ringing DAW's best-loved fantasy authors together in a volume of 18 original stories, editors Elizabeth R. Wollheim and Sheila E. Gilbert ensure that the 30th anniversary of DAW books will be celebrated with style and panache. Andre Norton, Tanith Lee and Michelle West are just a few of the talents who strut their stuff in this book, packing it full of troubled maidens, cursed princes and a variety of
put-upon dragons.
Magic is the thread that binds the stories in DAW 30th Anniversary: Fantasy, but everything else in these tales is up for grabs. Historical fantasy is showcased in Melanie Rawn's "The Sacrifice," which puts a new spin on the motivations and significance of Joan of Arc. "Coronach of the Bell," by Christopher Stasheff, has the tone and teaching qualities of a fable. Jennifer Roberson shows the plight of travelers moving through a war zone in "Ending and Beginning," a story which—despite its fantastic elements—is utterly realistic when it comes to describing the consequences of human cruelty. Lynn Abbey's "It's About Squirrels" is the only story set in a modern world—an information-age Florida, in this case, inhabited by possessed computer hard drives and destructive pallbearer squirrels.
Other stories are woven into their authors' well-established fantasy worlds. Mickey Zucker Reichert entangles her ex-assassin Nightfall in events both dangerous and tragic, for example, in a story called
"Nightfall's Promise." Larry Dixon offers up "A Perfect Day in Valdemar" from the universe he shares with Mercedes Lackey, while Irene Radford's "Draconis ex Machina" provides a chunk of backstory for her novel The Glass Dragon, spelling out the chain of events which led to Prince Darville's being transformed into a wolf.
Fantasy fun for the pure of heart
It would probably have been easier to assemble a group of much-loved classic fantasies for their anthology, but Wollheim and Gilbert have done readers a great service by gathering new fiction. This handpicked assortment of authors make DAW 30th Anniversary: Fantasy a must-have for fans of traditional sword-and-sorcery stories. It is steeped in wizards, honorable combat and dark enchantments. The significance of magic and its mechanics are juggled and invented repeatedly through the course of the book, providing readers with a wide range of visions on mystical universes and their workings.
A small number of stories do edge out to the limits of the subgenre: Tanya Huff's witty "We Two May Meet" adds both humor and psychoanalysis to the story of a sorcerer besieged by demons. Meanwhile, Mercedes Lackey verges on metafiction in "After Midnight," when she engages her various characters in a debate about the troubles she has inflicted on them over the years. With the exception of "It's About Squirrels," though, these are stories far removed from the here and now, ideal for readers looking to
escape the present day and the laws of physics as they are currently understood.
Concerns with good and evil play a big role in these tales, naturally, but the authors' various renderings of these conflicts cover a range of styles. Stories like "Linked, On the Lake of Souls" tend to black-and-white depictions of their villains and heroes, while other entries are less overt. Tanith Lee's "Persian Eyes" is especially spooky and engaging, drawing readers into a place that is simultaneously frightening and compelling. Likewise, Marjorie B. Kellog's "The Hamlet" is pleasantly
ambiguous, both about the nature of the magic that inhabits it and the problem that its narrator faces.
Charming, eerie and awe-inspiring by turns, the stories created by this all-star team of authors make for some excellent summer reading.
