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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.
- Sales Rank: #240872 in Books
- Published on: 2014-07-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x 1.13" w x 6.00" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 432 pages
Review
"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
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
About the Author
Two-time Hugo Award winner Gordon Van Gelder has been the editor of Fantasy & Science Fiction since 1996. As an editor at St. Martin’s Press for twelve years, he worked with such writers as Christopher Priest, George Pelecanos, and Kate Wilhelm. Van Gelder has also received the World Fantasy, and Locus awards. He lives Hoboken, New Jersey.
Charles de Lint is the best-selling author of more than seventy adult, YA, and children’s books, including Moonheart, The Onion Girl, Widdershins, Medicine Road, and Under My Skin. He is the recipient of the World Fantasy, YALSA, Crawford, and Aurora awards. De Lint is a poet, songwriter, performer, and folklorist, and he writes a book review column for Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Stephen King is the bestselling author of more than forty novels and over 100 short stories, such as Carrie, The Dark Tower, Under the Dome, and Children of the Corn. He is the recipient of the Hugo, Shirley Jackson, Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, Horror Guild, and World Fantasy awards. King's work has been made into major motion pictures, such as The Dead Zone, Carrie, The Shining, and Misery.
Jane Yolen is an American author of close to 300 books. Her books are primarily fantasy, science fiction, folktales and children's books. Her Nebula nominated novella "The Devil's Arithmetic" was made into a movie starting Kristin Dunst and Brittany Murphy. She is also known for her Pit Dragon Quadrilogy.
Paolo Bacigalupi's debut novel The Windup Girl, took the science fiction field by storm, winning the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Compton Crook, and John W. Campbell Memorial awards. He is also the author of the young adult novel, Ship Breaker, which won the Michael L. Printz Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award. His latest novel is The Drowned Cities, a companion novel to Ship Breaker.
Harlan Ellison has written or edited more than 75 books and more than 1,700 stories, essays, articles, and newspaper columns as well as two dozen teleplays and a dozen movies. His work includes such classics as Deathbird Stories, I, Robot, Strange Wine, Shatterday, and Angry Candy. He has won multiple Hugo, Nebula, Edgar, Stoker, Locus, and Audie awards as well as the Silver Pen, World Fantasy, British Fantasy, Bradbury, and American Mystery awards.
Excerpt. � Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
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.
Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
A fantastic anthology
By Miss Stubbs
An anthology of pieces from the magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, we travel back and go through the past 60 years of the most notable authors that the magazine kickstarted into their writing career.
Familiar names throughout, we see them tackle various sub-genres such as alternate history, time travel, urban fantasy, virtual reality, modern myth, horror, interstellar travel, epic fantasy, mystery, and space opera.
Though all are re-prints, this is a worthy anthology as it makes older pieces so much easier to get hold of and experience.
“The Third Level” by Jack Finney
Charley has been to the third level of Grand Central Station (in New York) despite the fact it has only two levels. He also figures that he travelled back to June 11, 1894 as he chanced to see a newspaper while there. He visits a psychiatrist friend who explores what this could mean, however Charley is at a loss for how to manage the journey again, until he discovers confirmation in the neatest of ways.
That’s how best I can describe the first, very short piece in this anthology. It’s neat. Everything ties together seamlessly and leaves you with a grin afterwards.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ October 1952.
“The Cosmic Charge Account” by C. M. Kornbluth
A writer and his publisher are on a journey, and it’s here that black comedy takes over to a very amusing tale. They begin with taunting each other over their fears and congratulating each other coldly for their reactions. Zombies are a welcome inclusion.
The writing flows well in this surreal piece, and you can visualise this so vividly it’s practically calling out to be made into a short film.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ January 1956.
“The Country of the Kind” by Damon Knight
A man who can instantly strike silence in a person as soon as they realise who he is, is an instantly gripping tale. Who is he, and why is everyone afraid of him? Why do they all instantly obey him?
