REVIEW: The Big Book of Classic Fantasy

The Big Book of Classic Fantasy
Editors: Ann & Jeff VanderMeer

I am a sucker for humongous anthologies -- if it has the words Big, Giant or Mammoth in the title, I'm gonna read it! It might take me awhile to read through a book several inches thick (or an egalley file in this case), but I'm going to read every word and savor each story. I like anthologies of short stories and novellas because every story is different....a different author, a new style, new ideas. When I come across a large anthology I really like...I take my time and savor it like a lovely vintage wine. I read one story a day...read up a little on the author and the story if it's a classic....and just enjoy. Story anthologies also let me break my own rules a little bit....  I can skip around, reading one story at the beginning of the book then jump to the middle and try another. I can stop reading a story in the middle if it's not for me...and move on to something else. I can read one tale, and then jump to a story by that same author that I find somewhere else and come back to the anthology in my own time. I'm usually a strict read-in-the-proper-order and stay-on-task person....anthologies set me free to just jump around as I please and get a good dose of whatever genre is the focus. Love it!

I love this anthology! It gathers classic writing from authors like Edgar Rice Burroughs and L. Frank Baum and also includes authors new-to-me like Franz Blei, Stella Benson and Der Nister. The stories are varied and different. For some, this is the first time the stories have been translated into English. Some of the stories veered off into the unusual or strange....and some had no real proper ending....but I didn't mind. Fantasy by its very nature is wild and fantastical. Wild doesn't lend itself to the normal or well-ordered....so I embraced the strange and just enjoyed myself.

Interesting. Different. Lots of new-to-me writers and stories. Fun to read! It did take me a good long while to read my way through this book. It isn't a quick snack.....but a long, drawn out feast.

Great read! Full stars from me -- it wasn't just a rehashing of old tales I had read before. But a mix of favorites and some stories I had never heard about before! :) Lovely! After writing this review, I immediately ordered my own copy of this book. It's an awesome collection of fantasy tales!

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Knopf Doubleday via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**