The Big Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy

An anthology of speculative tales with that range from those with mainly contemporary settings to ones where things are somewhat 'weird'. What you won't find are straight up fantasy or science fiction stories. Some stories feature fantastical elements from the start, while others take some time to appear. Of the stories featured, the ones I found interesting were by Jason Stoddard, Lucy Sussex, Maureen F. McHugh, Margo Lanagan, Lavie Tidhar, Barry N. Malzberg, Pat Cadigan and Paul McAuley and Kim Newman.

• "The Elephant Ironclads" by Jason Stoddard: an alternate history story set after World War II, in a Navajo nation that is independent of the USA. Two Native American boys set out as guides for two strangers that have an obsession with certain rocks. What they discover about the strangers could change their nation, and becomes tied up with the legend of elephants clad in iron.

• "Ardent Clouds" by Lucy Sussex: a story of a documentary maker who lives on the edge of death, chasing after the best shots of volcanoes in the act of erupting. But her next assignment may well be too close to the action.

• "Gather" by Christopher Rowe: Gather is the name of a person who lives next to a river in a world where the word of god on pieces of paper (and metal) may be literal. But a 'scientist', whom Gather works for, wants to make sense of this world.

• "Sonny Liston Takes the Fall" by Elizabeth Bear: an alternative history look at Sonny Liston, a boxing champion after his defeats by Muhammad Ali. In this version, he has one more task to do, to ensure that the boxing world has a Black Champion that people will look up to.

• "North American Lake Monsters" by Nathan Ballingrud: a daughter and her father discover a strange creature washed up on the shore of a lake. What the story reveals, instead, is the abusive relationship between the father, newly released from jail, with his family over what to do with the creature.

• "All Washed Up While Looking for a Better World" by Carol Emshwiller: a shipwrecked girl finds herself on a strange deserted island inhabited by beings that don't recognise her as human.

• "Special Economics" by Maureen F. McHugh: a girl gets to work in a factory in China. But what she finds instead is slavery, with the factory charging for her food and board, leaving her in debt to the factory. But an opportunity to turn the tables on the factory occurs when she goes out busking for extra money.

• "Aka St. Mark's Place" by Richard Bowes: a mainly contemporary story about a relationship between a girl and a boy who turns out to be a runaway. The story becomes more fantastical when the runaway boy turns out to have a magical skill that he eventually uses on the person who tracked him down to return him to his family.

• "The Goosle" by Margo Lanagan: a story involving a well-known fairy tale, but told after the events. A boy returns to the house of a witch accompanied by a swindler, but events turn violently bloody, and it is up to the boy to end the terror of the witch.

• "Shira" by Lavie Tidhar: a researcher goes in search of poetry written by a relatively unknown writer which emotionally moves her. But then she discovers more stories by the writer, including one story which involves her personally.

• "The Passion of Azazel" by Barry N. Malzberg: a literal scapegoat is reborn and now wants to take revenge on the people who sacrificed him by bringing to life a golem as a goat. But the golem has other plans for the people involved.

• "The Lagerstätte" by Laird Barron: a woman suffers from manic depression after the death of her family. But one day, she is offered a way to bring them back. Whether the method did work, in an unexpected way, or is just another mental symptom is left to the reader to decide.

• "Gladiolus Exposed" by Anna Tambour: while on a trip, a man find a human gladiolus (sternum) and becomes fixated on it, to the point of causing a rift in his marriage.

• "Daltharee" by Jeffrey Ford: the story of an inhabited miniature city in a bottle, created by a mad scientist. When the city starts to break down, the authorities have little choice but to ask the scientist to aid it, with tiny and giant consequences.

• "Jimmy" by Pat Cadigan: the story of a boy which the town considers a troublemaker, except by his friend. When he apparently disappears one day, his friend is called upon to try to find him. But when she (the friend) finds him, she discovers him to be in thrall with people who granted him knowledge, but at a price.

• "Prisoners of the Action" by Paul McAuley and Kim Newman: a military lawyer investigates a security breach at an isolated facility being used to hold POTAs (Prisoners of the Action). As the story progresses, it becomes clear who the POTAs are (or are not), and how they are causing outbreaks of mental disease among the personnel. And it is up to the lawyer to decide who is, and is not, a lunatic and what should be done with the POTAs.