Review: "Wizards," edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

"Wizards" (Berkley, $25) bills itself as a collection of stories by "masters of modern fantasy," and it lives up to that billing.

Almost every author contributing to the book will be well-known to fans of fantasy fiction, ranging from masters like Neil Gaiman and Orson Scott Card to relative newcomers like Eoin Colfer.

Wizards, of course, are a staple of the fantasy world, and almost every different kind of magician imaginable is featured in this collection from the all-powerful to the mere illusionist.

There are warm-hearted and whimsical stories like Neil Gaiman's "The Witch's Headstone," which finds a young resident of a graveyard who can speak with the spirits attempting to buy a headstone for an accused witch buried anonymously, or Colfer's offering, "A Fowl Tale," about a talking dove who backs himself into a corner while trying to spin a tale for his supper. Even the normally dark Tanith Lee takes a light approach on "Zinder," about an abused and mentally impaired man who soars the night skies making things right.

Darker tales do appear. Mary Rosenblum's creative "Color Vision" features a wizard hunting young people with the talent to gain their power. The wizard in Elizabeth Hand's "Winter's Wife" uses her magic to avenge a greedy man's act against the natural beauty of her new home. Peter Beagle's "Barrens Dance" features one of the few truly evil wizards in the collection, a man intent on winning the love of a woman he can't have, through any means he can. But even these stories usually end well, if not always entirely happily.

There are tales that play on legends, such as Garth Nix's "Holly and Iron," drawing on a number of different European tales, including King Arthur. Jane Yolen' s "Slipping Sideways Through Eternity" even places the prophet Elijah in the position of wizard.

Perhaps the strangest story (and title) is Andy Duncan's "A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or the Devil's Ninth Question" which finds a young girl jumping into a diorama and finding herself in a house where she'll face the devil himself.

There are a few forgettable stories in the mix, but very few. For the most part, this is a collection of writers doing what they do best. The stories are entertaining and offer a wide variety of styles and wizards to suit most any taste. "Wizards" is a good way to sample some of the best writers in the genre today.

Get "Wizards."

Review: "Singer of Souls" by Adam Stemple

First-time novelist Adam Stemple comes from good writing stock. His mother is respected fantasy author Jane Yolen, with whom he co-wrote a children's book, so there are high hopes for his first book, "Singer of Souls" ($22.95, Tor). Stemple lives up to them.

The book tells the story of Douglas "Doc" Stewart, a recovering heroin addict and musician. (He got the nickname after a drug binge that left him talking completely in rhymes for a time. His friends began to call him Dr. Seuss.)

When he finds himself back with those same friends, preparing a needle that will take him right back into his former lifestyle, he decides he has to make a major change. He flees the temptation by going to stay with his grandmother, a tough no-nonsense sort, in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he makes a good living as a street busker thanks to his innate talent to create songs about people on the spot.

It was a good choice for him, but was the choice entirely his? When he sings a song for a mysterious woman, he ends up opening the door to a strange world he never thought existed and getting himself trapped in the middle of an age-old supernatural war.

An unsuspecting human caught in a war between supernatural powers is hardly a new idea for the genre. In fact, the last book I read, Orson Scott Card's "Magic Street," had the same premise. But Stemple handles it deftly, throwing in nice twists and never quite letting the reader know where Doc stands with the folk of faery.

He also knows his music and has an eye for detail when it comes to that aspect. The book should be an interesting read for musicians, but for those who don't know the terminology, the writer's allusions to chords and scales may get a little tedious. Most of them are brief and won't interrupt the story.

Stemple has a fast-paced, breathless writing style that keeps the reader in the action. At less than 250 pages, this novel is incredibly short by today's fantasy standards, but it packs a lot of punch into those few pages. I'm looking forward to his follow-up.