The New Voices of Fantasy
by Eugene Fisher; Brooke Bolander
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Pub Date Sep 01 2017 | Archive Date Feb 01 2018
Description
In these nineteen stories, the enfants terribles of fantasy have arrived.The New Voices of Fantasy captures some of the fastest-rising talents of the last five years, including Sofia Samatar, Maria Dahvana Headley, Max Gladstone, Alyssa Wong, Usman T. Malik, Brooke Bolander, E. Lily Yu, Ben Loory, Ursula Vernon, and more. Their tales were hand-picked by the legendary Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) and genre expert Jacob Weisman (The Treasury of the Fantastic).
So go ahead and join the Communist revolution of the honeybees. The new kids got your back.
A Note From the Publisher
Advance Praise
Praise for The New Voices of Fantasy
io9 - August Reading List
Booklist - August - SF/Fantasy/Horror Spotlight. Top 10 2017 science fiction/fantasy from Aug 2017-July 2017
Barnes & Noble Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of August 2017
Geekiverse 8 Hot Sci-fi and Fantasy Releases For the Hot Days of August
A Bookish Hot New Release
[STARRED REVIEW] “A companion piece of sorts to Beagle's critically acclaimed anthology, The Secret History of Fantasy (2010)—a collection of stories that transcended the conventions and clichés of contemporary fantasy—Beagle and Weisman's latest contains 19 comparable stories from some of the genre's most innovative and exciting new voices.Although most of the authors included here may not be household names like the ones in the earlier collection (which featured works from Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Octavia E. Butler, among others), the quality of the stories is undeniable. Also undeniable is the impressive diversity of storylines, which range from the whimsy of Ben Loory's “The Duck,” about a bird who falls hopelessly in love with a rock, to the horror of Carmen Maria Machado's Nebula Award-nominated “The Husband Stitch,” a darkly lyrical and deeply disturbing look at a woman with a penchant for storytelling whose life becomes a twisted tale. E. Lily Yu's “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” is particularly memorable. A political fable that works on multiple levels, it chronicles a conflict between a nest of imperialistic wasps and a colony of peaceful bees. A few young bees begin questioning the violent new world order and plot rebellion. Other standout selections include “Tornado's Siren” by Brooke Bolander, a love story featuring a tornado and a girl, and Alyssa Wong's Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning “Hungry Daughters and Starving Mothers,” which puts an innovative twist on the vampire mythos with a story about a young woman who, after realizing she can find sustenance consuming people's thoughts, becomes addicted to eating the darkest. While all 19 pieces are exceptional, the anthology's title is a bit of a misnomer; some stories were originally published as far back as 2012. A stellar anthology that proves not only that fantasy is alive and well, but that it will be for years to come.”
—Kirkus
[STARRED REVIEW] “This excellent anthology showcases up-and-coming speculative fiction writers, many of whom have received award nominations and critical attention to support their status as future influencers of the genre. The anthology opens with Alyssa Wong’s Nebula-winning “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers,” a gripping story of creatures who walk among humans and feed on ugliness. The stories vary in tone: Amal El-Mohtar’s “Wing” is lyrical, A.C. Wise’s “The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate” is gently humorous, and Carmen Maria Machado’s “The Husband Stitch” is haunting. Some, such as E. Lily Yu’s beautiful “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees,” eschew the well-worn Western setting that is the English-language-fantasy default; others, such as Brooke Bolander’s “Tornado’s Siren,” thoughtfully embrace their American and European settings. Fantasy legend Beagle and Tachyon publisher Weisman have provided a valuable snapshot of SF/F’s newest generation of writers.”
—Publishers Weekly
[STARRED REVIEW] “This anthology represents some of the most exciting and interesting work in the fantasy field today, and anyone interested in the genre should read it immediately.”
—Booklist
“For readers who are anticipating the end of HBO’s Game of Thrones and looking for new fantasy authors to follow, this 19-story-strong collection provides plenty to sample.”
