"Nighttown spreads beneath us like a toy village for rats; tiny windows showed candlelight, with only a few harsh, bright squares lit by battery lanterns and carbide lamps. I imagined the old men at their endless games of dominoes, under warm, fat drops of water that fell from wet wash hung out on poles between the plywood shanties. Then I tried to imagine him climbing patiently up through the darkness in his zoris and ugly tourist shirt, bland and unhurried. How was he tracking us?"
1. Introduction by Joe Haldeman
One of the more interesting introductions to a science fiction anthology. The author discusses a trip several science fiction authors took to Russia in the early 80s, and contrasts the Russian approach to science fiction to the Western version.
2. 1981 and Counting by Algis Budrys
A essay by a now-forgotten science fiction critic. He praises good science fiction for its emphasis on the idea, and then proceeds to drown himself in words, thus obscuring whatever ideas he was trying to communicate.
3. Venice Drowned by Kim Stanley Robinson
I recently finished Ronbinson's 2312, and this is definitely a younger, less mature effort. A boatman in a future Venice contemplates the past while trying to stay afloat during a storm.
4. The Quiet by George Florence-Guthridge
A woman from the Kalahari finds herself on display in a lunar zoo exhibit. It's a masterful mix of Anthropology and science fiction, and one of the more unique stories I've read in a while.
5. Going Under by Jack Dann
A tourist from the future finds love within a reenactment of the Titanic disaster. Passable, but I was expecting more of a twist at the end.
6. Johnny Mnemonic by William Gibson
The short story that inspired the movie. The story isn't that long, and having encountered Gibson before through Neuromancer I knew what to expect. It's a stylish, polished story full of action.
7. Films and Television - 1981 by Baird Searles
Again with 1981, but the earliest date of publication I can find is 1983.
As in "1981 and Counting," the author speculates on science fiction trends of the time, this time with an eye toward movies and TV. The author is definitely what we would now call a hipster, but just the same reading his analyses of Outland, Altered States, Flash Gordon, Superman II, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Wolfen, Excalibur, Dragonslayer and the Buck Rogers TV show SO long after the fact was really fun. I was a little kid when all these movies and TV shows first appeared, and seeing them from the perspective of someone who was an adult at the time was interesting.
8. Zeke by Timothy Robert Sullivan
An albino visits a freak show and makes a surprising discovery. It's not a great story by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll give it a passing grade.
9. The Saturn Game by Poul Anderson
The longest story in this collection. Several explorers, caught up in a kind of role playing game, become stranded on one of Saturn's moons. It's more of a mix of fantasy and science fiction, and I can't say it always works. Poul Anderson was a bigger name at the time, and I can only imagine recent successes allowed for the publication of this overlong narrative.
10. Disciples by Gardner Dozois
I've liked other stuff that Dozois wrote, but this story of revelation in the modern age did nothing for me.
11. The Quickening by Michael Bishop
The Earth's population is redistributed over the surface of the globe. Not a bad story, even if it doesn't go anywhere. The author seems to be drawing from the Tower of Babel myth, but this comparison is never followed through to any kind of conclusion.
12. The Pusher by John Varley
A spaceman encounters a young girl in the park. It's OK.
13. Excerpt from The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe
Part of a fantasy novel. I'm unfamiliar with the author, and not a big fan of the genre anyway. I doubt I'll be investigating his bibliography in the future.
14. Two Poems
Science fiction poetry! Now you know this is a thing.
15. Appendixes
A list of previous Nebula winners stretching back to 1965. I've read Dune, Ringworld, Man Plus, and Gateway. I know I've also read some of the short stories, novellas and novelettes this list, but I'm not exactly sure which.
Related Entries:
沒有留言:
張貼留言