Book

New Worlds of Fantasy

📖 Overview

New Worlds of Fantasy is an anthology edited by Terry Carr that collects fantasy short stories from both established and emerging authors of the 1960s. The collection features works from writers like Ursula K. Le Guin, Roger Zelazny, and Larry Niven. The stories range from traditional sword and sorcery tales to more experimental works that blend fantasy with other genres. Characters encounter magical creatures, parallel worlds, and supernatural phenomena while facing moral choices and personal challenges. The anthology serves as a snapshot of fantasy fiction during a transformative period in the genre's development. Through its varied selections, the book demonstrates how fantasy literature can transcend conventional tropes to explore human nature and social dynamics.

👀 Reviews

Limited reader reviews exist online for this 1967 fantasy anthology. The few available show readers value it as an early collection that helped define "new wave" fantasy outside traditional sword & sorcery. Liked: - Introduction of emerging authors like Roger Zelazny and Thomas M. Disch - Range of unconventional stories blending fantasy with other genres - High editorial quality of selected works Disliked: - Some stories feel dated by modern standards - Uneven quality across the collection - Hard to find current copies due to limited printing Available Ratings: Goodreads: 3.67/5 (9 ratings, no written reviews) Other review sites lack sufficient data to provide meaningful ratings. Only one discoverable long-form review notes: "An interesting historical artifact showing fantasy's evolution beyond Tolkien-inspired works, though modern readers may find the experimental nature of some selections challenging." - SF Reviews Archive

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🤔 Interesting facts

🌟 Editor Terry Carr compiled three separate "New Worlds of Fantasy" anthologies between 1967 and 1970, introducing readers to emerging voices in speculative fiction alongside established authors. ✨ The anthology series helped launch the careers of several notable fantasy writers, including Katherine Kurtz, who later became famous for her Deryni series. 📚 Terry Carr was not only an editor but also a Hugo Award-winning fan writer and considered one of the most influential anthology editors in science fiction and fantasy during the 1960s and 1970s. 🎭 The book features unconventional fantasy stories that broke away from traditional sword-and-sorcery tropes, helping to expand the definition of what fantasy literature could be. 🌌 Several stories from the anthology series were later reprinted in "year's best" collections, demonstrating their lasting impact on the fantasy genre.