Previous SFF Author: Megan Shepherd
(1951- )
Delia Sherman has a Ph.D. in Renaissance studies. The Porcelain Dove and The Fall of the Kings both won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. Besides these novels, Delia Sherman has contributed to and edited several fantasy anthologies and she writes poetry. Learn more at Delia Sherman’s website.
The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman
Ellen Kushner published Swordspoint in 1987. It gathered a swarm of fans who loved the prose, the magicless world with its glittering veneer and cloak-and-dagger intrigue, and the love story at its center. Readers clamored to know more of steadfast, enigmatic swordsman Richard St.Vier and his lover, the brilliant, neurotic noble Alec Campion.
In 2003, Ellen Kushner, writing with Delia Sherman, published The Fall of the Kings.
Marion Deeds´s rating: 2 | Delia Sherman, Ellen Kushner | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Through a Brazen Mirror by Delia Sherman
Through a Brazen Mirror is the sort of book that deserves a wider audience than it’s gotten so far. The author is a lesbian, and the book contains a gay character. Since mainstream publishers are still a little squeamish about such things, this book gets the label “Queer Fantasy” slapped on it, gets published by a small press, and the upshot of it is that most straight readers have never heard of the darn thing. And that’s a shame. This isn’t just a good “gay book,”
Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Delia Sherman | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Porcelain Dove by Delia Sherman
Years ago, I got into “fantasies of manners” at about the same time as I was going through a big Revolutionary France phase. When I heard about Delia Sherman’s The Porcelain Dove (1993) — a fantasy set in that time period, and which won the Mythopoeic Award for 1994 — it sounded like the perfect book for me. I could never find it in the used bookstores, though. (I did, before I successfully committed the title to memory,
Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Delia Sherman | Mythopoeic Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The FIREBIRDS anthologies edited by Sharyn November
Firebirds is the first of the three FIREBIRD anthologies edited by Sharyn November. Some people don’t like short stories, especially in anthologies where you are reading several different authors. I, however, almost always have a volume of short stories on my bedside table. Even if I manage to get no other reading done during a hectic day, it is a way for me to finish a whole story in 15-20 minutes. In an age where many authors seem incapable of writing anything other than multi-novel epics,
Neef wants desperately to go on an adventure of her own, alike to the ones she hears about in fairy tales, and that’s just what she gets when she’s kidnapped by the fairy.
From being banished by the Green Lady, genius of central park, to a wild ride on the pooka, to serving a riddle to the mermaid queen for her mirror, Neef toughs out obstacles and gains an unlikely companion who seems to be more trouble than she is worth. But Neef is a tough cookie and she gets through it … just not exactly as she planned…
Delia Sherman’s Changeling is a simple and cozy little story chock full of humor and sticky situations.
Skye Walker´s rating: 3.5 | Delia Sherman | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Evil Wizard Smallbone by Delia Sherman
What is it about Maine? Stephen King and John Connolly both write terrifying horror stories set there, and Delia Sherman places The Evil Wizard Smallbone, a middle-grade fantasy published in 2016, in Maine in the winter. That state must have a lot of magical juice.
The Evil Wizard Smallbone not only shares the horror of a Maine winter, it’s got an evil wizard, shape-shifting coyote-bikers, a small and somewhat magical town called Smallbone Cove whose residents have forgotten their own strange history to their peril,
Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Delia Sherman | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 9 comments |
Fantasy Magazine was folded into Lightspeed Magazine in 2012, but it came out of retirement in October 2014 for the Women Destroy Fantasy issue, one of the stretch goals of a Kickstarter for an all-women edition of Lightspeed. I was one of the contributors to the Kickstarter, and, as my review last week revealed, I greatly enjoyed the Women Destroy Horror issue of Nightmare Magazine that was another stretch goal of the same Kickstarter. I’m pleased to report that the fantasy issue is just as “destructive” and enjoyable.
Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling (eds.)
Ruby Slippers, Golden Tearsis the third in the series of fairy tale anthologies edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. It’s a very good collection; in quality it’s probably equal to its immediate predecessor, Black Thorn, White Rose, though I didn’t personally like it as much for reasons I’ll elaborate below.
