Better than average anthology. I’ve noticed a close, but inverse relationship between title hype (“Best … of 2016”) and the quality of the stories. This volume features stories—mostly classic and modern tales published by Baen’s (surprise) usual suspects—about monstrosities. Not necessarily monsters, per se. It succeeds.

If you're thinking of reading it, don’t read the Goodreads.com summary. It contains both spoilers and errors.

My personal favorites are John W. Campbell’s “Whoever Fights Monsters” and Sarah A. Hoyt’s “From Out of the Fire.” Both involve an element of humor. Only Robert E. Howard’s Conan-esque monster killer tale was a repeat for me. (Wonder how his 1935 paean to Arianism fared later?) Several were outright horror stories, a genre I do not enjoy.

Interestingly, several stories were written to order for pulp SF magazines back when that was a common approach. Their quality is still high.
anthology ebook fantasy ...more3 s Morgan Dhu683 13

I read The Big Baen Book of Monsters, edited by Hank Davis, because it contains the Hugo-nominated story "A Single Samurai" by Steven Diamond. It was part of the Hugo voters package, and as both the premise and the table of contents looked interesting, I decided to read the entire anthology. After all, monsters have always been a big part of science fiction, especially during the years of the pulps. We can speculate on just what these horrifying creatures represent, from the Communist Menace to an angry planet taking back control - but the frisson of fear, the element of awe, that we experience in reading such tales can be great fun, as long as we're safe at home when we read about them.

The opening story was one by Arthur C. Clarke that was new to me, "The Shining Ones," in which a deepsea engineer encounters something unexpected and vast - and deadly. Good, but what else does one expect from Clarke?

In Howard Waldrop's "All About Strange Monsters of the Recent Past," the Earth is overwhelmed by all the monsters from every '50s sci-fi film (Martian invaders, giant lizards and grasshoppers and everything else that was ever put on film in that decade, and one of the few remaining humans heads to New Mexico for a showdown from one of the first films of the genre, Them! Fun reading.

"The Monster-God of Mamurth" by Edmond Hamilton, in which some travellers in North Africa find a dying archaeologist who has discovered an ancient city, an invisible temple and a horrifying monster-god. Nicely Lovecraftesque.

"Talent," by Robert Bloch, is the story of a very odd child with a remarkable talent for mimicry and an obsession with watching and imitating the villains from the movies. A showcase for Bloch's remarkable talent for horror.

David Drake's "The End of the Hunt" could best be described as a far future "Leiningen Versus the Ants" - with a genetically engineered symbiote as Leiningen facing off against some extremely mutated ants. An interesting idea, but the telling is a bit disjointed.

Anthony Melville Rud's "Ooze," first published in 1923, is a tale set in a "sinister" southern Alabama swamp, home to "darkys" and "queer, half-wild" Cajans who are notable for distilling and selling illicit "shinny." Setting aside as best one can the casual racism of the time, the next bit that made me a tad uncomfortable was learning that the protagonist is raising the daughter of deceased friends Lee and Peggy - having had a crush on Peggy, he now hopes the four-year-old Elsie will come to love him as more than a foster father. Oh well, on to the story. The protagonist has come to Alabama to find out whether, as is believed, Lee's scientist father John, who had been conducting research in the swamp, went mad and killed his son and daughter-in-law. As one would expect from the title and the set-up, the answer is no, it wasn't dear old dad, but rather a scientific experiment he'd been cooking up back in the swamp. The story is very much in the same vein as Lovecraft's work, though perhaps a bit less florid, but lacks the intensity and focus of the best of Lovecraft.

Robert E. Howard's "Valley of the Worm" begins with an unfortunate paean to the glory of the blond-haired, blue-eyed Aryan race, into which the narrator has been born throughout thousands of incarnations - one of which being the iron-thewed warrior Niord whose doings the story celebrates. Niord's nomadic tribe of Nordheimers has wandered far, ending up in a jungle, where they meet savage Picts, capturing in battle a warrior named Grom who is described as "grinning broadly and showing tusk- teeth, his beady eyes glittering from under the tangled black mane that fell over his low forehead. His limbs were almost ape in their thickness." After that, the Nordheimers and Picts live peaceably, until a group of young Nordheimers decide to settle in a valley feared by the Picts. You can probably tell the story yourself from here. A classic Howard story, with mighty sword-wielding heroes, a ghastly monster, and all the subtlety of a Mack truck.

In Wen Spencer's "Whoever Fights Monsters," a mild-mannered insurance adjustor deals with some very strange damage claims, two laconic government agents obsessed with food, and a lake monster hunting for its stolen eggs. A monster story with a light touch.

