Very excited to see the announcement about the soon to be released short story anthology Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy, edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow. It looks to have the perfect blend of fantasy, Victorian imagination, magic realism, and terrific stories from wonderful authors such as Delia Sherman, James Blaylock, Gregory Maquire, Ellen Kushner, and Jeffrey Ford -- all set in the Victorian era. Here's a bit from a review in the recent Publishers Weekly:
"Datlow and Windling collect 18 stories of elegant beauty and gothic murk in this anthology of “gaslamp fantasy,” an umbrella term for speculative works set in or inspired by the Victorian era....Fans of steampunk and Austen-inspired fantasies of manners will be completely enraptured by these stories, which show us how Victorians saw themselves and offer an assortment of ways for modern readers to consider the bright lights and gloomy shadows of the past."
The anthology is now available for pre-ordering and it looks like it will be available in hardcover, paper, and ebook all at the same time. Here is the Table of Contents:
Preface Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Introduction Terri Windling
The Fairy Enterprise by Jeffrey Ford
From
the Catalogue of the Pavilion of the Uncanny and Marvelous, Scheduled
for Premiere at the Great Exhibition (Before the Fire) by Genevieve
Valentine
The Memory Book by Maureen McHugh
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells by Delia Sherman
La Reine D’Enfer by Kathe Koja
For the Briar Rose by Elizabeth Wein
The Governess by Elizabeth Bear
Smithfield by James P. Blaylock
The Unwanted Women of Surrey by Kaaron Warren
Charged by Leanna Renee Hieber
Mr. Splitfoot by Dale Bailey
Phosphorus by Veronica Schanoes
We Without Us Were Shadows by Catherynne M. Valente
The Vital Importance of the Superficial by Ellen Kushner and Caroline Stevermer
The Jewel in the Toad Queen’s Crown by Jane Yolen
A Few Twigs He Left Behind by Gregory Maguire
Their Monstrous Minds by Tanith Lee
Estella Saves the Village by Theodora Goss
