The Big Book of Classic Fantasy

Ann VanderMeer (Editor) and Jeff VanderMeer (Editor)

A FINALIST FOR THE 2020 WORLD FANTASY AWARD • Unearth the enchanting origins of fantasy fiction with a collection of tales as vast as the tallest tower and as mysterious as the dark depths of the forest.

Fantasy stories have always been with us. They illuminate the odd and the uncanny, the wondrous and the fantastic: all the things we know are lurking just out of sight—on the other side of the looking-glass, beyond the music of the impossibly haunting violin, through the twisted trees of the ancient woods. Other worlds, talking animals, fairies, goblins, demons, tricksters, and mystics: these are the elements that populate a rich literary tradition that spans the globe. A work composed both of careful scholarship and fantastic fun, The Big Book of Classic Fantasy is essential reading for anyone who’s never forgotten the stories that first inspired feelings of astonishment and wonder.

INCLUDING:

*Stories by pillars of the genre like the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Mary Shelley, Christina Rossetti, L. Frank Baum, Robert E. Howard, and J. R. R. Tolkien
*Fantastical offerings from literary giants including Edith Wharton, Leo Tolstoy, Willa Cather, Zora Neale Hurston, Vladimir Nabokov, Hermann Hesse, and W.E.B. Du Bois
*Rare treasures from Asian, Eastern European, Scandinavian, and Native American traditions
*New translations, including fourteen stories never before in English

PLUS:

*Beautifully Bizarre Creatures! *Strange New Worlds Just Beyond the Garden Path!
*Fairy Folk and Their Dark Mischief! *Seriously Be Careful—Do Not Trust Those Fairies!

• ISBN10: 0525435565
• ISBN13: 9780525435563
• Publish Date: 2 July 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Vintage Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 848
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780525435563

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Big Book of Classic Fantasy is a massive anthology of classic speculative fiction (as defined by editors Ann & Jeff Vandermeer). Released 2nd July 2019 by Knopf Doubleday on their Vintage imprint, it's 848 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

The sheer breadth and volume of this anthology is impressive. I can't imagine the legal and practical ramifications of securing even limited publication rights to the stories contained in this volume, 14 of which apparently hadn't ever previously been translated into English (and one at least which hadn't ever been previously published, full stop). The editors include a valuable introduction which touches on their criteria for inclusion in this collection including what fantasy is, for their purposes, how they limited their choices, what time period they chose (from the early 1800s to WW2) and more.

The group of authors represented in this volume is mind boggling and includes Mary Shelly, Jules Verne, Oscar Wilde, Chesterton, Kafka, Nabokov, Tolkien, Grimm, Irving, Dickens, Poe, Melville, Rosetti, Andersen; around 100 total. Some of them are extremely well known, some of them less so, all are worthy. I read a great deal and wasn't previously familiar with more than 50% of the content, probably much less.

This would make a phenomenal resource book for the home or other library or a textbook or support resource for a course on speculative fiction. I sat down and read it cover to cover over a period of weeks, interspersed with other reading and think that digesting stories one at a time worked better for me than devouring them whole. They're a very varied selection and there's literally something to appeal to every reader.

Beautifully curated, phenomenally eclectic, and classic. Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This will be available to purchase on July second.

In case it isn’t painfully obvious based on my other blog posts, I love fantasy of every kind. I was so excited to delve into this collection of stories, some that are well-known to me, and many others that I read for the first time.

And let me tell you; this selection is vast. The editors went through a ton of effort to gather a varied representation of an enormous genre. There were the usual culprits: the Bros. Grimm, Tolkein, Hans Christian Andersen. It was great to see them all gathered in one place. But what makes this book stand out are the surprising contributions: Louisa May Alcott, Tolstoy, and even Kafka made appearances.

I loved that there are stories from all over the world. It was fantastic to see the differences- and similarities- between the fantastical tales. It took me longer than I expected to finish this book, simply because there’s so much to digest and I didn’t want to rush it. This is a book to be savored, one that I would recommend owning so that you can return to it time and again.