Ellen Kushner Anthologies books in order

Anthologies edited by or featuring Ellen Kushner, including fantasy collections, the Bordertown shared-world series, and Year's Best Fantasy and Horror annuals, published between 1980 and 2020.

Reading order

# Title Published Author Buy on Amazon
1 Basilisk 1980 Ellen Kushner Buy
2 Borderland 1986 Ellen Kushner Buy
3 The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror Fourth Annual Collection 1991 Ellen Kushner Buy
4 Fourth Annual Collection 1991 Ellen Kushner Buy
5 Life on the Border 1991 Ellen Kushner Buy
6 Fifth Annual Collection 1992 Ellen Kushner Buy
7 Seventh Annual Collection 1994 Ellen Kushner Buy
8 Bending the Landscape: Fantasy 1997 Ellen Kushner Buy
9 The Horns of Elfland 1997 Ellen Kushner Buy
10 Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers 1998 Ellen Kushner Buy
11 Starlight 2 1998 Ellen Kushner Buy
12 Eleventh Annual Collection 1998 Ellen Kushner Buy
13 The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women 2001 Ellen Kushner Buy
14 New Magics 2004 Ellen Kushner Buy
15 In Lands That Never Were 2004 Ellen Kushner Buy
16 The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales 2007 Ellen Kushner Buy
17 Last Drink Bird Head 2009 Ellen Kushner Buy
18 The Beastly Bride: Tales of the Animal People 2009 Ellen Kushner Buy
19 Heiresses of Russ 2011: The Year’s Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction 2011 Ellen Kushner Buy
20 The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 5 2011 Ellen Kushner Buy
21 Teeth: Vampire Tales 2011 Ellen Kushner Buy
22 Welcome to Bordertown 2011 Ellen Kushner Buy
23 Season of Wonder 2012 Ellen Kushner Buy
24 Queen Victoria’s Book of Spell 2013 Ellen Kushner Buy
25 Games Creatures Play 2014 Ellen Kushner Buy
26 The Book Of Swords: Part 2 2018 Ellen Kushner Buy
27 Silk & Steel 2020 Ellen Kushner Buy

Ellen Kushner has been involved with anthologies throughout her career, both as an editor and as a contributing author. Her anthology work spans four decades and covers a wide range of fantasy subgenres, from fairy tale retellings to urban fantasy to queer speculative fiction.

Several of these anthologies are connected to the Bordertown shared-world project, which Kushner helped create along with Terri Windling. The Bordertown books are set in a city where our world meets the land of Faerie, and they feature stories by multiple authors all working within the same setting. Borderland (1986), Life on the Border (1991), and Welcome to Bordertown (2011) are the main volumes. Kushner also co-edited multiple volumes of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror annual anthology series with Windling.

Other anthologies on this list are multi-author collections where Kushner contributed individual stories. These range from themed volumes like Bending the Landscape: Fantasy (focused on LGBTQ+ fantasy) and The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales to broader collections like Silk & Steel and The Book of Swords. Her fiction in these volumes often carries the same emphasis on social dynamics and personal relationships that defines her Riverside novels.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Ellen Kushner Anthologies series?

There are 27 books in the Ellen Kushner Anthologies series, published between 1980 and 2020.

What is the first book in the Ellen Kushner Anthologies series?

The first book in the Ellen Kushner Anthologies series is Basilisk, published in 1980.

Which Ellen Kushner anthologies are best to start with?

Welcome to Bordertown (2011) is a good entry point for readers interested in Kushner’s editorial work. It is part of the Bordertown shared-world series, set in a city on the border between our world and Faerie. For her fiction in anthology form, Bending the Landscape: Fantasy and Silk & Steel both feature strong Kushner contributions.

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