THE FANTASY HALL OF FAME: Come Lady Death; Faith of Our Fathers; Demoness; Buffalo Gals; Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles; The Lottery; Compleat Werewolf; Drowned Giant; Narrow Valley; Ghost of a Model T; Detective of Dreams; The Jaguar Hunter

This is a book of stories chosen by a vote of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America association, in the mid-nineties. Apparently in a six month process they voted for their favorite stories, etc. Because writers are slow and can't think of their favorites it takes them six months? Bizarre. Anyway, doesn't really maker how long they took to do it. It was apparently produced had a Science Fiction Hall of fame volume, multiple, actually, as the novellas etc. go in other books of the series. These came out in the late sixties, but the fantasy name change inclusion for the SFWA was 1992 according to the book's intro. Anyway, there is an earlier book with this title, and the same editors. I should quote the famous Tim of LibraryThing on the non-brightness of doing that. The limitation they chose was the stories had to be post 1939, when Unknown Worlds, the fantasy magazine edited by John W. Campbell started, because it had logically worked out fantasy, or something. The other limitation is no longer stories, novellas, etc. 'May be a future volume with those' to paraphrase the intro. No sign of it 10 years later though, it seems, so you could probably make it one of those 1000/1 William Hill novelties if you wanted. So, right from that you are pretty much likely to get a book that is inferior to the early volume. No Lovecraft, Howard, Smith, Poe, etc. That certainly turns out to be the case, with a 3.60 average, compared to 3.66. It is still a good book, just not an excellent one, and no real Hall of Fame, with less standouts. You could call it The Modern Hall of Fame, perhaps, although calling the thirties or early forties modern doesn't sound too modern to me. So if you have a choice and just want to get one of these Hall Of Fame books, get the earlier volume. Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : Trouble with Water - H. L. Gold Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : Nothing in the Rules - L. Sprague de Camp Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : Fruit of Knowledge - C. L. Moore Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : Tlön Uqbar Orbis Tertius - Jorge Luís Borges Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : The Compleat Werewolf [Fergus O'Breen] - Anthony Boucher Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : The Small A55a55in - Ray Bradbury Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : The Lottery - Shirley Jackson Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : Our Fair City - Robert A. Heinlein Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : There Shall Be No Darkness - James Blish Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : The Loom of Darkness [Liane the Wayfarer] - Jack Vance Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles - Margaret St.Clair Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : The Silken-Swift - Theodore Sturgeon Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : The Golem - Avram Davidson Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : Operation Afreet - Poul Anderson Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : That H3ll-Bound Train - Robert Bloch Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : Bazaar of the Bizarre - Fritz Leiber Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : Come Lady Death - Peter S. Beagle Fantasy Hall of Fame SFWA : The

A rather impressive collection of fantasy work, Only three of these stories I thought were average, and as such, this average 3.66. Something of a historical overview, from the time of Poe and Bierce, through the Weird Tales Three and the pulp era, and on to the sixties and seventies, so a very useful sampling of authors for someone that is intersted in fantasy stories, or writers to check out. Although this Hall of Fame is without Conan or Lankhmar is perhaps a little light on. Although the Leiber is a classic, there are better Howard stories that could have been included. Definitely recommended, however. Fantasy Hall of Fame : The Masque of the Red Death - Edgar Allan Poe Fantasy Hall of Fame : An Inhabitant of Carcosa - Ambrose Bierce Fantasy Hall of Fame : The Sword of Welleran - Lord Dunsany Fantasy Hall of Fame : The Women of the Wood - A. Merritt Fantasy Hall of Fame : The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan - Clark Ashton Smith Fantasy Hall of Fame : The Valley of the Worm - Robert E. Howard Fantasy Hall of Fame : Black God's Kiss - C. L. Moore Fantasy Hall of Fame : The Silver Key - H. P. Lovecraft Fantasy Hall of Fame : Nothing in the Rules - L. Sprague deCamp Fantasy Hall of Fame : A Gnome There Was - Henry Kuttner Fantasy Hall of Fame : Snulbug - Anthony Boucher Fantasy Hall of Fame : The Words of Guru - C. M. Kornbluth Fantasy Hall of Fame : Homecoming - Ray Bradbury Fantasy Hall of Fame : Mazirian the Magician - Jack Vance Fantasy Hall of Fame : O Ugly Bird! - Manly Wade Wellman Fantasy Hall of Fame : The Silken-Swift - Theodore Sturgeon Fantasy Hall of Fame : The Golem - Avram Davidson Fantasy Hall of Fame : That Hell-Bound Train - Robert Bloch Fantasy Hall of Fame : Kings in Darkness - Michael Moorcock Fantasy Hall of Fame : Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes - Harlan Ellison Fantasy Hall of Fame : Gonna Roll the Bones - Fritz Leiber Fantasy Hall of Fame : The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursula K. LeGuin Bloody party. 3.5 out of 5 Death set in stone. 3.5 out of 5 Old hero ghost guides. 4 out of 5 Forest slayage. 3.5 out of 5 A beggar prophecies that man's greed will be his undoing. More to the point, some emeralds, and he meant it literally. 3 out of 5 Dragonslaying, Norse reincarnation style. Not quite to the standard of his other stories, I think. 3 out of 5 An escape from a captor leads Jirel basically into a Clark Ashton Smith story, and a passionate revenge. 4 out of 5 After opening the iron box and finding what was in it, no one can find Randolph Carter anymore. 4 out of 5 Mermaid ring-in doesn't quite make the seal of sobriety. 4 out of 5 Underground transformation organisation against the head egg man. 4 out of 5 Man a bit of a demon. 3.5 out of 5 Planet busting phoneme. 3.5 out of 5 I want to feel the wind beneath my wings. Or I'll cry. 3.5 out of 5 Spell use needs to be judicious. 4 out of 5 A good whack from a silver string axe leaves your big turkey ghost just a cold casserole. 3.5 out

