloquent practitioners (Spenser’s Faerie Queen, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Morris’s The Defense of Guinevere, James Thurber’s The Thirteen Clocks) and at the same time as crassly commercial as a lurid paperback with a big-breasted woman swooning at the feet of a muscle-bound swordsman.

It is not only a preponderance of the latter kind of book that has made the entire fantasy field suspect within the contemporary literary establishment of the late twentieth century, segregating many worthy works of literature into the genre “ghetto,” but also a shift in fashionable literary taste, which can be traced to Victorian times when stories with their roots in folktales and oral narratives came to be associated with the lower-class and unlettered segments of society. During the Victorian era fantasy was banished to the nursery and the field of children’s literature was born—but it has never been content to stay there. Instead it popped up in “children’s books” read avidly by adults (Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, White’s The Once and Future King), in mainstream novels (Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Helprin’s A Winter’s Tale); in the popular Magic Realism of Latin-American writers (Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Allende’s Eva Luna); in the popularity of works by folklorist Joseph Campbell and poet Robert Bly.

In the 1990s, fantasy literature remains a viable, indeed popular, art form— against the bleak backdrop of a publishing industry in decline, a massive American illiteracy rate, and a culture where school-age children spend a staggering average of four hours a day watching television. Newspaper columnist Ellen Goodman recently discussed the differences between “the generation that reads and writes” and “the generation that watches and rewinds. . . . Those of us who are print people—writers and readers—are losing ground to the visual people—producers and viewers. The younger generation gets more of its information and ‘infotainment’ from television and movies. Less information. More infotainment. The franchise over reality is passing hands.”

While genre fiction, even at the best-seller level, does not have nearly the impact or reach of the average movie or television program, it nonetheless plays a vital role in keeping fiction and the love of reading alive in our present culture— particularly among younger readers. This is a responsibility we cannot easily ignore. The franchise over reality is passing hands. . . . Fantasy, a literature that goes beyond reality into the imagination—the surreal lands of myth and dream— is nonetheless at its best a literature that tells us much about the real world, and the hearts of the men and women who live in it. “Fantasy,” Ursula Le Guin has said, “is a journey. It is a journey into the subconscious mind, just as psychoanalysis is. Like psychoanalysis, it can be dangerous, and it will change you.”

The fantasy story, like the mythic stories championed by Joseph Campbell, works with symbols and metaphors that relate directly to modern life, speaking directly and unflinchingly of the hero’s quests, the Trickster’s tasks and the dark woods we each summon the courage to enter as we take the long journey from birth to death. In a time when the prevalent media fare has become increasingly formulaic, simplistic, jumping with MTV-and-advertising-style editing from image to image to image, it is all the more important for a popular literature to exist that explores the deeper complexities of the human heart, traveling more leisurely through the shadow realms of the soul. Campbell has said the artist is the myth-maker of the modern age. In a field where myth directly infuses modern story, this is a role a fantasy writer must pay attention to—even when, perhaps especially when—the writer’s stated goal is to entertain.

One of the most interesting aspects of the fantasy literature written in this country and in this decade is that much of it comes from a large group of writers who know of each other and each other’s works. Mass-market book distribution and evolving telecommunications have made this possible, as have computer networks devoted to the discussion of the field, small-press review magazines, academic conferences (like the annual International Conference on the Fantastic, in Florida), and conventions (like the annual Fourth Street Fantasy Convention, in Minneapolis) where writers, artists, publishers, and readers mingle and share their thoughts. In my capacity as an editor working with writers and illustrators across this country and in England, I am struck again and again by the passion and commitment with which these artists approach their craft. When you walk into a bookstore and find the Fantasy section where the works of these writers are segregated away from other works of fiction, the bright colors of look-alike titles and cynically commercial series jump out from the shelves (and the best-sellers lists). But if you look further, and ignore the often-lurid publishing package (over which the author, and indeed the illustrator, have little control), you will find that a fascinating contemporary fantasy literature is being formed (including a distinctively American brand), author by author, story by story, book by book.

Most recently the field has incorporated ideas explored by the Latin-American Magic Realist writers, bringing myth and folkloric motifs into modern and urban settings. At the other end of the spectrum from Urban Fantasy, the Imaginary World brand of fantasy created most memorably by Tolkien, Lewis and Eddison and then by poetic writers like Le Guin, McKillip, Beagle, Cooper, Walton and others in the seventies and early eighties, seemed to grind down to a predictable, derivative formula in the late eighties. This sparked many lively discussions among writers about what exactly makes a superlative fantasy book. Ellen Kushner, a talented prose stylist, has spoken eloquently to decry the kind of derivative works in which a young writer merely mimics his or her favorite author. “We have books based on Tolkien,” says Kushner, “and then books based on those books, and then on those books . . . like Xerox copies of a Xerox copy, getting increasingly muddy and fuzzy until the original spark is completely gone.”

The best fantasy, Kushner and others have stated, must come from the writer’s own heart, life and experience. (This is a measure that applies, I believe, to books meant as pure entertainment as well as to ones written with serious literary intent.) “A writer,” Cynthia Ozick has written “is dreamed and transfigured into being by spells, wishes, goldfish, silhouettes of trees, boxes of fairy tales dropped in the mud, uncles’ and cousins’ books, tablets and capsules and powders . . . and then one day you find yourself leaning here, writing on that round glass table salvaged from the Park View Pharmacy—writing this, an impossibility, a summary of who you came to be, where you are now, and where, God knows, is that?” Fantasy, more than other forms of literature, cannot depend on novelty of plot to give it originality, based as it is on the mythic tradition of familiar tales served up anew. The themes that underlie the stories are ancient and familiar ones; what the best writers must bring to these themes to make them fresh, to make them sing again in the reader’s imagination, is their own unique voice and point of view.

