Flights: Extreme Visions Of Fantasy edited by Al Sarrantonio
01/08/2004 . Source: Paul Skevington 
pub: ROC. 575 page hardback. Price: $24.95 (US), $37.50 (CAN). ISBN: 0-451-45977-6. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check
out website: www.penguin.com
That's it. I'm finally convinced: fantasy is kicking ass
at the moment and the short story form is the steel toe-capped boot it's using
to do it! All it will take for you to join me in my little damp patch of happiness
will be a quick flick through this wonderful collection of tales, gathered from
the grey cells of established genre authors and from others less familiar but
no less talented.
Al Sarrantonio's collection originates from the original
mission statement that he gave to the authors involved. He told them to 'not feel
constrained in any way, to write whatever fantasy tales they wanted.' With a less
experienced group of authors this could have lead to disaster, as no one wants
to read twenty tales about giant four-breasted blonde warriors who love fighting,
but enjoy the making up afterwards even more. 
Well, OK, I do but lets not get side-tracked here.
Instead we have
a collection of such variety and scope, I would not hesitate in ranking it amongst
the best anthologies of any kind available to buy at the moment.
When
faced with such quality it's difficult to pick favourites, but you know I'm going
to, don't you? The story I would class as the highlight of the collection would
be Charles de Lint's 'Riding Shotgun'. Despite plagiarising madly from 'Back To
The Future' and 'Ghost', this novel amalgamation of familiar SF themes succeeds
in being the most enjoyable tale of the lot. It concerns an alcoholic who
discovers that his father, whom he's not spoken to for over twenty-five years,
has died. He is forced to return to the family homestead where he relives a terrible
family tragedy and I don't mean metaphorically. It's a tale that contains just
the right mix of humour and horror. It keeps you breathless until the very last
word. Simply marvellous.
This book is not a one trick pony though.
Joyce Carol Oates' story 'Six Hypotheses' (I'm not even going to attempt to reproduce
the squiggly thing that forms part of the actual title in the book) reads like
an issue of the 'Fortean Times' written by a government agent. It's certain to
send shivers down even the sturdiest of spines.
Neal Barrett's 'Tourists'
takes a comical look at the nature of the afterlife in an inventive piece that
is heavily metaphorical of the exploitative nature of real tourism. It's another
fine example of the ability of genre fiction to address real-world issues, slowly
and carefully, so the reader doesn't even realise they've been messed with until
it's much too late.
Neil Gaiman's 'The Problem of Susan' is typical
of his masterful use of language and imagery in an alternative look at C. S. Lewis'
'The Last Battle', although it does not quite manage to live up to the superb
quality of his other work, such as that found in the 'Smoke and Mirrors' collection.
Give him a break though, he did write it shortly after recovering from meningitis!
There are some other tales that, whilst never actually being bad, do sometimes
wander from the yellow-brick lined path of the truly excellent. Dennis L. McKiernan's
tale is sometimes unintentionally funny and Kit Reed's 'Perpetua' is more odd
than entertaining. Peter Schneider's 'Tots' is just sick. Which is actually not
a criticism, it rocks!
Any slight missteps along the way are counterbalanced
by wonderful experimental pieces like Harry Turtledove's 'Coming Across' or the
fable-like 'Relations' by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. The editor's story 'Sleepover'
is also superb, which is refreshing as it is not uncommon for editors to stick
in any old rubbish when it comes to their own tale. I mean, who's going to argue
with them? Instead, we are given a truly haunting tale of children waking up to
a bleak new world, a Grimm fairy tale for the new age.
The collection
is rounded off magnificently by Gene Wolfe's 'Golden City Far', a tale that interweaves
dreams and reality to magical effect. It is a story within a story within a story,
which at points even surpasses 'The Book Of The New Sun' and it has a talking
dog. Like I said, marvellous!
Your bookshelf wants this collection.
If you don't get it, it will come alive in the night, chew you up and re-fashion
you as a novelty bookend. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Paul Skevington 
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