The Three Hoarsemen (Episode 20) – Anthologies Old & New
As spring emerges, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson shed their well-worn thermals and discuss the vast and treacherous landscape of anthologies.
It is a subject that encompasses themed volumes, shared worlds, and literary approaches, from the experimental volumes of the 1970s, through the subject-specific collections of Ace and Daw, to the copious riches that have become available readers in the past decade. What makes an anthology work? Which ones hold special places? And have they stood the test of time?
The discussion then turns, as always, to culture consumed.
Run Time: 1 hour 19 minutes
- Thieves’ World: First Blood edited by Lynn Abbey & Robert Lynn Asprin
- Extreme Fiction: Fabulists and Formalists edited by Robin Hemley & Michael Martone
- Carbide Tipped Pens edited by Ben Bova & Eric Choi
- Wild Cards Vol. 1 edited by George R. R. Martin
- So Long Been Dreaming edited by Nalo Hopkinson & Uppinder Mehan
- Vanishing Acts edited by Ellen Datlow
- Brave New Worlds edited by John Joseph Adams
- Is Anybody Out There? edited by Nick Gevers & Marty Halpern
- Reach For Infinity edited by Jonathan Strahan
Links:
- Edges: 13 New Tales from the Borderlands of Imagination – Ursula Le Guin & Virginia Kidd, editors
- Epoch – Roger Elwood & Robert Silverberg, editors
- Space Opera – Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Anne Scarborough, editors
- Millennial Women, Virginia Kidd, editor
- Weird Heroes, New American Pulp – Byron Preiss, editor
- Flashing Swords! – Lin Carter, editor
- Medea: Harlan’s World – Harlan Ellison, editor
- Murasaki – Robert Silverberg, editor
- The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities – Ann VanderMeer & Jeff Vandermeer, editors
- John’s review of Lambshead
- John’s discussion of Brave New Worlds
- Fred’s Year in Books
- Fred’s Year in Shorts
- Star Wars by Jason Aaron & John Cassaday (Marvel)
- Darth Vader by Keiron Gillen & Salvador Larroca (Marvel)
- Princess Leia by Mark Waid & Terry Dodson (Marvel)
- Nameless by Grant Morrison & Chris Burnham (Image)
- Memetic by James Tynion IV & Eryk Donovan (Boom Studios)
- Universe! by Albert Monteys (Panel Syndicate)
- Invisible Republic by Gabriel Hardman & Corinn Beckho (Image)
- Red One by Xavier Dorison & Terry Dodson (Image)
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And for my extended narrative on anthologies: http://bernalalpha.blogspot.com/2015/03/collecting-anthologies.html
Great episode!
I rarely hear anyone talk about the Thieve’s World books. Its a series that, along with Robert E. Howard, and Fritz Leiber cemented my love for “Low Fantasy” and all of its iterations.
The anthologies I remember from back in the day were mostly horror stories — Kirby McCauley’s Dark Forces and David Hartwell’s The Dark Descent. And remember when you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a Martin Greenberg themed anthology?
Plus a couple of Lin Carter anthologies — Kingdoms of Sorcery and Realms of Wizardry, which introduced me to Haggard and Merritt and many other fine things. (Flashing Swords and the Ballantine Adult Fantasy anthologies I discovered much later.)
And here’s one I came across just recently — I ordered it after seeing a write-up on Black Gate:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13153704-the-giant-anthology-of-science-fiction
Lots of novella-length goodness.
I remember DARK FORCES fondly, as it contains about the only Stephen King work I like, and I remember being perplexed by some of the other stories. I’ll have to seek out those two Carter anthologies.