A review by jayme
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: Twenty-First Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow, Gavin J. Grant, Kelly Link

4.0

This book was a total surprise. I got it expecting to pick out a few of the better looking stories to read at most and I expected a lot of the stereotypical stories you would think are included in a fantasy and horror anthology. There wasn't a single dragon or elf in the whole book and I could not have been happier about that. The stories were incredibly original and I read ever single one.

However, I wasn't a huge fan of the poetry, but I'm in no position to criticize poetry in the first place.

These are my five favourite stories from the lot, the best of the best:
1.The Cambist and Lord Iron by [a:Daniel Abraham|134|Daniel Abraham|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207149629p2/134.jpg]
2.Winter's Wife by [a:Elizabeth Hand|40983|Elizabeth Hand|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1219875344p2/40983.jpg]
3.The Gray Boy's Work by [a:M.T. Anderson|31688|M.T. Anderson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1247706514p2/31688.jpg]
4.The Merchant and the Alchemists Gate by [a:Ted Chiang|130698|Ted Chiang|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208187207p2/130698.jpg]
5.The Evolution of Trickster Stories by [a:Kij Johnson|110153|Kij Johnson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1220146486p2/110153.jpg]

And I have a sixth, "Rats", because it was such a unique way to use a fairy tale. I haven't read anything like it before.