Anais Nin once said (if you’ll bear with me for one more quote): “I believe one writes because one has to create a world in which to live. Fantasy is a potent way to reimage the world around us, re-envision its wonders and take us away from it so that we can return and see it anew. What new world shall we create in the future—not only in our books and our genre but, by extension, in our lives, and for the lives of the generation to come? This is a question all fantasy writers address (either consciously or unconsciously); as all writers; and all artists; and all of us who participate in the collective act of the arts as readers, viewers and audience. I hope we can keep this question in mind as we write books, publish books or support those books by our critical selection of one book over another when they sit before us on the bookstore shelves.

Although the corporate publishing industry continues to groan under declining store rack space and sales, the smaller, innovative presses are thriving—which brings me to start the roundup of the year with works I’d recommend tracking down from the smaller companies. Chronicle Books of San Francisco published a gorgeous, fantastical book mixing art and story called Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantoek. This imaginative book follows the developing relationship between a postcard artist and a mysterious island woman through illuminated correspondence. Chronicle not only managed to do a beautiful production job at a reasonable retail price, but were also able to get the book placed on national best-sellers lists, which is quite a feat given distribution networks that still greatly favor the large publishing companies.

Mercury House, also in San Francisco, published the first American edition of The Start of the End of it All, collecting Carol Emshwiller’s brilliantly quirky short fiction. Mark V. Zeising (Shingletown, CA) published The Hereafter Gang by Neal Barrett Jr., a Magic Realist story set in the Texas Panhandle, which I recommend highly. Morrigan published The Magic Spectacles by James P. Blaylock, with illustrations by Ferret—a wonderful magical coming-of-age tale. Pulphouse (Eugene, OR) published a Special Winter Holiday issue of The Hardback Magazine with good stories by Charles de Lint, Lisa Goldstein, and Kara Dalkey; and their Axolotl Press line published a new “Newford” novella by Charles de Lint, Our Lady of the Harbour. Triskell Press (Ottawa) published a lovely chapbook of de Lint's poetry titled Desert Moments. Crossing Press (Freedom, CA) published an anthology of original Magic Realist stories by women writers, titled Dreams in a Minor Key, edited by Susanna J. Sturgis. Pyx Press (Orem, UT) publishes a small magazine, Magic Realism, issued seasonally and edited by C. Daren Butler and Julie Thomas; issue #4 in the fall of 1991 interspersed new stories and poetry with old Celtic fairy tales. Street of Crocodiles (Seattle) published an odd but intriguing collection of Jessica Amanda Salmonson’s stories, Mystic Women: Their Ancient Tales and Legends. Owlswick Press (Philadelphia) published Avram Davidson’s peculiar and wonderful Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy, as well as Keith Roberts's collected Anita stories. Johns Hopkins University Press finally (bless them) brought Thomas M. Disch and Charles Naylor’s Neighboring Lives back into print—a splendid historical novel set in nineteenth-century Chelsea, highly recommended. Donald M. Grant (RI) published a new Peter Straub novella, Mrs. God, with beautiful sepia-washed paintings by Rich Berry. Nazraeli Press (published in Germany but distributed in the U.S.) released Afternoon Nap, a small, surrealistic book of paintings and text by Fritz Scholder. I highly recommend Fables by poet Michael Hannon, previously published by Turkey Press (CA) but unseen until this year. Leonard Baskin’s Gehenna Press (MA) published an exquisite hand-printed and hand-bound book by Baskin on the history of the Grotesque. Finally, Edgewood Press (MA) published The Best of the Rest 1990: The Best SF and Fantasy from the Small Press, well edited by Steve Pasechnick and Brian Youmans.

As for the larger publishing houses: In last year’s volume of this anthology series I noted the dearth of excellent Imaginary World fantasy, and thus we reprinted primarily works of Urban Fantasy and Magic Realism instead. This year, I am happy to report, there is a resurgence of good Imaginary World fantasy in both short fiction and novel form, while the more contemporary forms of fantasy continue to make a strong showing. There were quite a number of good fantasy novels published in 1991. The following is a short list of works you should not miss, showing the diversity of styles and approaches that exists within the current fantasy field (in alphabetical order):

Hunting the Ghost Dancer by A. A. Attanasio (HarperCollins). An evocative, literary fairy tale, set in the prehistoric past.

The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor by John Barth (Knopf). A delightful, literary mainstream fantasy about a modern man who finds his way into the world of Sinbad and the Arabian Nights.

The Paper Grail by James P. Blaylock (Ace). Equally delightful, equally literary, this novel by one of the field’s best writers involves ancient legendary and strange conspiracies, set in Southern California.

Witch Baby by Francesca Lia Block (HarperCollins). By the author of the wonderful young adult (YA) fantasy Weetzie Bat, another fantasy tale set in a punk, surrealist vision of Los Angeles.

The End-of-Everything Man by Tom De Haven (Doubleday). It looks like generic fantasy, but don’t be put off. It’s much, much more, and will rekindle your sense of wonder.

Murther and Walking Spirits by Robertson Davies (Viking). A mainstream novel from this superlative writer, with distinct fantasy elements. The book is narrated by a character killed off on page 1.

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean (Tor). The Scottish fairy tale and folk ballad “Tam Lin” is recast among the theater majors of a midwestern college campus. A memorable contemporary retelling of the tale by a talented new voice in the field.

The Little Country by Charles de Lint (Morrow). Set in Cornwall among musicians, writers and Cornish villagers, de Lint again weaves modern magic, bringing myth into the contemporary world.

