The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women

Rating:
Summary: An impressively scoped, consistently good read.
Review: The readership of fantasy has been said to be predominantly feminine (as opposed to the predominantly masculine readership of science fiction), so it is perhaps not much of a surprise that one of the best collections of fantasy writing would be one dedicated solely to the work of women authors. If one were looking for non-patriachal, original, stimulating fantasy generally uncluttered by the cliches of the genre one could do worse than one of the most important collections to come out of the field in the last few decades. The range of the book, which also traverses science-fictionesque territory, is impressive, from straightforward space opera (The Ship Who Sang, by Anne McCaffrey; the short story that birthed the famous novel of the same name), to revisionist visions of classic fairy tales (Red as Blood; a revisionist Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs story with a distinctly Stokerian--re: Vampiric--twist). Classy packaging and a beautiful cover illustation (Baby Giant) complete a pleasant reading experience. The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women is a welcome mainstay on the bookshelf of essential science-fiction and fantasy writing.