Eschewed Obfuscation

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Ninth Annual Collection
by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (eds.)
534 pages (trade paperback)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Horror

I've only read one story from this anthology--Ellen Kushner's "The Hunt of the Unicorn." In some ways it was disappointing because I'd expected a Riverside book; while the setting is reminiscent of the city, there are no overt references and it really is a standalone. The ending also had no punch for me although it might be better understood upon rereading. Kushner's weakest work to date for me; but it's old too (1995), so I'll cut her some slack.

Obviously not a review of the collection, or even a review for anyone other than myself.

I basically wasted all of yesterday reading The Fall of the Kings, and when I finished it late last night I was sorely disappointed. If I had bought this book instead of The Privilege of the Sword after reading Swordspoint, I don't think I would be half as in love with Riverside. By TFOTK, Richard and Alec are both dead, Katherine is in her 60s, and magic is real. The beginning of the book started off beautifully and I liked it all the way through about 3/4 of the book, in fact--Basil/Theron is a decent pairing, if not up to par with Richard/Alec. But the ending was terrible. I understood why it had to happen that way, but it didn't meet my expectations. It was painful, and not in a good way. I've read tragedies before and liked them perfectly well; I have no aversion to crying. But this book didn't make me cry, it just made me want to throw it across the room by the end. Still, I will probably return to the first half sometime in the future, if only to analyze. In the meantime, I want to reread TPOTS. :>

Overall, a decent book worth buying if only to complete my Riverside set, but not at the same level as Kushner's other two Riverside novels.