"The Big Book of Modern Fantasy" curated by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer is a monumental collection that serves as a gateway to the diverse and expansive world of post-World War II fantasy literature. This anthology is a treasure trove for fantasy enthusiasts, encompassing a wide array of tales that define and expand the boundaries of the genre. The VanderMeers have meticulously selected ninety-one stories from twenty-two countries, showcasing the rich global tapestry of fantasy writing.

I read quite a few short stories and ended up putting this one down for now. I may return to it. I didn't like any of the stories I read so far. I guess this is because I prefer modern fantasy and many of those stories were written in a time when fantasy as a genre hadn't even really begun. I wish it would have started with fantasy more as we know it since that is mainly what I was hoping for.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!!

This book was an eclectic collection of stories from the 1800's on forward, which is an undertaking to say the least. There's a little bit of everyone and everything in this book, so I wouldn't recommend trying to read it from cover to cover; honestly, I would try taking small bites of authors that are familiar to you and then reading the next story or maybe jumping around a bit.

Some authors include Terry Pratchet, Nalo Hopkinson, and Ursula K. LeGuin. While I didn't read every story (it's taken me this long to get this far), I can confidently say that each of the stories that I did read were an absolute joy and I would love to read more from the VanderMeers sometime soon.

This is quite an interesting collection of fantasy and a great diversity of authors and fantasy types. There are a lot of different tropes in here. A little something for every fantasy lover. Even for the highest fantasy lovers. Great authors and great plots what more could you ask for?!?

There is no doubt that there are some amazing authors in this book, but I found this boring and I struggled to read through it.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

While I began this book by reading it sequentially, I ended up skipping around to sample many of the different authors. This volume is an impressive survey of post-WWII fantasy that includes many of the stalwarts of the genre, while also exposing readers to many less-famous authors, or those who are typically classified as outside the fantasy genre. I didn't adore every story in the volume and skipped portions of some if they did not engage my interest, but for a book this thorough, if there was a story I disliked, there was always a great new one shortly thereafter. This book is a treasure, as are the Vandermeers' other massive fiction anthologies, and I purchased a physical copy to complement my free advance ebook from Netgalley. Highly recommended.

Like all short story collections there’s some stories I enjoy and some not so much but I felt like I enjoyed a vast majority of the stories in this book. I also enjoyed the perspective it took by having the fantasy stories take place after World War II.

I love anthologies of any and every genre. They give the reader a fresh look at stories and authors we'd probably not read any other way and they serve as a series break to give a reader different materials and characters. The fantasy genre covers a huge landscape, from Disney princesses to Brothers Grimm. So many readers will say they don't like fantasy without realizing it's woven throughout their every day TBR pile.

The VanderMeer name is synonymous with collections of stories that span eras and genres. This volume is "modern" fantasy, those stories published after WWII. There are 91 short stories in this volume, a fair collection of famous and unknown authors from many different countries. The settings and characters are unique...that's one requirement of fantasy...and as in all collections, you'll love some and hate some and reread many of them. I know I did. This is a great read for anyone interested in fantasy or looking to expand their reading experiences.

As always, I find it very difficult to review a collection of stories, as they all differ in quality; and in this case they are also from a large variety of authors from the 20th century. However, I will say that as a whole, it is an amazing selection of authors and short-stories. The VanderMeers have obviously put a lot of thought in which authors to choose, by handpicking writers from diverse backgrounds and countries. I absolutely loved the small biographies at the start of each new chapter, introducing the author of the following tale. It was very educational and gave context to some of the stories, which might have been read a little differently without it.

For the short-stories themselves, some are great, some not so much (in my opinion and according to my personal taste). Admittedly, I skipped to the end of some narratives to make my way onto the next one. The editors did a great job at selecting stories that are very distinct and cover a large mix of themes, concepts and plot-lines, presenting all the facets of the fantasy genre.

My personal favourites from this collection are (in order of appearance):
The Anything Box by Zenna Henderson, The Drowned Giant by J.G. Ballard, The Origin of the Birds by Italo Calvino, Linnaeus Forgets by Fred Chappell, Troll Bridge by Terry Pratchett, Tan-Tan and Dry Bone by Nalo Hopkinson, The Wordeaters by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz and, last but not least, The Jinn Darazgosh by Musharraf Ali Farooqi.

From well known fantasy writers to lesser known ones, this anthology has a wide range of stories. Tales from all over the world, from lands familiar and strange, real and imagined, are presented here. The writers are from many countries and cultures, some appearing in English for the first time. With about 90 stories, fantasy readers will find something for every taste. I plan to buy a copy for myself!