My favorite of the stories is Ellen Steiber’s stunning novella “The Fox Wife.” Set in nineteenth-century Japan, it concerns a domineering husband and his young wife who shows signs of becoming a kitsune,
Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Anne Bishop, Delia Sherman, Ellen Datlow, Neil Gaiman, Tanith Lee, Terri Windling | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Black Heart, Ivory Bones edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Black Heart, Ivory Bones is the sixth and final entry in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s series of fairy tale anthologies. Of the six, I’ve read four, and each has its own particular flavor, its own unique mood. While all of the books contain a mix of light and darkness, in this volume there seems to be more of a balance: “all that’s best of dark and bright,” if you will. The mood that Black Heart,
Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Charles De_Lint, Delia Sherman, Ellen Datlow, Esther Friesner, Jane Yolen, Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, Tanith Lee, Terri Windling | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Green Man edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
In fairy tales, whenever someone journeys into the forest, you just know something strange is about to occur and that the protagonist’s life is going to be changed forever. The same is true of the stories and poems featured in The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest. With this collection, editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling kicked off a series of young adult anthologies, each devoted to a particular theme. Here, the theme is wild nature,
Salon Fantastique: Fifteen Original Tales of Fantasy by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling are the two greatest short fiction editors of fantasy and horror of our time. Their annual collections of the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror provided us, for 16 straight years, with the best short genre and slipstream fiction from all sources. Their anthologies have defined cutting edge fantasy.
Salon Fantastique is more uneven than most of Datlow and Windling’s collections.
The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007
In many ways, The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007 anthology is a difficult book to review. For one thing, to me and a lot of my reading/writing circle, this is easily the definitive bible when it comes to short stories of the genre. For another, many of the stories that are included in this collection have been featured in other anthologies as well, so there’s an overlap in terms of stories featured. But I’ll try and talk about what makes this anthology unique from other similar anthologies.
The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales is another thematic fantasy anthology by the trio of Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, and Charles Vess. Coyote Road features twenty-six pieces of fiction and poetry. Each story is preceded by art by Vess and ends with a short bio and afterword from the author. In the Introduction, Windling gives us an extensive account of trickster tales around the world.
Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3.5 | Charles De_Lint, Delia Sherman, Ellen Datlow, Holly Black, Jeffrey Ford, Kelly Link, Terri Windling | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008
For me, The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008 has been a two-headed beast. On one hand, it’s an eagerly anticipated book by people involved in the industry, usually for the summation at the front of the book and the honorable mentions list at the back. The various editors are quite thorough and detailed when it comes to this part. The other aspect is, of course, the story/poetry selection, which is what will likely attract the casual reader.
So,
Troll’s Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Fairy tales were my first love when I was a child. My mother introduced me to the joys of stories with The Golden Book of Fairy Tales long before I learned how to read. My early reading included the first three volumes of The Junior Classics and Andrew Lang’s colorful fairy tale books. When Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling started editing anthologies of new takes on the old tales for adults with Snow White,
The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
The Faery Reel is an indispensable tome for anyone who has a mania for faeries. Aside from the short stories in this anthology, the comprehensive introduction of Terri Windling on the fey and the illustrations by Charles Vess are worth the price of admission in themselves. Moreover, the last few pages feature a Further Reading section on the topic of faeries. The typography of the book is appropriate to the faery theme and makes the text quite readable.
Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 5 | Delia Sherman, Ellen Datlow, Gregory Frost, Holly Black, Jeffrey Ford, Terri Windling | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories by Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant (eds.)
Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories is a new young adult collection edited by veteran anthologists Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant. Featuring twelve conventional short stories and two graphic entries, Steampunk! showcases a wide variety of ideas and styles that fall under the steampunk umbrella. The collection is entertaining and is lent extra freshness by the variety of settings explored by the authors: none of the stories are set in Victorian London.
Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Cassandra Clare, Cory Doctorow, Delia Sherman, Garth Nix, Holly Black, Kelly Link, Libba Bray, M.T. Anderson, Ysabeau S. Wilce | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Magic City: Recent Spells edited by Paula Guran
Things you should know:
1. This is a reprint anthology. If you read a lot of anthologies in the field, you will probably have read some of these before. I had read three, though two of them were among the best ones, and I enjoyed reading them again.
2. It still has some worthwhile stuff in it, especially if you’re a fan of the big names in urban fantasy (Jim Butcher, Carrie Vaughn, Patricia Briggs) and haven’t read these stories before.
Mike Reeves-McMillan | A.C. Wise, Alan Dean Foster, Amanda Downum, Angela Slatter, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Carrie Vaughn, Catherynne M. Valente, Charles De_Lint, Christopher Barzak, Delia Sherman, Diana Peterfreund, Elizabeth Bear, Emma Bull, Holly Black, Jim Butcher, John Shirley, Jonathan Maberry, Nancy Kress, Nisi Shawl, Nnedi Okorafor, Patricia Briggs, Scott Lynch, Simon R. Green | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: Megan Shepherd
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…
this sounds like a fun one