The Architecture of Desire by Mary Gentle (Bantam UK). Complex, dark fantasy set in a skewed version of Cromwell’s England. At this rate, Gentle may become the modern successor to Mervyn Peake.

Sherwood by Parke Godwin (Morrow). A thoroughly entertaining historical novel with slight fantasy elements, based on the classic Robin Hood legends—the best of the Robin Hood material to appear in the wake of the recent movies (and far better than either film).

Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Hughart (Doubleday). I’ve long been a fan of Hughart’s Chinese picaresque fantasies—and this is his best so far.

Cloven Hooves by Megan Lindholm (Doubleday). Lindholm is a writer who has not yet received the attention she deserves for her serious, thoughtful and thoroughly adult fantasy works. This novel about a woman’s relationship to Pan is set in the author’s own native Alaska and Washington State.

Dangerous Spaces by Margaret Mahy (Viking). Mahy is a New Zealand writer of some of the very best young adult fantasy to be published in the last two decades. This moody ghost story shows Mahy at top form.

The Sorceress and the Cygnet by Patricia A. McKillip (Ace). McKillip tops the list of writers working in the Imaginary World area of fantasy fiction. The novel is part fairy tale, part Magic Realism, and pure poetry.

Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper (Doubleday). This dark and intriguing novel falls between the realms of fantasy and science fiction, but working as it does with the themes of fairy tales, I’ll include it here—and recommend it highly. Readers with a taste for Angela Carter’s fiction should give this one a try.

Death Qualified by Kate Wilhelm (St. Martin’s). Wilhelm is a writer who has quietly given the field some of its very best works. This book was published in the St. Martin’s mainstream list: a fascinating and thought-provoking courtroom drama involving chaos theory.

In addition to the foregoing books, lovers of good adventure fantasy written with wit and intelligence should be sure not to miss Steven Brust’s The Phoenix Guards from Tor Books (a fantasy homage to Dumas and Sabatini) or Michael Moorcock’s The Revenge of the Rose from Ace and Grafton (which Faren Miller aptly described as “sword-and-sorcery a la Dickens with a tip of the hat to Brueghel”). Lovers of fantasy with a humorous bite should check out Terry Pratchett’s Witches Abroad from Gollancz, or indeed any title by this British author; and Patricia C. Wrede’s charming Dealing with Dragons from Jane Yolen Books/HBJ.

Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler (Holt), a Magic Realist novel set in the Washington Territory in 1873, has my vote for best first novel of the year. Runners up are: Gojiro by Mark Jacobson (Atlantic Monthly), a bizarre and moving fantasy about a boy and a giant mutant lizard. Moonwise by Greer Ilene Gilman (Roc) won’t be to everyone’s taste, but there are passages of prose that read like the finest of poetry. Other notable debuts: The Illusionists by Faren Miller (Warner), The White Mists of Power by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Roc), and The Spiral Dance by R. Garcia y Robertson (Morrow).

The “Best Peculiar Book” distinction goes to the aforementioned Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock (Chronicle). The runner-up is Spring-Heeled Jack by Phillip Pullman (Knopf), an imaginative YA superhero fantasy mixing prose and cartoons (illustrations by Gary Hovland) based on the nineteenth-century character of the title.

Other 1991 titles particularly recommended, listed by publisher:

From Ace: Phoenix by Steven Brust (fifth in the Vlad Taltos series, not to be confused with the aforementioned Phoenix Guards).

From Atheneum: Sing for a Gentle Rain by James J. Alison (YA time travel about an Indian boy drawn back to the 13th-century Anasazi).

The Black Unicorn by Tanith Lee (excellent YA fantasy in an Arabian Nights-like desert setting).

The House on Parchment Street by Patricia A. McKillip (a reissue of this lovely YA ghost story).

From Avon: Tours of the Black Clock by Steve Erickson (reprint of this 1989 surrealistic novel).

Flute Song Magic by Andrea Shettle (a lovely YA fantasy novel, winner of the Flare Books competition for authors between 13 and 18 years of age).

The Dream Compass by Jeff Bredenberg (a quirky but literary and promising first novel, halfway between fantasy and SF).

Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock (the American reprint of this amazing British novel).

Soulsmith by Tom Dietz (an enjoyable coming-of-age novel set in Georgia).

From Baen: Lions Heart by Karen Wehrstein (standard genre fare but this young writer has a mystical, poetic flair.)

Flameweaver by Margaret Ball (a sparkling historical, a cut above the rest).

From Ballantine: Shaman by Robert Shea (historical Native American fantasy).

The Collapsing Castle by Haydyn Middleton (first American edition of a Celtic fantasy set in a small English village).

From Bantam: King of Morning, Queen of Day, by Ian McDonald (the first two-thirds of this Irish fantasy are excellent and highly recommended).

Great Work of Time by John Crowley (a mass-market publication of this splendid World Fantasy Award-winning novella).

Illusion by Paula Volsky (meatier fare than her previous books; recommended).

From Bantam Skylark: The Golden Swan by Marianna Mayer (rewritten Hindu fairy tale with illustrations by Robert Sauber).

Noble-Hearted Kate by Marianna Mayer (rewritten Celtic fairy tale with illustrations by the wonderful Winslow Pels).

From Del Rey: Perilous Seas by Dave Duncan (standard fantasy fare, but it takes unexpected turns—and Duncan is always a fine writer).

Yvgenie by C. J. Cherryh (the third book in her series based on Russian history and legend).

From Dell: The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison, with a foreword by Douglas E. Winter, a long critical introduction by Paul Edmund Thomas and a glossary of terms (originally published by Cape in 1922, this is one of the finest fantasy novels of all time. A must read, particularly for those who love the sound of language used well).

