After reading through this collection of "What-If?" stories, I can tell that I will not be holding on to this too much. Although the stories themselves are pretty good for the pulp novel status. Overall, a majority of the stories in this book are too defeatist in nature. The actual event though horrible and a loss for the US probably would not of lead to some of the time-lines that some of these authors pose. A number of them list the West Coast of the US being over run or captured. Finally, as others have stated the appendices listed are the good parts of this book. They explain the realities behind the attack, a time line of the attack, and finally an explanation of possible alternitives and the chances of them affecting the outcome of the attack. Possible better alternative histories of the attack on Pearl Harbor could be found in the book "Rising Sun Victorious" or in the books "What-IF and What-If 2"

An anthology of allohistories, that is, "what-if" stories based on the attack on Pearl Harbor. Like all anthologies, some stories are superb, some are weak, but overall the level is quite high. The only flaw, and it isn't a serious one, lies at the hands of the editors in their selection and organization of the stories. I'll leave the weakest part of the collection, Part 1, for last.
Part 2, 'Alternate Actions', are the stories by Pineiro, Reasoner, Dietz, and Hallanhan. These are the most traditionally "what-if" stories, hinging on a minor event causing a major change in result. Three are very good, and one, Reasoner's 'The East Wind Caper' is outstanding. A hard-boiled private eye (see Bogart in the role) stumbles onto the Japanese plot and saves the day. Well told, tightly paced and humorous.
Part 3, 'Alternate Aftermaths', contains stories by DuBois, Tillman, Allyn, and Keith. Of these, Keith's 'A Terrible Resolve' is the best, a tale of Japanese victories which lead the Empire up to the beaches of California before the success of the Manhatten Project and the actions of American kamikazi bombers, turn the Imperial Navy back.
A Postscript by Kupfer, which posits a Nazi victory over both America and Japan, is the most chilling story in the book.
The Appendices give an excellent historical background of the real world event, of the military and diplomatic realities which the allohistorians in the anthology had to manipulate for our entertainment.
Now, the worst for last, and as I previously said, it isn't too bad. Part 1, 'Alternate Architects', has the four stories by Hawke, Geraghty, DeFelice, Gorman. Very little allohistorical content in any of these, and what little there is, is only background color. Mostly these four just rehash old conspiracy theories about Roosevelt and/or Churchill knowing that the attack was going to happen and allowed it to go on in the hopes American would enter the war against Germany. I've got no problem with this belief, though I think, like most conspiracies, the proponents are assuming malice where simple incompetence is enough of an explanation. My problem with these stories is that so much of the tale is given over to rehashing the arguements, lecturing the reader on why the plot really did happen, that the stories are just plain boring. The editors could have had a much stronger anthology by leaving this part out and putting more of the rest in.
One observation, something that gave me a small grin. When reading the stories, watch for similarities between them. Variations on the phrase "cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoke" pops up in an awful lot of stories. I suspect the editors handed our a very detailed background guide to the authors, and some of them lifted material out of it verbatim.

This is one of the very best collections of alternate world histories that I have read and one I would use in the classroom were I still teaching. However, the stories as good as they are take second place to two very thoughtful essays by experts at the end of the book. Paul Thomsen gives an excellent diplomatic perspective of what went right and what went wrong in events leading to the attack. The greatest praise must go to historian William Forstchen who sums up the "The Realities of an Alternate Pearl Harbor". He brings out things that most of us either did not know or did not fully understand. It is his premise that even in the worst case scenarios all going against us, a third wave of attack destroying the oil tanks stored at Pearl which would keep us out of the Pacific for a year, the sinking of the three carriers that were away at the time of the attack which would mean no victories at Midway or the Coral Sea, the taking over of the base with veteran Japanese soldiers which would lose us Hawaii, and even the bombing of the Panama Canel which would take a year to rebuild, we would still have prevailed. Maybe the war would have been a year or two longer, but American moral resolve and production would have won out in the end. We were heavily devalued by most of the Japanese command and they would not foresee that in the American gestalt there is a sense of morality that makes us fight for what we see as not just territorial goals, but for freedom. In doing so we believe in complete victory. If anything, the Japanese would have been worse off to have gone beyond their success at Pearl. A year longer to get started would have meant more production of weapons on our part and by 1946 we would have had more than three atomic bombs. We likely would have laid waste to Japan to pay back for the conquest of Hawaii, the bombing of Panama, and raids on California. As it was, the Japanese were surprised at the resolve we did show. They thought we would be forced to compromise and negotiate a peace. They were as surpised as Muslim fanatics must be today in seeing our reaction to the attack on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and related actions. We prevailed then, we will now.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's acquired disdain for his own renowned detective creation is legendary, and 'tis said that when William Gillette wired him with the question, "May I marry Holmes?" (to a female character), Conan Doyle brusquely replied, "You may marry him or murder him or do what you like with him."

