New Magics

An anthology of modern fantasy, and an absolutely excellent collection. I loved the Ursula K. Le Guin, Orson Scott Card, and Emma Bull stories, but the dark horse contenders were Andy Duncan's "Liza and the Crazy Water Man," (a love story set during the Depression, with a mild little touch of magic) and Sherwood Smith's "Mom and Dad at the Home Front." The Smith story was a surprising take on the old trope of children who find a way to escape to a magical world and have adventures; the story is told through the point of view of their parents, who are understandably appalled that their children disappear from their beds each night. The story reminded me of the Buffy episode "The Zeppo," in which a magical apocalypse is narrowly avoided show more by the *background* characters, and the main story is about a normal human on the periphery of that fight. I love that stuff! show less

I loved this anthology, enjoyed all the stories in it! Naturally, my favorite is Neil Gaiman's "Chivalry," which is another one of my favorites of his short stories. I also loved "A Bird That Whistles" by Emma Bull (sigh!), "Jo's Hair" by Susan Palwick, "Mama Gone" by Jane Yolen, "Hatrack River" by Orson Scott Card, "The Bones of the Earth" by Ursula K. Le Guin, "Liza and the Crazy Water Man" by Andy Duncan, "Charis" by Ellen Kushner, and "Not All Wolves" by Harry Turtledove.

A collection of fantasy stories by some of the best in the game.