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whatsmacksaid's review
5.0
Some variation in quality and my enjoyment, and I more or less cherry picked my way out of order through it all. Overall an excellent collection, though.
gusabus's review
5.0
It took me almost half a year to read this monolith of an anthology, and I loved every part of it. As an avid fantasy reader this was a wonderful combination of good ol' sword and sorcery adventures and deeper, more literary works. I can't wait to get started on its predecessor, the Big Book of Classic Fantasy!
annieb123's review
5.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
The Big Book of Modern Fantasy is a massive anthology of shorter speculative fiction and a sister volume to the Vandermeer's Big Book of Classic Fantasy. Due out 21st July 2020 from Knopf Doubleday on their Vintage imprint, it's 896 pages (for the print edition) and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
Every single story in this collection is top-shelf, there are no really weak stories. All of these have been published previously and date from 1946-2018. Many of the stories are quite difficult to find and several were new to me in any form. One reason I prefer collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. I can only recall a few times where I've read a collection (or anthology) straight through from cover to cover. This one I did. I even re-read the stories which I had read before.
The stories are very well curated in my opinion, and include titans of speculative fiction (Le Guin, Borges, Delany, and more too numerous to list) alongside authors lesser known (Zenna Henderson) or not generally associated with speculative fiction (Nabokov, Henry Dumas) but no less worthy of inclusion. Before I get the Zenna fan club after me, she's one my favorite authors and I still have my first edition (paperback) copies of The People: No Different Flesh, Pilgrimage, and The Anything Box, and I revisit them regularly. The inclusion of the titular short story, The Anything Box, fit well with the other stories in this anthology and I recommend her other work highly.
I am a fan of the Vandermeer's work as editors and writers and this is another top notch quality anthology, massive in scope and size. Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
The Big Book of Modern Fantasy is a massive anthology of shorter speculative fiction and a sister volume to the Vandermeer's Big Book of Classic Fantasy. Due out 21st July 2020 from Knopf Doubleday on their Vintage imprint, it's 896 pages (for the print edition) and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
Every single story in this collection is top-shelf, there are no really weak stories. All of these have been published previously and date from 1946-2018. Many of the stories are quite difficult to find and several were new to me in any form. One reason I prefer collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. I can only recall a few times where I've read a collection (or anthology) straight through from cover to cover. This one I did. I even re-read the stories which I had read before.
The stories are very well curated in my opinion, and include titans of speculative fiction (Le Guin, Borges, Delany, and more too numerous to list) alongside authors lesser known (Zenna Henderson) or not generally associated with speculative fiction (Nabokov, Henry Dumas) but no less worthy of inclusion. Before I get the Zenna fan club after me, she's one my favorite authors and I still have my first edition (paperback) copies of The People: No Different Flesh, Pilgrimage, and The Anything Box, and I revisit them regularly. The inclusion of the titular short story, The Anything Box, fit well with the other stories in this anthology and I recommend her other work highly.
I am a fan of the Vandermeer's work as editors and writers and this is another top notch quality anthology, massive in scope and size. Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
jada's review
5.0
excellent anthology as usual, i really have to wonder how they find all these stories because some of them seem so obscure
my favourite stories (not really in order except for the first) are
1. those who walk away from omelas
2. five letters from an eastern empire
3. the weight of words
4. signs and symbols
5. alice in prague
6. the sinister apartment
7. state secrets of aphasia
8. pop art
my favourite stories (not really in order except for the first) are
1. those who walk away from omelas
2. five letters from an eastern empire
3. the weight of words
4. signs and symbols
5. alice in prague
6. the sinister apartment
7. state secrets of aphasia
8. pop art
pepperedfox's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Good resource for finding new authors. Leans heavily on the side of surrealist and absurdist short stories, especially towards the end. Otherwise variable and good selection of short stories.
melgonvyn's review
4.0
As always, I find it very difficult to review a collection of stories, as they all differ in quality; and in this case they are also from a large variety of authors from the 20th century. However, I will say that as a whole, it is an amazing selection of authors and short-stories. The VanderMeers have obviously put a lot of thought in which authors to choose, by handpicking writers from diverse backgrounds and countries. I absolutely loved the small biographies at the start of each new chapter, introducing the author of the following tale. It was very educational and gave context to some of the stories, which might have been read a little differently without it.
For the short-stories themselves, some are great, some not so much (in my opinion and according to my personal taste). Admittedly, I skipped to the end of some narratives to make my way onto the next one. The editors did a great job at selecting stories that are very distinct and cover a large mix of themes, concepts and plot-lines, presenting all the facets of the fantasy genre.
My personal favourites from this collection are (in order of appearance):
The Anything Box by Zenna Henderson, The Drowned Giant by J.G. Ballard, The Origin of the Birds by Italo Calvino, Linnaeus Forgets by Fred Chappell, Troll Bridge by Terry Pratchett, Tan-Tan and Dry Bone by Nalo Hopkinson, The Wordeaters by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz and, last but not least, The Jinn Darazgosh by Musharraf Ali Farooqi.
For the short-stories themselves, some are great, some not so much (in my opinion and according to my personal taste). Admittedly, I skipped to the end of some narratives to make my way onto the next one. The editors did a great job at selecting stories that are very distinct and cover a large mix of themes, concepts and plot-lines, presenting all the facets of the fantasy genre.
My personal favourites from this collection are (in order of appearance):
The Anything Box by Zenna Henderson, The Drowned Giant by J.G. Ballard, The Origin of the Birds by Italo Calvino, Linnaeus Forgets by Fred Chappell, Troll Bridge by Terry Pratchett, Tan-Tan and Dry Bone by Nalo Hopkinson, The Wordeaters by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz and, last but not least, The Jinn Darazgosh by Musharraf Ali Farooqi.
annarella's review
4.0
It was a fascinating and engrossing read.
I loved the stories and I discovered some new to me author.
It's an excellent read that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I loved the stories and I discovered some new to me author.
It's an excellent read that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
projectmayhem7's review
4.0
3.5 stars. Like most collections, this one has a range of stories: some good, some great, some not so good, some terrible. Mostly, these are good stories. And what a huge collection!
I must admit I didn't read every single story, I skipped around to authors I knew and then titles that sounded interesting to me, but I'd say I read at least 3/4 of them. This is a book I'd love to have on my shelf or on my coffee table. I bet its beautiful as a physical copy (it has to be huge!). This is my second experience with a "The Big Book of" collection, and I'm not disappointed. I'll definitely have to check out more like this.
I must admit I didn't read every single story, I skipped around to authors I knew and then titles that sounded interesting to me, but I'd say I read at least 3/4 of them. This is a book I'd love to have on my shelf or on my coffee table. I bet its beautiful as a physical copy (it has to be huge!). This is my second experience with a "The Big Book of" collection, and I'm not disappointed. I'll definitely have to check out more like this.
pvn's review
4.0
Not surprisingly, this is quite good. The editors are well established and do a great job providing a wide variety of stories. "Big" is certainly apt. You're guaranteed not to like every tale, but most are worthwhile in some way, and of course some are great. Recommended for fantasy fans.
I really appreciate the ARC for review!!
I really appreciate the ARC for review!!
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