Essential Anthologies

[Who's Wee Dug]

30th Anniversary DAW Science Fiction
30th Anniversary DAW Fantasy

Which it published 2002, some of my favorite Authors in them.

 

[tori_bingham]

Anything by Caitlin R. Kiernan or Poppy Z. Brite. Also 'Burning Your Boats' by Angela Carter is FANTASTIC!

Jeff Noon's 'Pollen Juice' is great.

 

[j d worthington]

Anything by Caitlin R. Kiernan or Poppy Z. Brite. Also 'Burning Your Boats' by Angela Carter is FANTASTIC!

Jeff Noon's 'Pollen Juice' is great. And anything by Rhys Hughes makes me wet.

Again, these are pieces by individual writers, not anthologies....

 

[GOLLUM]

30th Anniversary DAW Science Fiction
30th Anniversary DAW Fantasy

I have both of those too. They're good value.

@JD The collected works of a single author I have labelled as Single Author Collections (vs. anthologies) in my private library. I find that to be a pretty clear delineation.

 

[j d worthington]

Yes, it is. It is also the correct usage of the two terms....

 

[mortbury]

The confusion seems widespread. If you look on Amazon for the best-selling horror anthologies much of what comes up are collections.

 

[j d worthington]

The confusion seems widespread. If you look on Amazon for the best-selling horror anthologies much of what comes up are collections.

Frankly, I see this as another sign of a deeper sort of illiteracy; in other words, being "functionally literate" enough to actually read the average sentence (or book) but with a very poor comprehension level... not to mention being too stiff-necked to check to see if your assumptions about terms are correct....

Technically speaking, in their original usages, the two terms, while not entirely interchangeable, are closely related (anthology being from the medieval Greek, anthologiā and meaning a collection of epigrams; from Greek anthologein, to gather flowers; hence, a collection or gathering of "literary flowers"). However, common usage for a very, very long time now (well over a century) draws a distinction between the two.

 

[iansales]

OTOH, it should be borne in mind that Amazon's search facility is rubbish. Try ordering the results by price, lowest first, and see what happens...

 

[Omphalos]

I always liked Gardner Dozois' Year's Best Anthologies, up until a few years ago. David Hartwell's Year's Best anthologies are good too. I think his wife helps him with them now too.

Silverberg and I think Brin (Bova?) did some anthologies of very important short stories and novellas for the SFWA a number of years ago. Everything in it was pre-Nebula Award shorts. All three volumes have been republished recently I see. Those books are great.

I always liked Damon Knight's Orbit anthologies too. I would call those "essential."

And its been mentioned already, but Ellison's Dangerous Visions anthologies are maybe the most essential anthologies ever produced. I still have hopes that Last Dangerous Visions gets published before I die. I have this nightmare where someone gives me those books as I lay in my bed, dying, and I dont have the strenght to pick them up.

Judith Merril was before my time, but I have read a few of those. they seemed to be pretty good.

EDIT: Forgot to add that Stratham (sp?) has been doing some short novel anthologies for the sFBC for three or so years now. I find those books generally to be very good.

And, I agree with J.D. here. I guess its a pet peeve, but I seethe a little bit when people screw up the anthology/collection nomenclature. Mostly they seem to be doing it wihtout really thinking, but Ive noticed a lot of blank stares the few times Ive tried to correct the error.

 

[j d worthington]

Silverberg and I think Brin (Bova?) did some anthologies of very important short stories and novellas for the SFWA a number of years ago. Everything in it was pre-Nebula Award shorts. All three volumes have been republished recently I see. Those books are great.

You're referring to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame volumes? Yes, those are wonderful books, covering the field from the late nineteenth century to ca. 1962-63. And yes, it was Ben Bova who did volumes IIA and IIB...

I always liked Damon Knight's Orbit anthologies too. I would call those "essential."

My one reservation with Orbit series is the emphasis on experimental writing, often (it seems) for the sake of experiment, rather than because it was the best way to tell a particular tale. Nonetheless, they are definitely well worth reading, as there's a ton of good material there.

And its been mentioned already, but Ellison's Dangerous Visions anthologies are maybe the most essential anthologies ever produced. I still have hopes that Last Dangerous Visions gets published before I die. I have this nightmare where someone gives me those books as I lay in my bed, dying, and I dont have the strenght to pick them up.

Yes, well... while the realist in me says it ain't ever gonna happen, the romantic in me says it will. I'm hoping the latter wins out....