But one must draw the line somewhere. And notwithstanding Mollie Hardwick's excellent paean to the legend of Sherlock Holmes at the head of this collection of short stories, I wonder whether even Conan Doyle could have stomached some of these literary assaults upon it.

In "Sherlock Holmes and the Muffin", Dorothy Hughes presents us with a feminist Holmes and Watson who look forward to the day when women become doctors and scientists. Another swig of Women 100 Proof and Ms. Hughes would have had them lobbying from their 19th century perches for abortion on demand, free daycare, and a chocolate bar in the glove compartment of every SUV, a bottle of prozac in the pocket of every power suit.

And even THIS atrocity barely holds its own, as an atrocity, against the contemporary setting of Joyce Harrington's "The Adventure of the Gowanus Abduction", in which a delicate hippie-type Watson plays second fiddle to a ferocious liberated female Holmes - not only as "her" assistant but as "her " lover. Indeed, the story winds up with a broad hint of a rendezvous in the bedroom, but I think that this Watson will couple with this Holmes about as successfully as Tchaikovsky did with Antonina Milyukova.

This book also has its share of short stories that do considerably more justice to the Sherlockian tradition, and the best of these are Barry Jones's "The Shadows on the Lawn", Edward D. Hoch's "The Return of the Speckled Band", and Stuart Kaminsky's "The Final Toast". The Jones story, in particular, is very chilling.

But John Lutz's "The Infernal Machine" also deserves credit for craft and subtlety. The threat of an international conflagration and the new concept of the "horseless carriage" are crucial to the resolution of this story, and there's a passage in it where a young inventor asserts that in ten years, everyone in England will drive a horseless carriage. "Everyone?" Watson asks. "Come now!"

Holmes laughs and says, "Not you, Watson, not you, I'd wager."

How many readers realize that Lutz is paying homage to the last story in the Conan Doyle concordance, "His Last Bow", set on the eve of the first World War, in which Watson does indeed drive an automobile, in the guise of a chauffeur? Not many, I'd wager.

It must have taken a lot of commendable restraint for Lutz to simply rely on his readers' perspicacity and to resist the sore temptation of finding a way to directly point to the Conan Doyle story.

For that matter, Malcom Bell, the villain in the Kaminsky story, may be based upon Dr. Joseph Bell, one of Conan Doyle's medical instructors, who is said to have been the chief inspiration for Conan Doyle's creation of Sherlock Holmes.

Stephen King's contribution might be the cleverest, if not the best written. He apparently wrote his own Sherlock Holmes story in response to a challenge from the editors, but King's normal writing style doesn't quite click with the sober Watsonian chronicling presented by Conan Doyle.

And King is usually a good researcher, but this skill fails him on at least two occasions. He presents us with several images from the Victorian Era that Conan Doyle withheld from delicate sensibilities, including orphans losing all the teeth out of their jaws in sulphur factories by the age of ten and cruel boys in the East End teasing starving dogs with food held out of reach.

But the authentic Sherlock Holmes, having learned that Jory Hull was a painter and having deduced that he had no need of monetary support from his cruel father, would have further deduced - without asking Lestrade - that Jory probably gained his independence by painting professionally.

And the authentic Holmes, as Watson says in the Conan Doyle classic, "A Study in Scarlet", has a good practical knowledge of British law. Stephen King is surely wrong to have Holmes ask Lestrade what sort of treatment the murder suspects might expect to receive under it.

Still, we must be grateful to King for bringing to our attention the one case in the lexicon where Watson actually solves the mystery before Holmes does - and yes, it happens in a plausible manner. As Loren Estleman has pointed out, Holmes's brilliance wouldn't be appreciated by us as much if it were not for the buffer provided by the savvy but unremarkable earnestness of Watson's narrative. We admire Holmes, but we empathize more with his Boswell, and it's wonderful to learn of a case in which Watson has his moment in the sunlight.