In Steven Utley's "Deviations from a Theme," we encounter a species of god- creatures from outside the time-space continuum as we know it, whose favoured pastime is creating universes. But when a teacher allows an inept student of the art to practice on their own creation, the consequences are quote deadly.

"The Eggs from Lake Tanganyika" by Curt Siodmak is one of those cautionary tales about Western natural scientists who think they know better than the inhabitants of the area they are studying. In this case, an entomologist brings home four gigantic eggs that terrified his African hosts. Hatching ensues, but the ending is too facile to work effectively.

And what collection of monster tales would be complete without something from one of the early masters of monstrous horror, H. P. Lovecraft? "The Dunwich Horror" unfolds in its elliptical, italicized and adjective-laden manner, building up to the final revelation concerning the children of Lavinia Whateley.

In Sarah A. Hoyt's "From Out the Fire," a squad of mage-soldiers take on the threat of 50-foot fire snails that could trigger the Yellowstone caldera to erupt. Some nice twists and turns.

"Beauty and the Beast," by Golden Age master Henry Kuttner, begins with the crash landing on Earth of a spaceship sent out just a few months before to explore Venus. The man who finds the wreck also finds its pilot dead, with notes on the ruins of an ancient Venusian civilisation, some seeds, and a great jewel- egg. Naturally, our protagonist plants the seeds and hatches the egg - but which is the beauty and which the beast?

William Hope Hodgson's "The Island of the Ud" is a rip-roaring seaman's tale about ship captains and treasure hunting and wild devil women and sea monsters, by one of the early masters of modern fantasy.

Steven Diamond's "A Single Samurai was something of a disappointment. An interesting idea - a mountain-sized kaiju awakens and begins to destroy the countryside, and one samurai tries to stop it - but rather blandly executed, and with a climax that stretches one's suspension of belief.

In "Planet of Dread," a novelette by classic sf pulp writer Murray Leinster, a group of fugitives battle giant insects and internal conflicts on a planet where terrafoming went seriously wrong. Good pulpy fun.

Philip Wylie's "Letter to the Thessalonians" is actually an excerpt from a novel, but stands alone because it is a short story written by the main character. In this tale, a thousand-mile high giant sets down on earth, its feet in the Atlantic Ocean, its head well above the atmosphere. As sea levels rise, and panic spreads, Wylie deftly satirises all the standard responses of humans to crisis.

In Wardon Allan Curtis' " The Monster of Lake Lametrie," published in 1899, a scientist and his companion explore the area around a remote lake in the mountains of Wyoming, where they encounter an elasmosaurus, and very peculiar things happen.

The cast of Hank Davis' "The Giant Cat of Sumatra" includes several members of the ancient Egyptian pantheon including two immortal cat-goddesses who can assume human form, Sherlock Holmes, and of course, the Giant Rat of Sumatra. It's a fun read.

In "Greenface" by James H. Schmitz, a strange green gelatinous creature terrorises the guests at a fishing camp, growing larger as time passes.

The final story in the anthology is "Tokyo Raider" by Larry Correia. In an alternate Earth, where people have powers that enable them to manipulate forces such as fire, ice and gravity, an American soldier-mage uses his powers to control a giant Japanese-made robot in an attack on an enormous city-destroying Russian demon that seems remarkably Godzilla.

All in all some great stories, some decent stories, a few disappointments - about par for any anthology - and lots of very cool monsters.



* This anthology contains 21 stories, two of which are identifiable as being written by women.
2 s Aiyana485

A good roundup of stories. Plenty of different writing styles here, a wide range of monsters from oversized amoebas to ambulatory mountains, and tales from the chilling to the absurd. Also, good brief bios of each writer and their major works.dark-fiction short-works-and-anthologies speculative-fiction1 Leonca163

I complained in my review of Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters about lumping too many stories with a depressing tone together. This is more it. 6 out of 21 authors caught my interest enough to look up more of their work. This collection features many stories which are fun, exciting, and a little silly. One of my favorites features a man having his brain transplanted into the body of a lake monster and learning how to talk and sing through its long throat. It is every bit as awesome and goofy as it sounds.best-fiction-inspired-by-mythology owned1 Ron3,661 9

The cover gives away the theme of this title - Big Monsters! Hank Davis has collected an interesting group of authors and tales. Many of the tales are reprints from magazines of the 1930's and 1940's along with a scattering of more recent works. I have read some of these tales before. My personal favorites are "Greenface," "Tokyo Raider," "The Giant Cat of Sumatra," and "Whoever Fights Monsters." If you monster tales, pick this up and enjoy! adventure fantasy horror ...more Bill Borre344 1 followerRead

