Year's Best Fantasy & Horror: Seventeenth Annual Collection

Rating:
Summary: WHO PICKED THESE BORING STORIES
Review: I read (or tried to read) the first six or seven stories in this book and wondered - these are the best horror and fantasy stories?? I was bored to tears by each of them, by authors who seem to have no idea how to inspire wonder in the mind of the reader. As a writer of such genre fiction myself, I am offended and appalled that these stories were published anywhere, let alone selected for a best of anthology. Ellen Datlow shows me time and time again that she knows nothing about editing fiction. Bring back Robert Silverberg, Jack Vance, Sam Delany, Roger Zelasny, Fritz Leiber .....

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Have for fantasy fans!
Review: The bulk of this great book (500+ pages) reprints about 40 fantasy and horror stories culled from both niche and mainstream literary magazines (the Stephen King story included in the book was originally published in The New Yorker).

With the thousands of fantasy books being published every year (more than ever, probably due to the mainstream success of Mr. Potter), you really need a guidebook to find your way through the maze. And the comprehensive 150 page section at the beginning of the book will show you the way.

There are "Summary 2003" sections for the best of the past year's fantasy and horror books, recommending a full range of titles, from mainsteam mega-publishers like Warner and HarperCollins, to well-known smaller presses like fantasy-favorite Small Beer Press, all the way tiny one-book publishers like Centerpunch Press. There's also summary coverage on movies, anime, manga, and comics, if those are of interest.

This is many, many hours of great reading, and it will point you to more great books than you'll ever have time to read!