This collection has its share of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the just plain silly (Peter Lovesey's "The Curious Computer"). The reader is advised to judge each story on its own merits. Don't be too impressed with Dame Jean Conan Doyle's endorsement of the volume as a whole. But do ask, as another renowned English author once did, "What's in a name?"

"The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" was like a breath of fresh air. Lately I have come across some anthologies which just aren't up to par as far as the quality of the plots. These stories I found to be entertaining and fun to read. Two which stood out for me were "Shadows on the Lawn" and "The Return of the Speckled Band". There's even a story in there for Watson lovers, "The Doctor's Case", penned by none other than Stephen King. Though there were a few which I didn't really care for, this is a worthwhile read.

I love anything about Holmes and Watson. These were well written stories that I truly enjoyed reading. It took me back to when I read all of Doyle's stories about Holmes and Watson. I recommend it highly.

This was my first jump into Science Fiction in about 10 years and I was hoping to get a taste of a genre I havn't really explored before. While many of the stories were great, to say this is a collection of pure military stories is a stretch.

"Hero", a story of a unit preparing for absolute zero battle, was an interesting story that left me wanting more, and it's ending left if wide open.

"Ender's Game" ends up being a something of a philisophical excercise in responsibility in wartime.

One has to question why "The Last Article" and "Dragonrider" where in the book. They were good stories but TLA belongs to alternate history and Dragons fighting Threads, while a good story, it isn't what you would expect from a collection of stories about the military.

Ultimately, many of the stories fall short because they seemed like they belonged in a SF magazine and I would almost suggest searching out the full length versions these stories if they exist because I left feeling a bit unfulfilled.

This is sort of the companion volume to _Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century,_ and it has some of the same problems. There are thirteen stories in this collection, including some that are quite good, but are these really the "best"? Gregory Benford's "To the Storming Gulf" is particularly weak, especially the last section, and "Wolf Time" is far from Walter Jon Williams's best. Poul Anderson's "Among Thieves" is a true classic, though, as are "The Game of Rat and Dragon," by Cordwainer Smith, and Phil Dick's "Second Variety." As in the Alternate History volume, Turtledove seems to have difficulty with his definitions. "Wolf Time" is about an assassin, not warfare. George R. R. Martin's "Night of the Vampyres" is about political revolution with an only vaguely military element. And I can't see classifying McCaffrey's "Dragonrider" as military fiction at all. Finally (also as in the other volume), there are several novelette-length pieces -- Joe Haldeman's "Hero" (which became _The Forever War_), Card's "Ender?s Game" (which also became a novel), McCaffrey's "Dragonrider" (ditto), and C. J. Cherryh's "The Scapegoat" -- which should have been omitted in favor of twice that many additional short stories. This anthology could have been much better thought out.

While the thirteen stories in this volume are, for the most part, well done, a couple aren't really military SF at all and others are glimpses into still better works by the same authors. A couple aren't even strong enough to be considered in a "best of" collection.

There are some gems here. Orson Scott Card's classic "Ender's Game" definitely deserves to be a volume with this title. I highly recommend the novel-length expansion of the story and it's sequels (most notably the companion novel, "Ender's Shadow" and "Shadow of the Hegemon"). David Drake's "Hangman" is an excellent introduction to his Hammer's Slammers series which also requires inclusion in a volume such as this. Walter Jon Williams's "Wolf Time" is one of the best stories in the volume, taking place in the same universe as "Voice of the Whirlwind". And Joe Haldeman expanded "Hero" to become "Forever War" (and its sequels).

Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonrider" was, likewise, the beginning of a large franchise, but it's inclusion as an example of military SF is quite a stretch. Similarly, Harry Turtledove's "The Last Article" is an excellent story, but it would have fit much better in his "best alternate history" collection than in this volume.

Other classics include Poul Anderson's "Among Thieves" (an intro to his Polesotechnic League universe), Philip K. Dick's "Second Variety" (recently made, like so many of his stories, into a movie), and C. J. Cherryh's "The Scapegoat". I also enjoyed George R. R. Martin's "Night of the Vampyres".

Gregory Benford's "To the Storming Gulf" is not military at all; it would, instead, fit quite nicely in a collection of post-apocalyptic fiction.