A strange, disturbing tale. We see how the man came to be, and what makes him think he’s so entitled to act in the way he does. This tale was one of those that lasted with me the longest.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ February 1956.
“The Anything Box” by Zenna Henderson
A girl in a First-Year class has an Anything Box, something that quite worries her teacher until she comes to accept that maybe a little bit of hallucination is okay for a child. We see teachers discussing this and that’s where the humour comes in – the other teachers are such characters!
This story seems to symbolise more than I can grasp, and while on the outside it can be seen as a simply fantasy piece, it could also be so much more, with many more layers.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ October 1956.
“The Prize of Peril” by Robert Sheckley
A fantastic piece where voluntary suicide has been made legal by Congress, which means you’re able to sign up to star in a reality television show where everyone is out to kill you. A Tv crew follow you around and people invite you into their home to give shelter, food, a disguise…
What a messed up idea, all the way back in the 50s. I wonder what Sheckley thinks of our reality tv now? I love how this touches on the human psyche, and the effects such a thing could have on a person.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ May 1958.
“—All You Zombies—” by Robert A. Heinlein
Time travel! Space! Paradoxes! All one needs in a short story. Though in some sex and you have something engaging.
An interesting piece that’s probably more advanced than what we have in real life today. Interesting characters and plot, that’s well written and slight wit that’s easy to miss. It’s very clever in how it all ties in together, and probably my favourite piece of the anthology so far.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ March 1959.
“A Kind of Artistry” by Brian W. Aldiss
A man leaves Earth to study alien life, which takes us into a tale that investigates self-introspection, existence and life itself.
While seemingly larger than the last piece, it left me a little cold and I didn’t feel that I got to know the character as well. Still darn good, but it’s always hard to follow up on a favourite piece. Also felt rather longer than it possibly needed to be.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ October 1962.
“Green Magic” by Jack Vance
Is ignorance bliss?
Just the right length, all in all. Well written, engaging, and leaves you wondering whether ignorance is bliss or if knowledge is paramount.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ June 1963.
“Narrow Valley” by R. A. Lafferty
Land is allocated to Pawnee Indians in the year 1893, but they’re required to pay taxes on it. Clarence Big-Saddle takes offence to this, stating he won’t be paying any sorts of taxes, and puts a spell/curse on his land instead. There things lie until a white family, many many years later, comes to claim it once it’s free when sold to claim said unpaid taxes. When they arrive at the land, they’re certainly in for a surprise, much to the amusement of the land-owners on either side of the narrow valley.
This piece, though I have enjoyed others, is what really made me agree that this anthology really is the Very Best.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ September 1966.
“Sundance” by Robert Silverberg
This piece is written in all three tenses - alternating between first, second, and third person – and though it’s not as confusing as that may seem, it simply wasn’t my thing. It would be such an interesting attempt at layering a piece I would love to hear what someone else thinks of this – someone who has a far deeper ability at interpreting and enjoying short stories that are truly intelligent. This one simply was a bit too much for my ability.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ June 1969.
“Attack of the Giant Baby” by Kit Reed
A scientist father left to babysit his young toddler soon regrets his distraction when the baby manages to get a culture into his mouth, and from there grows to mammoth proportions. Even with the help of the city and all emergency personal, there’s little they can do, which gives us quite a fun romp of a tale.
Well written and enjoyable this was a bit of a lark and a bit silly, but if you take it all in good fun, then you have an enjoyable short in your lap to read.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ January 1976.
“The Hundredth Dove” by Jane Yolen
A fowler for a kingdom is tasked by the King to catch 100 birds for the upcoming royal wedding. An easy task for a master fowler. However, if things went easily we wouldn’t have a story. In a tale written in a fairytale manner, we have a beautiful piece of work that stays with you for a long time.
What I loved about this especially was that it took the idea of the old type of fairytale, rather than the shiny Disney sort. I would love to see more of Jane Yolen’s work after reading this piece.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ April 1977.
