Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #614486 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-16
• Released on: 2006-05-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780765315632
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
This SF and fantasy anthology intended to raise money for the victims of the tsunami of 2004 opens with an introduction by Arthur C. Clarke, who lives on Sri Lanka, and ends with the editors' memories of listening to the disaster unfold on the news and the Web. In between are 23 above-par stories by such prominent writers as David Gerrold ("Report from the Near Future: Crystallization"), Larry Niven ("The Solipsist at Dinner"), Brian Aldiss ("Tiger in the Night") and David Drake ("The Day of Glory"). Both Adam Roberts ("And Tomorrow and") and Esther M. Friesner ("Abductio ad Absurdum") contribute humorous stories about how unexpected events that start off alarming end up innocuous or even amusing. In fact, the dominant theme of this volume is the variety of human reactions to the universe throwing spitballs. Perhaps we could hope for an equally readable effort to raise funds for New Orleans? (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
The tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia in December 2004 generated an unprecedented variety of fund-raising campaigns, none more remarkable than this anthology of original speculative fiction solicited from a high-powered assortment of authors. Sf legend Arthur C. Clarke, who remains a citizen of tsunami-damaged Sri Lanka, contributes the introduction, and only some of the ensuing selections take the tsunami as a contemplative starting point for disaster-driven themes. Other stories are based on themes ranging from alien abduction to the legend of King Arthur. In David Gerrold's sardonic tale, L.A.'s freeway system finally becomes so congested that all traffic in the L.A. basin freezes up in a chain reaction analogous to crystallization. Meanwhile, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson offer a new tale from the Dune universe. The entire collection constitutes thought-provoking entertainment for a good cause, with all publisher and author profits earmarked for the Save the Children Tsunami Relief Fund. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Customer Reviews

An outstanding collection of stories
I went into this anthology with one false assumption: I thought all the stories would be disaster stories. The book opens with an unusual disaster tale, "Report from the Near Future: Crystallization" by David Gerrold. The doom he imagines--the highways in LA becoming so congested they simply crytalize into an immobile object that can never be chipped away--is imaginative, but I was a little worried I might find the book a downer if I was going to be reading a score of stories about how the world might kill me.

Fortunately, the anthology veers from this pattern with the very next story, the hillarious "And Tomorrow and" by Adam Roberts, a quite clever send-up of MacBeth. Another laugh out loud story comes later in the book, "The strange case of Jared Spoon, who went to pieces for love" by Stel Pavlou. The story of a man in love with a dangerously psychotic woman who is sending him body parts in the mail is about as perfect a comment on the human condition as any I've read.

My favorite story in the book has to be "In the Matter of Fallen Angels" by Jacqueline Carey. This tale of a small town's encounter with a divine visitor is haunting. It is funny, moving, and thought-provoking. At times, it reminds me of a Garrison Keilor Lake Woebegone tale in the affection for the quirky small town characters. But it transcends a Prairie Home Companion tale simply by dealing with such mind boggling subject matter--there is, after all, an angel trapped in the chickenwire box out back of the general store, and Carey's subtle approach to the situation made me feel a sense of wonder that only the best SF and fantasy stories can evoke.

A good cause, a good book, the best story you're likely to read all year. What are you waiting for?

excellent cause; excellent anthology
The proceeds from this anthology go to help Save the Children's Tsunami Relief Fund; so purchasing the collections is a worthy endeavor. However, if that alone cannot motivate readers, the twenty-three short stories written by some of the best of speculative fiction writers on the market today are almost all excellent with no subpart submissions. The contributors obviously motivated by the cause diligently kept the bar at the highest quality level. The tales run the gamut of fantasy and science fiction to include a dangerous trek into fairy land, a lethal march with the military in space and an even more dangerous joy ride around a future Los Angeles. Whether the stories star alien species, mythological creatures, immortals; whether they are comedic; satiric (just ask Macbeth), or seriously cautionary all are terrifically entertaining.

Harriet Klausner

Some gems, overall great
Several stories stood out in this charitable collection. First and foremost was David Gerrold's opening piece. In fact, I call this one a tour-de-force and hopefully it will gain some notice during award season. It's a fictional recounting of a day (in the near-future?) when the insane Los Angeles traffic becomes completely grid-locked. Gerrold does a masterful job of showing the trickle-down effects of such an occurrence, showing the potential of a full-blown disaster.

Sherrilyn Kenyon contributes a well-written piece based in her Camelot world.

Scifi master Larry Niven writes a heartwarming story about the perception of reality.

Also of note, Michael Marshall Smith and Tim Lebbon....two Brits who write two moody, intruiging pieces that would do well as Lynch movies.

Overall, a great book. Goes for a nice charity. Check it out!