This collection features a wide and thoughtful sampling of fantasy published after 1945; Ann and Jeff VanderMeer are exceptional editors when it comes to anthologies of short fiction. I was captivated by the works they collected in <i>The Weird</i> and excited to see what <i>The Big Book of Modern Fantasy</i> had in store for me.

The introduction features an in depth breakdown of the shift of fantasy as a genre as it became progressively more mainstream in the years following World War II, and identities the major players in the publishing world that helped to drive that shift.

If you are looking for some comprehensive context for these stories, don’t skip the intro.

I ended up purchasing the paperback copy of this anthology, as I really wanted to keep it for reference. (Small side note, it is easier to read in ebook format, as the print book uses double columned small print text)

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for approving my request for a review copy of this book!

The Big Book of Modern Fantasy is a massive anthology of shorter speculative fiction and a sister volume to the Vandermeer's Big Book of Classic Fantasy. Due out 21st July 2020 from Knopf Doubleday on their Vintage imprint, it's 896 pages (for the print edition) and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

Every single story in this collection is top-shelf, there are no really weak stories. All of these have been published previously and date from 1946-2018. Many of the stories are quite difficult to find and several were new to me in any form. One reason I prefer collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. I can only recall a few times where I've read a collection (or anthology) straight through from cover to cover. This one I did. I even re-read the stories which I had read before.

The stories are very well curated in my opinion, and include titans of speculative fiction (Le Guin, Borges, Delany, and more too numerous to list) alongside authors lesser known (Zenna Henderson) or not generally associated with speculative fiction (Nabokov, Henry Dumas) but no less worthy of inclusion. Before I get the Zenna fan club after me, she's one my favorite authors and I still have my first edition (paperback) copies of The People: No Different Flesh, Pilgrimage, and The Anything Box, and I revisit them regularly. The inclusion of the titular short story, The Anything Box, fit well with the other stories in this anthology and I recommend her other work highly.

I am a fan of the Vandermeer's work as editors and writers and this is another top notch quality anthology, massive in scope and size. Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Don't let the "modern" aspect of the title fool you; most of these stories are ones commonly considered to be classics. This collection covers fantasy stories published between 1945 and 2010, and it serves as a companion anthology to the VanderMeers' The Big Book of Classic Fantasy, which covers pre-WWII fantasy stories. As with their other Big Book anthologies, the VanderMeers have worked hard to represent diverse voices here, although they note in their introduction that this is, admittedly, a bit less diverse than their other volumes.

The VanderMeers cast a wide net with this anthology, including stories from authors who aren't typically considered part of the fantasy genre and drawing from everything from old SFF pulp magazines to literary magazines. In selecting stories, they tried to pick ones which 1) fit their broad definition of fantasy, 2) haven't aged too poorly, 3) represent the spectrum of voices and styles present during the era. In this, I think they've done well. I can't say all of the stories are a hit with me (indeed, this collection has a lower proportion of stories that I personally enjoyed than other collections of theirs, which is why I didn't rate this higher), but I think this collection is well worth reading if you enjoy the fantasy stories of that era and want to see how the genre has evolved.

There are plenty of familiar names and stories in this anthology, including from Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and Fritz Leiber's "Lean Times in Lankhmar." Other notable authors include Jorge Luis Borges, C. J. Cherryh, Samuel R. Delany, Diana Wynne Jones, Stephen King, Gabriel García Márquez, George R. R. Martin, Michael Moorcock, Garth Nix, Terry Pratchett, Joanna Russ, Jack Vance, and Jane Yolen. You'll almost certainly notice many prominent fantasy authors missing from this collection (I did), and yet, given the inclusion of so many authors who don't appear in other anthologies covering this period, I can't really fault the VanderMeers in their selection.

All in all, this anthology is a must-read for fans of the "classic" fantasy stories they grew up reading. With a whopping 91 stories, there's a lot here to explore, covering a wide range of styles and voices over a period of 65 years of fantasy fiction. As with any reprint anthology of classic works, you can find a lot of these stories elsewhere, but I guarantee that there are stories here that you haven't read before, whether they're translated works or stories that simply slipped into obscurity over the years.

This book should perhaps be titled "The Big Book of Modernist Fantasy." While it covers a lot of ground from writers born in the late 1800s to those still writing today, it lacks some of the more modern, popular voices of the genre. (Robin McKinnley, Neil Gaiman, Mercedes Lackey, Holly Black) It does, however, include such notables as George R.R.Martin, Jane Yolen, and Sir Terry Pratchett. I generally love fantasy collections, and I have an entire shelf of Bordertown books, Charles de Lint short stories, and Firebird collections. This specific collection, however, left me less enchanted and more disappointed.

