Product Description

The award-nominated stories in this collection will bring memories of the future flooding back. Two new stories and all-new afterwords enliven the past with a touch of the present and that which is yet to come. You don't need a collection of antique spaceships or a carefully calibrated time machine to share the memories of the final Holocaust survivor. You don't have to jump through the gate between universes in search of a lost friend. All you have to do is open your eyes. You'll remember the future. The future remembers you.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2978484 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This hard SF collection wears its heart on its sleeve, along with the various passions (the Holocaust, education, moral dilemmas) of its author. Characters must reconcile their rational objectives with their emotional judgment, intervening to save history's victims ("Time Ablaze") or pleading for humanity's ability to grow up ("Decisions"). The writing is often colorless, like the "transparent" prose of the classic SF writers Burstein idolizes, and the tone is elegiac and nostalgic, but the feelings are real if awkwardly expressed. Original material adds to one connected series and completes Burstein's homages to Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke. Burstein may be too close to his models to keep younger readers satisfied, but older fans will admire his dedication to remembering and honoring the past. (Nov.)
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Customer Reviews

An outstanding collection of science fiction stories
This collection of entertaining, thought-provoking, and accessible science fiction stories should captivate any fan of the genre. "I Remember the Future" gathers some of Michael Burstein's best stories (most of which were nominated for the Nebula and/or Hugo awards) along with a few new ones. My personal favorites are Kaddish for the Last Survivor, TeleAbsence, and Sanctuary, but I expect any one of these stories will be someone's favorite.

The complete list of stories:

* Kaddish for the Last Survivor: As the last Holocaust survivor lies dying, reporters and Holocaust deniers crowd around his home, while his granddaughter comes to visit with her non-Jewish boyfriend. This is probably Michael Burstein's most famous story, and justifiably so. In the afterword, the author includes the original ending for the story, which was fascinating to read - especially as it contained a personal result for the protagonist that, from reading the story as printed, I had assumed to be the opposite.
* TeleAbsence: A black kid from the inner city sneaks into an expensive virtual reality school.
* TelePresence: A murder mystery set in a virtual reality school, years after the events in "TeleAbsence."
* Broken Symmetry, Absent Friends, Reality Check, Empty Spaces: These four stories form the "Broken Symmetry" series, about a leak formed between two parallel universes and its repercussions for all the people involved. "Empty Spaces" is a new story in the series, written for this collection.
* Spaceships: In the far future, when humans no longer have bodies and exist as immortal presences in space, Kel has isolated himself from the rest of Humanity. He also has an odd hobby: he likes to collect spaceships....
* Decisions: An intriguing answer to the question of why, if there are aliens out there, we haven't heard from them yet.
* Time Ablaze: A heartbreaking time-travel story that focuses on the General Slocum tragedy in turn-of-the-century New York City.
* Seventy-Five Years: The only science-fiction story I've ever read that's about the US Census.
* Sanctuary: An alien fleeing religious persecution seeks sanctuary in a Catholic chapel.
* I Remember the Future: A dying science-fiction writer is in for quite a surprise.
* Cosmic Corkscrew: A time-traveler journeys to 1938 to make a copy of Isaac Asimov's first story.
* Paying it Forward: A fan writes an email to a dead writer - and receives a reply.

Not your father's science fiction
Michael Burstein is sometimes pigeonholed as an "old-fashioned" SF writer. Those who wish to do so will certainly find the proof they want in this, his first collection of short stories. Yet it also misses the point. Burstein has the same transparent style we associate with Isaac Asimov, but that doesn't mean the writing is artless nor that the content isn't right up-to-date.

In fact his stories might well have shocked an editor like John Campbell. Characters who are Orthodox Jews or poor black kids or Catholic priests? Stories that reflect on the history of the genre itself? This is NOT your father's science fiction.

I've known Michael Burstein for more than ten years and from his famous debut, "TeleAbsence," to his most recent stories, it's always been a pleasure to see where he's going next. This is a long overdue collection and a marvelous introduction to Burstein's work.

Grand, classic-style SF with big ideas and a big heart
Michael A. Burstein is an Isaac Asimov for the new millennium, producing award-nominated story after award-nominated story in the grand Asimovian tradition: straight-forward prose, clever ideas, and a shining humanity that makes one proud to be part of our species. My personal favorite is "Kaddish for the Last Survivor," but all the stories gathered here are terrific reminders of what SF is capable of in the hands of someone who genuinely loves the genre and knows its history. Bravo!