While touted by some as a classic, I have never been impressed with Cordwainer Smith's "The Game of Rat and Dragon". And Arthur C. Clarke's "Superiority" is merely clever. Any number of other stories could have replaced either of these tales in a "best of" volume.

A collection of stories by different authors. The central theme is 'Alternate History of Merlin'. With Merlin already a mythical latter-day addition to the already mythological Arthurian saga this one is pretty far out. What with each author trying to find a 'cute' angle it is up to the personal taste of the reader if there is something worth reading here. I am afraid that five minutes after having finished this book I do not remember anything that was in here.

All in all, I call it ok. Not great, not bad, but ok.

There are some cute ones in this group of short stories. "Repro Man" is Merlin with a daughter driving him mad in contemporary London. In "Other Agendas," Merlin thwarts Nimue in an unexpected and funny way. "Mouse and the Magic Guy" is a spoof, with some simply awful puns that you cannot help but laugh at.

Then there are those that definitely fit my idea of Merlin. In "Cauldron of Light," Merlin helps guide those of many beliefs to reach a "grail," and finds one himself. "Touched by Moonlight and Sunshine" has an interesting take on Arthur's death. "The Wild Hunt" brings the Merlin into contact with beings from other planets, to a most interesting conclusion. "Central Park" has Merlin still teaching lessons to hard-headed warriors. In "Last Flight Over the Giant's Dance," Merlin temporarily takes over the body of a top bomber pilot in flight, probably saving the crew's lives (you decide for yourself, but that's what I thought).

But Merlin as a homeless nut? A drunken, clown of a "magician" for children's parties? A vicious woman hater? Not my idea of Merlin.

There's at least one story for most of us in here. Whether or not it's a keeper depends on how many you like. I'm thinking probably not. I'll stick with the Mary Stewart Merlin series for the keepers.

The tragic treatments generally fare better than the comic, though some are neither.

Bilgrey, Marc: Merlin, "Waiting for Tomorrow" and the return of his king and his duties, loses more of his heart on each rare occasion when he falls in love with a mortal woman who reminds him of lost Nimue.

Braunbeck, Gary A.: "The Ballad of the Side Street Wizard" An alcoholic stage-magician, who isn't sure whether he's the real Merlin, must get through a birthday gig, despite the 6-tier wedding cake in his car. (He'd planned to propose to his beloved, but she just became engaged to Arturo the mechanic).

de Lint, Charles: "Forest of Stone" appears in _Tapping the Dream Tree_.

Davis, R.: Who, of all Arthur's court, had the greatest motive to bring about "The End of Summer" at Camlann? And Merlin, of all men, has the wit to understand the truth behind Arthur's fall.

Dungate, Pauline E.: "The Magic Roundabout" is in present-day Birmingham, inhabited by an unnamed old man who goes unnoticed; after all, who really *looks* at a roundabout, except the parks people who care for the plants - the old man himself? Interesting urban fantasy twist, matching modern names and characters - two of them *dogs* - to the figures of legend.

Friesner, Esther M. and Anne Elizabeth Stutzman: "Repro Man" Merlin is once more trying to civilize a teenager - only this time, it's not Arthur, but his daughter Maisie in the modern world. (Merlin's nostalgic about dealing with demons, who are at least adults who'll talk sense.) Maisie's become romantically involved with the son of a female free-range genie, who empathizes about what the young are coming to these days. :)

Helfers, John: "The Final Battle" isn't about Camlann, but Merlin's awakening after a millennium of sleep, and the unexpected appearance of a young man whose presence *destroys* Merlin's magic - and even after a thousand years, Merlin knows Mordred by sight. But how can this be, when the intruder apparently lacks magic himself?

Massie-Ferch, Kathleen M.: Merlin, "Touched by Moonlight and Sunshine", seeks power from his beloved Lady of the Lake for Arthur's sake.

McConchie, Lyn: "Other Agendas" Aging Nimue, preparing a spell that will transform her into the young Merlin, foolishly substitutes ingredients, more foolishly uses an incomplete copy of the spell, and won't give up upon the first failed attempt.

Norman, Lisanne: "The Wild Hunt" This version of Merlin - the name/title of the chief of the Druids - has reached the end of his tenure, when his memories will be transferred to the next unwitting youngster marked for the mantle, and the current Nimue's role will change from that of younger student/lover to that of elder mentor. But the 2nd-ranking druid has developed an evil-vizier complex, and dreams of rearranging the system...