—Library Journal
“Delightful and discomforting, indelible and self-assured, the stories of New Voices of Fantasy take our familiar old world and imagine it anew. In amongst the dancing buildings, lovelorn tornadoes, and domesticated vampires, we find our deepest truths dressed in fresh and unexpected garments. Rest easy, lovers of the genre: the future is in excellent hands.”
—Helene Wecker, author of The Golem and the Jinni
“The New Voices of Fantasy is a fabulous collection of vivid, surprising, and remarkable stories. Highly recommended.”
—Kate Elliott, author of Poisoned Blade and The Very Best of Kate Elliott
“These stories give me hope.”
—Michael Swanwick, author of Bones of the Earth and Not So Much, Said the Cat
“The key word in this anthology’s title is new, and if that doesn’t quicken your heart, a sampling of the impressively diverse voices will.”
—See the Elephant
“What Beagle does with this anthology is an elegant passing of the writing pen to a younger generation of fantasy writers . . . I recommend this anthology to anyone who loves fantasy.”
—Infinite Text
“It’s honestly a breath of fresh air . . . Five stars from me. Perfect, bite-sized pieces of beautifully-crafted fantasy morsels.”
—Fictionist
“If these ladies and gentlemen represent the future of fantasy we are in for a wild and terrific ride. 10/10 stars”
—Fantasy Faction
“With The New Voices of Fantasy, Jacob Weisman and Peter S. Beagle have composed one of the strongest fantasy anthologies I have read in a long time, brimming with extraordinary tales that range from thought-provoking to spine-tingling.”
—The Brazen Bull
“Overall, The New Voices of Fantasy is a very strong collection and one that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. It is perfect for anyone who looking to discover some of the newest talent in the genre, as well as for anyone who just loves a good story.”
—The Illustrated Page
“An excellent starting point for people who may not have come across them yet—get in on the ground floor, type of thing, so you can follow what are sure to be excellent bibliographies.”
—Venturereadlaxre
“There’s no collective theme to these stories other than they’re all beautifully crafted and chosen to represent the best of the genre.”
—A Novel Haul
“The quality of the writing and the ideas presented is unbelievably high . . . I defy anyone to not find at least one gem inside that makes this box of treasures worthwhile.”
—A. M. Steiner, author of The Censor’s Hand
“Immediate, entertaining and fun.”
—Blue Book Balloon
“Each [story] is a shining example of the genre, featuring gorgeous sentences, images that stick in the mind, and heartbreaking loss.”
—World Literature Today
“This is 100% the sort of
anthology that you would expect Peter S. Beagle to put together. If you know
and love his writing, read it.”
—Wysznupane
“If you think
fantasy is only about elves, trolls and witches, you will be impressed to see
how extraordinary diverse this collection of stories is. If the future of the
genre is sampled in this book, we are in for a treat!”
—Curious SFF Reader
“There are some exquisitely written pieces in this
anthology. All of them are worthy.”
—Nonstop Reader
“This anthology is without any kind of doubt one of the best
anthologies of the year.”
—Risingshadow
“Peter S. Beagle and Jacob Weisman bring together a wide
selection of talent, with a broad range of topics—there is something for
everyone in this collection—to create a stunning collection that will just draw
you in. A perfect way to find new writers in the fantasy genre.”
—The Flutterby Room
Praise for the anthologies of Jacob Weisman and Peter S. Beagle
On The Secret History of Fantasy edited by Peter S. Beagle
“All 17 stories eschew all or most of the conventions of commercial fantasy…. Start reading and expect to enjoy.”
—Booklist
"Set[s] out to rewrite our concept of fantasy, and with the help of some of the world’s best writers, succeeds admirably.”
—The Agony Column
“The stories are all, in many different ways, pleasures to read.”
