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Gathers stories by some of today's most popular authors including Kurt Vonnegut, Terry Pratchett, Roald Dahl, Arthur C. Clarke, Piers Anthony, and P. G. Wodehouse, in a collection that explores humankind's fascination with flying. Reprint.

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

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About the author

Peter Haining

315 books95 followers
Peter Alexander Haining (April 2, 1940 – November 19, 2007) was a British journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

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5 stars
884 (37%)
4 stars
718 (30%)
3 stars
584 (25%)
2 stars
110 (4%)
1 star
38 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Dane Cobain.
Author 19 books323 followers
May 7, 2017
I couldn’t decide whether to give this a four or a five, but in the end, I made the call and I’m happy with it. This book is fascinating in many ways, and it’s pretty much the perfect introduction to the genres of comic fantasy and comic science fiction. Because it’s a collection of short stories, you get to meet a huge range of authors as diverse as Terry Pratchett, C. S. Lewis, Roald Dahl and Arthur C. Clarke.

For some reason, I wasn’t expecting much when I started reading this. I mean, I’m a fan of a bunch of the contributors, but I just didn’t think it was going to be as good as it was. In the end, though, it turned out to be the best collection of assorted stories that I’ve ever read. It’s the kind of book that you just can’t stop reading – there’s so much to take in that you can really read it how you want, whether you decide to dip in and out of it or whether you prefer to work your way through it in one sitting.

It’s hard for me to pick a favourite from the stories in the collection, but I will say that I was surprised by the quality of each of the authors – and not just the ones that I already liked to begin with. In fact, this is almost a rallying call for the genres of comic fantasy and comic science fiction, and it signals the arrival of a serious genre of literary significance. It gives you a buzz to see how fictional worlds can be used to reflect the real life situations of the authors who wrote them, and you’ll have a laugh along the way at the same time.

Overall, then, if you have an interest in the genre – or if you’d simply like to get started with a comprehensive introduction – there isn’t anywhere better to get started. This book belongs on your bookcase, whatever you’re into. It’s one of those rare books that have a broad appeal – and you might meet a new favourite author.
Profile Image for Mysteryfan.
1,753 reviews21 followers
August 29, 2017
Short story collection, so suitable for a commute or plane ride. The stories have nothing to do with flying, the way the book's blurb described it. I also can't agree that it's a collection of comic science fiction and fantasy. It falls more in the category of funny peculiar than funny ha-ha. I will say it includes short stories by some of the classic authors in the genre. That makes it a nice overview of the field.
Profile Image for Chronographia.
104 reviews6 followers
September 11, 2017
With the caveat that—although this book contains a Pratchett story, it is juvenilia and only of interest to completist Pratchett fans (who are those people anyway??)—the best damn story in this book is by the only woman author included in the book, Angela Carter. A story which is reprinted in a number of other anthologies (Burning Your Boats, The Bloody Chamber), in considerably less tedious company. Go read those instead.
Profile Image for Kamil.
18 reviews
July 18, 2019
Fenomenalny zbiór. Opowiadania są na szkolną szóstkę, a w najgorszym przypadku na czwórkę. Na niektóre historie mógłbym się normalnie nie natknąć, bo zdarzają się bardzo stare perełki, raczej ciężko dostępne. Nie mogłem się oderwać. Natychmiast zakupiłem pozostałe 2 tomy opowiadań - w jednym z nich m.in. Woody Allen :)
289 reviews2 followers
April 10, 2012
So far I haven't finished this, but the only thing that raised a chuckle was PG Wodehouse. Even Terry Pratchett's one wasn't as good. I'll read it to the end, but don't hold out much hope so far....
Profile Image for Ana Vicente.
Author 1 book9 followers
June 26, 2013
Marvyn Peake's "Danse Macabre" is lovely, but I have no idea why it's included in a collection of comic SF&F stories, and the same with Angela Carter's "The Lady of the House of Love" - while some of the other stories are not necessarily comic in nature, they all have humorous element, but not so much with these two.

Piers Anthony's "Possible to Rue" is probably my favourite of all the stories in this book, it starts like a nice little bit of domesticity and then whams you right in the paradigm. "Specialist" by Robert Sheckley is another story that upends some established concepts about the nature of things and people.

William F. Nolan's retelling of The Hound of the Baskerville's "The Adventure of the Martian Moons" is wonderful, but it mixes four things I love: SF, Sherlock Holmes, hard-boiled detective stories, and a fourth one I'm not disclosing because it would spoil the end. Either way, I might be a bit biased here.

Also loved "The Right Side" by John Collier, "The Roaches" by Thomas M. Disch, "A Good Shellacking" by Stanislaw Lem, and Harry Harrison's "The Golden Years of The Stainless Steel Rat"
Profile Image for Christine.
6,959 reviews535 followers
May 4, 2009
This collection is a mixed bag. In fact, I only liked one of the stories in the third section. It was "From Gustible's Planet".

