I obviously read, or at least look at, a lot of short science fiction and fantasy stories. Increasingly these stories are coming out in original anthologies from both small presses and trade presses, and they contain some terrific fiction. What I’m finding more and more difficult is keeping track of all of these anthologies, and being sure that I see them when they come out. With that in mind, I’m at the very least going to blog about books that I know are coming out, and might even start up some kind of registry. With that a quick initial mention of a few anthologies that have come to my attention recently.

First up is Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s Salon Fantastique: Thirty Original Tales of Fantasy. This one’s due out in September/October of this year and can be preordered from Amazon. Ellen and Terri are one of the best and most important collaborative editorial teams to work in the fantasy field, and all of their anthologies are terrific. This one looks especially good. On that, be sure to keep an eye out for The Coyote Road, due out in 2007.

Second is Peter Crowther’s Forbidden Planets. This is the fourth paperback original anthology that Pete’s edited for DAW, following on from Moon Shots, Mars Probes, and last year’s Constellations. I’m actually reading this one at the moment, and it has some terrific stories by Alastair Reynolds, Ian McDonald, Jay Lake and others. It’s due in November 2006, and if you’ve read Pete’s other anthologies, you’ll know what to expect here.

Third is Lou Anders Fast Forward 1. The first in a new original anthology series due out in early 2007, and featuring a cool John Picacio cover, it has some great people in it and looks like it should be fascinating. Lou has edited a couple anthologies in recent years, Live Without a Net and Futureshocks, both of which featured some extraordinarly good short fiction. What I like about his anthologies is that they’re very focussed. They are based around a strong, clear idea, and Lou really makes his books work.

And last for the moment is Marvin Kaye’s Forbidden Planets. It’s due from the SF Book Club in June, and includes original novellas by Robert Reed, Nancy Kress and others. I though Kaye’s The Fair Folk was one of the best fantasy anthologies of last year, and I’m looking forward to this one. I’d also take my hat off to the Club, who have published some great novella books of late. I think Gardner’s One Million A.D., for example, is terrific and Charles Stross’s “Missile Gap” (from that book) deserves to make the Hugo ballot next year.