Norton, Andre: "Root and Branch Shall Change" doesn't pick up _Merlin's Mirror_'s storyline.

Paxson, Diana L.: When the "Cauldron of Light" vanishes, Merlin comes out of retirement to join the hunt for what the Christian knights call the Grail - but in his own patient fashion. [Partway through, Merlin takes little notice of the Cauldron's reappearance - granted that his personal quest might not end there, the reappearance isn't well-integrated into the story.]

Peck, Brooks: "The Well-Made Knight", like TH White's _The Ill-Made Knight_, is concerned with Lancelot, but here Merlin created him as a golem - part of a scheme to destroy Guenevere. But Lancelot is a better man than his creator...

Rabe, Jean: Merlin, using Stonehenge's magic to plumb the future for ideas to use against Arthur's enemies, finds himself in "Last Flight Over the Giant's Dance" - controlling the body of a 207th pilot training over Stonehenge in the Great War.

Rodgers, Alan: How "Merlin and Viviane" first became lovers: the then-young magician who'd already seen too much, and the Fairy Queen tied to the Woodland King's unloving possessiveness. Very rushed, some clumsy use of language.

Sinor, Bradley H.: This 1400th anniversary of Guinevere's death, Lancelot seeks out a small bridge in "Central Park"; while it's not Camelot, "it does sort of remind me of that little stream about 10 miles or so into the woods..." One thread pursues his present-day chance-meeting (ha!) with Merlin, while Lance broods on how he lost Ginnie and gained the burden of immortality. [For best results, read this before _Knight Fantastic_'s "And the Wind Sang", which occurs *after* Lance's flashbacks in this story.]

Thomsen, Brian M.: "Mouse and the Magic Guy" The narrator (a gumshoe in Avalon in the reign of Uther Pendragon) is hired by the Magic Guy himself to find Excalibur. This Merlin's memory works backward - a la TH White, as he says himself; he remembers that the Sword in the Stone *will happen* but not where it is now. [Yes, the mythology's mixed up. I enjoy hard-boiled aspects translated to a medieval setting, although I prefer Edghill's efforts (see _Knight Fantastic_).]

Waggoner, Tim: "One Morning at the Stone", the old wizard sets out to persuade his pupil to draw the sword of his own free will - despite his fondness for the boy.

West, Michelle: "Return of the King" Very fine urban fantasy, as Merlin, awaiting his king, sees random murders, malls like blighted cathedrals, wasted youngsters who would once have pledged their faith to the king. But the one person who once touched his heart was a little girl, centuries ago - who plagued him with endless questions and tested even his ingenuity at keeping her out of danger.

Yolen, Jane: "Old Merlin Dancing on the Sands of Time" - short poem, with smooth transitions from change, to chance, "yet oddly counting no cards,/cardinal sins being his suit...", building up to some suggestive imagery of Merlin's memories.

I have got to stop giving my old books away. I probably have a small fortune in out of print volumes. Every time I look up a book for a gift I reach the same section, "sorry." "13 Crimes" is one of those entertaining books that probably started as a coffee shop conversation. "Hey Joe, you notice there aren't any SciFi detective stories." "Can't be done Fred. Too easy. The Gumshoes could just come up with some gizmo to see fingerprints, or track shoe size. It can't be fair. For along time this was the case. Then someone got the idea of making rules. What if you had a world of the future, but no surprises? Any technology you want, but the reader has to be let in on it. A hundred years ago crime stories were just laid out. Today it's different. You have to give the reader a chance to figure it out along with the detective. "13 Crimes" does this masterfully. It takes the 13 types of mystery stories, the loc! ked room mystery, the hard boiled PI mystery, etc., and puts it in a SciFi setting. The result is a collection of authors and stories that will satisfy both the SciFi AND mystery fan. Or a least it would if you can find it.

