Other Worlds Than These

This is a nicely balanced selection of short stories about traveling to and among parallel worlds, with a good mix of classic and new writers. I preferred the science fiction (multiple universe theory) stories to the fantasy (portal to magical worlds) ones, but all of the stories were entertaining. Standouts were: "Magic for Beginners" by Kelly Link; "Porridge on Islac" by Ursula K. Le Guin; "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" by Stephen King; "The Goat Variations" by Jeff VanderMeer; and one that absolutely blew my mind: "[a ghost samba]" by Ian McDonald.

2,5 but closer to 2 (a 6-6.5/10). Almost all the stories are good(ish), but none memorable enough to remember 3 days later.
Plenty of great names on the cover, no great story inside - not even King's or Martin's; it is obvious the editor chose the names with selling power, not the texts, so we get a very forgettable collection.
Also, the anthology is too big for its own good - about 30 stories on just 2 subjects (parallel worlds, portals), so it gets rather boring to read after half.
Not really a waste of time, but not a book to recommend, either.

There are a lot of big names in this collection about parallel universes and portal worlds. On the whole it was a bit underwhelming though, with many stories lacking originality.

Individual Story Ratings:

Foreword — Lev Grossman (no rating)
Introduction — John Joseph Adams (no rating)
"Moon Six" — Stephen Baxter (***)
"A Brief Guide to Other Histories" — Paul McAuley (***)
"Crystal Halloway and the Forgotten Passage" — Seanan McGuire (***)
"An Empty House With Many Doors" — Michael Swanwick (**)
"Twenty-Two Centimeters" — Gregory Benford (**)
"Ana’s Tag" — William Alexander (***)
"Nothing Personal" — Pat Cadigan (**)
"The Rose Wall" — Joyce Carol Oates (**)
"The Thirteen Texts of Arthyria" — John R. Fultz (****)
"Ruminations show more in an Alien Tongue" — Vandana Singh (*)
"Ten Sigmas" — Paul Melko (***)
"Magic for Beginners" — Kelly Link (***)
"[A Ghost Samba]" — Ian McDonald (****)
"The Cristobal Effect" — Simon McCaffery (***)
"Beyond Porch and Portal" — E. Catherine Tobler (***)
"Signal to Noise" — Alastair Reynolds ( ***)
"Porridge on Islac" — Ursula K. Le Guin (**)
"Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut" — Stephen King (***)
"The Ontological Factor" — David Barr Kirtley (***)
"Dear Annabehls" — Mercurio D. Rivera (**)
"The Goat Variations" — Jeff VanderMeer (***)
"The Lonely Songs of Laren Door" — George R. R. Martin (****)
"Of Swords and Horses" — Carrie Vaughn (***)
"Impossible Dreams" — Tim Pratt (*****)
"Like Minds" — Robert Reed (***)
"The City of Blind Delight" — Catherynne M. Valente (***)
"Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain" — Yoon Ha Lee (****)
"Angles" — Orson Scott Card (****)
"The Magician and the Maid and Other Stories" — Christie Yant (***)
"Trips" — Robert Silverberg (****)
For Further Reading — Ross Lockhart (no rating) show less

An eclectic mix of fantasy and Scifi, some enjoyable and some really not that good...

Wide variety and variation in (short) stories but overall good.