title: The Wizards of Odd
text: # The Wizards of Odd
  
  The Wizards of Odd is a 1996 English compilation book of humorous short stories by many great writers in the science-fiction/fantasy genre. The stories were compiled by Peter Haining. The book is separated into three sections: Wizards and Wotsits: Stories of Cosmic Absurdity, Swords and Sorcery: Tales of Heroic Fantasy, and Astronauts and Aliens: Space Opera Yarns.
  
  ## Stories
  
  ### Wizards and Wotsits
  
  * "Theatre of Cruelty" by Terry Pratchett
  * "How Nuth Would Have Practised his Art Upon the Gnoles" by Lord Dunsany
  * "Hell Hath No Fury" by John Collier
  * "The Twonky" by Henry Kuttner
  * "A Great Deal of Power" by Eric Frank Russell
  * "Doodad" by Ray Bradbury
  * "Not By Its Cover" by Philip K. Dick
  * "The Rule of Names" by Ursula K. Le Guin
  
  ### Swords and Sorcery
  
  * "Mythical Beast" by Stephen R. Donaldson
  * "The Adventure of the Snowing Globe" by F. Anstey
  * "Affairs in Poictesme" by James Branch Cabell
  * "The Ring of Hans Carvel" by Fredric Brown
  * "The Brat" by Fritz Leiber
  * "A Good Knight's Work" by Robert Bloch
  * "Poor Little Warrior" by Brian W. Aldiss
  * "The Odd Odd Bird" by Avram Davidson
  
  ### Astronauts and Aliens
  
  * "Young Zaphod Plays it Safe" by Douglas Adams
  * "The Wild Asses of the Devil" by H. G. Wells
  * "Ministering Angels" by C. S. Lewis
  * "The Gnurrs Come from the Voodvork Out" by Reginald Bretnor
  * "Captain Wyxtpthll's Flying Saucer" by Arthur C. Clarke
  * "Playboy and the Slime God" by Isaac Asimov
  * "There's a Wolf in my Time Machine" by Larry Niven
  * "2BR02B" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
  
  ## Reception
  
  Gideon Kibblewhite reviewed The Wizards of Odd for Arcane magazine, rating it a 9 out of 10 overall. Kibblewhite comments that "It's difficult to award any anthology a perfect ten because some stories are inevitably better than others; The Wizards of Odd, though, comes close: a great nine."
  
  ## Reviews
  
  * Review by Steven H Silver (1997) in SF Site, Mid-December 1997, (1997)
  * Review by Don D'Ammassa (1998) in Science Fiction Chronicle, #195 February 1998
  