From Delacorte: Song of the Gargoyle by Zilpha Keatly Snyder (medieval historical novel by an extremely talented writer of YA fantasy).

From Doubleday Foundation: The Dagger and the Cross by Judith Tarr (well-written twelfth-century historical fantasy).

Nothing Sacred by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (futuristic fantasy about a POW nurse in Tibet).

From Harper & Row: The Dragon’s Boy by Jane Yolen (moving YA Arthurian fantasy).

Dragon Cauldron by Laurence Yep (YA fantasy adventure from this talented author).

From HarperCollins: Quiver River by David Carkeet (a terrific coming-of-age story with subtle magic about a vanished Indian tribe, highly recommended).

From Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: Many Moons by James Thurber (a reprint of the fairy tale with the 1943 Caldecott Award-winning illustrations by Louis Slobodkin).

Wizard’s Hall by Jane Yolen (humorous fantasy for children).

From Holt: Bronze Mirror by Jeanette Larsen (uses the history and myths of China to talk about the nature of artistic creation; highly recommended).

Three Times Table by Sara Maitland (good literary fantasy).

From Houghton Mifflin: Enter Three Witches by Kate Gilmore (entertaining fantasy about a young New York boy raised by witches).

From Knopf: The Dust Roads of Monferatto by Rosetta Loy (a Magic Realist family saga, translated from the Italian).

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice (technically this is horror, but this superb dark fantasy about a family of witches over the centuries is likely to appeal to fantasy readers as well).

Among the Dolls by William Sleator (a reprint of this novella with illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman).

From Macdonald: Outside the Dog Museum by Jonathan Carroll (another clever tale, not entirely successful, about the modern shaman Venasque).

From Macmillan Collier: The Satanic Mill by Otfried Preussler (a reissue of this excellent fantasy about a young apprentice’s experience with evil, translated from the German by Anthea Bell—highly recommended).

Witch House by Evangeline Walton (another reissue, from one of the fantasy field’s most beloved writers).

From Methuen: The Drowners by Garry Kilworth (a YA ghost story set in nineteenth-century Hampshire by one of England’s finest writers).

Black Maria by Diana Wynne Jones (YA fantasy about a witch in an English seaside town, by another of England’s finest).

From Morrow: Chase the Morning by Michael Scott Rohan (an intriguing fantasy novel set in a quayside bar).

Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (first American edition of this sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle).

King of the Dead by R. A. MacAvoy (the second book in her Lens of the World trilogy—read it for the prose. Highly recommended).

From Orbit: Flying Dutch by Tom Holt (literary fantasy, highly recommended).

From Penguin: Grimus by Salman Rushdie (a reprint of this literary fantasy novel by the author of The Satanic Verses).

From Pocket: Witch Hunt by Devin O’Branagan (an interesting generational saga following a family of witches through three centuries).

From Random House: Peter Doyle by John Vernon (a literary alternate history novel about the [nonexistant] relationship between Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, and the search for Napolean’s penis . . . highly recommended!)

The Annotated Alice by Lewis Carroll (a revised edition, including The Wasp in the Wig,” which was cut from the original publication).

From Roc: Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle (first American edition of this splendid dark fantasy).

From Scholastic: The Promise by Robert Westall (first American edition ot this YA ghost story).

From Simon and Schuster: The Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko (a modern Southwestern saga incorporating Native American myths, highly recommended).

The Half Child by Kathleen Herson (historical fantasy about a changeling, set in the seventeenth century).

From Tor: Mojo and the Pickle far by Douglas Bell (charming Southwestern fantasy novel).

Sadars Keep by Midori Snyder (second book in an Imaginary World trilogy that is a distinct cut above most in the genre, with terrific character studies).

Mairelon the Magician by Patricia Wrede (charming, witty fantasy set in a magical Regency England).

Street Magic by Michael Reaves (entertaining, thoughtful Urban Fantasy set).

From Villard: Who P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf (sequel to the fantasy-detective novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?).

From Vintage: Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson (first American edition of this Magic Realist story of a young man’s coming-of-age, by a young British writer).

From World’s Classics, UK: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens and Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie, edited and with an introduction by Peter Hollindale (a new combined edition of Barrie’s droll, classic tales, with the Arthur Rackham cover).

Nineteen ninety-one saw the publication of excellent work in the area of short fantasy fiction, both within the genre and without. It seems that in fantasy fiction, unlike (alas) mainstream fiction, the short story form is alive and well and commercially supported by the readership. Ellen Datlow and I read a wide variety of material over the course of 1991 to choose the stories for this volume, ranging from genre magazines and anthologies to fanzines, small-press and university reviews and foreign works in translation. The stories selected for the fantasy half of this volume were chosen from: the magazines Omni, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine, Weird Tales, Pulphouse and The New Yorker; the literary reviews Grand Street and Winter’s Tales; single-author collections published by St Martin’s, Arcade, Random House and Mercury House; an Axolotl Press limited edition; the’children’s books Vampires and Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch; the anthologies Full Spectrum 3, Catfantastic II, A Whisper of Blood, Once Upon a Time, The Fantastic Adventures of Robin Hood and Colors of a New Day: Writings for South Africa and translations of foreign works first published in Spanish (from the University of Nebraska Press), French (from Grand Street), Russian (from Abbeville Press), and Japanese (from Kodansha International).

In addition to the stories selected for this volume, the following is a baker's dozen of story collections that are particularly recommended to lovers of good short fiction (alphabetically, by publisher):

From Academy Chicago: Visions and Imaginings: Classic Fantasy Fiction edited by Robert H. Boyer and Kenneth J. Zahorski (from the distinguished team of editors who have brought us some of the finest reprint anthologies in the fantasy field).

