From Barnes & Noble
If you read one anthology of fantastic fiction this year, it has to be this one. Datlow and Windling have shown, over this past decade, that they have an unerring eye for the fantastic that is at once literate and accessible, which is no mean feat. I particularly liked the Wrede and the McKillip, but almost all of the stories are worthy of note. Highly recommended.
—Michelle West
From the Publisher
For more than a decade, readers have turned to The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror to find the most rewarding fantastic short stories. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling continue their critically acclaimed and award-winning tradition with another stunning collection of stories. The fiction and poetry here is culled from an exhaustive survey of the field, nearly four dozen stories ranging from fairy tales to gothic horror, from magical realism to dark tales in the Grand Guignol style. Rounding out the volume are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantasy and horror, new Year's Best sections on comics, by Charles Vess, and on anime and manga, by Joan D. Vinge, and a long list of Honorable Mentions, making this an indispensable reference as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror. The critically acclaimed and award-winning tradition continues with another stunning collection, including stories by Kelly Link o Kim Newman o Corey Marks o Eric Schaller o M. Shayne Bell o Helga M. Novak o Terry Dowling o Michael Libling o Zoran Zivkovic o Bentley Little o Carlton Mellick III o Brian Hodge o Conrad Williams o Tom Disch o Melissa Hardy o Joel Lane o Nicholas Royle o Tracina Jackson-Adams o Karen Joy Fowler o Jackie Bartley o Peter Dickerman o Ramsey Campbell o Adam Roberts o Robert Phillips o Jay Russell o Luis Alberto Urrea o Margaret Lloyd o Stephen Gallagher o Robin McKinley o Haruki Murakami o Theodora Goss o Kathy Koja o Lucy Taylor o Elizabeth Hand o Kevin Brickmeier o Sharon McCartney o Susan Power o Don Tumasonis o Nan Fry. Rounding out the volume are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantasy and horror, Year's Best sections on comics, byCharles Vess, and on anime and manga, by Joan D. Vinge, and a long list of Honorable Mentions, making this an indispensable reference as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror.
The Washington Post
Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling are renowned for their Year's Best Fantasy and Horror volumes, and the new Sixteenth Annual Collection is their best yet. Every story and poem included is remarkable, and a brief survey must suffice to reveal the variety in this must-own anthology … I wouldn't be surprised if this award-worthy anthology ended up being used in college courses on science fiction.
— Fiona Kelleghan
Publishers Weekly
You can't improve on the "best," but as the editors of this landmark anthology series show in its most recent volume, you can find fresh new angles from which to present it. For the first time ever, they have selected an essay, Douglas Winter's "The Pathos of Genre," and this incisive critique of the limits of genre branding subtly calls attention to how Datlow and Windling's fiction and poetry selections usually resist simple categorizing. Many of their best picks from 1999 willfully bend, blend and move beyond expected genre materials: Tim Lebbon's "White," a horror and SF cross-stitch, uses B-movie imagery to explore the behavior of people confronted with ecological apocalypse. Kim Newman, in "You Don't Have to Be Mad," grounds a caustic horror satire of modern business mores in set pieces appropriated from television espionage programs of the 1960s. Michael Marshall Smith, in "Welcome," and Charles de Lint, in "Pixel Pixies," conjure alternate fantasy worlds with the most unlikely of talismans--a computer. Neil Gaiman, one of six authors represented by more than one contribution, places both a horror and a fantasy tale: "Keepsakes and Treasures: A Love Story," a nasty bit on the death of romance, and "Harlequin Valentine," a darkly funny fantasy. There are more than a few modern fairy tale variants, but even these show a refreshing range of styles and approaches, notably Patricia McKillip's "Toad," a delightful deflation of the frog prince's tale. The usual generous survey essays by Datlow, Windling, Ed Bryant and Seth Johnson only enhance the volume's reputation as indispensable reading for the year. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
Publishers Weekly
This collection is short on fantasy and long on horror--with special emphasis on sadomasochism, which, in the hands of an author like Kathe Koja, can result in a darkly illuminating story about sexual fantasies sometimes better left unrealized. Not all writers are so gifted, however. Grant Morrison gives us an offensive story about a blind heroine who is urinated upon and slashed with a razor before being clamped to a ``Chair of Final Submission.'' But Datlow and Windling, who edited the earlier volumes in this series, offer entertaining fare as well, including several appearances by good old-fashioned vampires. K. W. Jeter's aged monster has needs that promise to make his daughter's life a horror for all eternity, while Jane Yolen pens a touching tale of a young girl whose love allows her undead mother to go to her eternal rest. Also included are some enjoyable new turns on famous characters, including Peter Pan, Robin Hood and Santa Claus. Deserving of special mention are Nancy Willard's magically real tale of a man who returns from the dead to retrieve his pets and Robert Holdstock and Garry Kilworth's suspenseful, literate tale of an archeologist on the trail of immortality. (Aug.)