I began reading in sequential order and found I had to put the book down and move to a more haphazard approach. Many of the stories seem to tell rather than show, and so many of them have a Nihilistic bent. I missed the joy and the hope for humanity of writers like Lewis and Tolkien, and I felt the collection could use more Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett-esqe writing to counter the rather grim stories. Zenna Henderson's "The Anything Box" was a bright spot, and Ursala Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" is always timely, tragic, and inspiring. Terry Pratchett's "Troll Bridge" is a classic. However Geroge R. R. Martin's "The Ice Dragon" was unwieldy, and I could not get a handle on Nabokov's "Signs and Symbols" (although that seems to be the point, according to the blurb before).

This is a large compendium covering various important voices of the Fantasy Genre, largely published in the 20th century. Some of these stories are gems, some I would not have included. Overall, it feels like an attempt to impose some sort of literary agenda on a wildly undulating genre. But that's part of the fun of speculative fiction-- there is no right answer and we all bring different interpretations to the stories.

Great, great, great. Years of fantastic stories, captures so many unique and fantastic voices. Let the Vandermeers organize your reading life forever, we will all be better for it.

I enjoy anthologies. The stories are shorter, there is a variety of themes and I can usually find a new author to enjoy. There are almost a 100 tales to read. Many of the authors are familiar and feature some of their earlier writings. The time line for this book covers the 1930's to today. This is the second book edited by Jeffrey VanderMeer recently. The subject matter covers a wide array. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to The Big Book of Modern Fantasy and author Jeffrey S. VanderMeer for the chance to review this advanced reader's copy.

When it says Big Book in the title, you better believe it! It is a very deep pull from the roots of Fantasy. I wonder if Modern Fantasy is truly an accurate descriptive part of the title though, since many of the stories are pulled deep from archives in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, from a variety of old pulp magazines that serviced this genre. The author gave each author a 1 to 2 page biography, which also talked about how the chosen work fit within the historical and developmental context of the genre. There were some stories I loved and some I found myself either slogging through or leaving entirely after a couple of pages. Nonetheless, if you find yourself enjoying only half of the stories in this book, it is still a worthwhile purchase. It is interesting to read back to the roots of this literary field. Again, this massive collection has something for everyone, including a diverse cast of authors, in terms of national origin, gender, and personal backgrounds. The author's detailed biographies for the various contributors are a valuable addition to the book. For a book examining "Modern Fantasy", I would have prefered a heavier tilt towards works published after 2000, not before. This is a great coffee table book, but not a collection of stories to take on a mass transit platform for a light read, since it is so large.

As a fan of both Ann and Jeff VanderMeer's works and anthologies, I loved The Big Book of Modern Fantasy! As experts in the fictional genre, their selections are amazing, including stories from great authors such as George R.R. Martin, Diana Wynne Jones, Haruki Murakami, and Terry Pratchett. Not only is this a great book to skip around in order to find stories from authors you love, it is also a great resource for finding new authors and stories, broadening the modern fantasy-lover's horizons. I personally loved the diversity of both the authors and stories, finding that the VanderMeers have done an amazing job at showing readers how unique, expansive, and different Fantasy can be in order to give all readers stories that will appeal to them.

I am a junkie for an anthology that is curated by the Vandermeers. This couple is the gold standard for editing large collections of genre short fiction. This volume is a great companion (sequel?) to their classical fantasy anthology from last year. I have to admit, I like this one a little bit more. I found the representation of authors to be exceptional, and the chosen selections were outside the box from what one would expect to see here. I can’t wait to see what Jeff and Ann choose to anthologize next.

The Big Book of Modern Fantasy is a triumph in compiling some of the greatest alongside some of the hidden gems of fantasy literature. For a genre typically dominated by white men, the volume does well ensuring a diverse array of voices are represented. The inclusion of numerous translated works is especially instrumental in highlighting these otherwise overlooked voices in the genre. Unfortunately, the book feels like an unfortunate misnomer. While in comparison to the duo's Big Book of Classic Fantasy the stories included are all certainly "modern," the vast inclusion of stories from the early and mid-20th century belies any sense of modernity. While the editors' explanation for their selected timeframe makes sense academically, from a reader's standpoint, the selections just do not feel especially modern. The stories are mostly good reads for a modern audience, but the style, structure, and language of many require an appreciation and patience for the pulpy, periodical style of the day. The book did, however, introduce me to many authors I may otherwise not have encountered whom I look forward to reading more of in the future. Additionally, the editors' author profiles proceeding every story are engagingly informative, which I greatly appreciated.