Edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, with illustrations by Charles Vess.
Having previously enjoyed Datlow & Windling's collections (The Green Man and The Faery Reel), I was looking forward to reading this latest anthology, now out in trade paperback. A smart collection of short fiction and poetry, featuring many of my favorite writers, it did not disappoint.
All of us are familiar with stories about tricksters, whether we're aware of it or not. From Br'er Rabbit and Bugs Bunny to Anansi and Coyote, every culture has tales of tricksters. The stories in this collection are as varied as the cultures and time periods they cover, and the form the trickster takes is often surprising. While some stories feature familiar characters out of legend, many of them show us that anyone (or anything) can be a trickster, and as it goes with tricksters, you never know how it's going to turn out.
The tales take you from ancient Greece to the near future, from China to the Louisiana bayou, and many interesting times and places in between. I enjoyed all of the stories, some more than others of course, but there wasn't a dud among them. Each story or poem has an magical illustration by Charles Vess that adds to its mystique.
If you enjoy mythic fiction, fantasy, or even just a good yarn, I highly recommend The Coyote Road.
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