Best New Fantasy

Given the many SF, fantasy and horror "best of" anthologies, do we really need another? The answer is yes if the editor is smart enough to avoid overlap while maintaining high quality, as Wallace does in this inaugural volume of a new anthology series. His 16 picks include a number of well-known names: Kelly Link's campfire snorter, "Monster"; Theodora Goss's wistful "Pip and the Fairies," in which an author makes peace with her past; and Joe Hill's wonderfully creepy "My Father's Mask," about the dangers of dealing with "card people." Wallace also showcases newcomers with stories that indicate abundant promise: Yoon Ha Lee's mystical fable, "Eating Hearts"; M. Rickert's homage to Stephen King, "A Very Little Madness Goes a Long Way"; and Eugie Foster's haunting "Returning My Sister's Face," a retelling of a Japanese Edo tale. The striking cover art, showing an open book mysteriously hovering above the hands of an attractive young woman looking longingly into the distance, captures the wonder that attracts new readers to fantasy. (Jan.)