Part of the poem is that Haining seems to be using the terms "fantasy" and "comic" very boardly. Wodehouse's story, "A Slice of Life" is funny, but it isn't really fantasy. "Danse Macabre" by Peake is a really good spooky story, but it's not funny (neither is the story "Roaches" for that matter).

There are some good stories though. "Turntables of the Night" by Terry Pratchett is good and features Death outside of the Disc. "Sam Small's Better Half" by Eric Knight is a funny and very touching story about a marriage. I didn't know Lassie's creator wrote fantasy. Now I want to find more of his work. "Nasty" by Fredric Brown might just be the best story in the collection, unless it is "The Stone Thing" by Michael Moorcock.

Profile Image for Ondřej Puczok.
760 reviews31 followers
April 28, 2017
Četl jsem to v rámci dočítání všech kousků od Pratchetta, přičemž ten samotný mě docela zklamal (jde hned o první kousek). Dalších povídek všech možných autorů je v knize ale víc než dost a dost z nich je zajímavých, překvapivých a povedených. Velká část je však podivuhodná a podivuhodně divná. Někdy jsem si opravdu říkal, že nemám šajn, co to vlastně čtu. Bavilo mě to ale celou dobu :)

PS: Co mě naopak nebavilo, byly úvodní medailonky autorů. To bych dal někam na konec jako vysvětlení, ale mezi povídky bych to nepletl. Zvláště, když to někdy odhalovalo pointu. Asi ve čtvrtině jsem je tak začal cíleně přeskakovat...
Profile Image for Max Ostrovsky.
570 reviews58 followers
May 12, 2014
Less funny "ha ha," and more funny "huh."

Stanislaw Lem makes the entire book worth reading. Even though it's a collection and sure, you could just read the one Lem story, the comparison to everything else in the book only makes it stand out as spectacular that much more.
Of course, there were other truly great stories, but the Lem story so overshadows everything else, it deserves mention. The Clarke story is also very impressive.
Sherlock Holmes in space did want me to smack my head, but it was fun.
Profile Image for K.
1,149 reviews16 followers
May 27, 2015
Old sci-fi & fantasy is interesting to read in that it often has a completely different feel to it than more modern pieces. This is a collection of short stories, including one by Terry Pratchett (and the reason why I picked this up). I enjoyed it, but I've found that these types of books are best for discovering new authors, rather than amazing you with their stores. There are some gems, but some that aren't as exciting. So, read it if you'd like to explore old-school writers & potentially dig up a 'new' favorite, but otherwise you can skip it.
49 reviews20 followers
August 24, 2015
This is a rich and diverse collection of fantasy, science fiction and horror, all having humour in common. What makes it so bountiful is the range of writing styles, stories and three different genres (despite the book initially appearing to be fantasy only). Excellent diversity and a good pointer to many other authors.

I really enjoyed this compilation. Hope you do too :)
Profile Image for Andrew Matheson.
20 reviews
July 11, 2015
What I like about this book was how it introduced me to authors and sun-genres of SF I had not encountered. I agree with other reviews that there were few laugh-out-loud moments, but each was humourous in its own way. A good read and worth the time if you want a summary of SF history.
Profile Image for Kitten.
794 reviews4 followers
May 20, 2017
The Flying Sorcerers is a collection of short stories from different authors with unique writing styles; as such, a reader is likely to enjoy some of the stories more than others. The stories are not all funny or, at least, not all funny in the same way.
Profile Image for Lindsay.
1,329 reviews20 followers
July 10, 2008
I found the quality of these stories varied a bit, although there were some I quite enjoyed and some of the ideas were pretty interesting. I thought the final story was a good way to end the book.
519 reviews3 followers
December 18, 2008
A collection of fantasy short stories, good bad and indifferent.
Profile Image for Lera.
Author 1 book2 followers
November 4, 2012
OK. Got from a bookswap, not a keeper.
Profile Image for Tom Britz.
914 reviews20 followers
October 21, 2013
These stories, some of which have nothing to do with Sorcerers or Flying, are not stories that stick with you. This is not one of the better anthologies out there.
435 reviews4 followers
April 15, 2019
Book #:7
Title: The Flying Sorcerers
Editor: Peter Haining
Popsugar Category: Advanced: Two books that share the same title (Book 2)
Popsugar Category: Basic: A book set in space
Popsugar Category: Basic: A book inspired by mythology, legend, or folklore
Popsugar Category: Basic: A book about someone with a superpower
Popsugar Category: Basic: A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature
Popsugar category: Basic: A ghost story
Goodreads Category: A book from one of the top 5 money making genres (science fiction/fantasy/horror)
Goodreads Category: A book where the author’s name contains A, T, and Y (Piers Anthony)
Dagonell Category: A book about Sherlock Holmes NOT written by A.C.Doyle
A-Z Title: F for Flying
A-Z Author: H for Haining
Format: Paperback, Interlibrary Loan
Rating: ***** five out of five stars

I don't actually intend to use the book for all of the categories listed. It seems a bit of a cheat as the categories apply to individual stories rather than the entire book. That being said, I'm amazed at the book's very existence! It has the identical title as a book I loved in high school, I've never heard of the editor, and the index of authors reads like a who's who of fantasy, science fiction and horror! Piers Anthony, Robert Bloch, Arthur C. Clarke, Roald Dahl, L.Sprague De Camp, Harry Harrison, Stanislaw Lem, C.S. Lewis, Terry Pratchett, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. etc.

