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New Writings In The Fantastic edited by John Grant
01/11/2007 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Pendragon Press. 361 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 12.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-0-9554452-3-1. Buy New Writings In The Fantastic in the USA - or Buy New Writings In The Fantastic in the UK  check out website: www.pendragonpress.co.uk
The problem with an anthology that covers fantasy and SF is that it's unlikely to please everyone and inevitably there is a lot more digging than usual to find satisfying reads if you only like one or the other. Indeed, with 41 short stories it's like a lucky dip and digging away in the sawdust looking for the prizes. This isn't to say none of the stories are badly written but if you're a more solid SF reader like myself it at least affirms why I'm not too keen on fantasy. Much of the time, especially with short stories, even modern day fantasy, as opposed to Tolkienisique, seems to rely far too much on style than ideas which are rarely fulfilled by their endings. Science Fiction is a much stronger discipline ensuring that there is a sufficient pay-off for the reader.
As such, most of my favourite stories here are more SF orientated and it seemed a little odd that I had to wade nearly a hundred pages in to find them. Whether this was a plan by editor John Grant to spring SF on fantasy readers is debatable but it made things a little tougher for this reviewer to endure.
'A Simple Gesture' by Stuart Jaffe has an old man and an alien general playing chess games over a period as the world changed about them. This ended up being a thoughtful story with a touching ending.
Vincent L. Scarsella's 'Vice Cop' has a world where sex is outlawed which makes for interesting game of truth and consequences of how people get their kicks, including the cops.
Unusually, a more fantasy-orientated humourous story, 'Employment Gremlins' by Holden Herbert shows what it's like to have two of them on your back so to speak who make it impossible to get a job without being rude to people.
'The Jesus Autopsy' by M.F. Korn and Hertzan Chimera RIP is probably closest to horror in the whole book. It harkens back to the early 60s comicbook ads and mothers and crosses. Christ rears his head as a series of clones in 'Hot Cross Son' by Steve Redwood with unusual consequences.
Jamie Shanks '11:11' has a woman whose life revolves around something happening at the time of the title. It's borderline fantasy since things are left hanging near that time.
With so many stories you're bound to find something that will appeal. With so many fantasy-orientated, the primarily appeal has to be towards those of you who that side of the genre. If you're border-line between both genres, this might actually affirm which side you belong.
GF Willmetts
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