From Atlantic Monthly: The Literary Ghost: Great Contemporary Ghost Stories edited by Larry Dark (a splendid, fat, highly recommended collection of twenty-eight ghostly tales by writers such as John Gardner, Paul Bowles, Muriel Spark, Penelope Lively, Joyce Carol Oates, A. S. Byatt, Fay Weldon, Anne Sexton and Steven Millhauser).

From Dedalus UK: The Dedalus Book of British Fantasy: The 19th Century edited by Brian M. Stableford (entries by William Morris, George MacDonald, Disraeli, Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, Tennyson, Keats, Christina Rossetti and more. Stableford has done a wonderful job; this should be on every fantasy reader’s shelf).

Tales of the Wandering Jew edited by Brian M. Stableford (nine reprinted and eleven original stories, plus two poems by Stableford—with particularly good contributions by Steve Rasnic Tem and Ian McDonald).

From Delacorte: The Door in the Air and Other Stories by Margaret Mahy (nine stories from this amazing New Zealand writer, with illustrations by Diana Catchpole. Originally published by Dent in 1988, this is its first American edition).

From Dutton: A Hammock Beneath the Mangoes edited by Thomas Colchie (an anthology of superlative Latin American stories by Cortazar, Fuentes, Allende, Amada, Marquez and the like. Quite a treat).

From Grafton: The Bone Forest by Robert Holdstock (contains one novella set in the same patch of primal English woodland as his World Fantasy Award-winning novel Mythago Wood, plus seven other stories).

From Kodansha International: Beyond the Curve by Kobo Abe (a collection of excellent, strange Japanese stories in translation, many of them with an existentialist SF and fantasy bent).

From Pantheon: Shape-Shifter by Pauline Melville (a collection of twelve literary fantasy stories, reprinted from the 1990 Women’s Press edition which won the Manchester Guardian Prize).

From Rutgers University Press: Green Cane Juicy Flotsam (stories by Caribbean woman writers, several of them Magic Realist in style).

From St. Martin’s Press: More Shapes Than One by Fred Chappell (reprint stories and two originals by this unique and gifted Southern writer).

Fires of the Past edited by Anne Devereaux Jordan (thirteen lovely original contemporary fantasy stories about hometowns).

Other notable collections in 1991:

Authors Choice Monthly #22: Hedgework and Guessery by Charles de Lint (magical stories and poems, from Pulphouse); The Book of the Damned by Tamth Lee (three wonderful novellas, from The Overlook Press; The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez (a cycle of stories about a black lesbian vampire collected from various gay publications, from Firebrand Books); Vampires edited by Jane Yolen and Martin H. Greenberg (original YA fiction by a range of up-and-coming writers, from HarperCollins); Horse Fantastic and Catfantastic 11 edited by Martin H. Greenberg (enjoyable theme anthologies with original fiction, from Daw); The Walker Book of Ghost Stories edited by Susan Hill and illustrated by Angela Barrett (seventeen YA ghost stories, including some originals, from Walker UK); Great Tales of Jewish Occult and Fantasy: The Dybbuk and 30 Other Classic Stories, edited by Joachim Neugroshel (a reprint, from Wings); and Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Fiction edited by Alfred Birnbaum (contains Haruki Murakami, Eri Makino and more, from Kodansha).

A selection of recommended works of nonfiction published in 1991:

All My Roads Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis 1922-1927 edited by Walter Hooper (HBJ).

Wandering Ghost: The Odyssey ofLafcadio Hearn by Jonathan Cott (a biography of the man who brought Japanese literature and legendry to the western world, by Jonathan Cott—whose books are always a treat. Knopf).

Gilbert: The Man Who Was G. K. Chesterton by Michael Coren (Paragon House).

The Design of William Morris The Earthly Paradise by Florence Saunders Boos (a detailed examination of Morris’s epic poem, from The Edwin Mellen Press).

The Magical World of the Inklings by Gareth Knight (a biography of four members of the Inklings: Tolkien, Lewis, Williams and Owen Barfield, from Element, U.K.).

The Land of Narnia by Brian Sibley (a guide to the Narnia series for YA readers, from Harper and Row).

Chicago Days/Hoboken Nights by Daniel M. Pinkwater (a delightful memoir, from Addison-Wesley).

Don’t Tell the Grownups by Alison Lurie (a reprint edition of Lurie’s collected essays on children’s fiction, fantasy and fairy tales, from Avon).

Recommended new works on myth, legend and fairy tales.

The Old Wives Fairy Tale Book selected and retold by Angela Carter (the last collection put together before Carter s sudden death earlier this year, highly recommended; published by Pantheon. Carter was both a splendid writer and a folklore enthusiast—the fantasy field will sorely miss her).

Spells of Enchantment edited by Jack Zipes (a beautiful, fat collection of fairy tales—complete with a Warwick Goble cover—by one of the major scholars in the field; highly recommended. The volume is published by Viking, and is an excellent source book).

Arabian Nights: The Marvels and Wonders of the Thousand and One Nights, adaptation by Jack Zipes (from the classic Sir Richard Burton translation, published by Penguin).

The Book ofDede Korkut (an edition of the 10th Century Turkish magical epic, from the University of Texas, Austin).

Folktales from India edited by A. K. Ramanujan (the latest edition in the wonderful Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library, Pantheon/Random House).

Primal Myths: Creation Myths from Around the World by Barbara C. Sproul (from HarperCollins).

Myths of the Dog-Man by David Gordon White (from the University of Chicago Press).

Here All Dwell Free: Stories of the Wounded Feminine by Gertrude Mueller Nelson (a psychological investigation of fairy tale themes in a beautifully designed edition, from Doubleday).