Authors do not develop new stories, they write new twists on old ones. While a science fiction setting does provide additional possibilities for a mystery, it is also very limiting. To be effective, the science fictional aspects must be important, yet secondary. For example, it would be a very dull tale if a locked room mystery was solved by a principal character simply using a device to step into the fourth dimension at a critical moment.
These thirteen stories of crimes are well crafted. Each follows one of the basic themes of crime stories: hard-boiled detective, psychic detective, spy, analytical detective, whodunit, why-done-it, how-done-it, inverted, locked room, cipher, police procedural, trial and punishment. The science fiction aspects are necessary, yet do not overshadow what is a tale of suspense. My favorite stories are "Mouthpiece" by Edward Wellen and "Time In Advance" by William Tenn. In "Mouthpiece", the personality of a gangster is loaded into a powerful computer and the programmer who did it becomes an unwitting pawn of the gangster who wants to avenge his assassination. "Time In Advance" is aptly named, as in this story, the human race has expanded out to other planets and colonists are badly needed. A solution is to have people voluntarily serve a sentence for murder before the fact and then in the unlikely event they survive, they have the right to commit one murder.
These are thirteen of the best combinations of crime and science fiction stories that have ever been written. The editors made their selections well and I enjoyed each one immensely, even though I generally do not read crime stories.

This book is a collection of eighteen fantasy stories, from some very distinguished and well known authors. Unfortunately for me these stories have already been covered in almost every other fantasy anthology book available.

Still, there are some noteworthy tales here. While there are a few fantasy-fantasy stories (knights and dragons and minor magic) most of the stories are contemporary tales that, not fitting into the general "fiction" category, ended up as "fantasy." Many times such tales get classified under the "science fiction" category. Many in fact I do recognize from "Analog", "Science Fiction and Fantasy", and "Asimov's" magazines.

Included tales that struck my fancy are "The Edge of the World" (Michael Stanwick), about three bored contemporary teens who decide to descend the abyss at the edge of town. Good sense of wonder in this one (it really does seem to be the Edge of the World since there is an endless stairway that winds its way down, and down, and down endlessly), and the protagonists are real and believable with lots of angst, and confusion about life (and not the Edge itself). "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium" (William Wu) is about a strange shop where you can find things that you have lost; and not just that charm bracelet you lost at the beach but perhaps lost hopes and dreams as well. Not as cliche as it sounds.

The authors participating are (last name only for space): Zelazny, Haldeman, de Lint, Bishop, Martin, Kushner, Foster, Silverberg, Tiptree, Wu, Ellison, Bear, Springer, Le Guin, Norton, Stanwick, Card, Niven.

A Minus: the publishing rights/agency credits are given, but not the sources/bibliography. Each story here came from somewhere else; Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov's, Locus, Interzone, etc. Not a mention of any resource. Some of us like to know this stuff.

It's clear that the publishers of this book elected Silverberg to cough up a fantasy anthology, and he wasn't quite up to the task. Usually he makes better selections when he edits such a book. In fairness I will say that most of the stories here have won, or have been nominated for, the various yearly awards (World Fantasy, Hugo, Nebula, etc.)

If you have three or more contemporary fantasy anthologies, chances are you already have all of the stories in this book. If you do not, and are looking for sword and sorcery, this book isn't it. If you are looking for "contemporary" style fantasy, this may suit your taste.

This is a good little book of Fantasy Short Fiction. Recommended

Dinosaur fantasic was overlong and some of the stories had little to do with dinosaurs.And a few that did were ones that had been put into every other collection of dinosaur stories.So I had to reread a lot of ones that I had already read.Very dull reading

All stories herein were written for this collection, so readers must seek Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" and Silverberg's "Lady of the Sauropods" elsewhere.

Allen, Roger MacBride: The narrator's *very* paranoid friend Bueber has finally outdone himself with the "Evolving Conspiracy", starting at the *very* top regarding Who could fake fossil evidence. (Bueber has echoes of both Sherlock Holmes and of one of Lord Peter Wimsey's most famous opponents.) No relation to Allen's _Farside Cannon_.

Cadigan, Pat: Nanotechnology makes it possible to customize anything almost instantly, from interior decoration to body shape; Cadigan avoids exposition altogether and *shows* the reader what can be done. Marcia and Randall are playing with the current "Dino Trend" of assuming dinosaur shape, since she brought home a free sample of Bronto-Cream. (Tyrannosaurs are so popular that they're about to become passe.)

Casper, Susan: Eldon found the mosasaur while fleeing a false accusation as a child, and believed she'd brought him luck in exchange for silence. Now that his luck's turned as an adult, however, he feels the sting of "Betrayal".

Delaplace, Barbara: "Fellow Passengers" The narrator's boss at _The Blatant Inquirer_ hated breaking the story of a *real* deinonychus preying on cattle, only to be elbowed out by the mainstream press. Then the animal-rights people weighed in to release the carnivore back into the wild...

