Imaginative and Enthralling Fantasy Short Story Collections
I always feel excited when someone recommends a short story collection in the fantasy and supernatural genre. I find short stories can be quite imaginative as well as distinctive making them perfect for a quick read.
While we all love an engrossing fantasy world with interesting characters, the fact is we don’t always have time to go through long plotlines often spreading into multiple books. Short story collections are perfect to quickly pick up a book and complete a story in just one evening or satisfy your reading urge just before continuing with chores around the house or even the office.
Given below are some of the fantasy short story collections I have come across and they do not disappoint. These are stories that are not part of a larger universe or promotional materials for the actual novels. These are perfect, standalone stories that all supernatural or fantasy fans will enjoy.
1) Fragile Things and Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
When it comes to imaginative, Neil Gaiman is right up there with the best. The award winning author from Great Britain has written two popular fantasy short story collections.
First one is Fragile Things and the second book is called Smoke and Mirrors.
It does not matter if you have read Neil Gaiman novels before, if you enjoy short stories, you will enjoy his two books. The stories are quite varied from each other with mysterious circuses to detectives solving royal murders. The tales in both the novels by Neil Gaiman are enjoyable and weave a special kind of magic.
Both these books are in my top collections for short stories.
2) Get in Trouble by Kelly Link
Author Kelly Link has written several short story collections in the fantasy genre. However, Get in Trouble is the one that I see being recommended the most. I believe it was Get in Trouble that made readers take serious notice of the author.
In fact this collection of fantastic and whimsical short stories was amongst one of the finalist for the coveted Pulitzer prize. In its first year of publication, Get in Trouble was nominated as the book of the year by several prestigious publications and still remains one of the most loved books in the genre.
The stories in the book have a great sense of humour but can be dark as well. Some even consider the stories weird in the best possible way.
3) Legends and Legends 2 by some of the best fantasy authors
Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Terry Pratchett, Ursula K. Le Guin and more. Have I got your attention with those names?
Aptly named, Legends and Legends 2 are both short story collections from some of the absolute masters in the fantasy genre. In fact some of the biggest names in the history of fantasy fiction came together to complete this incredible anthology .
Each of the stories in the collection have been written by individual legends that are mainly based in their respective fantasy worlds. These are standalone stories that can be read even if you have not read the main novels by the authors.
4) The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm
Who hasn’t heard about the incredibly popular Grimm’s Fairy Tales? While most of the stories are now part of fairy tale legends and several versions have been adapted to screen, other books and pieces of fiction, The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales also include many forgotten tales that are equally brilliant.
If you are a fan of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, then this collection of their best work is definitely meant for you.
The stories are completely whimsical, have their own strange charm and are filled with incredible magic and enchantment.
5) Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love (Kushiel’s Legacy) by George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois
If you love paranormal romance or dark romantic stories, then this collection of 17 stories by some of the biggest authors in fantasy and science fiction will definitely peak your interest.
While each of the stories are quite unique on their own, they are bound by the subject of love and romance. Of course being paranormal romance, it is not your typical love stories. You have zombies, high fantasy kingdoms, galactic empires and lots and lot of magic.
This collection actually is quite brilliant because it is not just in the fantasy genre but has some of the best science fiction short stories as well.
Definitely a must-read for fans of short story collections.
6) Tales from the Perilous Realm (Middle-earth Universe) by J.R.R. Tolkien
I have to say I was quite amazed when I first heard that the legendary J.R.R. Tolkien had a short story collection of his own.
While Tales from the Perilous Realm is no Lord of the Rings, it is a highly enjoyable collection of fantastic tales from the master himself.
This collection from J.R.R. Tolkien has five stories. Each of them intricately put together and narrated in a beautiful and highly engrossing tone. You do not need to know the history or background of middle earth to read these stories. While you should not obviously expect Hobbit or Lord of the Rings style high fantasy, you can expect wonderful tales that transform you into a parallel world that just does not cease to amaze.