—The Civilian Reader
On Invaders: 22 Tales from the Outer Limits of Literature edited by Jacob Weisman
-A Kirkus Science Fiction and Fantasy Book You’ll Want to Read in July
-A 2016 Publishers Weekly Best Summer Read
[STAR] “This volume is a treasure trove of stories that draw equally from SF and literary fiction, and they are superlative in either context.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Invaders is a playful and imaginative exploration of what it means to write in the field of science fiction”
—AV Club
“From the first page to the last, Invaders surprised and intoxicated me, offering one stirring, visionary, warm-hearted, funny, probing story after another.”
—Kevin Brockmeier, author of A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip
“Funny, absurd, frightening, streetwise, probing, heartbreaking — the fiction collected here touches all registers.”
—Carter Scholz, author of The Amount to Carry: Stories and Radiance
Marketing Plan
· Advertising and co-op in national print, online outlets, and social media
· Promotion at major trade and genre conventions, including BEA, Readercon, the International Convention for the Fantastic in the Arts, and the World Fantasy Convention
· Features, interviews, and reviews targeting venues including the Washington Post, NPR, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Locus, and the San Francisco Chronicle
· Northern California editor and author tour dates TBD
· Planned galley distribution and book giveaways to include NetGalley, Goodreads, Edelweiss, Tor.com, and additional online outlets
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781616962579 |
| PRICE | CA$25.50 (CAD) |
| PAGES | 336 |
Featured Reviews
Dill W, Librarian
I can't wait to read more from these authors. This is an excellent collection of emerging voices that each bring something new and fresh to fantasy.
Jen C, Reviewer
This was an excellent anthology of new authors who are the rising stars of the genre. Many are already winning impressive awards for their work. In many cases, the stories reprinted in this volume are the very ones for which they won those awards. Because of this, if you pay much attention to short fiction in fantasy and sci-fi, you may have read many of the stories collected in this book before. Several of them were familiar to me. I didn't think that was a downside to this volume, though. If you've been wanting to read these authors' work but feel daunted at the prospect of tracking down individual stories spread out across a wide variety of publications, this is the book for you.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to become familiar with new, up-and-coming fantasy authors in a convenient, low-risk way. You may not like all of them, but they're all highly skilled authors playing around with interesting concepts and themes and this is a good representation of where I think the genre seems to be heading.
My personal favorites were "A Kiss With Teeth" by Max Gladstone, "The Cartographer Wasps and Anarchist Bees" by E. Lily Yu, "The Tallest Doll in New York City" by Maria Dahvana Headley, and "The Philosophers" by Adam Ehrlich Sachs. "Tornado’s Siren" by Brooke Bolander and "The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate" by A. C. Wise made me laugh.
Elena C, Reviewer
"The New Voices of Fantasy" is an eclectic mixture of diverse fantasy authors, featuring a multitude of subgenres in stories set around the globe. Although the short story format means that the worlds and cultures the authors have created appear only in snippet form, which is not normally my favorite way to experience fantasy, this collection is filled with beautifully written stories, and was a good way to sample the styles of authors I either had been considering reading but had not gotten around to, or had never encountered before at all.
Like all anthologies of this type, some stories will be more to a given reader's taste than others, but all of them of them are well-crafted. The authors all have impressive credentials, including multiple awards and training at various MFA programs or at places like Clarion West and Iowa. Unsurprisingly, the stories do tend to have that "MFA feel" to them, full of symbolism and finely honed language, which is a specific writing style that either you like or you don't. So while fantasy, this collection is definitely highbrow fantasy, and it's up to you whether that's your thing or not. However, given that this is a collection of short stories, the commitment to each individual story is not great, so this is a good opportunity to browse and try something different.
