(Part 2) Best fantasy anthologies according to redditors
We found 370 Reddit comments discussing the best fantasy anthologies. We ranked the 142 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
Spoiler alert, the sky is carnivorous.
I'd recommend branching out into weird fiction generally more than following "Mythos" stories in particular; the former are more likely to be meaningfully "Lovecraftian," while the latter are mostly Derlethian.
Arthur Machen, Robert W. Chambers and Lord Dunsany were all significant and visible influences on Lovecraft. For Machen, look into "The White People" and "The Great God Pan;" for Chambers, The King in Yellow collection; for Dunsany, The Book of Wonder. Of the three, Machen is closest to Lovecraft's pessimistic science fiction and Dunsany closest to Lovecraft's romantic dream stories. S.T. Joshi writes outstanding nonfiction and literary criticism of weird fiction; pilfering his sources is always a good idea.
For more modern authors, Thomas Ligotti is worth checking out; particularly Grimscribe or Noctuary. "The Tsalal" is my favorite, of his, and shows a Lovecraftian influence but very much goes in its own direction. Junji Ito is also significant--especially Uzumaki. Peter Watts is, along with Lovecraft, one of the only authors to have shown any comprehension of what "aliens" mean; Blindsight is wonderful. I've heard good things about this collection. Laird Barron and John Langan should be on your radar, too.
Also, worth noting: I'm a bit of a snob. I think the Derlethian "Mythos," "big weird monsters in a continuous world a la a madder, bleaker Tolkien" thing is fun, but I much prefer the nihilistic, cosmicist vein that Lovecraft's own work fit into. So, no eldritch Cthulhoids here; just yawning voids echoing mankind's ultimate irrelevance.
The Emperor's Edge
Brood of Bones
The Corpse King
The Book of Deacon
Aaaand Kindle.
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
amazon.co.jp
amazon.fr
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Hello! Been reading Smith for ages.
anotherface provided a superb list of authors. I'll add two writers to it, one contemporary, one not -- both dead.
Brian MacNaughton's Throne of Bones. One of the most darkly inventive works of fantasy in recent times. Highly recommended for an aficionado of Smith's work.
And, one of the works in my mind, to equal Smith's mastery of language: The Gormenghast Trilogy of Mervyn Peake. For me, these books are the pinnacle. Desert island bound, Peake's work would be the one book I'd definitely take.
Well, I'd order them all, but Sword Staff and Crown is apparently $355.00 for a Kindle edition, and while I like supporting you, Wordsmith, that's a bit rich for my blood.
Kindle Price: 355.00inclusive of all taxes
https://www.amazon.in/Sword-Staff-Crown-Lee-Hadan-ebook/dp/B07XVT4P1G
it was originally in Dark and Stormy Knights, which is where I first read it but it was reprinted in the Beyond the Pale anthology.
Hello,
For some reason, the links for these books were not working for me from the article, so here are direct links to them on Amazon:
Hopefully, that will be of use to people wondering where to download these from Amazon.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Lagrange Books (that's me!) is proud to announce our newest edited anthology, The Wand that Rocks the Cradle: Magical Stories of Family. Featuring eight short stories from new and award-winning authors, including Misha Burnett, third-place winner of the 2019 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award!
$3.99 on Kindle (in pre-order until tomorrow), $11.99 for paperback.
Family is filled with magic. It can be the warm magic of love, with bonds that can never be broken; it can be the bitter magic of old resentments and keen disappointments. It can be achingly beautiful or terrifyingly cruel.
Explore the hidden depths of family in this anthology of stories from celebrated and award-winning authors. Transport yourself to dazzling settings like an isolated lake cottage watched over by a mysterious protector, a reality-TV show about a family of witches, a world besieged by dragon-wielding terrorists, an oddly relaxing coffee shop, and New Orleans after the rise of the unquiet dead.
Experience the wonder and magic of family.
The Wand that Rocks the Cradle features the following stories:
“Bellwethers Know Best,” by Marion Deeds
“Legacy,” by Joanna Michal Hoyt
“Coffee Break,” by W.O. Hemsath
“She That Was So Proud and Wild,” by Misha Burnett
“Dead in First Grade,” by P.L. Sundeson
“The Dragon Detector,” by Elana Gomel
“The Lake Cottage, by Michelle F Goddard
“To Find a Peach,” by Frank Saverio
With an introduction by editor Oren Litwin.
He really is. If you aren't aware, he just released a collection of shorts including some of the next ai war chunk on amazon. I think it's twelve stories with 6 coming from the continuing time. Check it out here I haven't had the time for it yet, but I'm looking forward to it. He also opened up a patreon and is serializing his next work.
The Final Summons, an anthology of speculative fiction stories revolving around the theme of answering a final call to action and featuring my short story The Granite Cliff of Mount Massive, is now available to purchase on Amazon in hardcover, paperback and Kindle. I hope you folks will take a look at it: https://www.amazon.com/Final-Summons-England-Speculative-Anthology-ebook/dp/B07K81NJCG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549369358&sr=8-1&keywords=the+final+summons
It's available in the United States for $0.99, too.
