From Publishers Weekly
Shippey has done an admirable job of collecting entertaining, exotic and readable tales that fairly represent the varied trends in fantasy over the last century, bringing back some long out-of-print stories. The book has a strong comic slant, beginning with Richard Garnett's "The Demon Pope" (ca. 1888), a truly amusing take on the time-honored theme of soul selling, and ending with Terry Pratchett's "Troll Bridge," in which "Cohen the Barbarian" bemoans the fading away of magic (and his own advancing decrepitude) but refuses to give up the hero biz. Strange tales by Lord Dunsany and H. P. Lovecraft share space with sword and sorcery offerings from Robert Howard and Catherine L. Moore. Though the anthology contains Peter Beagle's wonderful "Lila the Werewolf" and Theodore Sturgeon's classic "The Silken-Swift," there are several puzzling absences--notably J.R.R. Tolkien, Patricia McKillip and Ursula Le Guin. But taken in toto this collection offers insights into the breadth of the field, its historical development and its many beauties. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Shippey discusses the long tradition of fantasy and then offers stories from 1888 through 1992 to illustrate its growth in this century. Some familiar names, such as Kate Wilhelm and James Blish, aren't to be found here, and some overrated ones, such as Lord Dunsany and Robert E. Howard, are; but for the most part, Shippey avoids chestnuts and offers unusual, provocative tales. There's Phyllis Eisenstein's childlike "Subworld," about an unhappy, confused little boy who finds a secret passageway in the subway system and becomes a mouse; there's Lucius Shepard's "Night of White Bhairab," a witty parody of the spiritual search featuring a spaced-out, drunken American's fumblings as he blunders into an epic battle between good and evil. Though published in 1888, Richard Garnett's "Demon Pope" gives a fresh spin to the myth of Mephistopheles: the devil trades places with the pope, and no one can tell the difference. But the best tale here is Poul Anderson's manic "Operation Afleet," which takes the crisp, desperate quality of an army combat mission and combines it with weird magic and the powers werewolves can evoke. Vast, mythic, and wild. John Mort


Book Description
An anthology of fantasy stories selected by the eminent Medievalist and Fantasy scholar Tom Shippey, The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories gathers together thirty-one tales brimming over with imagination. This rich and intriguing collection of fantasy stories features classic figures--the Devil, trolls and werewolves, sorcerers and dragons--that have long been a part of the human psyche. The authors of these marvelous tales draw upon a deep well of images, characters, and landscapes with great imagination and subtlety. Featuring writers as diverse as John Buchan and Mervyn Peake, Angela Carter and Terry Pratchett, this is an anthology for the newcomer and dedicated fan alike.

FROM THE PUBLISHER