THE BIG BOOK OF MODERN FANTASY

Reviewed by Steven H Silver

In 2012, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer edited the massive anthology The Weird to help define a specific subgenre of speculative fiction, one they had previously explored in The New Weird, four years earlier. Since that time, the couple has published a series of monumental and genre defining anthologies with The Time Traveler's Almanac, The Big Book of Science Fiction, and The Big Book of Classic Fantasy. They have now followed up with The Big Book of Modern Fantas, which picks up with the previous volume left off. Unfortunately, in their introduction, they make it clear that this will be the last of these anthology they edit, although having provided us with six enormous volumes, they can be excused for wanting to focus on other projects.

While the anthology includes many familiar names synonymous with modern fantasy. Fritz Leiber ("Lean Times in Lankhmar"), Michael Moorcock ("The Dreaming City"), and Jack Vance ("Liane the Wayfarer") all helped establish many of the tropes that so many authors have adopted, responded to, or rebelled against. Diana Wynne Jones ("Warlock at the Wheel"), Patricia McKillip ("The Fellowship of the Dragon"), and Ursula K. Le Guin ("The One Who Walks Away from Omelas") were all heavily involved in the explosion of fantasy in the 1970s. However, the elements of fantasy are thousands of years old. While the VanderMeers explored earlier works in their The Big Book of Classic Fantasy, the influence of those thousands of years is clearly felt in the table of contents of the current volume. Numerous authors who are not generally thought of as fantasy authors are also included since they include elements of the fantastic in their writing. Similarly fantastic elements come from all cultures and their table of contents draws from authors of a variety of ethnicities and countries.

The variety of stories in The Big Book of Modern Fantasy demonstrates not only the strength of the field, but the breadth of the definition of fantasy. Readers who think of George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" ("The Ice Dragon") as the quintessential type of fantasy or think of Carrie Vaughn's urban fantasy in that light may be pleasantly surprised to discover the humor of Terry Pratchett ("Troll Bridge"), the magic realism of Jorge Luis Borges ("The Zahir"), the indescribable fiction of R.A. Lafferty ("Narrow Valley"), or the fairy tales of Leonora Carrington ("A Mexican Fairy Tale"). The VanderMeer's anthology is a chronicle of a robust genre that continues to mutate and expand, drawing on the most ancient stories told by humans and introducing modern elements to create stories that are relevant to the modern reader.

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the science fiction "canon," and while it would be a mistake to suggest that the VanderMeers are working to build up a new canon with their "Big Book" anthology series, the inclusion of authors in these books is a statement that their works, whether the specific stories the VanderMeers have selected or other stories, are worthy of being kept in print and read beyond their initial appearances. The fact that the VanderMeers have cast a broad net in their selection process, intentionally seeking out works by non-Anglophonic author and stories by authors who are not usually represented within the traditional science fictional and fantasy genres, demonstrates the strength of fantastic literature in the first quarter of the twenty-first century and should inspire readers to seek out additional works by the authors included, and, potentially, additional authors.

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