DiChario, Nicholas A.: "Whilst Slept the Sauropod" inside Sleepy Mountain, the human villagers had only dim records of its existence, since it woke with earthquakes only at very long intervals to feed; this awakening is a harbinger of change to this place forgotten by the world.

Fawcett, Bill: The triceratops were among the last survivors "After the Comet"; this follows the leader of one shrinking herd seeking shelter from the winter that brings no spring.

Feeley, Gregory: "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Dinosaur" - Interesting essay, mixed with assorted story outlines.

Gerrold, David: "Rex", the only carnivore in spoiled little Jill Fillman's miniature dinosaur collection, has been so overfed that his aggression and size allow him to escape his enclosure regularly, but the greatest toll is on the Fillmans' marriage. Jonathan feels that the main difference between tyrant-lizard and tyrant-child is that Rex eats hearts only once...

Hernandez, Lea: The narrator (all 1st-person present tense) always knew her familiar would be a pterodactyl, but the summoning ritual for "Pteri" acted like a dose of truth serum.

Kerr, Katharine: Lilas Rock-shaper narrates "The Skull's Tale" - that of the peace-token between her and the Hookclaws given for their warning of a trespasser on her family's territory.

Koja, Kathe and Malzberg, Barry N.: "Rex Tremandae Majestatis" ("Awe-Inspiring King", see Mozart.) Depressing, with a sexually explicit opening scene, but well-constructed story. Leona's depression clothes entropy in dinosaur images, which are only reinforced by her ex's cartoon-show work and her 6-year-old son's toys.

Lackey, Mercedes and Dixon, Larry: "Last Rights" The 3 self-styled animal-rights 'guerillas' seeking to liberate GenTech's DinoSaurian experiments have a dismal track record on predicting consequences or learning from experience.

Meacham, Beth: Combine the narrator's friend who photographs bizarre architecture + chameleon skin + dinosaurs sneaking around "On Tiptoe" = move over, NYC sewer alligators...

Nimersheim, Jack: "The Pangaea Principle" = 'To know yourself, you must be willing to learn from others.' Pietor Sinkovich's father carved his favorite proverb as a gift for the day Pietor took his Biogenetics degree in St.Petersburg. Now his old friend Rashad, a paleontologist, has an interesting sample for him to work with - but what is Pietor's true objective?

O'Donnell, Kevin (jr.): The vermin infesting the Copes' apartment are a "'Saur Spot" that persuades even Gideon's wife that they need a 6-inch Coelophysis for pest control.

Resnick, Laura: "Curren's Song" The legend of how St. Columba once saved a swimmer from the Loch Ness monster, from the swimmer's viewpoint. Why wouldn't he be grateful?

Robinson, Frank M.: As the museum's titular director (read: chief fund-raiser) explains the meteor-strike theory of "The Greatest Dying" to a reporter covering the new 6-story dinosaur exhibit, Reid Locke is examining some *very* unusual amber, and avoiding both the director and the *real* research chief (who doesn't subscribe to the meteor theory).

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn: Young Willi's witch powers mean that she needs to learn her mother's "Chameleon" skills to survive among humans, but the only things that don't taunt her there are the animals and the replica dinosaurs.

Sawyer, Robert J.: "Just Like Old Times" is in non-linear braided format. In one thread, Cohen has been sentenced to end his life in a tyrannosaur's mind (unable to affect its movements, thus avoiding a butterfly-effect on history). In the other thread, the trial unfolds, with a judge who strives to fit punishment to crime.

Sheckley, Robert: "Disquisitions on the Dinosaur" suffers from pointless exposition and discontinuity; bored time-travellers introducing dinosaurs to Nero's Rome.

Sherman, Josepha: "Wise One's Tale" is her just-so story of how her people got their wings.

Smith, Dean Wesley: The city plans on "Cutting Down Fred" - the limerick-prone oak who broke up the narrator's relationship by commenting at an awkward, sexually explicit moment - who can access his ancestors' memories. (A ginkyo would have made more sense.)

Stith, John E.: "One Giant Step" - although the reptilian time-travellers have gone millions of years into their own past, rather than to the Moon, in this alternate history.

Tarr, Judith: By the time a couple qualifies to have children, they're usually ready to split from the stressful testing. The narrator's ex has this year's custody of their 4-year-old daughter, despite the fact that he joined an Ice Age commune. (The custody system's interesting in its own right.) Nevertheless, mom takes Janie to the "Revenants" petting zoo.

