The End of the World, edited by Martin H. Greenberg

The end of the world is an eerie concept, explored in several interesting and unique ways in this book. Jody After the War by Edward Bryant was both melancholy and beautiful, while We Can Get Them For You Wholesale by Neil Gaiman was quirky and somewhat disturbing. My favorite was easily The Wheel by John Wyndham, about a world that has decided technology of any sort is the root of all evil, and the tragic consequences of finding a simple wagon in this society. As with any anthology a few entries were weaker than others; Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R. R. Martin for instance was a scary look at divergent evolutionary paths but I found the ending telegraphed. Robert Silverberg’s When We Went to See the End of the World was another odd one; every character equally shallow and unlikeable, but the backdrop against which the story is told was fascinating. All in all, a great collection of stories.

First Sentence (from the Introduction):

Humankind seems to take a certain grisly delight in stories about the end of the world, since the market in apocalyptic prophecy has been a bullish one for thousands, or more likely, millions of years.

100 Crooked Little Crime Stories, edited by Dziemianowicz, Weinberg, and Greenberg

This was a pretty good grouping of crime stories. My favorite two were both extremely clever; Ferry Slip by Don James had a gas station attendant in the boonies trap a car full of armed bank robbers, and A Valentine From Teacher by Jim Knapp has the perfect crime solved without anyone knowing whom the investigator really was. New Blood by Gary Lovisi was another gem, where hunted nurses dole out a unique justice. Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart is another of my favorites included here, although along with Always Together by Allen Beck seems closer in theme to 100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories than this volume.

There weren’t really any terrible stories here, although several were a bit pedestrian. One unfortunate bit of editing was Curt Hamlin’s All Sewed Up! and The Crimson Complex by G. Fleming-Roberts being just a few chapters apart; they both keyed on red-green blindness as a gimmick and could have used a lot more space between them. Overall though, a nice collection of short stories.

First Sentence (From the introduction):

How long does it take to plot and commit a serious crime?

100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories, edited by Dziemianowicz, Weinberg, and Greenberg

I’ve always liked ghost stories, but this collection was largely pedestrian and disappointing. Coming Home by Nina Kiriki Hoffman was one of the only truly unnerving stories, dealing with the ghosts of guilt instead of the more traditional apparitions. O Come Little Children... by Chet Williamson was my other favorite; the twist at the end of this one truly snuck up on me, and with most of the other stories being so predictable this was doubly surprising. While one or two tales are worthy of being told around the campfire, the vast majority are easily forgettable.

First Sentence (from the introduction):

The ghost story is the oldest type of supernatural tale, and thus the one closest to the European oral storytelling tradition.

Wizards, Inc., edited by Greenberg and Coleman

This anthology contains a group of stories focused on people folks that practice magic for a living. I thought this was an above average collection, rare in the happenstance that I liked every story. KidPro by Laura Anne Gilman, about an organization that takes advantage of child magic users, was probably the worst of the bunch, but still pretty good. Jamaica by Orson Scott Card was an excellent mystery and Stocks and Bondage by Esther M. Friesner was the funniest tale in the volume. My favorite episode was easily Disaster Relief by Kristine Katheryn Rusch. Set right after Hurricane Katrina, it dealt with wizards that were displaced by the disaster. I thought it did an excellent job of both showing the humanity of refugees and in recognizing that New Orleans wasn't the only community affected: folks from Gulfport, Biloxi, and Moss Point, Mississippi were featured. Even if the national media ignored Mississippi it is nice to see that not every writer did. All in all, an excellent anthology.

First Sentence (from the introduction):

There are two types of people in this world...

Fantasy Gone Wrong, edited by Greenberg and Koren

This was a really funny group of short stories. Everything related here is a twist on the iconic fantasy and fairy tales with which we all grew up. For instance, Goblin Lullaby by Jim C. Hines tells of a classic battle between villainous goblins and heroic elves, but from the goblin point-of-view. Dragonslayer by Jana Paniccia is a knight versus a witch and dragon with a hilarious twist at the end. The Murder of Mr. Wolf by Josepha Sherman was the most clever, telling how the detective agency of Beau Peep and Marie Gobeur (gobeur is French for sheep) solved the murder of Mr. Wolf. Michael Jasper’s Meet the Madfeet was the funniest of the bunch, set in a thinly-disguised Middle-earth and focusing on a wizard known as “Greybeard’s replacement” that keeps complaining about the little fur-feet. This is a fun-filled collection that skewers the fantasy genre in very inventive ways. Good stuff.

