THE FAERY REEL - FIRST HARD COVER - BARGAIN. Edited by Ellen Datlow & Terry Windling. Featuring Neil Gaiman. NY: Viking, 2004. First Edition. 5 1/4 x 8 1/2. Hard Cover. Remainder. Fine / Fine. ISBN: 0670059145. Overview: Some of todays best fantasists draw on the great wealth of world faery lore and classic faery literature in this companion anthology to the World Fantasy Finalist The Green Man. Authors include Tanith Lee, Holly Black, and Neil Gaiman. Review: This lively anthology brings together 17 original stories and three poems with the common theme of fairies and other nature spirits. Windling leads off with a fine introductory essay on the origins, varieties, and attitudes toward fairies in different cultures and, in particular, their treatment in English literature and art. Among the authors represented are Neil Gaiman, Patricia McKillip, and Gregory Maguire, though less-well-known writers contribute some of the most imaginative and edgy pieces. Most of the stories bring magical elements into modern settings, including New York City, an English village, a Brazilian city, a Japanese mountainside, a French farm, and L.A. Datlow and Windling, who edit the annual adult anthology The Years Best Fantasy and Horror, call this a companion volume to The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest (2002) -- Booklist. List Price $19.95. 544 pp.