Robin Hood by J. C. Holt (the history of the legend in a revised and expanded edition from Thames and Hudson).

Arthur the King by Graeme Fife (a nicely designed edition tracing the development of Arthurian literature, from Sterling Publishers, NY).

The Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends by Ronan Coghlan (available from Element, Rockport, MA).

Books by John Matthews, available this year from Aquarian Press/HarperCollins:

An Arthurian Reader (with a lovely Burne-Jones cover).

A Celtic Reader: Selections from Celtic Legends, Scholarship and Story (with a lovely John Duncan cover).

The Song of Taliesin: Stories and Poems from the Books ofBroceliande (paperback edition).

Children’s picture books are a source of magical fantasy tales as well as of the very best enchanted artwork created today. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in particular had a plethora of beautiful books this year. Particularly recommended in 1991:

Wings, the story of Icarus retold by Jane Yolen, with gorgeous paintings by Dennis Nolan (HBJ).

The All Jahdu Storybook, fifteen Trickster tales by Newbery winner Virginia Hamilton, with masterful illustrations by Barry Moser (HBJ).

Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch by Nancy Willard with exquisitely detailed paintings by Leo and Diane Dillon in the spirit of Bosch himself (HBJ).

Stories for Children by Oscar Wilde. Even if you already own Wilde’s fairy tales, take a look at this one for the splendid illustrations by P. J. Lynch (Macmillan).

The Happy Prince and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde. This is a facsimile of the 1913 edition—with the Charles Robinson illustrations—of Wilde’s wonderful literary fairy tales. The volume is part of Peter Classman’s beautiful Books of Wonder Series (Morrow).

The Three Princesses: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Cooper Edens has interspersed the text with illustrations from over fifty classic editions (by artists like Rackham, Dulac, Dore, Crane and Goble). This doesn’t make for a satisfying read or a satisfying book for children, but it is a lovely collection for adult art lovers. (Published by Bantam, it is a compilation of Eden’s former Green Tiger Press editions, beautifully designed.)

Jim Hensons The Story-teller is a fine collection of nine fairy tales based on the late Henson’s Emmy-winning television series. The stories are retold by Anthony Minghella and beautifully illustrated by Darcy May. It is a lovely tribute to a creative man greatly missed in our field (Knopf).

Another source for interesting artwork is the area of adult comics and graphic novels. The following are several collections I’d recommend for fantasy readers and fine-art lovers new to the adult comics field:

Hawk and Wolverine, text by Walter Simonson and Louise Simonson, art by Kent Williams and the stunning painter Jon J. Muth (Epic).

Black Orchid, text by World Fantasy Award-winner Neil Gaiman and art by World Fantasy Award-winner Dave McKean (DC).

The Sandman Collections, text by Neil Gaiman, art by Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg, Kelly Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, Malcolm Jones III (DC).

V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd (DC).

The Love and Rockets Collections, Los Bros. Hernandez (Fantagraphics).

Other art works of interest published in 1991:

The Lord of the Rings, illustrated by Alan Lee. This is a lavish anniversary edition with fifty new paintings by one of the finest watercolorists living today. The publisher’s production job washes out some of the beauty of the stunning original paintings, but this is still an edition to be treasured for a lifetime (Unwin Hyman, U.K./Houghton Mifflin, U.S.).

The Telling Line: Essays on Fifteen Contemporary Illustrators by Douglas Martin, discussing children’s book illustrators including Michael Foreman and the late Charles Keeping (Delacorte).

The Art of the Fantastic: Latin America 1920-1987, a beautiful, thorough collection, text by Holliday T. Day and Hollister Sturges (Indianapolis Museum of Art).

Leonora Carrington: The Mexico Years (1943-1895), my personal favorite of the year’s art books, a slim but lovely edition of the enchanted, fantastical paintings by a woman whose works are too little known (The Mexico Museum in San Francisco, distributed by the University of New Mexico Press).

Anxious Visions: Surrealist Art, lavishly illustrated, with excellent text by Sidea Stitch (Abbeville Press).

The Symbolist Generation: 1870-1910, a fine overview of this era with Rizzoli’s usual high quality of art reproduction; text by Pierre-Louis Mathieu (Rizzoli).

Holly Roberts, a collection of the vibrant, mystical works of this contemporary artist who combines oil paint and silverprint photographs. The book is beautifully produced, but it does not quite capture the luminous quality of the work itself. (The Friends of Photography Press, The Ansel Adams Center, San Francisco).

The Aeneid of Virgil, a new translation by Edward McCrorie and art by Luis Ferreira (Donald M. Grant).

The Arthurian Book of Days, an art book with more than seventy medieval illustrations, text by John and Caitlin Matthews (Macmillan).

Berni Wrightson: A Look Back, an interesting, thorough collection of this American artist’s work (reprinted by Underwood-Miller from a 1979 edition).

Necronomicon by H. R. Giger, a reprint of the original lavish edition of bizarre paintings by this European artist, with an introduction by horror writer Clive Barker (Morpheus International).

The Rodney Mathews Portfolio, The Bruce Pennington Portfolio, Mark Harrison’s Dreamlands, and The Chris Foss Portfolio: these are nicely produced collections of art by British book and record album illustrators, primarily science fiction-related but possibly of interest to fantasy enthusiasts too (Paper Tiger).