And there are certainly some excellent pieces of fantasy fiction here, spanning everything from folk tales to dark fantasy/horror to sci fi with a fantasy edge. Some particularly standout stories for me were Ursula Vernon's "Jackalope Wives," a distinctly American take on the story of the skinchanging wife, E. Lily Yu's "The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees," a Chinese-infused fable/allegory about insect communities, and Usman T. Malik's "The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn," about a first-generation American son of Pakistani immigrants who discovers mystical secrets about his past. But every single one of the stories included in this collection was highly worth reading, and I would recommend this anthology to anyone interested in trying out some "literary" and multicultural fantasy by up-and-coming authors.
My thanks to NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Marsha O, Reviewer
Great selection of stories and authors. Don't be surprised if you grab a copy and find yourself
trying to find more work from these authors.
Not a bad apple in the bunch. And being a big fan of this type of collection believe me that is special.
Ann K, Bookseller
What a great way to find new authors. This book of short stories has a wide array of characters and various genres. With 19 writers, many of whom I'm not familiar you find great diversity of style and length. Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong
“Selkie Stories are for Losers” by Sofia Samatar
“Tornado’s Siren” by Brooke Bolander
“Left the Century to Sit Unmoved” by Sarah Pinsker
“A Kiss with Teeth” by Max Gladstone
“Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon
“The Cartographer Wasps and Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu
“The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate” by A. C. Wise
“The Tallest Doll in New York City” by Maria Dahvana Headley
“The Haunting of Apollo A7LB” by Hannu Rajaniemi
“Here Be Dragons” by Chris Tarry
“The One They Took Before” by Kelly Sandoval
“Tiger Baby” by JY Yang
“The Duck” by Ben Loory
“Wing” by Amal El-Mohtar
“The Philosophers” by Adam Ehrlich Sachs
“My Time Among the Bridge Blowers” by Eugene Fischer
“The Husband Stitch” by Carmen Maria Machado
“The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn” by Usman T. Malik
Jackie P, Media/Journalist
This review originally appeared on http://fictionistmag.com/.
★★★★★
They bring you childhood stories gone wrong, magical creatures in heat, a building that’s alive and full of waiters, love, ducks, and a new take on a bloodsucking fiend.
Nineteen emerging fantasy voices brought together by Peter S. Beagle shine in this new anthology. That sounded like a PR tagline, but I swear, this anthology is great.
It's honestly a breath of fresh air. I'm anti-spoiler in these reviews, and since these stories are so short, it's hard to talk about them at all without giving anything away.
Suffice it to say that these stories range from entertaining to creepy to thought-provoking, and the writing is top notch. These little stories stick in your mind like popcorn sticks in your gums. You'll try to shake one story off before you read the next one, but by page two of the next story, you're hooked on that one too.
The best part about a good anthology is that there's no 'book two.' You don't have to wait a year to know what happens -- in fact, you'll only have to wait 20 pages or so to find out what happens in these stories. Reading so many stories at once also made me feel pretty accomplished, especially after reading so many full-length novels week after week.
If you need a palate cleanser, or if you're craving some unique fantasy stories, or if you need some shorter reads -- no matter the reason, definitely pick up The New Voices of Fantasy.
Five stars from me. Perfect, bite-sized pieces of beautifully-crafted fantasy morsels.
Jessica T, Librarian
This is one of the best fantasy collections I’ve read in a long time. It is a lovely blend of fascinating and disturbing (mostly) urban fantasy stories pulling from and playing with folklore and mythology. Most are already award-winning stories. All are compelling and they are great examples of a diverse field of up and coming stars including Sofia Samatar, Max Gladstone, Ursula Vernon, E. Lily Yu, Maria Dahvana Headley, Hannu Rajaniemi, Amal El-Mohtar, Usman T. Malik just to name a few of the 19 authors.
