REVIEW - The Solaris Book of New Fantasy (part 1)

Due to their very nature, anthologies are a pain to review. They end up huge, but shallow, since each story gets only a paragraph of hurried comments. Worst of all, by the time you end the book you must come back to every title to remember what the story`s about.

So I've decided to try another method. Beginning today, I'll review anthologies on a three-by-three (or four) stories a day. That lets me cover a full antho in a week and gives me space to dig into each writer's work.

The chosen for this first installment's The Solaris Book of New Fantasy, edited by George Mann and published by Solaris Books. The book has sixteen stories from old fantasists like T.A. Pratt and Steven Erikson, and newer writers like Jay Lake, Hal Duncan and Mark Chadbourn.

And it´s precisely Mark Chadbourn who opens the book with Who Slays the Gyant, Wounds the Beast, a story in which Will Swyfte, a secret agent working for Queen Elizabeth, must rescue the Queen's favourite poet and prevent the final blow in the cold war between England and the Faerie kingdom: the return of the once captive Faerie Queen to her people on the eve of 1598's Christmas.

Chadbourn tells a story that begins as a spy story. Swyfte's an archetypical character. An Elizabethan James Bond mixed with Sherlock Holmes, even with some gadgets and a sidekick. But things get a lot tenser when the faeries begin storming the house in which the party takes place. Chadbourn doesn't give the Unseelie Court a clear face, instead he keeps them on the threshold of both the house and the humans' sanity. Speaking of which, attacks on the weak minded is a preferred tactic giving some good horror scenes. In the end, though, Chadbourne presents a love story. Of an alien Queen to his doomed poet, and of a great spy to his memories. The moments in which both speak of their loves is a touching moment.

Though Chadbourne's prose is straightforward, he manages to give rhythm and elegance to the text. For the concept, the action, the horror and love scenes, the story does a very good job presenting the antho.

The second story is Janny Wurts' Reins of Destiny, a much more traditional take on fantasy. The story takes place in a medieval-like setting, where Kayjon, the king's horsemaster, is asked by a clansman to prepare some of his horses, including a mare, to be taken to the war against the Mistwraith. Of course, things are not what they seem. First because the story seemed to have something to do with horses and second that it doesn't deliver the premise.

Wurts begins the tale with a short prologue telling the reader of unrecorded heroes of the war. The story was supposed to be about these two heroes, Kayjon and the clansman, as they will do some heroic deeds in the name of their fallen king. The problem is that they don´t actually do anything but meet each other. The story is, in itself, a prologue to a bigger tale. In fact, this short piece is part of Wurts' War of Light and Shadows series and suffers a lot from that.

The second problem I had with the story was characterization and motivations. Kayjon is clever, well-mannered, patriotic and compassionate enough that he discovers the lie, forgives the lier and treats his wounds, and finally throws himself in a journey to save the kingdom. But some hours earlier Kayjon was just sleeping in the hay barn, oblivious and not caring for this big war. The rest of the world is only briefly mentioned: the existence centaurs, wizard-knights and the Wraithmist itself are written once or twice. Though Wurts' prose and word choices are interesting and appropriate, that alone couldn't make the story work for me.

Next title is Tornado of Sparks by James Maxey, another short story that reads like a prologue to his Bitterwood / Dragonforge novels. In it, Maxey tells the story of Vandevorex, a sky-dragon trying to get himself employed by king Albekizan, himself a huge sun-dragon that rules a kingdom in which mankind are little more than pets. The thing is that Vendevorex is selling himself as a powerful wizard, but not only he's not telling the truth about his powers but will have to demonstrate them in a way that will change some lives, his own included.

Although Maxey's story is a prelude, or part of his Dragon Age books, it works as a stand alone piece, and a quite entertaining one, as well as an intro for Maxey's books. Among hints of the Dragon Age setting, like gods, kingdoms and magics, the personalities and ethics of Vandevorex and the sun-dragon Zanzeroth, one of the king's counselors.

Maxey's prose is quite functional, but his dialogues read very believable and every character has his own voice. A good story that made me curious about his novels.

T.A. Pratt's Grander Than the Sea reads like a comic book. An excellent comic book mixing John Constantine and the villains from Batman. It's a story about detective Marla Mason, the chief sorcerer and prime investigator of a secret agency dealing with magical terrorists in the city of Felport. In this case, Marla has to stop a mad sorcerer, who's about to summon a sort of Elder God that will drown the city. The problem is, the summoner is both arrested in an asylum and free on the streets and nobody knows his identity or where he'll attack.

Despite the heavy theme, Pratt's story is light in tone and many times funny. Characters are very interesting and three-dimensional, with even a minor one shining with interesting elements. There's a clear homage to Lovecraft's work, specially in the monster's name: Xorgotthua. The way Marla managed to deal with the mad sorcerers, both great antagonists, is absurd, hilarious and positively unconventional for a fantasy story.

In the very end, though, Pratt surprises the reader with a sad little story about one of the characters. Some few pages that could have been another story entirely, but that fits perfectly in some of the story's central themes: allegiances, duty and love.