Fantasy cover art that stood out from the rest on the shelves in 1991:

Dave McKean’s modernistic montage for Outside the Dog Museum (by Jonathan Carroll/Macdonald UK). Leo and Diane Dillon’s distinctive and decorative work for Juniper (by Monica Furlong/Knopf). Trina Schart Hyman for charming work on Wizard’s Hall (by Jane Yolen/HBJ). Jody Lee’s sumptuous, well-designed work for The Winds of Fate (by Mercedes Lackey/DAW). Heather Cooper’s rich painting for The Black Unicom (by Tanith Lee/Atheneum) and John Collier’s for The Sleep of Stone (by Louise Cooper/Atheneum)—both part of Byron Preiss’ beautifully packaged Dragonflight series. Bruce Jensen for the design of The Ultimate Werewolf, The Ultimate Dracula and The Ultimate Frankenstein (Dell)—another Byron Preiss package. Robert Gould’s stunning new Elric painting and design work on Revenge of the Rose (by Michael Moorcock/Grafton and Ace). Dennis Nolan’s elegant portraiture and design for Sadar’s Keep (by Midori Snyder/Tor). Thomas Canty’s painting and gorgeous design work on A Whisper of Blood (by Ellen Datlow/Morrow). Arnie Fenner’s distinctive design work for Mark V. Ziesing Books. Michael Whelan’s evocative painting for The Summer Queen (by Joan D. Vinge/Warner). Rick Berry’s painterly portraiture for Phoenix Guards (by Steven Brust/Tor). Gerry Grace’s lovely painting for Strands of Starlight (by Gael Baudino/ Orbit UK). Raquel Jarmillo’s pre-Raphaelite-dnfluenced jacket painting for Sarah Canary (by Karen Joy Fowler/Holt). And Mel Odom’s shimmering Tigana (by Guy Gavriel Kay/Roc). We are indebted to these and many other cover illustrators for laboring within commercial publishing constraints to bring artistic vision into the fantasy field.

British artist and moviemaker Brian Froud brought splendid new works-inprogress to the Tucson World Fantasy Convention (making a rare convention appearance to support his Faerieland series for Bantam Books) which confirmed his place as one of the finest painters of magical works of our time. Charles Vess, David Cherry, Dawn Wilson, Don Maitz, Janny Wurts and Artist Guest of Honor Arlin Robins were among the other artists on hand for that event. Janny Wurts won Best of Show in the convention exhibition; Dave McKean won the World Fantasy Award for Best Artist of 1990; and Charles Vess shared the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story in 1990 with Neil Gaiman for their comic book A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Traditional folk music is of special interest to many fantasy readers because the old ballads, particularly in the English, Irish and Scots folk traditions, are often based on the same folk and fairy tale roots as fantasy fiction. And the current generation of worldbeat musicians, like contemporary fantasy writers, are taking ancient, traditional rhythms and themes and adapting them to a modern age. (New listeners might try Flight of the Green Linnet: Celtic Music, the Next Generation as an introduction to the music. Or, if you prefer music with a rock or punk edge to it, I’d suggest starting off with a worldbeat band like Boiled in Lead.)

Ireland’s De Dannan has released 1/2 Set in Harlem, mixing traditional Irish tunes with Klezmer influences and Gospel songs; De Dannan’s A Jacket of Batteries is also finally available in America. Canada’s wild instrumental band Rare Air, billed as “nouveau Celtic pop funk jazz,” has released Space Piper—although, as always, they are truly best heard live to appreciate the magic they weave. Minneapolis band Boiled in Lead beats Rare Air for wildness, and their release Orb is highly recommended, containing a lively variety of ballads and world beat “rock-and-reel.” Scotland’s Hamish Moore and Dick Lee have released The Bees Knees, a mix of Highland pipes, soprano sax, Celtic and jazz influences, virtuoso musicianship and humor. Pentangle, complete with the gorgeous guitar of Bert Jansch and the haunting voice of Jackie McShee but sans founding member John Ren-bourn, has released Think of Tomorrow. Andrew Cronshaw has produced Circle Dance, a charity collection with terrific material from Richard Thompson, June Tabor, Fairport Convention, the late Sandy Denny, and others. Cronshaw’s own latest release, Till the Beasts’ Returning, is not so shabby either, featuring enchanted instrumental music on the electric zither, flutes and strings and with one song by June Tabor.

Milladoiro, a band dedicated to Galacian music (the Celtic music of Spain) has released Castellum Honestic, mixing Galacian melodies with the feel of medieval music and a touch of jazz. Montreal’s Ad Vielle Que Pourra’s new Come What May ranges from Breton music to medieval to cajun. Scotland’s amazing Capercaillie, with Karen Matheson’s haunting vocals, has released Crosswinds. Australia’s excellent Not Drowning, Waving, mixing jazz and moody rock with Celtic and Australian Aboriginal rhythms, has released The Little Desert in this country. Guitarist Mazlyn Jones, from a remote area of Cornwall, has released Mazlyn Jones, aptly described by one reviewer as “a mystic carpet ride,” drawing on images of the natural world and the fantastic. From Wales, Delyth Evan’s Music for the Celtic Harp has no surprises but is beautiful listening; also from Wales, Clennig has released Dwr Gian, a mixture of old Welsh songs and dances with Breton and Galacian music. Gwerziou & Soniou by Yann Fanch Kemener contains ten unaccompanied songs in Breton—songs of war, love, religious stories and the supernatural.