First Sentence (from the Introduction):

Late one evening, my husband and I were talking, bouncing ideas off one another about our future and looking back to see if our lives had turned out to be the way we had tried to plan it.

The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century, edited by Turtledove with Greenberg

The cover of the edition I have shows Lincoln in front of a Communist flag and Hitler wearing the Confederate battle flag. While this seems fitting give the title of the anthology, no stories found within deal with either image. An odd choice, but I suppose both images are fairly iconic for the genre. It isn’t the strangest thing about this volume, though; one of the stories here isn’t even an alternate history tale. The Death of Captain Future by Allen Steele is traditional science-fiction, with no point of divergence with our known history.

Regardless, there are a couple of good adventures here. Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore is a classic tale about the Civil War and one I’ve been wanting to read for quite a while. Mozart in Mirrorshades by Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner was pretty good too; it tells of a world that has discovered how to jump between alternate realities and strips the new worlds of their natural resources. The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson (describing the world as it would be if the Enola Gay had failed in its mission) is one of the weaker entries, riddled with clichés and a highly predictable ending.

First Sentence (from the introduction):

What if...

Visions of Liberty, edited by Martin Greenberg and Mark Tier

This was one of the most disappointing collection of short stories I’ve read in a long time. Nine tales of a future without government, none of them interesting. Every author takes the same approach: that utopia can be achieved when bureaucracy is removed. No courts or laws exist, and society functions flawlessly. Poppycock! We are a venal and selfish civilization and need some form of arbitration. I believe in limited government, but not anarchy. While the idea of a world run on honor and ethics is appealing, I’m too cynical to believe it is possible and the authors didn’t present any believable alternatives.

First Sentence (from the introduction):

Imagine we’re on a plane; we’ve crossed an ocean, we’ve landed; we’re taxiing up to the gate.

The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century, edited by Turtledove and Greenberg

If the title didn’t clue you in, this is a collection of short stories dealing with time travel. As I’ve mentioned before, I like the idea of time travel and alternate fiction. This is a pretty good collection, but with the word best in the title I was surprised with the lack of anything by Bester. In any case, this was a solid book. Several stories are familiar, such as Bradbury’s A Sound of Thunder and Clarke’s Time’s Arrow. Most were new to me, though, and pretty good. Henry Kuttner’s Time Locker was my favorite; one of those stories where the bad guy gets what he deserves in a most entertaining way. A good read, all the way through.

First Sentence (from the introduction):

We’re all time travelers, whether we know it or not.

Your Bet Your Planet, edited by Greenberg and Koren

Another themed short story collection, this one dealing with reality and game shows of the future. I don’t like reality shows, so I’m puzzled as to why I bought this book. A couple of the stories were cute (The Hollywood Dilemma by Russell Davis where Chuck Woolery turns out to be Satan is the highlight) but most were unremarkable at best. While I never felt like throwing this book away, it is probably the least entertaining group of short stories I’ve read in a long time.

First Sentence (from the introduction):

In the last few years, game shows and reality television have hit a new high.

Apprentice Fantastic, edited by Greenberg and Davis

I was looking forward to this book when I picked it up; I’ve always liked tales about the not-so-perfect guy or the accidental hero and so a bunch of shorts about apprentices appealed to me. Virtually every story in this collection has magic in the story at some point (Flanking Maneuver by Mickey Zucker Reichert is the only one with no supernatural influences at all) which I found a bit disappointing—what about the squire that has to carry the equipment for the knight or the king’s advisors or the spaceship’s co-pilot—but still entertaining. When the Student is Ready by Tanya Huff was the most interesting to me: a girl discovers she is a wizard and is ramrodded into being apprenticed to a madman. Homework by Esther Friesner was easily my favorite with it’s peek behind the veil of the valiant hero versus the evil powermonger. All-in-all this was a pretty even group of stories; none were fantastic (despite the title) and none were awful.

First Sentence (from the Introduction):

This is a book of stories about apprentices, and I’m sure that somewhere in the Almost Unofficial Speculative Fiction Editor Handbook there is a rule that I don’t dare violate: any volume of stories pertaining to, dealing indirectly with, or touching on apprentices in any way, shape, or form must contain a reference to “that lovable mouse who knew enough to get the brooms started, but not how to get them to stop.”