Six stories of fantasy and science fiction by a modern master, including three pieces published for the first time: "The Path of Progess," "Kalamada's Blessing," "The Shepherd's Daughter," "Shadows of the Past," "Reconstruction," and the original short fantasy novel, "The Return of the Djinn."
Eight highly-readable essays on science fiction and fantasy writers, including David Brin, Jonathan Carroll, Samuel R. Delany, Joe Haldeman, Robert Irwin, Graham Joyce, Michael Shea, plus a major piece, "Against the New Gods," on British SF and crime writer Sydney Fowler Wright. Complete with Bibliography and Index.
Eight tales of science fiction and fantasy perched on the edge of reality, including one dark fantasy novella, "Appearances," published for the first time anywhere.
This collection brings together the ten earliest stories in Brian Stableford’s series of "Tales of the Biotech Revolution," all written in the 1980s, except for one anomalous example from the 1960s. The dates in some of the stories, located a comfortable distance in the future when the stories were written, have now long past, revealing certain anomalies of early expectation; but they have been left unaltered, as nostalgic samples of yesterday’s long-dead and perhaps much-lamented tomorrows. The collection begins and ends, as is surely only appropriate, with flamboyant utopian fantasies boldly asserting the perfectibility of humankind and the world of which the species has custody. Great science-fiction reading by a master of the form!
Eight essays on science fiction and fantasy: "Narrative Strategies in Science Fiction," "Immortality in Science Fiction," "Why There Is (Almost) No Such Thing as Science Fiction," "Perfectibility and the Novel of the Future," "In Search of a New Genre," "Ecology and Dystopia," "Cosmic Horror," and "Growing Up as a Superhero." Complete with bibliography and index.
In the tradition of the old "Ace Doubles," two-in-one books (flip one over to read the second title)--here is the fourth Wildside Double. "Les Fleurs du Mal: A Tale of the Biotech Revolution," by Brian Stableford. In the year 2550, where premediated murder is supposedly impossible, a serial killer begins attacking very old men with specially bred plants that eat them from the inside out, creating the bizarre "flowers of evil" ("les fleurs du mal"). Biotech artist Oscar Wilde teams with UN detectives Charlotte Holmes and Hal Watson to unravel this futuristic nightmare. A Hugo Award finalist in the Novella category. "The Undead: A Tale of the Biotech Revolution," by Brian Stableford. In the world of the future, the latest rage is the creation of "Undead" personality simulations to place within the tombstones of the recently departed. But when a cluster of new monuments is vandalized, cemetery Chief Security Officer Tann Hicks must find the perpetrators and stop the crimes. Are the sims really dead? As the controversy over the Undead grows, with religious fanatics lining up against right-to-life advocates, Tann finds himself at the center of a growing political and media storm.
Thirty-four review essays of science fiction, fantasy, and horror authors and musical groups, including works by the following: Poul Anderson, Kim Antieau, Jackie Askew, Ataraxia, Stephen Baxter, Gregory Benford, David Britton, Philip George Chadwick, Hal Clement, Kathryn Cramer, Avram Davidson, Grania Davis, Stephen Dedman, Marcus Donnelly, Greg Egan, Michael Flynn, Forkbeard Fantasy, Neil Gaiman, Glenn Grant, Charles L. Harness, David G. Hartwell, Alexander Jablokov, John Kessel, Sophia Kingshill, Nancy Kress, Manuela Dunn Mascetti, Paul McAuley, Tim Powers, Albert Robida, Mary Doria Russell, William Moy Russell, Sharon Shinn, Sopor Aeternus and the Ensemble of Shadows, Emile Souvestre, Michel de Spiegeleire, Allen Steele, Michael Swanwick, Judith Tarr, Thee Vampire Guild, Jeff VanderMeer, Freda Warrington, John D. Wilson, Terri Windling, and Ronald Wright.
The new collection features 14 essays relevant to the Literary Decadence movement, including pieces on: Joris-Karl Huysmans, Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Aloysius Bertrand, Theophile Gautier, Victor Hugo, Honore de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, Emile Zola, Edmond de Goncourt, and Anatole France. Complete with bibliography and index.