West, Michelle (as Michelle M. Sagara): April Stephens follows a quiet, solitary routine, with only occasional wistful glimpses of colour in other people's lives that her own lacks. There's no one to really care when the "Shadow of a Change" first falls upon her sleep.

Murasaki star system contains a duo of inhabitable planets that orbit each other: Genji - a high-gravity world with a dense, soupy atmosphere; and Chujo - an arid, wintry world of canyons and wind-swept plains. Neither is perfect for humans - on Genji they must wear pressure suits in addition to getting used to gravity levels half-again as high as on Earth; Chujo is more forgiving, though it can be intensely cold. Both planets serve home to sapient races: the Ihrdizu of Genji - low-tech amphibians that congregate in small villages; and the humanoids of Chujo - aloof, mysterious beings that ignore the humans entirely. It is here that the first manned interstellar expeditions will arrive, bearing humans of all frames of mind - Earthlings and off-worlders, atheists and philosophers, mystics and iconoclasts...

Instead of being a collaborative novel, "Murasaki" is a mixed bag of science fiction stories that share a setting, each written by a different award-winning author. Mind the fact that the only interesting part is the fairly in-depth world-creation notes (included as appendices), and that the stories are pathetically shallow and lead virtually nowhere...

...That is precisely what I though about this "science fiction novel in six parts" prior to reading the last two parts, which are so refreshingly, profoundly excellent that I almost wept with awe. A mystery of interplanetary proportions is suddenly built up and then revealed in flying colors.

It's really a pity that the rest of Murasaki doesn't follow suit.

I became interested in this book after reading Otherness by David Brin. One of the short stories in Otherness is actually a chapter in Murasaki. The book itself is has a very intruiging storyline and I enjoyed reading much of it. The only problam I had was the mental transition I had to make with each chapter of the book, as they are all written by different authors.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes the work of Brin, Bear, Anderson, Pohl, Kress etc etc etc.. They all wrote parts of it.

A good read.

This DAW fantasy collection has something for everyone, from an overwrought Sword & Sorcery tale by Robin Wayne Bailey---woman in breastplate with dagger named 'demon-fang' falls in love with Death. Death has black silk sheets---to a gentle tale from Charles de Lint about a woman who wants to experience her dog's dreams.

Although S&S tales predominate, the stories I liked best were the oddballs that involved spells, but not from the standard grimoire. My favorite, "A Spatter of Later Stars" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, concerns a girl who paints faces at a carnival. She comes into her gift at age fourteen: the gift of making people feel beautiful---or otherwise. No death-dealing wizards. No women in breast-plates. Just a slightly-out-of-the-ordinary carnival family and a wonderful fourteenth birthday present.

"A Spatter of Later Stars" would have deserved inclusion in the wonderful "Magic in Ithkar" fantasy volumes which were edited by Andre Norton and Robert Adams, if (alas) the series hadn't petered out after Volume Four.

"And King Hereafter" is a Boscobel League story by Rosemary Edghill, involving a slight, sorcerous meddling with the Royal Succession in England---what if that awful American divorcee had died before she could marry the future king?

Another offbeat fantasy in this collection, "The Midas Spell" by Julie E. Czerneda could be said to involve wizardly meddling with American history. It's the story of an all-star running back who really, really wants his team to win the Super Bowl.

All in all, thirteen tales of (mostly) original magic, a leetle heavy on S&S for my taste.

"Fantasy is fueled by spells, from those cast by simple love potions to the great working of magic which can alter the very nature of reality, destroy seemingly all-powerful foes, offer power of punishment, immortality or death..."

This wonderful treasury of short stories features written works by Kristine Kathyrn Rusch, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Michelle west, Jane Lindskold and many more.

This is the perfect book to take with you on a train, ferry, airplane ride or in the car. The short stories make it easy to read with interruptions, since each story is about 25 pages or so, give or take.

There are many compelling stories. Such as the one about the wizard who runs a magic shop and finds himself a prime suspect in a murder, to the very short story about a magical computer.

The only reason I did not deem this book 5 stars is because I sometimes find short stories dissatisfying. I am not criticizing any of the authors or their stories, but due to my personal tastes, I prefer regular novels. Compelling and "fantastic" nevertheless. *S*