The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories - Softcover

"As Tom Shippey puts it, in his unfailingly intelligent and interesting introduction to The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories, 'the rule is that sorcerers always lose.' Tom Shippey has chosen well, and his choice of stories accurately reflects the themes and moods of the genre as a whole."--Times Literary Supplement "Shippey discusses the long tradition of fantasy and then offers stories from 1888 through 1992 to illustrate its growth in this century....Vast, mythic, and wild."--Booklist "Excellent selection--comprehensive and representative. Good introduction and useful bibliography (and attractive design too)."--Gene Doty, University of Missouri-Rolla "Those who already admire Shippey for his Tolkien book now have reason to respect his taste in other fantasy tales."--Professor Michael Foster, Illinois Central College "As Tom Shippey puts it, in his unfailingly intelligent and interesting introduction to The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories, 'the rule is that sorcerers always lose.' Tom Shippey has chosen well, and his choice of stories accurately reflects the themes and moods of the genre as a whole."--Times Literary Supplement "Shippey discusses the long tradition of fantasy and then offers stories from 1888 through 1992 to illustrate its growth in this century....Vast, mythic, and wild."--Booklist "Excellent selection--comprehensive and representative. Good introduction and useful bibliography (and attractive design too)."--Gene Doty, University of Missouri-Rolla "Those who already admire Shippey for his Tolkien book now have reason to respect his taste in other fantasy tales."--Professor Michael Foster, Illinois Central College "As Tom Shippey puts it, in his unfailingly intelligent and interesting introduction to The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories, 'the rule is that sorcerers always lose.' Tom Shippey has chosen well, and his choice of stories accurately reflects the themes and moods of the genre as a whole."--Times Literary Supplement "Shippey discusses the long tradition of fantasy and then offers stories from 1888 through 1992 to illustrate its growth in this century....Vast, mythic, and wild."--Booklist "Excellent selection--comprehensive and representative. Good introduction and useful bibliography (and attractive design too)."--Gene Doty, University of Missouri-Rolla "Those who already admire Shippey for his Tolkien book now have reason to respect his taste in other fantasy tales."--Professor Michael Foster, Illinois Central College "As Tom Shippey puts it, in his unfailingly intelligent and interesting introduction to The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories, 'the rule is that sorcerers always lose.' Tom Shippey has chosen well, and his choice of stories accurately reflects the themes and moods of the genre as a whole."--Times Literary Supplement "Shippey discusses the long tradition of fantasy and then offers stories from 1888 through 1992 to illustrate its growth in this century....Vast, mythic, and wild."--Booklist "Excellent selection--comprehensive and representative. Good introduction and useful bibliography (and attractive design too)."--Gene Doty, University of Missouri-Rolla "Those who already admire Shippey for his Tolkien book now have reason to respect his taste in other fantasy tales."--Professor Michael Foster, Illinois Central College

Stories of the unreal, of trolls and werewolves, spells and sorcerers and magic lands, have been part of the human psyche for as long as records have been kept. In the present century, far from being outdated by the rise of technology and science fiction, fantasy has once more become a major literary genre expressive of the deepest feelings about humanity and its relation to the natural world. Tom Shippey, editor of the companion "Oxford Book of Science Fiction Stories", brings together 31 short fantasy stories from the last years of the 19th century to the immediate present. The anthology shows both the development of the fantasy genre over time and the range of individual talents it has embraced, from Lord Dunsany and H.P. Lovecraft, through John Buchan, Mervyn Peake, Larry Niven and Angela Carter, to the latest creations of Tanith Lee, Lucius Shepard and Terry Pratchett.