Sharyn November (editor), Firebirds Soaring (Firebird, 2009)
Cool, a fantastic new anthology of short YA fiction, Firebirds Soaring. It is the third in the Firebird series edited by Sharyn November, one of the finest editors gracing our reading lives these days. She certainly is the equal of Jane Yolen, Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, Gavin Grant and Kelly Link to name my all-time favorite editors of great speculative fiction.
And what could be more fitting to read than on a cold, rainy afternoon in November 2008 than an anthology edited by a woman named November? Oddly enough, the weather was exactly like this -- rain with a bit of snow, windy to boot -- when I read Firebirds and Firebirds Rising, the previous volumes in this series, so I strongly suspect that November's both a great editor and a red-headed goddess as well! How else to account for the perfect weather for settling in and reading for hours on end?
Grey Walker reviewed the first anthology and her words speak to how impressive that debut volume was:
As GMR's book review editor, it's my job to make sure all the pirates on the crew here get their fair share of the loot -- err, that is, it's my job to see that the books we receive for review get spread around evenly amongst the reviewers, and that folks who are especially knowledgeable in particular areas get the right books sent their way. I try to do my job fairly and well, and not let anyone get too many of the best gems we score. But this time, I admit that I acted with utmost greed and entirely in my own self-interest.
She went on to say that '[t]he list reads like a role call in a future Valhalla of the Greatest Writers on Earth. I was about to say that Sharyn November is a goddess to be able to assemble original fiction by all of these folks inside one set of covers. But she's something even better. She's a great editor who knows almost everyone, and she has great ideas -- like the Firebird imprint -- that make writers willing to give her what she asks for'.
See? Grey thinks she's a goddess too! Even Jane Yolen says she is 'the punk goddess of children's publishing' and one never contradicts Jane!
I said of the second affair that 'any anthology is an invitation to discover writers that I did not know enough about, so I can decide if I should be truly interested in reading their work. I know that my favorite writers -- Emma Bull, Charles de Lint, and Patricia McKillip -- will always be superb. But anthologies like Firebirds Rising allows me the opportunity to sample, like a good Scandinavian smorgasbord, tasty little treats that I might otherwise pass by'.
The same holds true for the Firebird imprint as well -- the mix of writers I know well and writers that I'm not familiar with makes for interesting reading. Check out Firebird for yourself over here, as there's a wealth of superb reading assembled by November.
Indeed I like all three of them enough that, unlike most anthologies I read, I kept them. This is not a decision I make lightly as if I kept even one book in ten of what comes in here that actually I read, no physical library space would be expansive enough to hold them!
Design-wise, the books are well-crafted works with cover art that is definitely eye catching when you see them on the bookshelf. Each volume is easy to hold in the hand and sturdy enough for repeated readings -- all of the covers, each with a firebird of course, are the work of talented artist Cliff Nielsen. Though all three covers are very good, my favorite remains that for Firebirds Rising, with the firebird as a leafless tree silhouetted against a twilight sky, which you can see here. Oh, and the interior embellishments for all three volumes by Mike Dringenberg are a nice touch. Mike provides chapter art headings for this volume.
Ok, so what do I think of Firebirds Soaring? Quite a bit actually! Just consider the list of authors -- Margo Lanagan, Nancy Farmer, Nancy Springer, Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple, Laurel Winter, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Louise Marley, Nick O'Donohoe, Sherwood Smith, Elizabeth Wein, Kara Dalkey, Carol Emshwiller, Ellen Klages, Christopher Barzak, Clare Bell, Marly Youmans, and Chris Roberson. My, oh my! What we have is nineteen remarkable pieces of short fiction that really showcase just how great YA fiction can be. Or indeed any genre of fiction for that matter.
So what tasty little treats did I find here? Quite a few actually, but I'll single out these stories....
First, 'Little Red', by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple, is a scary take on the 'Little Red Riding Hood' tale from a mother and son writing team best known for Pay the Piper -- A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale and Troll Bridge -- A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale. Surely Maria Tatar, editor of The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, would appreciate this riff on an old, old tale!
Now I know these authors well -- indeed I saw Adam when he was with Boiled in Lead, the Celtic/World/Folk band and Jane wrote The Wild Hunt, one of my favorite fantasy novels -- so I knew they would be a good read. But I read anthologies like this one to find new authors as well. So who did I find? Elizabeth Wein's 'Something Worth Doing' is a very impressive telling of a girl overcoming barriers to assist in fighting a war that has already cost her dearly. It makes use of a folk motif that was old when Shakespeare used it, but it works well here.
Margo Lanagan 'Ferryman' is obviously a riff off that story, one so ancient that I think the Greeks borrowed it from someone else. I was charmed by theconcept of a mortal child who goes down to the River Styx to take The Ferryman, her father, his lunch! I will certainly seek out what else this talented Aussie writer has done to date!
Finally I really liked Christopher Barzak's 'A Thousand Tails', which is based on Japanese fox myths and is a result of the time he lived there. Kitsune, the Japanese word for fox, forms a whole body of folklore there that rivals the of the Anglo-Celtic stories such as 'Mr. Fox'. Like Elizabeth Wein and Margo Lanagan, I had not encountered Christopher Barzak before, so I will now search him out!
The bottom line is November's once again put together a superbly chosen set of tales that will keep you read well into the night. Though it comes out in March of next year, I think the trade paper edition, which will be out before Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter Solstice in 2010, will make a perfect gift to give to a young reader -- or your favorite adult reader for that matter!