My favorites included “Jackalope Wives” by Vernon which shows a wise grandmother having to clean up a mess made by her foolish grandson. I loved Headley’s “The Tallest Doll in New York City” in which the Chrysler Building is done waiting for the Empire State Building to make its move. “The Haunting of Apollo ACLB” by Rajaniemi is a funny and sad ghost story. And “The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate” by A. C. Wise is an informative and humorous brochure. Gladstone’s “A Kiss with Teeth” looks at the dangers of trying to fit in versus being your authentic self. Brooke Bolander’s love-struck tornado! Sarah Pinsker’s pond that may or may not disappear people. Kelly Sandoval’s story of a woman adjusting to life after being away a year and a day. Really, these stories were all so good!
Anna B, Librarian
As a huge fan of fantasy, I loved this collection of new authors. There were a lot of good gems in this anthology. If you're a fan of all kinds of fantasy (high, modern, etc), give this anthology a read.
Reviewer 299989
I really enjoyed this great mix of fantasy stories. I'm not a great lover of fantasy novels generally but this collection had me hooked! My favourite story was Jackalope Wives but the thing I enjoyed most about the collection as a whole is the range of cultural influences and backgrounds of the authors.
Em M, Reviewer
Wow. Hard times are good for great writing and serious reading. Here are serious practitioners of fantasy and lovers of language, tinged with truth and mudded with blood and myth. Many of the writers have won or been nominated for awards, and they know their stuff. Buy it, read it, and dream larger, possibly darker, definitely deeper dreams. Each story is a portal to a different world. Each is a literary gem, shining like a necklace of stars in the hands of a dragon. Even the ones that you may not like are beautiful. It was edited by Peter Beagle, after all. Delightful, but not light reading, highly recommended.
Adam S, Reviewer
If you consider writing fantasy as a form of magic, this anthology cements Beagle and Weisman's reputations as witch-finder generals. The scope and power of the talent they expose within is quite terrifying, and for all the right reasons.
Taking the broadest possible definition of the genre, one that includes horror, science fiction, magical realism, and surrealism, they present 19 short stories that take the reader as far from its sword and sorcery conventions as possible. That might not be to everyone's taste, and there may even be a few who consider cheated by the total absence of sword fights and duelling wizards. Fantasy conservatives may also be troubled by an emphasis on issues of identity, multiculturalism and alternative sexuality so heavy that white heterosexuals become rarer than vampires and faeries. Personally, I found that refreshing, though some may accuse the selection of tokenism.
In the end, all anthologies are a product of their times, and this one is no exception, but looking beyond that, the quality of the writing and the ideas presented is unbelievably high. You're never going to love every story in a collection this wide-ranging, but I defy anyone to not find at least one gem inside that makes this box of treasures worthwhile.
Bookseller 158117
A collection of the most outstanding and exceptional stories of new Fantasy writers. These are individual stories that will intrigue you, excite you, and give you a broader sense of the current direction of the genre. Well worth the read, a masterpiece collection.
Annie B, Reviewer
I love anthologies for a lot of reasons. It's always nice to find new authors to follow. I enjoy short fiction as a break after having so many back to back longer pieces (or trilogies + series); especially in the speculative fiction genre, I can't remember the last time I picked up a new truly one-off standalone novel. It's always exciting even with known authors to see how they react to and solve the different problems inherent in short fiction. I also use anthologies as 'crib notes' to cheat a bit and find out what and where my favorites have published before, for further reading. In short, it's -exactly- the same reasons supermarkets give out taste samples. They know you're hungry, you taste one chili-cheese-nugget and go buy a 5 pound bag. *cha-ching!* Everyone goes home happy.
I love Peter S. Beagle. I've loved (and read, and owned) pretty much everything he's ever published. He's permanently on my shortlist to automatically buy whatever he puts his name on.
I have loved so many Tachyon press books that again, basically anything they stick their imprint on, I'll line up at the bookstore, wave my filthy lucre and hop up and down impatiently. Tachyon's catalog is impressive and a no-fail reading list for speculative fiction fans. It would be fun to just start at one end of the list and read to the other end.
So getting this book was an automatic "Yes, please, with sugar on top"!