“Jeffty Is Five” by Harlan Ellison
Two children play together when they’re young, then one has to move away, but returns every few years… to find the other child never ages. Jeffty remains five throughout the years, even when his childhood friend grows to be an adult, opens his own business, and continues to return now to babysit his once friend.
A touching story, this starts slow but then gathers speed as it looks at what one misses about the past and how one may wish they were still able to experience things now gone… but also looks at what trouble that could bring.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ July 1977.
“Salvador” by Lucius Shepard
A solider fighting in El Salvador takes tablets in order to be able to deal with combat. Soon we’re able to tell reality from what’s brought on by the tablets.
A hard read, this gives the sense of the Vietnam war that’s still reflected today in the wars that still go on. A hard read, but worthwhile.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ April 1984.
“The Aliens Who Knew, I mean, Everything” by George Alec Effinger
Written from the point of view of the President with aliens arrive. That’s all that really needs to be said for this one in order to get you reading, surely!
I love how this was written with slight humour. Presented with the news that aliens have arrived, the President says ‘I see.’ and then asks ‘Well?’ when that’s the only information given. He knows how to cover the panic and act as though this is all very interesting but he can’t very well make a decision without data. The writing is sly and intelligent, and this piece is easily one of my favourites. I loved how it went into how all great intelligence sounds marvellous, but in reality it makes you put your guard up and you’re soon annoyed by insufferable know-it-alls!
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ October 1984.
“Rat” by J. P. Kelly
With a main character capable of human thought but in the body or appearance of a rat, we have a surreal drug-fuelled punk tale of crime in a futuristic yet noir sort of way. You’re not really sure which side you’re cheering for in this one!
Certainly more adventurous than the others in the anthology so far, in a way. This one stretches the bounds of what’s considered normal, and leaves you unable to guess what’ll happen next.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ June 1984.
“The Friendship Light” by Gene Wolfe
One of the few horror pieces in the anthology, we have ‘Ty’ and ‘Jack’ and are left to assume they are not their real names. We have a journal for ‘Ty’ and a tape for ‘Jack’, and we’re soon told of certain instances that make up the horror in this piece.
This one needed to be read twice, for me – though I’m sure others will find it easier to take in. I’m not overly great with horror, but this one had me reading on intently. Loved it!
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ October 1989.
“The Bone Woman” by Charles de Lint
A story of a couple of homeless people, one who seems utterly vacant and another that collects bones, and a third who follows them, curious to know more.
Folktore taken from the American Southwest makes up the backbone of this haunting, honest story. Told well, it’s another that resonates with you.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ August 1993.
“The Lincoln Train” by Maureen F. McHugh
A mother and daughter have to leave their home, thanks to the war, and move across the country. The mother is quite ill in the head for reasons unknown – perhaps also attributed to the war – so it’s up to the daughter to somehow pull things together.
A hard tale, that seems just a little too real and possible. Well written, with hard, interesting characters.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ April 1995.
“Maneki Neko” by Bruce Sterling
A man converts outdated video into new formats for a living, and as such earns favours in exchange for favours. Just little things here and there. Everything is a network. And everything is good, until things start getting a bit interesting…
‘Cute baby clothes from Darwin, Australia’ – how specific, and as always odd to see, especially from an American writer. Like Jason M. Hough, I wonder if he picked the location off a map without second thought? I really enjoyed this piece, but I’m easy to please when there’s light humour and Japanese-related things in play. I thought the plot was clever and interesting, and would love to see a novel in this style.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ May 1998.
“Winemaster” by Robert Reed
Unfortunately this one just didn’t capture my interest.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ July 1999.
“Suicide Coast” by M. John Harrison
A journalist daredevil tells the tale of a fellow daredevil who’s now a paraplegic thanks to their shared lifestyle. He now lives in virtual reality games to try and capture the life he’s no longer able to lead.
A sharp ending that leaves you thinking. What makes life worth living?
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ July 1999.