 

[Omphalos]

You're referring to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame volumes? Yes, those are wonderful books, covering the field from the late nineteenth century to ca. 1962-63. And yes, it was Ben Bova who did volumes IIA and IIB...

Those are the ones, J.D. I can never remember names. thanks.

My one reservation with Orbit series is the emphasis on experimental writing, often (it seems) for the sake of experiment, rather than because it was the best way to tell a particular tale. Nonetheless, they are definitely well worth reading, as there's a ton of good material there.

That is precisely why I would call them "essential." Because they represent the extremes. I think that everyone should be exposed to the kind of works found in them. Knight pushed a lot of envelopes with what he published in them. But after they were published, sometimes years later, you could see tactics from them leeching out into the more mainstream body, where with work they could do some good.

Yes, well... while the realist in me says it ain't ever gonna happen, the romantic in me says it will. I'm hoping the latter wins out....

I honestly think that he is going to make a grand departure with them. Ill bet that after this long, they are sitting there, ready to go to the publisher. Ellison will have them printed up the day he dies so that they can make his coffin out of them. Then his estate will sell the surplus. The swine!

To be serious for a moment though, I heard a rumor several years ago that Easton has already had Ellison sign all the title pages for their leather bound versions of Last, Dangerous Visions. I have asked Easton if this is true, and they refused to confirm or deny it. They also refuesed to tell me who else I could ask, though that is their typical response. You know? I think I have the name and number of their literary agent somewhere. Maybe Ill try to ask him (or her).

 

[Hari Seldon]

For something a little different check out Wolf's Complete Book of Terror by Leonard Wolf.

A wide array of authors including Ellison, Poe, Le Guin, Bradbury etc. A nice collection of horror literature from many cultures and period

 

[j d worthington]

For something a little different check out Wolf's Complete Book of Terror by Leonard Wolf.

A wide array of authors including Ellison, Poe, Le Guin, Bradbury etc. A nice collection of horror literature from many cultures and period

And if you go with a copy of the original tpb edition, it has a profusion of wonderfully apt illustrations from various periods. A very, very fine book....

 

[Omphalos]

I have a book of vampire stories edited by Robert McCammon called Under the Fang. Every story in the book was written with the premise that vampires had taken over the world. Some of the stories are just amatureish pieces of crud, but most of them were pretty good. Essential? Maybe not for everyone, but I like it enough that its one of the books that I have that I will never sell or loan out, and for how fast I go through books and pass them on, that is saying something.

 

[Connavar]

Who are the writers ? Amaturish newbies or more seasoned,famed authors ?

The premise sound good of the vamp antho but who wants to read good premise by bad writers.

 

[Ian Whates]

Have to admit, I love anthologies, but they're very much out of favour with publishers here in the UK -- only Solaris among the majors are making any effort to release high quality anthologies, which is one of the reasons I've been publishing new collections through NewCon Press, featuring the best of current British SF.

Who knows, maybe one day one of mine will be considered 'essential'!

 

[Omphalos]

Who are the writers ? Amaturish newbies or more seasoned,famed authors ?

The premise sound good of the vamp antho but who wants to read good premise by bad writers.

Here Connavar: The first review has them.

Amazon.com: Under the Fang (The Horror Writers of America Present): Robert Petitt, Richard Laymon Chet Williamson, Ed Gorman, Brian Hodge J.N. Williamson, Thomas F. Monteleone David N. Meyer III: Books

 

[weirdside]

I just picked up Necronomicon by Lovecraft which is essential if you value horror or weird fiction. Also, 100 Wild Little Weird Tales is a collection of short shorts from Weird Tales from between 1920 and 40. Also very nice, especially if you're in a hurry.

 

[antiloquax]

"Borderlands" vol. 1 (Thomas Monteleone).

 

[J-Sun]

j.d. and others have scooped most of mine - Healy/McComas, Boucher, SFWA HOF, Hugos, etc. (And put me down as someone who seethes a little on the anthology/collection issue.)

I'd add Chairman Bruce's Mirrorshades. I completely agree on the Dozois suggestions but, prior to that (and briefly alongside), Terry Carr's annual anthologies were good. I never really read his Universe books, but they're probably good too. Asimov and Greenberg's The Great SF Stories are just that. A relatively recent subgenre anthology that I thought was great was Dozois' Galactic Empires, which I've mentioned on some thread or another. But it's not as general or comprehensive or retrospective as most truly essential anthologies. It's just really good. There are probably several more that I have but haven't read, so I may add them later if they live up.

Thanks for resurrecting this thread, a.