Who do today's top fantasy writers read--and why? This was the question posed to some of the most influential authors in the field today. This book is their answer. Here are seventeen of the most memorable stories in the genre, each one personally selected by a well-known writer, and each prefaced by that writer's explanation of his or her choice. Here's your chance to enjoy familiar favorites, and perhaps to discover some wonderful new treasures. In each case, you'll have the opportunity to see the story from the perspective of a master of the field.

"Ghosts of Wind and Shadow" • Charles de Lint chosen by Tanya Huff"Mazirian the Magician" • Jack Vance chosen by Robert Silverberg"Troll Bridge" • Terry Pratchett chosen by Michelle West"The Tale of Hauk" • Poul Anderson chosen by Mickey Zucker Reichert"In Our Block" • R.A. Lafferty chosen by Neil Gaiman"The Gnarly Man" • L. Sprague de Camp chosen by Terry Prachett"Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" • M.R. James chosen by Morgan Llywelyn"Homeland" • Barbara Kingsolver chosen by Charles de Lint"Stealing God" • Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald chosen by Katherine Kurtz"Shadowlands" • Elisabeth Waters chosen by Marion Zimmer Bradley"Mopsa the Fairy" • Jean Ingelow chosen by Gene Wolfe"Liane the Wayfarer" • [Dying Earth] • Jack Vance (aka The Loom of Darkness) chosen by George R.R. Martin"The Spring" • [John the Balladeer] • Manly Wade Wellman chosen by Andre Norton"That Hell-Bound Train" • Robert Bloch chosen by Rick Hautala"The Dancer from the Dance" • M. John Harrison chosen by Stephen R. Donaldson"More Spinned Against" • John Wyndham chosen by Matt Costello"The Bagman's Story" • Charles Dickens chosen by Margaret Weis"Unicorn Variations" • Roger Zelazny (aka Unicorn Variation) chosen by Fred Saberhagen