THE NEW WEIRD edited by ANN & JEFF VANDERMEER
Tachyon Publications paperback, 320pp, RRP US$14.95

Reviewed by David McWilliam

Ann & Jeff VanderMeer’s impressive anthology is the perfect starting point for an exploration of the innovative “New Weird� movement in genre fiction, which was brought to prominence in 2000 by the critical and commercial success of China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station. Prior to reviewing The New Weird I was familiar with the works of several of the contributing authors, whose inventive take on fantasy writing made me want to know more about the generic milieu from which their ideas were spawned.

Editor Jeff VanderMeer’s introduction, ‘The New Weird: “It’s Alive?â€�’, explores the genesis of the genre in the New Wave experimentation of the 1960s and the transformative horror, spearheaded by the works of Clive Barker, in the 1980s. An anthology that seeks to present a representative sample of the style of writing typifying a literary subgenre requires a working definition in order to assist its readers’ understanding of the project. (more…)

Tags: anthology • book • Fantasy • fiction • genre • review • The New Weird • Vandermeer

The new issue is at press now and will be mailed out in a couple of weeks. Seven stories from familiar names and rising stars Alexander Glass, Tony Richards, Garth Marenghi creator Matthew Holness, Ian R. Faulkner, Will McIntosh, and debut sales from Carole Johnstone and Seth Skorkowsky. The usual columns and features are here, including book reviews by Peter Tennant, DVD reviews by Tony Lee (plus competitions), comment from Christopher Fowler, Stephen Volk, Mike O’Driscoll… And art by David Gentry. (more…)

Tags: Black Static • DVD • Faulkner • fiction • Fowler • Gentry • Glass • Holness • Horror • issue 3 • Johnstone • Langan • Lee • Marenghi • McIntosh • ODriscoll • Richards • Skorkowsky • Tennant • Volk • zombies

RUNEMARKS by JOANNE HARRIS
Doubleday hardback, 500pp, £14.99

Reviewed by Iain Emsley

---

Joanne Harris’s d?©but children’s novel is a fantastic romp which is eminently readable. Her adult fiction flirts with the fantastic, delivering it gently, while Runemarks is a retelling of Norse myths which also sets up a mythical - almost ‘asterisk fantastic’ ‚Äì world within which she finds some very human characters.

(more…)

Tags: book • Fantasy • fiction • INTERZONE • Joanne Harris • review • Runemarks • young adult

Thanks to amazing new managing editor Eugie Foster, the online version of The Fix, the short fiction review, is now live, launching with new reviews of several established and new magazines, webzines and books, plus columns on the writing life, speculative poetry and short films ‚Äì with much more to follow! Enjoy, and please then click through to the forum to air your views on any aspect of The Fix’s content, or indeed anything else to do with short fiction ‚Äì all you need do is start a new thread (you’ll have to register first).

Tags: Eugie Foster • fiction • Fix • reviews • short stories • writing

THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION 24, ed. GARDNER DOZOIS
St Martin’s Press trade paperback, 662pp, $26.95

Reviewed by John Howard

---

Gardner Dozois’ selection of the previous year’s best science fiction has rightly become a fixture in the publishing and purchasing calendar. The appearance of the British edition is always a sign of autumn and the justification for yet another self-bought early Christmas present…

(more…)

Tags: anthology • fiction • GardnerDozois • science • short • stories