The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy [Paperback]

Upon reading this eclectic, electric anthology of comic fantasy, I can indefinitely declare it is a revival for Monty Python and the duo of John Cleese & Connie Booth alike, with their hilarious "Happy Valley" which includes some classic one-liners, and adds a tip of the hat to both the late Douglas Adams and Graham Chapman. On par with this story is the comic gem "Touched by a Salesman" which is Tom Holt at his reverential, laugh-out-loud best. Both these stories ensure the money you shell out for this collation is well worth the pleasure reaped. If you enjoy them as immensely as I did, you will also warm to the graciously funny and well-plotted further Inspector Heighway mystery "Pale Assassin", the new Midworld chronicle by James Bibby. I also recommend the Spike Milligan-esque "The Winds of Fate" by Tony Rath, which includes some precious Goon Show humour. I further recommend the David Langford high-standard fair "Not Ours To See" which introduces Dagon Smythe, bar-hopping psychic investigator...I recommend "Math Takes A Holiday" by Paul di Filippo, an unlikely humorist and "steampunk"-genre-based contemporary, who has both a profound vocabulary and a strong wit...I recommend the highly original Terry Bisson-like anecdote, "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Scott Edelman....I simply have to give credence to F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre with his farcical sci-fi-cum-comic-crime-caper "'Put Back That Universe!'"...oh, and I shouldn't forget Avram Davidson's Doctor Esterhazy escapade "Milord Sir Smiht, English Wizard", a classic. Mike Ashley's latest sojourn into this world of the bizarre and hysterical is a substantial, talent-oozing anthology which holds some capers from the best in this genre, as well as some memorable golden oldies (Porter Emerson Browne, Ron Goulart, F. Anstey, Fredric Brown, etc.). Unfortunately, as is wont, "The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy" has an affinity for missing a lot of its targets, too (Jack Sharkey, Michael Coney, John Morressy, Tina Rath, Larry Lawrence, Stan Nicholls, Craig Shaw Gardner, E. K. Grant, Marilyn Todd, and Esther Friesner-what *was* she thinking?). In numerous cases, viz., Tina Rath and John Morressy, eg. wrote engaging and poignant fantasies, but the humour was lacking...in other cases, viz., Esther Friesner and Marilyn Todd, eg. resorted to substituting comedy for silly one-dimensional gutter-talk...in other cases, viz., Michael Coney and Jack Sharkey, eg. offered supposedly quirky stories which don't induce chuckles, but furrowed brows...and then there are the Craig Shaw Gardners whose appallingly cynical stories dampen the entire shebang! Mike Ashley obviously has a broad sense of humour: this third Ashley anthology of humorous fantasy cannot assure you will laugh uproariously at every story. It would be a more oft-told story if you groaned more than you laughed, but there's a good deal of frothy, funny stuff in this collation. If you deducted approximately a quarter of this anthology what you'd have would be a bark-a-minute book. The yarns in "The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy" tend towards fluff, so don't expect anything heavy. Ashley has put it together simply because it's fun. There's a lesson in there, somewhere, albeit it's one beneath a shovel-full of gags.

This is a great book, both in its own right, as a collection of short stories - each is a complete story - no iritating cliff hangers of out of print authors here, (and unusually, each story is a joy to read)and as a way to discover new authors. As someone who was running out of Pratchett and Eddings books to read and buy, this book, and the others in the series, came as a godsend. If you like Pratchett, Holt, Eddings, Wynne Jones, and various other comic fantasy authors, and you're tired of waiting for their next book, this gives a more than satisfying read while you wait.