I apologize in advance for the length of this review. This is a collection of the "Year's Best Fantasy" for 2007. Overall the collection was pretty dark fantasy. I definitely enjoyed it and I look forward to reading books by authors I discovered here. For a more accurate review (and for my own future recollection), I feel like I have to review all 23 stories contained within this book. Again, I apologize, and don't feel like you have to read all of this.

"Paper Cuts Scissors: by Holly Black--4 stars--The main character's girlfriend folds herself inside a book during an argument. Of course the guy feels guilty and tries to find someone who can get her out. This idea was original to me, so I enjoyed it.

"A Portrait in Ivory" by Michael Moorcock--2 stars--Some elvish kind of guy has his portrait carved into dragon ivory. I don't know the Eternal Champion cycle this is based on, so it doesn't make sense to me. Fans of the bigger work would surely enjoy this one though.

"The Witch's Headstone" by Neil Gaiman--4 stars--A live boy living in a graveyard and being taken care of by the ghosts there accidentally meets the witch buried just outside the fence. Trouble follows. I like Gaiman and I liked this story. The introduction says the story is "perhaps part of a novel in progress." I hope so. I would read it. Who wouldn't love a boy named Nobody Owens?

"The Ruby Incomparable" by Kage Baker--5 stars--The daughter of the evil Master of Mountains and the Saint of the World learns magic and rejects all her mother has to teach. But does she have something to learn from her mother after all? This was more my kind of fantasy. Not too dark, full of magic, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. I enjoyed this one enough that I'll be looking for Baker's books.

"And Such Small Deer" by Chris Roberson--4 stars--The introduction to this one says that it's based on a line from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire." "'Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young woman, Watson,' said Holmes in a reminiscent voice. 'It was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.'" This story mixed up characters from several different works in unexpected ways. I enjoyed it.

"Unpossible" by Daryl Gregory--3 stars--A middle-aged man who's lost everything that matters tries to find his way back to Neverland. Again, this story has references to several other childhood works sprinkled throughout, but it was a little dark and depressing.

"Winter's Wife" by Elizabeth Hand--4 stars--A man meets a woman from Iceland online and eventually marries her and brings her home to Maine. She does some pretty inexplainable, protector-of-the-forest things. I liked the "green" tint to this story, but it was a little dark also.

"The King of the Djinn" by David Ackert and Benjamin Rosenbaum--3 stars--A Muslim man is befriended by the king of the djinn. The king eventually grants him a wish. This is a precautionary "Be careful what you wish for" tale set in the Middle East. There's a lot to think about in this little story, but it was a little too real and dark for me.

"Stilled Life" by Pat Cadigan--5 stars. A girl who likes to busk as a human statue gets a little too good at what she does. This was very creepy. I would have probably placed it in more of a light horror collection than a fantasy collection, but I'm a fan of both, so I enjoyed it.

"Poison" by Bruce McAllister--4 stars--A boy's cat is poisoned and he blames the "witch" who lives next door. But it's always easier to blame people when we don't know their stories. This one was pretty creepy also.

"Who Slays the Gyant, Wounds the Beast" by Mark Chadbourn--4 stars--Queen Elizabeth I's favorite poet is in love with the imprisoned Queen of the Fairies, causing more trouble between the two worlds. I like fairies and historical fiction. This combination worked well.

"Under the Bottom of the Lake" by Jeffrey Ford--3 stars--The author writes about the thoughts a writer has as he tells the story of a story that has never been heard, housed in a rose-colored bubble under the bottom of the lake. I liked the form, but the story within the story didn't do much for me.

"A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or the Devil's Ninth Question" by Andy Duncan--3 stars--A foundling girl growing up in a sort of freak show runs away into the world on the back side of the show's "Diorama of the Infernal Regions." She finds many wonderful things there, from ghosts to the devil's son-in-law to her own true nature. I think the problem with this story was that there was enough within it to make a really good novel. It was just frustrating as a short story.

"Don't Ask" by M. Rickert--1 star--The sons of a town are kidnapped by the wolves. When the sons eventually come back, they are not the same sons who left. The townspeople want someone to blame. All I can say about this is that I didn't like it. The introduction points out that the story is probably actually about war and compares it to "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. I didn't like that when I had to read it in high school either.

"The Stranger's Hands" by Tad Williams--4 stars--Two strangers wander into the woods close to a little village and set up camp there. The villagers eventually discover that the big, silent stranger can sometimes grant a person's heart's desire. His fame spreads throughout the land. Again, this was my kind of fantasy, good vs evil, magic, the whole works.

"Soul Case" by Nalo Hopkins--2 stars--A little village defends itself from an advancing army with the help of three witches. But there is always a price to be paid. The biggest factor in deciding whether I like what I read is plot. There wasn't much actual plot to this story. Someone who like ideas more would probably enjoy it.

"Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again" by Garth Nix--4 stars--The two main characters travel around as mercenaries, but there's more to their quest than meets the eye. More high fantasy with magic, gods, swordplay, and mysterious quests. My kind of story.

"Debatable Lands" by Liz Williams--2 stars--A warrior sees a terrifying star-beast as his quest. Trouble follows. This was a fantasy/science fiction hybrid. I'm not that into science fiction, and the plot was a little vague. It just wasn't for me.

"The Forest" by Laird Barron--2 stars--A cinematographer goes to visit his old entomologist friend and an old flame. There's not much more to say without giving away anything. It was just too much of an "end of the world as we know it" kind of story.

"The Great White Bed" by Don Webb--2 stars--How would you like to be read by a book? That's what happens to a 13-year-old boy one summer when he's taking care of his increasingly-senile grandfather. Uber-creepy. I didn't like it.

"Dance of Shadows" by Fred Chappell--4 stars--In a world where shadows are collected like artwork, a master of collecting is hired by a master collector to find the person who cast the most exquisite shadow in his collection. A little mystery mixed in with some high fantasy. I liked it. I'll probably look for more of Chappell's work.

"Grander Than the Sea" by T.A. Pratt--5 stars--In the hidden wizarding world, there's an asylum for insane sorcerors. One of the sorcerors asks to see the city's guardian, Marla Mason, a woman whose existence he shouldn't even be aware of. She meets with him and learns of a plot to destroy "the world as we know it." This one was actually pretty funny. I'll be looking for Pratt's books also.

"Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon" by Theodora Goss--5 stars--The other one of my two favorite stories in this collection. Princess Lucinda isn't exactly happy as a princess. Strange events occur that do lead to her happiness. I love Neil Gaiman's Stardust. This had that same sort of fairytale feeling without all the sugar. ( )