Digital Domains

Starred review from May 17, 2010
Datlow (The Best Horror of the Year) collects 15 compelling short works that first appeared between 1996 and 2005 in three pioneering online magazines: OMNI Online, Event Horizon, and SCIFICTION. The stories vary widely, but all shine with intelligence, thoughtfulness, and sly humor. James Blaylock messes with time and reality in "Thirteen Phantasms," the first online publication to win the World Fantasy Award. In Paul Park's "Get a Grip," one man's reality is definitely not the same as anyone else's. In "Harbingers," Severna Park brings aliens to war-torn Tanzania. Kim Newman takes wicked, witty aim at the British civil service, scientists, and professors in "Tomorrow Town." Datlow has compiled an eminently readable group of first-rate short fiction by authors who dared to push forward into the new, uncharted medium of the Internet.