Sparky and Rhonda Rucker’s Treasures and Tears uses music as a teaching tool to preserve Black American folklore; their traditional music is country-folk in flavor, with a touch of soul. The Gypsies are a large ensemble given to mixing Balkan instrumental music with jazz influences and a bit of Klezmer: clarinets, accordions, and gypsy violin. Great fun. Their latest release is Gypsy Swing. For lovers of medieval music, imagine medieval music with a punk edge and you’ll have Dead Can Dance, whose latest, Aion, is their best so far (featuring, as it does, less of the Jim Morrison—like vocals of Brendan Perry and more of the exquisite, eerie, soaring vocals of Lisa Gerrard against a background of tenor and bass viol). Other beautiful women’s vocal music, passed on to me courtesy of Charles de Lint, is performed by American singer Connie Dover, and by harpist Loreena McKennit (including lovely versions of Tennyson’s The Lady ofShalott and Yeats’s Stolen Child). Track down anything by either of these ladies. Another tip from de Lint is Ireland’s Luka Bloom (a.k.a. Barry Moore, brother of Irish folk musician Christy Moore), whose new release, The Accoustic Bicycle, is a real treat and contains, God help us, Irish rap.

Music is evident in several works of fantasy fiction this year: Charles de Lint, himself a musician with the Ottawa Celtic band Jump at the Sun, weaves Celtic music into his novel The Little Country (Morrow) and his novella Our Lady of the Harbour (Axolotl). Elizabeth Ann Scarborough’s novels Phantom Banjo and Picking the Ballads Bones (Bantam) deal with folk music and the devil, set in modern folk music clubs. Worldbeat music inspired—and is laced throughout_ the continuing books of the “punk fantasy” Borderlands series: Life on the Border, with stories by musicians de Lint, Ellen Kushner, Midori Snyder and others (Tor)' and Elsewhere, a Borderlands novel by Will Shetterly—a very moving coming-of-age tale (Jane Yolen Books/HBJ). Writers Emma Bull and Steven Brust are members of the Minneapolis band Cats Laughing, which issued a new version of their first release, Cats Laughing; their second release, Another Way to Travel, contains a song by Bull featured in Life on the Border. Ellen Kushner’s novel Thomas the Rhymer, based on the English/Scots folk ballad of that name, was released in paperback (Tor); Kushner, a radio d.j. and former folksinger, has put together a performance piece of traditional ballads and text from her novel, which debuted in Boston in 1991. She will be performing the piece in England with folksinger June Tabor this year.

The 1991 World Fantasy Convention was held in Tucson, Arizona, over the weekend of November 1-3. The Guests of Honor were Harlan and Susan Ellison, Stephen R. Donaldson and Arlin Robins. Winners of the World Fantasy Award were as follows: Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner and Only Begotten Daughter by James Morrow (tie) for Best Novel; Bones by Pat Murphy for Best Novella; “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess for Best Short Fiction; The Start of the End of It All and Other Stories by Carol Emshwiller for Best Collection; Best New Horror edited by Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell for Best Anthology. Special Award/Professional went to Arnie Fenner, designer for Mark V. Ziesing Books; Special Award/Nonprofessional went to Cemetery Dance edited by Richard Chizmar. The Life Achievement Award was given to Ray Russell. The judges of the 1991 awards were: Emma Bull, Orson Scott Card, Richard Laymon, Faren Miller and Darrell Schweitzer. The 1992 World Fantasy Convention will be held in October in Pine Mountain, Georgia. (For membership information, write: WFC’92, Box 148, Clarkston, GA 30021.)

The 1991 British Fantasy Awards were presented at the British Fantasy Convention in London in November. The winners were as follows: Best Novel. Midnight Sun by Ramsey Campbell; Best Anthology/Collection: Best New Horror edited by Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell; Best Short Fiction: “The Man Who Drew Cats” by Michael Marshall Smith; Best Artist: Les Edwards; Small Press: Dark Dreams edited by David Cowper Thwaite and Jeff Dempsey; Icarus Award for Best Newcomer: Michael Marshall Smith; Special Award: Dot Lumley, for services to the genre. (For membership information on the 1992 convention, write: UK Fantasy Con, 15 Stanley Road, Morden, Surry, SM4 5DE, UK.)

The 1991 Mythopoeic Awards were presented during the Mythopoeic Society’s Annual Conference in San Diego in July. The award for a book-length fantasy “in the spirit of the Inklings” went to Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner; the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award went to ]ack: C. S. Lewis and His Times by George Sayer. (For information on next year’s convention, write: Mythcon XXIII, Box 17440, San Diego, CA 92117.)

The International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts was held, as always, in Ft. Lauderdale, in March. The Guests of Honor were writer Gene Wolfe, artist Peter Maqua and scholar Brian Attebery. The Crawford Award for Best First Fantasy Novel was awarded at the conference to Michael Scott Rohan for The Winter of the World trilogy. (For information on next year’s conference, write: ICFA 92, College of Humanities, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431.)

The Fourth Street Fantasy Convention was held, as always, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Guests of Honor were writer Diana Wynne Jones and publisher Tom Doherty. (For information on next year’s convention, write: c/o David Dyer-Bennett, 4242 Minnehaha Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406.)

That’s a brief roundup of the year in fantasy; now to the stories themselves.

As always, the list of the very best stories of the year ran longer than we have room to print, even in a fat anthology such as this one. I’d particularly like to recommend you also seek out the following tales: “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep by Suzy McKee Charnas (in A Whisper of Blood); “Snow on Sugar Mountain” by Elizabeth Hand (in Full Spectrum 3); “Venus Rising on Water” by Tanith Lee (in Isaac Asimov’s, Oct. 1991); “Lighthouse Summer” by Paul Witcover (in Isaac Asimov’s, April 1991); “Little Miracles, Kept Promises” by Sandra Cisneros {Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories); “The Better Boy” by James P. Blaylock and Tim Powers (in Isaac Asimovs, Feb. 1991) and “Fin de Cycle” by Howard Waldrop (in his story collection Night of the Cooters.

I hope you will enjoy the tales that follow as much as I did. Many thanks to all of the authors who allowed us to collect them here.