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Latest Recommended Books

Cumulative '97 Recommended SF novels | Fantasy/Horror novels | First Novels | Collections | Anthologies | Nonfiction & art books | Reprints

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Latest Recommended Short Fiction

Cumulative '97 Recommended Novellas | Novelettes | Short Stories

Black Swan, White Raven, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. (Avon 6/97, $23.00, hc) Original anthology of adult fairy tales by many noted authors, including Joyce Carol Oates, John Crowley, and Jane Yolen, exploring the enduring power of these stories.

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Tenth Annual Collection, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. (St. Martin's 8/97, $17.95, tp) With its overviews of 1996 in fantasy, horror, media, etc., plus an abundant gathering of great fiction, this is -- as always -- an indispensable sourcebook, and a powerful read.

Modern Classics of Fantasy, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin's 1/97, $35.00, hc) This massive, and impressive, anthology of work from the '30s through the '90s, by such noted writers as Leiber, Vance, Zelazny, Waldrop, Beagle, Charnas, and many more, is one of the best surveys of the literature. There is also a fine introduction about fantasy.

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourteenth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin's 6/97, $17.95, tp) Dozois's pick of the best SF and fantasy from 1996, by Benford, Blaylock, Kessel, Silverberg, and many more, plus a list of honorable mentions and a summary of the year in the field, is, as usual, self-recommending. The anthology to read each year.

New Worlds, David Garnett, ed. (White Wolf 9/97, $12.99, tp) The famed British New Wave series of the '60s returns in a new format, with fiction by some of the best writers in the field today, from Aldiss and Cadigan to Watson and Waldrop.

Bending the Landscape: Fantasy, Nicola Griffith & Stephen Pagel, eds. (White Wolf 3/97, $19.99, hc) Anthology of gay writers exploring fantasy themes, and fantasy writers exploring gay themes, with contributors including Robin Wayne Bailey, Carolyn Ives Gilman, Tanya Huff, Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman, and Jessica Amanda Salmonson.

Year's Best SF 2, David G. Hartwell, ed. (HarperPrism 6/97, $5.99, pb) Hartwell's more traditional choice of the best stories from 1996 rarely overlaps with the Dozois volume noted above, and both gatherings are worth the serious fan's attention.

The Best of Weird Tales: 1923, Marvin Kaye & John Gregory Betancourt (Bleak House 4/97, $12.00, tp) This anthology of 1923 stories combines classics with long-forgotten genre exotica, and ranges from "The Bloodstained Parasol" by James L. Ravenscroft to H. P. Lovecraft's "Dagon". The individual story introductions given an issue-by-issue history of the magazine.

The Horns of Elfland, Ellen Kushner et al., eds. (Roc 5/97, $5.99, pb) Original anthology of 15 fantasy stories of music and magic, by Gene Wolfe, John Brunner, Terri Windling, and others, featuring excellent, insightful work -- and themes ranging from faerie fiddling to trad jazz and hip-hop.

Free Space, Brad Linaweaver & Edward E. Kramer, eds. (Tor 7/97, $24.95, hc) Original anthology of libertarian SF stories set on a consistent timeline going 300 years into the future, by noted authors including Poul Anderson, Gregory Benford, Robert J. Sawyer, etc., many of whom transcend the so-called libertarian theme.

American Gothic Tales, Joyce Carol Oates, ed. (Penguin/Plume 1/97, $14.95, tp) Anthology ranging from Poe and Melville to Rice and King, along with many great names in both the literary and the genre fields.

The Best of Interzone, David Pringle, ed. (St. Martin's 4/97, $25.95, hc) From Aldiss and Ballard to Stableford, Baxter, and Egan, this anthology of 29 stories will help introduce American readers to the wealth of '90s SF available in this top-notch British magazine.

Alternate Tyrants, Mike Resnick, ed. (Tor 4/97, $11.99, tp) This mostly original anthology of alternate-historical SF also includes Maureen F. McHugh's Hugo winner "The Lincoln Train".

Nebula Awards 31, Pamela Sargent, ed. (Harcourt Brace 4/97, $13.00, tp) Gathering stories from 1994 and 1995, this anthology presents SFWA members' choices for "year's best" SF and fantasy, interspersed with non-fiction surveys of the year(s) in fiction, films, etc. It shows how rich the field can be.

A Century of Science Fiction 1950-1959, Robert Silverberg, ed. (MJF Books 3/97, $8.98, hc) Anthology of 18 classic SF stories, by Leiber, Bradbury, Blish, Clarke, etc. with an introduction by Silverberg. Part of a decade-by-decade survey of SF.

Revelations, Douglas E. Winter, ed. (HarperPrism 5/97, $24.00, hc) An impressive original anthology of stories by Joe R. Lansdale, Charles Grant, and many more, each dealing with a decade of the 20th century, often chronicling dire events -- as SF, horror, or mainstream -- for an intriguing look back, framed by two connected Clive Barker tales of millennia past and soon to come.

Reprinted Anthologies

Foundation's Friends, Martin H. Greenberg, ed. (Tor 8/97, $9.99, tp) This revised, expanded edition of an anthology honoring Isaac Asimov on the 50th anniversary of his entry into the SF field includes the whole of the original 1989 publication, adding three of Asimov's favorites among his own stories, plus a host of appreciations and memoirs of the late Asimov, one of SF's most beloved masters.

The Road to Science Fiction, Vol.4: From Here to Forever, James Gunn, ed. (White Wolf 2/97, $14.99, tp) New edition of one of the classic SF teaching anthologies, first published in 1982, with 31 stories ranging from the '50s to the early '80s, and authors from Benford and Borges to Lem, Vance, and Wolfe, all with critical introductions.