Contents:Trouble with Water - H. L. GoldNothing in the Rules - L. Sprague de CampFruit of Knowledge - C. L. MooreTlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius - Jorge Luis BorgesThe Compleat Werewolf - Anthony BoucherThe Small Assassin - Ray BradburyThe Lottery - Shirley JacksonOur Fair City - Robert A. HeinleinThere Shall Be No Darkness - James BlishThe Loom of Darkness - Jack VanceThe Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles - Margaret St. ClairThe Silken-Swift - Theodore SturgeonThe Golem - Avram DavidsonOperation Afreet - Poul AndersonThat Hell-Bound Train - Robert BlochThe Bazaar of the Bizarre - Fritz LeiberCome Lady Death - Peter S. BeagleThe Drowned Giant - J. G. BallardNarrow Valley - R. A. LaffertyFaith of Our Fathers - Philip K. DickThe Ghost of a Model T - Clifford D. SimakThe Demoness - Tanith LeeJeffty Is Five - Harlan EllisonThe Detective of Dreams - Gene WolfeUnicorn Variations - Roger ZelaznyBasileus - Robert SilverbergThe Jaguar Hunter - Lucius ShepardBuffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight - Ursula K. Le GuinBears Discover Fire - Terry BissonTower of Babylon - Ted ChiangMost are classics. Some of them are otherwise hard to find. This book has again to be reprinted.Highlights: Trouble with Water - H. L. GoldTlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius - Jorge Luis BorgesThat Hell-Bound Train - Robert BlochThe Bazaar of the Bizarre - Fritz LeiberAnd many more. Classic writers; the best of these writers.If you can find it, buy it immediately.Too bad there is only one story of each writer. I would love to have seen more of Tanith Lee. Her short stories are_very_hard to come by.I think this is the best F anthology ever printed. These are multi-functional stories; elements of H too. Very good atmosphere. Fritz Leiber story will......you. Leiber is so good!Happy hunting!

"The Fantasy Hall of Fame" fills an enormous hole in the fantasy world. While many of the best works in the genre are short stories, short stories rarely stay in print for long. This anthology presents the finest tales ever written in the genre; with rare exception, almost any reader's favorites can be found here. Robert Silverberg hasn't done many anthologies in recent years, but he used to put out one every year, and he hasn't lost his touch. Any young reader of fantasy novels looking for a new chunk of his favorite reading material will be ecstatic; any long-time reader will be overjoyed to greet old friends once more. The list of stories included is too long to be included here (which in itself is a good sign!), but my favorites include Robert Bloch's "That Hell-Bound Train" and Anthony Boucher's "Compleat Werewolf." A first-rate collection!

Each and everyone of these stories is a landmark. If you are a fantasy reader, Its the best place to investigate the roots of almost each and everyone of your beloved stories. If you are a beginner, there isnt a better place to start your exploration in this field!