Year's Best Fantasy: 1st Annual Collection

Rating:
Summary: first in a consistently good collection of fantasy & horror
Review: This is the first collection of Datlow and Windling's long-running annual of fantasy and horror; this edition being a selection of short stories and poetry from the year 1987. While this series often suffers from a certain amount of cronyism, the quality of stories selected is generally above average. High points: Ursula K LeGuin's "Buffalo Gals Won't You Come Out Tonight", a fantasy inspired by Native American folklore [and if you enjoyed this short story, I highly recommend picking up the picture book, illustrated by Susan Seddon Boulet]; Jonathan Carroll's "Friend's Best Man", competently written and quite amusing; Carol Emshwiller's "The Circular Library of Stones", a sad but wonderful magical realist story; Lucius Shepard's "Delta Sly Honey", a superb dark fantasy tale set in Vietnam; and Alan Moore's "A Hypothetical Lizard", a sometimes overwritten and awkward fantasy, but so, so good [Moore is better known in the fantasy and horror field for his work in comics/graphic novels]. Low points: Elizabeth S Helfman's "Voices in the Wind", which I found to be somewhat journalistic, simplistic and simple-minded; Jane Yolen's "Once Upon A Time, She Said", poetry [I've found Datlow and Windling to be much better judges of prose]; John Brunner's "The Fable of the Farmer and The Fox", about which I have very little good to say; and Craig Shaw Gardner's "Demon Luck", a "humorous" juvenile fantasy in the vein of Piers Anthony, et al. Windling's customary essay on the state of fantasy is, in this volume, more of an overview of the state of publishing, rather than fiction. Her list of recommended books for this year is also just that: a list, unaccompanied by reviews or synopses. Complete list of included authors and their works: Ursula K LeGuin, "Buffalo Gals Won't You Come Out Tonight"; TM Wright, "A World Without Toys"; Joe Haldeman, "DX"; Jonathan Carroll, "Friend's Best Man"; Gweneth Jones, "The Snow Apples"; Susan Palwick, "Ever After"; William F Nolan, "My Name Is Dolly"; Joan Aiken, "The Moon's Revenge"; Edward Bryant, "Author's Notes"; John Robert Bensink, "Lake George in High August"; Steven Brust, "Csucskari"; Ramsey Campbell, "The Other Side"; David J Schow, "Pamela's Get"; Elizabeth S Helfman, "Voices in the Wind"; Jane Yolen, "Once Upon A Time, She Said"; Carol Emshwiller, "The Circular Library of Stones"; Harlan Ellison, "Soft Monkey"; Michael Shea, "Fat Face"; Charles DeLint, "Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair"; George RR Martin, "The Pear-shaped Man"; Lucius Shepard, "Delta Sly Honey"; M John Harrison, "Small Heirlooms"; Patrica C Wrede, "The Improper Princess"; John Brunner, "The Fable of the Farmer and the Fox"; Joyce Carol Oates, "Haunted"; Kathryn Ptacek, "Dead Possums"; Lucius Shepard, "Pictures Made Of Stones"; Douglas E Winter, "Splatter: A Cautionary Tale"; John Skipp & Craig Spector, "Gentlemen"; Graig Shaw Gardner, "Demon Luck"; Jane Yolen, "Words of Power"; Lisa Tuttle, "Jamie's Grave"; Delia Sherman, "The Maid on the Shore"; Michael McDowell, "Halley's Passing"; Lucius Shepard, "White Trains"; Natalie Babbitt, "Simple Sentences"; Alan Moore, "A Hypothetical Lizard".

Rating:
Summary: Year's Best Fantasy: 1st Annual
Review: This is the first volume in what became Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, now in its fourteenth year.

Perhaps the best thing about these books is the introduction, containing overviews of publications in the fantasy (and now horror) industry and brief reviews as well as industry news. I found the stories to be a very mixed bag. The standout in this volume is Le Guin's striking, unsentimental, Native American mythology-inspired "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight". Shephard's "Delta Sly Honey" was a beautifully written, evocative Vietnam War story, though it weakened toward the conclusion. "Lake George in High August" and "The Maid on the Shore" also stood out. Too many of the other stories, as in other volumes, are pedestrian, silly, or devoid of plot structure. I didn't find any of the poetry to be worthwhile. Overall, I'd give the stories mentioned a 4, but the others perhaps a 2. This uneven quality plagues every volume in this series.