DAW Books; ISBN 0-88677-736-4; 318 pp.;
review by Paula Johanson
Elves are all alike, aren’t they? Not the elves and fantasies in Elf Fantastic.The latest in the series of anthologies edited by Martin H. Greenberg is an eclectic assortment of stories on elves. From Andre Norton to Diana Paxson, these twenty writers present their personal angles on elves and that lively area where the mundane world interacts with the land of Faerie.Barbara Delaplace’s displaced elf in the Florida Keys watches the fading glow of a portal back to his own world — but prefers to stay and order another beer with his human friends. C.J. Henderson’s man who sees the leprechauns has a story to tell about their gold that is not for the greedy or faint of heart. And Tanya Huff’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream Team” kicks butt on the basketball court at the Olympics.Wistful, eerie or good-humored; the story that hits all those notes is Lynn Abbey’s “Jerlayne”, a solid anchor for this motley collection. Of all the stories, this one describes best the strange connections between fairie races and mortals. The old tales are not forgotten, but new changes on them are rung here.
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