Even Hand - Written from Marcone's POV from the Dark Stormy Knights anthology
If you'd like to read another somewhat Arab fantasy book, check out "The Book on Fire" by Keith Miller. It's a really cool, fantastical alternate history based mostly around the library of Alexandria.
Fancy getting into a 4-book epic fantasy series that is complete and ready to read from beginning to end? Yes of course it has strange new races, evil wizards, heroes, traitors, mercenaries, siblings and friends, kingdoms and empires, magic weapons and everything else your heart desires. My box-set of books 1-3 is currently priced at 0.99 on Amazon:
mybook.to/WeaponTakers1-3
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZJK4N3L/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ZJK4N3L/
I just wrapped up my first GameLit/Fantasy series last month! Ruins of Rimnir tells the story of Darren, a guy who stumbles on a world perk that teaches him how to make the most advanced and rare potion in the game! And with this potion comes power. And with power, comes people who want to take that power!
The first novel is on Amazon for $0.99 and you can grab it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HY29FNT
I also recently put out the box set of all six novels! Its $9.99 for all six and you can grab it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XNKP69Q
All of the novels are on KindleUnlimited, too, if you want to grab them that way!
Hello! I published my first book- well, short story collection- a while ago as a bit of an experiment.
Valor: Tales of Courage From Other Worlds
These short stories celebrate and explore courage across five different imaginative worlds. Join these men and women as they face down fear in many different forms, from a mythical monster bent on vengeance to a band of all too human horrors on a distant space colony.
Oh, man. The Book of Flying and The Book on Fire by Keith Miller are exactly what you're looking for. Miller writes in a way that falls halfway between poetry and fiction, some dislike it but I found it refreshing. They are both books about bibliophiles, written for bibliophiles. I highly recommend them.
My debut novella, Seven Dreadlords: An Anthology is available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited! Description, excerpt, and bingo information below!
>There are seven Dreadlords who command the armies of the Lodestar Eternal in the Empire of Valm. The Children of Freya have assembled a rebel militia against the Empire, and open war is upon them. Experience the War of Seven Dreadlords from seven different perspectives. See the war as...
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>...Horim, a commanding officer in the aftermath of battle.
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>...Kew Latourier, a soldier's young son who sees his father march off to war.
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>...Philippe Marrier, a Valmese soldier on the front lines of war, confronted with a terrible choice.
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>...Belladonna Mary, a folktale hero and firebrand priestess who tends to the wounded and dying.
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>...Severus Ohn, a besieged Dreadlord who is forced to consider terms of surrender against his duty.
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>...Alcazar Moss, a battlemage who goes mad from the sustained senselessness of war.
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>...a nameless pair of thieves, picking through the remains of the last battlefield, wondering at war.
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>These are the Dreadlords, and these are their stories.
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>"I wish I could tell you that it was a glorious battle, but no battle ever is. Men died. There is not much room for glory to overtake the grief of that, if you remember why it is that we fight."
For a longer excerpt, check out my social media link. I go into a little more detail there, and provide several paragraphs from the prologue story.
BINGO: Five SFF Short Stories (may also count as an anthology title for Hard Mode).
Fate Of The Swordsmen - Scroll 1 - Volume 1 - The Last Generation
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For the last twenty years I have had this idea for a fantasy world brewing in my head. For the last twenty years I have molded and changed that story, finally I had enough of just shaping this world in my head, I finally decided to write it. Fate Of The Swordsmen is going to be an epic tale spanning many scrolls (or books if you prefer). However every series needs a starting point, so here we are at scroll 1 - volume 1.
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Fate Of The Swordsmen - Scroll 1 - Volume 1 - The Last Generation follows Anarion Ragnor and his friends as they leave the academy behind and face dire situations of the modern day. Maluk, a legendary Swordsman has brought the Xalnog corruption back into the world, a corruption that once brought the nations of Bromarth to it's knees. This first volume sets the stage for a realm wide conflict that will light the world aflame with war, a war that the so called "Last Generation" has to quell.
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Fate Of The Swordsmen is a power fantasy series. Scrolls are broken up into volumes. Scroll One will have four volumes.
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You can read the first twenty two pages for free - https://www.dropbox.com/s/0v1ydcwq5f9gaub/Fate%20Of%20The%20Swordsmen%20-%20Scroll%201%20-%20Volume%201%20-%20Free%20Chapters.pdf?dl=0
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If you want to read more, you can pick it up on amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JGP25HT/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539757916&sr=8-1&keywords=fate+of+the+swordsmen
We are still accepting submissions - the deadline is December 15.
You can get the first issue is in our store and on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/The-Throne-Bones-Brian-McNaughton/dp/1587151987#mediaMatrix_secondary_view_div_1450102158416
The author is deceased sadly but he created this masterpiece before he passed.
It is very dark yet funny and witty. It won the world fantasy award for best collection (it is collection of dark fantasy stories set in the same world with a cycle revolving around ghouls). It is not for the squeamish.
Edit: it is available as a $2.99 ebook. If you like this sort of stuff it is a steal at that price.