The Dedalus Book of Flemish Fantasy

The Dedalus series of European fantasy anthologies is generally well regarded, but this Flemish compendium fails to find a distinctive voice. In the gray, meandering prose of Stefan Hertmans's "Lock-Up No. 14," an unimaginative man inherits a storage room that hides an uncanny secret. Hugo Claus's "Medieval" is a bizarre, cubist perspective on a particularly chaotic incident involving a beheaded king and a re-enactment of the crucifixion, while Felix Timmermans's tiresome "The White Vase" follows a terrified visitor in a remote monastery who's fleeing Death. While it can't even loosely be called fantasy, Paul Claes's triptych "Chameleon" is the collection's standout: a haunting, baroque coming-of-age tale. The anthology's laboriousness may be a product of rushed translation, considering how many stories share the problems of unfocused language and uneven tone. (July)