The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume 2
- Publisher
- Tachyon Publications
- Initial publish date
- Jul 2014
- Category
- Short Stories, General
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781616961633
- Publish Date
- Jul 2014
- List Price
- $20.95
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
A mutant baby goes on a rampage through Central Park. An immigrant reveals secrets in the folds of a perfect gift. Lucky Cats extend their virtual paws to salute a generous revolution. The Internet invades a third-world village.
The premier speculative-fiction magazine Fantasy & Science Fiction continues to discover and showcase many of the most inventive authors writing in any genre. Now drawing even more deeply upon F&SF’s impressive history, this extraordinary companion anthology expands upon sixty-five years’ worth of top-notch storytelling. The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume Two is a star-studded tribute to the continuing vision of F&SF.
About the authors
span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CHARLES de LINT is the author of more than seventy adult, young adult, and children’s books. Renowned as one of the trailblazers of the modern fantasy genre, he is the recipient of the World Fantasy, White Pine, Crawford, and Aurora awards. The first book of the Wildlings trilogy, Under My Skin, won the 2013 Aurora Award for Young Adult Fiction. De Lint is a poet, songwriter, performer, and folklorist, and he writes a monthly book-review column for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
De Lint and his wife, MaryAnn Harris, a fellow artist and musician, recently released companion CDs of their original songs, samples of which can be heard on de Lint’s website. They live in Ottawa, and their respective websites are www.charlesdelint.com and www.relectica.com.
Charles de Lint's profile page
Jane Yolen’s 400th! book came out March 2, 2021, and yes it was fantasy—a picture book called BEAR OUTSIDE. Her work has won 2 Nebulas, 3 World Fantasy Awards, 1 Caldecott, numerous State awards (including several for Massachusetts, 1 for N York State, 1 for California, 1 for New Jersey) 3 Mythopoeic Awards. 6 honorary doctorates. She was the first woman ever to give the Andrew Lang lecture at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, though the series had been running since 1927. She won the New England Public Radio’s Arts and Entertainment award and was the first writer to do so. She has been called “America’s Hans Christian Andersen.” One of her awards set her good Scottish wool coat on fire. Just a warning!
Excerpt: The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume 2 (by (author) Stephen King, Charles de Lint & Jane Yolen)
Excerpt from "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu
One of my earliest memories starts with me sobbing. I refused to be soothed no matter what Mom and Dad tried.
Dad gave up and left the bedroom, but Mom took me into the kitchen and sat me down at the breakfast table.
"Kan, kan," she said, as she pulled a sheet of wrapping paper from on top of the fridge. For years, Mom carefully sliced open the wrappings around Christmas gifts and saved them on top of the fridge in a thick stack.
She set the paper down, plain side facing up, and began to fold it. I stopped crying and watched her, curious.
She turned the paper over and folded it again. She pleated, packed, tucked, rolled, and twisted until the paper disappeared between her cupped hands. Then she lifted the folded-up paper packet to her mouth and blew into it, like a balloon.
"Kan," she said. "Laohu." She put her hands down on the table and let go.
A little paper tiger stood on the table, the size of two fists placed together. The skin of the tiger was the pattern on the wrapping paper, white background with red candy canes and green Christmas trees.
I reached out to Mom's creation. Its tail twitched, and it pounced playfully at my finger. "Rawrr-sa," it growled, the sound somewhere between a cat and rustling newspapers.
I laughed, startled, and stroked its back with an index finger. The paper tiger vibrated under my finger, purring.
"Zhe jiao zhezhi," Mom said. This is called origami.
I didn't know this at the time, but Mom's kind was special. She breathed into them so that they shared her breath, and thus moved with her life. This was her magic.
Editorial Reviews
"The best stand-alone reprint anthology of the year was probably the retrospective anthology The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume 2.”
?Gardner Dozois, editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine and The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Volumes 1-31
?If you like quality short fiction and you’re looking for an anthology that collects together stories both old and new, I’d warmly recommend that you check out The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume Two.”
?SF Crowsnest
?The first [was] an all-star anthology, the second, also edited by Gordon van Gelder, possesses just as much impact, history, and sheer enjoyability, and is a welcome retrospective of one of the genre’s bastions.... Just a superb anthology.”
?Speculition
?Gordon Van Gelder is the current editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and as with his earlier volume of this series, has put together a killer anthology of the very best from F&SF.”
?Galaxy’s Edge
?Van Gelder set out to provide a taste of some of the most renowned speculative fiction authors over the last half-century, and he succeeded brilliantly”
?Book Likes
?...a collection of some of the best sci-fi and fantasy short stories out there.”
?Starburst
?This is an excellent place to see not only gems from Fantasy and Science Fiction, but also great stories from over 60 years of the field.
?Tangent
?This is the second part of an anthology of incredible short stories edited by Gordon van Gelder (who has won two Hugo’s for Best Editor, Short Form). The stories themselves are, purposefully, incredibly varied. Some are funny, others heartbreakingly sad and others thrilling. The common thing across the board is that these are excellent stories.”
?World of Books
?...a must read.”
?Beauty in Ruins
?The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume 2 is a great addition to any reader’s library because it chronicles the genres’ changes over time. All of the stories are enjoyable....”
?Lit Reactor
?If the previous two anthologies had heavy-hitters, this one has legends: Brian Aldiss, Paolo Bacigalupi (the remarkable “The People of Sand and Slag”), Jack Finney, Elizabeth Hand, Robert A. Heinlein, Stephen King, Kit Reed, Robert Silverberg — oh, hell, why bother listing them? The stories in this book are so good (and surprisingly, many of them are funny) that you need to buy it. “
?Lit/Rant
“The Very Best of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Volume 2, edited by Gordon van Gelder is a book that can’t help but appeal to anyone who already loves the genre and is a great way to introduce great science fiction and fantasy to new readers.”
—Looking for a Good Book
Praise for Fantasy & Science Fiction
"Still the gold standard for short fiction in America"
?Stephen King
Praise for The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction
"For sheer reading pleasure, this anthology is unparalleled."
?Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A landmark anthology"
?The Guardian
"For a long time, F&SF has been a leader in expanding the terrain of speculative fiction. Judging from this volume, it intends to continue in this role.
?Booklist
"It's obvious why F&SF has thrived while competitors have vanished. Eloquent, scintillating, often sublime."
?Kirkus
"Half an hour's reading, and I spent the next day or so catching myself staring off into space muttering, 'Oh wow.'"
?io9.com