There's something for everyone in this anthology. I found myself checking my reading notes and except for two entries which were '2/5' for me personally, they were all easily in the 4-5 range.
There are 19 stories in the collection, with background info and a short bio included in the intro for each one.
Table of Contents:
“Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong
“Selkie Stories are for Losers” by Sofia Samatar
“Tornado’s Siren” by Brooke Bolander
“Left the Century to Sit Unmoved” by Sarah Pinsker
“A Kiss with Teeth” by Max Gladstone
“Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon
“The Cartographer Wasps and Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu
“The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate” by A. C. Wise
“The Tallest Doll in New York City” by Maria Dahvana Headley
“The Haunting of Apollo A7LB” by Hannu Rajaniemi
“Here Be Dragons” by Chris Tarry
“The One They Took Before” by Kelly Sandoval
“Tiger Baby” by JY Yang
“The Duck” by Ben Loory
“Wing” by Amal El-Mohtar
“The Philosophers” by Adam Ehrlich Sachs
“My Time Among the Bridge Blowers” by Eugene Fischer
“The Husband Stitch” by Carmen Maria Machado
“The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn” by Usman T. Malik
Most anthologies have a thematic cohesiveness. This one's stated purpose was to pass the baton to the next generation of authors and though many of the authors included are well known, they are the 'up and coming' or relatively newly arrived standard bearers.
There are some exquisitely written pieces in this anthology. All of them are worthy.
Four stars!
Sarah M, Reviewer
So my bf bought this book a while ago and was raving about how incredible it was after reading just a few stories and kept recommending it to me (partially because he knows how much I love Selkies and any story containing them but also just because I love Fantasy in general) and I was super lucky to get an ARC from the publisher a few days ago and I just devoured this collection.
It’s always hard to review short story collections, and it’s even harder to review this one because I absolutely adored every single story in it and just wouldn’t know where to start. They are all so creative and fantastic and well written and I’m definitely going to hunt down more work by all these authors! I’d heard of quite a few of the authors already, and indeed had actually already read the short story by Ursula Vernon (which is probably one of my favourites of the collection).
Really, my review for this is simply just “read them” because each story is so different and so magical that you can only experience it by reading. For those that don’t read much Fantasy, it’s also an excellent introduction to some of the authors to keep an eye on that might not be as well known as they deserve. For those that are keen Fantasy readers, you’ve likely also heard of a lot of these authors and these pieces are all fantastic introductions to their work and will definitely leave you wanting more from all of them. The editors did a fantastic job selecting all these stories with the result being an incredible book that is just overflowing with such fascinating and varied stories.
In short, I highly, highly recommend this book and indeed I enjoyed it so much I can see myself re-reading and reviewing some of the individual stories later just so I can keep telling people about how fantastic this collection is.
Susan M, Reviewer
In this anthology of nineteen short stories by new and upcoming writers, I found reading it to be a delightful experience. Most of the stories have been published somewhere else with the exception of one. However don't let that stop you from getting this book. There is no common theme except fantasy. The stories are well written. I enjoyed most of the stories. Those stories that I didn't enjoy, I was still glad to have had the chance to read them. I look forward to seeing where the authors go in the future with their writings. Enjoy!
Lizzy W, Librarian
This is a beautiful anthology. I look forward to seeing what these new writers will create in the future. Well done!
Patricia K, Reviewer
This is a compilation os fantasy stories that are designed to take you on journeys you never thought possible while never leaving your favorite reading spot. This is a wonderfully well-curated collection that was full of surprises
Donde acaba e, Book Trade Professional
"The New Voices of Fantasy," curated by Eugene Fisher and featuring work from Brooke Bolander among others, is a refreshing compilation that celebrates emerging talents in the realm of fantasy literature. This anthology offers an eclectic mix of stories, each unique in its imagination and emotional impact. From whimsical to dark, these tales provide a snapshot of the genre's promising future. A must-read for anyone interested in the evolving landscape of fantasy fiction.
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