“Have Not Have” by Geoff Ryman
‘Mae lived in the last village in the world to go online’ is such a fantastic opener. A tale of a village that has to make a large jump to join the rest of the world in technology, we see the struggles faced, told with interesting and quiet characters that last with you.
It seems this short story became a novel in 2005 called Air, which is perfect, as reading this you want to see so much more.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ April 2001.
“The People of Sand & Slag” by Paolo Bacigalupi
A creature is on the loose, and it’s up to those left at a very isolated mining site to deal with it.
Parts of this were… more gruesome than I thought they needed to be. I’ve enjoyed one piece of work by Bacigalupi (and the rest has sadly passed me by), so it seems this is joining the taller pile for now. A shame.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ February 2004.
“Echo” by Liz Hand
A woman waits to hear from her lover. She lives on an island with a do, Finn, for company. They don’t see anyone else, and we’re lead to believe there’s been some kind of devastation in the world that has caused this.
Beautifully written, this is a sad tale that also lasts with you.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ October/November 2005.
“The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates” by Stephen King
Ghosts! A woman is contacted by her dead husband via the telephone. He’s at Grand Central Station, only it’s more like a movie set – if she knows what he means.
As a preface, I’m not a fan of Stephen King. I’ve tried a few of his books and just can’t get into the tone/attitude of them. I’ve enjoyed and agreed with a lot of what he has to say in his writing advice book On Writing, but again, his attitude put me off there, too. My loss, as I wish I could get the enjoyment from his books so very many people do.
This piece though? It was very nice. Very well done.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ October/November 2008.
“The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu
Jack is the son of a mail-order Chinese bride, so half Chinese, half American. In efforts to be more like his American side, he ignores the attempts his mother makes during his childhood and her life to share their Chinese heritage, and what she can offer him in general. It’s only when she passes that he discovers what they could have had together, and what her life was like.
Read first for Hugo Packet reading in 2012, this short remains as incredibly sad and touching as it was when first read. A powerful piece that lasts with you.
First published in ‘The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ May/June 2011.
~
Overall this is a strong anthology, proving that it lives up to the title of the Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction – some anthologies are named as such, but this delivers on that promise. It’s also interesting to see what ideas were in play 60 years ago, and both how we have come from that time as technology develops, as well as how things are still eerily stagnant.
I highly recommend this anthology, and thank Tachyon for offering me a copy to review.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
A great collection of classic tales from your favorite authors
By Bob Milne
Surprisingly, a lot of the stories contained here are of the comic variety. Even more surprisingly, they are a strong bunch of stories. The Third Level by Jack Finney is a fun tale of portals through time and one man's attempt to finance a personal paradise; The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything by George Alec Effinger shares with us alien observations on the 'best' of everything; while The Attack of the Giant Baby by Kit Reed is pure slapstick absurdity.
On the flip side, there are a larger number of dark, disturbing, creepy, grotesque tales that probably consumed most of my reading time. Salvador by Lucius Shepard offers up a grim exploration of future super soliders; Rat by James Patrick Kelly is a cyberpunk tale that falls into the drug-abuse trap (why does every cyberpunk tale seem to center around an addiction of some sort?) but which does a superb job of it; The Country of the Kind by Damon Knight is an interesting exploration of cultural deviants and societal outcasts; while The Friendship Light by Gene Wolfe takes a different sort of approach to revenge that I probably enjoyed far too much.
Favorites that I've enjoyed before include All You Zombies by Robert A. Heinlein (one of the few Heinlein stories I've liked); The Prize of Peril by Robert Sheckley (something about his short fiction has always appealed to me - so subversive and inappropriately amusing); Echo by Elizabeth Hand (I really do need to read more of her work), and The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates by Stephen King (a favorite from his Just After Sunset collection).
