The following story collections stood out among the rest and are particularly recommended for all lovers of good short fiction:
After the King: Stories in Honor of J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Martin H. Greenberg (Tor). Nineteen original stories written in honor of the creator of The Lord of the Rings.
Conjunctions 18: Fables, Yarns, Fairy Tales edited by Bradford Morrow (Bard College/Random House).
Letters from Home (The Women’s Press, U.K.). Short stories by Pat Cadigan, Karen Joy Fowler, and Pat Murphy.
The Daedalus Book of Femme Fatales edited by Brian Stableford (Daedalus, U.K.). Contains both reprint and new material.
Visions and Imaginings: Classic Fantasy Fiction edited by Robert H. Boyer and Kenneth Zahorski (Academy, Chicago). A “best of” anthology from their five previous collections.
The Magic of Christmas edited by John Silbersack and Christopher Schelling (Roc). A lovely holiday collection.
Alternate Kennedys edited by Mike Resnick (Tor). An “alternate history” anthology that asks the question, “What if . . . ?”
In addition, there were quite a number of excellent collections specializing in women’s fiction in 1992. The best of these were:
Secret Weavers: Stories of the Fantastic by Women of Argentina and Chile edited by Marjorie Argosin (White Pine Press).
The Lifted Veiclass="underline" The Book of Fantastic Literature by Women edited by Susan Williams (Xanadu, U.K.). An excellent collection from the past to the present.
Modem Ghost Stories by Eminent Women Writers edited by Richard Dalby (Carroll & Graf).
Herzone: Fantasy Short Stories by Women edited by Norma Brown, Jane Boughton, and Di Williams (Crocus, U.K.).
One Hundred Years After Tomorrow: Brazilian Womens Fiction in the 20th Century edited and translated by Darlene J. Sadlier (Indiana University Press).
The following is a baker’s dozen of the Best Single Author collections to appear in the past year:
The Sons of Noah & Other Stories by Jack Cady (Broken Moon Press). A truly extraordinary collection, highly recommended.
Storyteller by Jane Yolen (NESFA Press). A limited-edition collection of poems, stories, and an essay, with an introduction by Patricia A. McKillip.
Iron Tears by R. A. Lafferty (Edgewood Press). A reprint collection of this highly original author’s tales.
And the Angels Sing by Kate Wilhelm (St. Martin’s Press). Stories by one of the field’s finest stylists.
Bears Fantasies by Greg Bear (Wildside Press). A lovely limited edition.
The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl (Michael Joseph Pub., U.K.). A complete volume of this late author’s short works.
The Armies of Efland by Poul Anderson (Tor). A collection of eight stories from a Grand Master of fantasy.
The Bone Forest by Robert Holdstock (Avon). The first U.S. edition of this lovely collection, including the title story, which is a part of the “Mythago Wood” sequence.
Storeys from the Old Hotel by Gene Wolfe (Tor). Splendid surrealistic and stylish fantasy tales.
Untold Tales by William J. Brooke (HarperCollins). Witty and wonderful fractured fairy tales.
Let the Dead Bury Their Dead by Randall Kenan (HBJ). Stories with Magical Realist elements set in a small North Carolina town.
Killing Color by Charlotte Watson Sherman (CALYX Books). American Magic Realist tales by a distinctive and lyrical writer.
Mrs. Vargas and the Dead Naturalist by Kathleen Alcala (CALYX Books). Mexican and American Magic Realist tales that roam across the border between the two lands.
A selection of works of nonfiction and folklore published in 1992:
Strategies of Fantasy by Brian Attebery (Indiana University Press). A study of fantasy in relation to postmodern literature.
More Real than Reality: The Fantastic in Irish Literature and the Arts, Donald E. Morse and Csilla Bertha, eds. (Greenwood Press, Connecticut). Sixteen essays.
The Novels of Charles Williams by Howard Thomas (Ignatius Press, California). First U.S. edition.
Forbidden Journeys: Fairy Tales and Fantasies by Victorian Women Writers edited by Nina Auerbach and U. C. Knoepflmacher (University of Chicago Press).
Explores the darker, subversive side of familiar tales refashioned by nineteenth-century women writers.
Victorian Fantasy Literature: Literary Battles with Church and Empire by Karen Michalson (Edward Mellon Press, N.Y.). An exploration of Victorian attitudes toward the fantastic.
Wisewomen and Boggy-boos: A Dictionary of Lesbian Fairy-lore by Jessica Amanda Salmonson and Jules Remedios Faye (Banned Books, Austin, Texas).
The Wise and Foolish Tongue: Celtic Stories and Poems collected and told by Robin Williamson (Chronicle Books).
Pacific Mythology: An Encyclopedia of Myth and Legend by Jan Knappert (Aquarian).
The Feminist Companion to Mythology edited by Carolyne Larrington (Pandora Press). A collection of essays on myths around the world.
Arthur the King: Themes Behind the Legend by Graeme Fife (Sterling). A nicely illustrated edition.
The Romance of Merlin edited by Peter Goodrich (Garland Press). An anthology of stories, poems, and criticism on the subject.
Fairy Tale Romance: The Grimms, Basile and Perrault by James M. McGlathery, ed. (University of Illinois Press). A critical study of romance and eroticism in fairy tales. The subject is fascinating and McGlathery has some intriguing ideas to raise, but the book is most unfortunately marred by the author’s peculiar views on women. I’d recommend The Erotic World of Faery by Maureen Duffy or Jack Zipes’ many critical fairy tale studies instead.
Fire in the Dragon and Other Psychoanalytic Essays on Folklore by Geza Roheim (Princeton University Press).
Mayan Folktales: Folklore from Guatemala translated and edited by James D. Sexton (Anchor Books/Doubleday).
The Brocaded Slipper and Other Vietnamese Tales by Lynette Dyer Vuong, illustrated by Vo-Dinh Mai (HarperTrophy).
Haunting the House of Fiction: Feminist Perspectives on Ghost Stories by American Women edited by Lynette Carpenter and Wendy Kolmar (University of Tennessee Press). A collection of essays.
A Sampler of Jewish-American Folklore by Josepha Sherman, illustrated by Jacqueline Chwast (August House).
Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural by Howard Schwartz (Oxford University Press).
Children’s picture books are an excellent source for magical tales and for some of the loveliest fantastical artwork created today. Some fine editions were published in 1992 and are well worth seeking out by adult collectors. The best of the year’s crop was White Nineteens, written and illustrated by David Christiana (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), a thoroughly whimsical, witty, and original tale, with lively, intricate paintings that are a pure delight. I hope the World Fantasy Award judges will keep this and other picture books in mind when they nominate artists for the best work done in the 1992 calendar year.