"Beauty and the Beast" by Henry Kuttner - A giant intelligent alien from Venus is feared by humans and attacked before it can warn them of the beautiful deadly Venusian plants that will flower and destroy all life on Earth.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review Suncerae575

One short story, A Single Samurai, from The Baen Big Book of Monsters is nominated for a Hugo Award, and this is a review of that single story. Set in Japan, an unnamed lone samurai sets out to slay a kaiju that’s as big as a mountain. As his entire home is destroyed, villages trampled, villagers dead and dying, the Samurai reflects on how a flea comprehends a dog.

With a brave and loyal Samurai’s mission to fight an impossible monster, you’ve got a easy-to-root-for sympathetic protagonist.
The story opens as the Samurai is riding the kaiju as it heads south. The reader is able to create a vivid picture of a monster so massive, that the Samurai could spend days traversing its back. It’s an intense image, and combined with the brave and loyal Samurai’s mission to fight this impossible monster, you’ve got a easy-to-root-for sympathetic protagonist. In addition to the traditional myths of the Samurai legend, this story includes a small description and demonstration of how the Samurai’s soul is embedded within his daisho, so that when he kills, his soul momentarily connects souls with his victim.

I do, however, find it confusing when the Samurai finds limbs of dead soldiers in a clearing even though he’s still on the beasts’ back. How did the soldiers reach such a place when the Samurai experienced stone slides and tree falls, earthquakes, and caves to get there? On the way he also encounters unknown cat-shaped animals who want to eat him. He quickly slays them and moves on, but I’m grasping for details not provided. The time frame also isn’t clear because of the multiple flashbacks in time.

I’m a sucker for the big, stoic, honorable hero fighting against all odds, so the concept of this story caught me right away. Unfortunately, the execution was confusing, and left me unsatisfied. Recommended for fans of Godzilla and the Japanese monster legends. A.J.374 2

Read for the 2015 Hugos - A Single Samurai

I really enjoyed this story. The narrator was an interesting character. He doesn't have a name, but he doesn't need one either. There are a number of flashbacks and other scenes that at first glance seem to be filler. However, they are all setting up important pieces of the story that come later. This foreshadowing was great. There are also several emotional moments in the story that really worked for me. All-in-all, an excellent story with a cool, new take on Godzilla.hugos-2015 Norman Cook1,490 18

2015 Hugo Short Story Nominee: "A Single Samurai" by Steven Diamond. 6 pages.

I really d the premise of the story, an ancient samurai fighting a giant kaiju monster with nothing but his wits and swords. Unfortunately, the writing was mediocre at best. For example, this gem: "The pain was the worst I had ever felt previously."

Perhaps even worse was that Diamond seemed to do his research by watching old samurai movies. The story was filled with stereotypes and misinformation. This is not up to Hugo Award standards.2015-hugo-campbell-finalists e-book Vinh-Thang150 35

Read this book solely for the short story by Larry Correia and was not disappointed ! Every character I loved so much in the original Grimnoir series showed up or was alluded to, and holy shit Joe is awesome !!! Can't wait to read the second Grimnoir trilogy.

The story itself is excellent and is a tribute to everything Japan: big monsters, big robots, big monsters fighting big robots etc. As usual, Larry Correia crafts an excellent magic system and writes thouroughly gripping action scenes.format-ebook language-english Bill2,114 13

An interesting array of stories from classic to modern. My favorites were Shining Ones (Clarke), Valley of the Worm (Howard), Whoever Fights Monsters (Spencer), and A Single Samurai (Diamond). Margaret610 16

I read some of the stories. I may not have read most of the stories. Dawn Paris127 2

A lovely book of short stories about big monsters. Benjamin Koch43 1 follower

Nice collection of short stories. Especially the mix of old and new ones. There were some i d more than others but that is to be excpected in an anthologie. StephanieAuthor 16 books125

Read "A Single Samurai" as part of the 2015 Hugos.

One of the better stories nominated as part of the Puppy slate, but still not award-winning, in my opinion.read-2015 James Ellis474 9

A solid anthology whose varied stories derive from a century of authors. This - plus the sheer variety of the monsters involved - helps keep this large volume from feeling stale.anthology fantasy horror ...more Kiro Selanor659 1 follower

Contains some good stories, but nothing great: these stories are unexceptional. John Davies543 11

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