MAMMOTH BOOK OF AWESOME COMIC FANTASY Ed. by Mike Ashley
Robinson - June 2001
ISBN 1841190802- Paperback
Fantasy/Comedy / Anthology

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde, MyShelf.com
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This is the third compilation of comic fantasy stories Robinson's excellent Mammoth series has published and as fans of these packed volumes have come to expect there is something for everybody. If you equate the sub genre with takeoffs on traditional sword and sorcery as typified by the works of Terry Pratchett and Craig Shaw Gardner then you are in for a surprise as not only do the stories span about a hundred years of comic fantasy but there are stories set here, there and everywhere and many of the most effective show extraordinary things happening in very everyday settings. These include my own three favorites - Tom Holt's delightful tale of a lost angel who is also a sales rep, Michael Coney's bizarre account of people taking to the air like birds in their anti-gravity belts and Stan Nicholls wonderfully inventive description of what might happen if people started using animals as currency.

Compared to these gems the more usual fairy tales stood on their heads and skits on modern fantasy seem in the main rather labored as none of the tales that fall into these categories (less than a quarter actually of the whole book) add anything new to this type of thing or are very funny. Fans of Esther Friesner and Craig Shaw Gardner might well be delighted but I found the examples of their work featured here to be labored. But then what makes one person laugh will leave another scratching their head in bewilderment! The exception to this is surely James Bibby's highly amusing contribution which is set in a traditional fantasy environment but which is also a sendup of Inspector Morse. I'd gladly read more of his adventures.

Avram Davidson conjures up a meticulously created setting but a sadly rather pointless story, Tony Rath's rather long-winded tale (!) is certainly different and Scott Edelman rounds up the book nicely with one of the most bizarre and clever stories. Like I said - something for everybody in here.