Award-winning editor Ellen Datlow has collected and expertly arranged a selection of 20 urban fantasy short stories from some of the hottest writers in the genre. The collection opens with Jim Butcher's "Curses," in which Harry Dresden uncovers the mystery behind Chicago's legendary Curse of the Billy Goat, while drawing attention to the oddly fervent and refreshingly unconditional devotion of Cubs fans. Among the best of these stories are "Fairy Gifts" by Patricia Briggs, a beautiful, earthy look at historical Butte, Mont., and the immigrants that helped to shape it above and below ground; Melissa Marr's "Guns for the Dead," where the tenuous threads of order in a dead city are exposed in a rough atmosphere reminiscent of the Wild West; and Holly Black's "Noble Rot," which tells the off-kilter story of an over-the-hill rock star slowly dying of cancer and the young woman who lovingly tends to his needs in Asbury Park, N.J.
The true gem lies in the middle of the collection: Matthew Kressel's "The Bricks of Gelecek," a stunning tale of urban destruction and rebirth. Datlow has done an excellent job of assembling these tales in such a manner that, when read in order, each story is a palate cleanser for the next. The tales vary in tone, ranging from the nostalgic or bittersweet to the bizarre or disturbing, but underneath it all, they are united by each author's love for his or her "city." --Sarah Borders, librarian, Houston Public Library