Overall, what I liked about Van Gelder's approach is the way he put the authors front-and-center, prefacing each story with a quick biography, rather than burying those blurbs somewhere in an appendix at the back. It's just an added little touch that I think helped me connect (and reconnect) to the stories within.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Strong, noteworthy stories that give a good perspective through the genre
By Bacterialover
Compiling any collection with the title "Best of" is never an easy task, the category is just too subjective, particularly in something like the arts and a short story collection. Though delving only into the pages of one literary magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&SF), the breadth of stories falling within the genre confines of its pages is huge. Compared to something like "The Best American" series, which F&SF has appeared within, the tales and writing styles here are far more diverse, but just as mighty.
The difficulty in really having a definitive, all-encompassing, all-pleasing 'best of' collection has in the past simply led me to avoid reading short story anthologies. I already read the new stories that come out, and after a while isn't that sufficient? If you've been reading these longer than I (and most fans have) there's probably even less new or unfamiliar out there. Thinking it wasn't really worth it, I remember simply ignoring the first volume compiled by current F&SF editor Van Gelder.
But since then I've come to develop an appreciation for these anthologies, even when they aren't full of stories I would consider to be 'the best', or even if there are a few in there which I don't particularly enjoy. I've discovered there are other reasons to read a "Best of" collection despite that term not aligning with my personal opinions.
First, as alluded to within the intro to this volume, the stories here are all notable in the history of the genre, and the authors are ones any interested fan should have some experience reading. It simply is a matter of education. This collection gives an excellent survey across the decades of F&SF publication with tales that have largely withstood the test of time, right up to modern classics that sent ripples of wonder through the reading community upon their publication (like Ken Liu's beautiful story here). There are so many authors whose names I know, but I have never read. I have a hard enough time reading interesting new things to also go back and read all the range of classics. Now, at least I can check a few more classic authors off my list - or perhaps more honestly add them to my list of things to read more of ASAP.
Second, this sort of "Best of" collection gives new readers the opportunity to discover that wide breadth of the fantasy and science (speculative) fiction genres, experiencing notable stories that vary from hard SF, to humor, to high fantasy, to urban fantasy, to dark horror, to genre mashups, etc. You don't have to like everything. But if you like to read in general, you'll probably find appreciation for most of the stories here.
Because all of the stories here are most certainly notable, even if not 'the best'. They show to all readers, both new initiates or seasoned veterans who are re-experiencing, what a well-crafted story can look like in its myriad forms. With the chronological presentation through the decades of F&SF publication, the collection also gives glimpses into the changing styles or motifs of eras, and demonstrates just how greatly the earliest stories in the genre continue to inspire and shape current writing.
At least four of the stories here I have read before (and "Echo" I am about to read again in another collection of Elizabeth Hand's work). Three of those four I recall liking greatly, but Stephen King's story I had no particular memory of, other than that I had read it. I wondered if its inclusion (and King's) was simply due to the celebrity of his name, to attract more readers. When I first came to F&SF, the knowledge that King, as a popular author I knew, had published works in its pages was a huge draw to trying it out.
So I wouldn't blame the editor for putting King in for that primary reason. Perhaps it is the wisdom of experience from a few scant years, but I was pleasantly surprised to be so affected by his story here, to read something far more resonant and profound than I had expected based on a memory (or lack thereof). This just goes to show how re-reading notable stories - even if from the opinion of someone else - is beneficial. It's been awhile since I've read King, but this made me wish he'd continue getting inspiration for short fiction writing - and publication in markets like F&SF.
The other stories here that were new to me I responded to much as what I would expect from a typical stellar issue of F&SF: many excellent, a few enjoyable but throwaway, and a couple that just weren't my thing. You may react differently to individual stories here than I, but I suspect that if you are a fan of the genre, then you'll also enjoy a similar high percentage of these.
If you happen to be rather new to the genres, have never read the magazine, or are just a casual reader who only recognizes Stephen King in the table of contents, give this collection a try and discover what literary universe is out there for you to enjoy and explore further.
I received a free electronic advanced reading copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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