Publishers Weekly
A highlight of any year's fantastic fiction yield is Datlow and Windling's picks of the previous year's top tales. This 16th incarnation of their award-winning anthology series shows fantasy and horror fiction alive, well and accessible in an impressively broad array of venues ranging from literary journals to genre publications, on-line markets and even a rock music tour book. The 49 selections (which also include poetry and an essay) are as refreshingly impossible to pigeonhole as their sources. Melissa Hardy's "Aquer," a wry behind-the-scenes look at a saint's canonization, is a perfect balance of supernatural mystery and dubious demystification. Conrad Williams's "The Machine," whose characters are caught up in the inexorable natural processes of its seaside setting, is one of several stories whose surreal symbolism blurs the boundaries between horror and fantasy. "The Least Trumps" by Elizabeth Hand, centered on a female tattoo artist's shaky grip on reality, translates the iconography of tarot cards and the reader's relationship to the written word into a luminous fantasy on the interpenetration of life and art. Don Tumasonis's "The Prospect Cards" is a brilliant narrative puzzle, related as a fragmented travel diary written on the backs of old postcards, in which the missing passages cleverly suggest a horror that defies description. Five writers are represented by two selections apiece; that might have given the impression of a dwindling talent pool were the contents not so delectably varied in theme and approach, and divided judiciously between well-known writers and new names. (Aug. 20) FYI: This is Windling's last volume as fantasy editor. Her successors are author Kelly Link and publisher Gavin Grant. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
VOYA
The editors present a veritable feast of fantasy and horror, some of which readers will relish, and others of which, in the grand tradition of the genres, may turn stomachs. Gems such as Charles DeLint's Crow Girls, the story of a woman in crisis who is inexplicably moved by a chance encounter with two enigmatic girls, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's reminiscences of Surinam in Caribe Magico, make the collection one worth having. As in past years, the editors give a taste of a wide variety of styles, from the magic realism of Patricia Preciado Martin's Plumas to the B-movie horror style of Terry Lamsley's Walking the Dog. Those who have enjoyed rewritings of fairy tales will be drawn to Tanith Lee's The Reason for Not Going to the Ball, in which the "wicked stepmother" exonerates herself in a letter to the now-grown Cinderella. Jane Yolen's story The House of Seven Angels, about a rabbi who studies in the company of angels, begs to be read aloud. The summations of the year in fantasy and horror will make this a useful tool for those offering reader's advisory. Other chapters include "Horror and Fantasy in the Media" and "Obituaries." VOYA Codes: 3Q 3P M J S (Readable without serious defects, Will appeal with pushing, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).
Library Journal
Myths and legends, fairytales and folklore, nightmares and dreams imbue the mundane with touches of magic while illustrating essential aspects of human nature. This annual anthology, the 13th in the series, explores those enchanting influences and gracefully demonstrates how the terms fantasy and horror encompass a range of creative writing from the "high" literary to the underrated comic. (Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics are more thought-provoking than most best sellers.) As usual, the editors begin with summaries of the past year in fantasy and horror in publishing, movies, and other media. Stressing the understanding of "interstitial" literature--works that cannot be pigeonholed to a single genre and that consists of much of imaginative writing--the editors then present a variety of short stories and poems portraying wonders that are funny, subtle, lyric, and dreadful. Many are written by such accomplished and well-known authors as Ursula K. Le Guin, Gaiman, Charles de Lint, and Steve Resnic Tem. This volume of all-around high-quality storytelling is highly recommended to imaginations of all shapes and sizes.--Ann Kim, "Library Journal" Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\
Library Journal
This collection of over 40 stories and poems includes selections by Charles de Lint, Jane Yolen, K.W. Jeter, Fred Chappell, and others as well as essays on the state of fantasy and horror in 1991. Recommended for most libraries' anthology collections.
Tampa Tribune
To those who appreciate fantasy…this book is priceless.
Realms of Fantasy
"The most extensive and reliable guide to the field available."
Kirkus Reviews
Splendid by an any measure, whether as fantasy, horror, or simply memorable prose, this fat sheaf of the year's best is distinguished by two standout stories: "The Hunter's Wife," originally published in Atlantic Monthly and also included in author Anthony Doerr's first book, The Shell Collector (2002), is set in a wild Montana valley. It tells of a hunting guide married to a magician's assistant who one day finds that her palm can read the last visions of dying or even dead humans, animals, fishes, and insects. Doerr's astounding prose sings with hyperreal poetic detail and registers every physical object with the palps of a naturalist. Second in merit is Wonder Boy Michael Chabon's "The God of Dark Laughter" (from The New Yorker), a supernatural police procedural whose weird setting in Yuggogheny County echoes both Lovecraft and Faulkner. Chabon's prose rises above most other entries in the collection, though many are brilliant, including: Jeffrey Ford's compelling "The Honeyed Knot," June Considine's "To Dream of White Horses" (great first paragraph!), Marion Arnott's "Prussian Snowdrops," Gene Wolfe's "Queen," Carol Emshwiller's "The Project," and Caitlin R. Kiernan's "Onion." Editors Datlow and Windling provide their usual absorbing summation of the year's best fiction; new to the annual are similar assessments for horror and fantasy comics (by artist Charles Vess) and for anime and manga (by Joan D. Vinge). Seth Johnson offers "Swimming in the Mainstream Comics," while James Frankel surveys the Great Parallel World Beyond in "Obituaries: 2001." Treasure abounding.
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