While I have read a few of the short stories before, the majority of them were new to me. Normally, a collection of short stories is all over the map with some great stories, some so-so, and some clunkers. Not the case, here. Great stories by great authors, you can't go wrong with that.
Profile Image for Zany.
363 reviews8 followers
December 31, 2020
100 % Terry Pratchett: Gramofony noci
60 % Pelham Grenville Wodehouse: Ze života
70 % Lyon Sprague de Camp & Murray Fletcher Pratt: Zdokonalená pastička na myši
70 % Eric Knight: Lepší polovina Sama Smalla
70 % Mervyn Peake: Tanec smrti
80 % C. S. Lewis: Krajina bez výrazu
90 % Kurt Vonnegut, jr.: Harrison Bergeron
80 % Piers Anthony: Naříkat až olitovat
70 % John Collier: Ta správná strana
60 % Fredric Brown: Ohava
90 % Nelson Slade Bond: Špiritistická seance
70 % Thomas Michael Disch: Švábi
60 % Angela Carter: Paní z domu lásky
70 % Michael John Moorcock: Kamenná věc
100 % Robert Albert Bloch: Cvokař a kočka
100 % Roald Dahl: Ach, to sladké tajemství života!
70 % Stephen Leacock: Muž v azbestu
90 % John Wyndham: Samička svého druhu
90 % Stanisław Lem: Řádský výprask
100 % Cordwainer Smith: Z Melsounovy planety
60 % Robert Sheckley: Specialista
80 % William Francis Nolan: Dobrodružství marsovských měsíců
80 % Harry Harrison: Ocelová krysa na zaslouženém odpočinku
90 % Arthur C. Clarke: Žádné další ráno
Profile Image for shadesofwords.
182 reviews5 followers
July 1, 2019
Entertaining and thought-provoking story-lines - a collection A motley collection of humorous fantasy fiction tales with a mix of both science fiction and the supernatural.
What makes the book really special is:
A) It has the earlier works of some of the best names in the business - Terry Pratchett, Arthur Clarke, PG Wodehouse ( I was surprised too!!), CS Lewis to list a few
B) Every story begins with a little background on storytelling in that genre and its interesting to learn more about authors and literature in that category
C) And lastly but most importantly is the collection of stories itself. Loosely classified under 'Comic tales of fantasy', each story is written with a sense of irony or humor. No story takes itself too seriously and therein lies the entertainment.

For detailed review (& more book reviews) go here - https://shadesofwords.com/the-flying-...
Profile Image for Roberta.
Author 2 books11 followers
February 8, 2020
This was great fun though I found it to begin a little clumsily. Of course, it is a collection of stories, but the initial part, except for the Pratchett 'Turntables of the Night', wasn't that great. The other sections attracted me more, with the 'Vacant Space' being the best for me. 'Specialist' by Robert Sheckley, about spaceships made up of living beings that are specialised for a particular function (walls, engine, talker) definitely sticks in the mind.
Generally though, I found the first volume of the anthology ('The Wizards of Odd') a stronger
and more memorable collection.
Profile Image for J.R. Santos.
Author 8 books18 followers
August 6, 2023
One of the best anthologies I've read.

Robert Sheckley's "Specialist" stand out as one of the absolute best and most creative pieces of writing.

The story "Nasty" I had already read in the 1st mayflower Book of Black Magic stories.
Profile Image for Tim Robinson.
864 reviews55 followers
July 28, 2019
A collection if allegedly funny fantasy short stories, some of which are not funny and others are not fantasy. Mediocre.
140 reviews
November 22, 2020
Fun anthology of short stories by awesome authors of comic fantasy. :D
Profile Image for Laura.
5 reviews
September 10, 2012
I really wanted to like this book because it's a compilation of short fantasy stories from some of my favorite authors, like Terry Pratchett and Roald Dahl, but it wasn't to be. Some of the stories were good, some were just weird, and some were sketchy, and eventually enough were sketchy enough (plus the book was due) that I returned it to the library. I was able to get about 3/4 of the way through it though.

Side note: Something I thought was weird was the editors's note that said that they chose the title "Flying sorcerers" because most of the stories had something to do with flying, I didn't notice that. I was keeping an eye out for it even and from what I could tell hardly any of them had something to do with flying, but that's besides the point.

Each story was prefaced with a bio of the author and that was fun to read and find out more about who had written the story, what his (most them were male) writing influences were and what some of his more popular works were.

Bottom line, if you do decide to read this book, I would suggest being very choosy about which stories you read. Or just choose not to read it as there are a lot of other books out there that are more worth the time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

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