- Paperback: 383 pages
- Publisher: Orbit; New edition edition (4 Feb 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1857237250
- ISBN-13: 978-1857237252
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 10.8 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 94,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Fantasy fiction has a long and honourable history of parodying its own traditions and, in The Flying Sorcerers, Peter Haining has collected a wide range of comic fiction from the genres of fantasy, horror, and sf. The 24 stories span the century, from P.G. Wodehouse's hilarious "A Slice of Life", about the inventor Wilfred Mulliner and the dastardly baronet Sir Jasper ffinch-ffarrowmere, through the likes of C S Lewis, Kurt Vonnegut Jr and Mervyn Peake to stories by more recent favourites such as Roald Dahl and, of course, Terry Pratchett, whose story "Turntables of the Night", featuring DEATH, opens the collection.
The stories range from Michael Moorcock's hilarious spoof of heroic fantasy, "The Stone Thing", to more considered twists on conventional themes, as in Angela Carter's story of a reluctant vampire, "The Lady of the House of Love". Arthur C. Clarke even manages to find humour in the end of the world, with the closing story: "No Morning After".
Haining introduces each story with a brief but informative biography of its writer so, if you like the stories here, you will be able to find more by the same authors. This makes the collection an excellent introduction to the wide range of comic fantasy and sf writing produced this century. -- Elizabeth Sourbut
Product Description
This sparkling sequel to WIZARDS OF ODD once again turns logic on its head with a galaxy of star writers and stories. Terry Pratchett, the arch-priest of the genre, leads off with the eccentric figure of DEATH on new and curious mission, Roald Dahl plays havoc with country superstition, and Arthur C. Clarke shows the funny side of cosmic doom. Add to these dazzling contributions from masters such as Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Angela Carter, C.S. Lewis, P.G. Wodehouse and Michael Moorcock, and you have a blend of comic fantasy, supernatural extravaganza and sf that is almost literally in orbit. The title of the book stems from the fact that many of the stories feature characters who can fly - either under their own power or by machines - or they simply run into trouble with aerial objects of one sort or another. Bringing together some of the best fantasy available, THE FLYING SORCERERS is a gloriously bizarre, wonderfully varied collection of stories.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Excellent value for money as the book has stories by C.S Lewis, and other great sci fi writers
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One of the best ways to get acquainted with new authors is to read anthologies. It may seem illogical to thnk a good short story might indicate an ability to write good longer stories, but I have found that this is generally the case. That said there are few authors in this book I am not acquainted with, in both short and long form; however, that did not dissuade me from buying it. I am glad that I did; you will find many gems in this book, amusing, often; thought provoking, certainly; entertaining, definitely. People for whom many of the authors are unknown will find plenty of reasons to search out the long form of their works after reading these stories. At the end of the day that is one of the best reasons for buying this type of book. For those only buying it for Terry Pratchett, shame on you, there are morre authors of merit in the world, give some of them a chance.
39 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A nice collection of stories: a varied and interesting cross section of sci-fi authors including of course the venerable Arthur C Clarke, a far more important sci-fi writer than Terry pratchett as he would himself be sure to concur upon. Pratchett is my favourite author but he's hardly as groundbreaking and scientifically interesting as Clarke, because pratchett isn't a sci-fi writer!
I am stunned by the apparently oblique nature of this books title and cover, I managed to read all the information presented there without creating any erroneous opinions in my head, nor did I fail to realise this was not a discworld book due to the cunning use of words and phrases such as `collection of stories` and `different authors` on the jacket. As far as the book is concerned it is a good example of how careful selection from good sources can result in a good anthology. As far as some other readers are concerned, I would suggest either installing small speakers into all books from now on so vital messages not detectable by average eyesight can be guaranteed to reach potential buyers, or denying certain people the privilege of reading books and supplying them instead with adequate eyewear.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A collection of gems.
This book led me to discover Vonnegut, Lovecraft, P.G. Wodehouse and Angela Carter. If you know these authors then you will know how valuable and varied they are! Read more
Published 6 months ago by NorfLondon
Disappointing
I bought this book on the strength of expectations raised by the Amazon sales pitch. The first disappointment was that this is a volume of short stories only the first being by... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Maisie M
Good read
A good read, though now I'll have to buy the first in this series and a few Piers Anthony novels to while away the wee small hours...
Published 20 months ago by N. Herbert
Short Review - Don't buy this.
Unfortunately the short stories in this collection are not good. The editor seems to think they are humorous, but I found nothing to smile at. The writing was uniformly poor. Read more
Published 21 months ago by redbaron
Disappointed
Saw Terry Prachett's name, thought brilliant a new book to read, wrong! Have ploughed through this book of so called 'comic fantasty' and found very little to make me smile apart... Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2004
A great variety of humour.
First of all, this book is very hard to mistake for a Terry Pratchett book, as the cover kind of gives things away... Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2001 by frowningboy@hotmail.com
This book is not as it is portrayed to be
Firstly a warning to all Terry Pratchett fans. Unless you are so deciated to having everything written by Pratchett do not buy this book. Read more
Published on 11 Dec 1999 by chris-phillips@lineone.net
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