Can anyone recommend a really good Fantasy short story collection? I notice how popular Fantasy is, but don't know much about the field. It's not that I'm thinking of writing in it, but I'd like to learn more about what it's about. I've read Tolkien and Pratchett. Not much more that I can think of. I'd like to read something containing really good writing, in a numbers of different styles.
Hello! Why don't you try the rift war saga by Raymond E Fiest (magician apprentice/master, silver thorn and a darkness in Sethanon) it's just a good of starting point as any
Thank you. But this is a series of novels, and I'm looking for short stories. I don't have enough time to keep up with reading at this point, and hence wanted some samples where I could quickly read a whole story to see what it was like. The first book in the Rift War saga has 545 pages, which would take me some time to read. You may have meant to post in another, similarly titled, thread where someone wanted recommendations of Fantasy novels.
The tales of Earthsea is meant to be very good, not sure how long each book is though and think there're 6 books. Narnia is of course another classic. What about Harry Potter? Or His Dark Materials trilogy (the 1st book is Northern Lights)
"The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror", I think that the is the title. Neil Gaiman also has a book out called "Fragile Things" which is a collection of his short stories. Also there is a book called "Legends". Each book of that series has four stories in them. I think that Tanith Lee has an anthology, but the title escapes me. The Sisters Grimmer, I think. Susanna Clarke's "The Ladies of Grace Adeiu" is a collection of her stories.
Wizards - it has stories by Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, Eoin Colfer, Tanith Lee, Tad Williams and others Happily Ever After - a book of fairy tales retold by Gregory Maguire, Charles de Lint, Peter Staub, Holly Black and more. Smoke and Mirrors, Fragile Things both by Neil Gaiman Those are the fantasy short story books currently on my bookshelf. My local library has a section just for short story collections and l have borrowed a lot of books from that section. I really enjoy short stories and l also you thhem as a way to discover authors I've never read.