Chains That You Refuse [Paperback]

Fans of literate fantasy may embrace the 22 inventive tales in Bear's first story collection, but others will be put off by the experimental entries with their nonlinear, often static narratives and extreme emotional detachment. Little happens, for example, in the opening tale, "L'esprit d'escalier: Not a Play in One Act," about a man writing a play about Christopher Marlowe, John Keats and Allen Ginsberg in the afterlife. Bear (Hammered) is better when forced into the more traditional discipline of the Victorian pastiche with "Tiger! Tiger!" in which the world of Sherlock Holmes collides with that of H.P. Lovecraft. Perhaps the most successful story is "Seven Dragons Mountain," which mixes Chinese dragons and airships, but again a clever idea could have benefited from a more gripping execution. (July)
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The title story of Bear's collection is a tiny piece on the uselessness of knowing the future. Its volume mates leap from one trope to another, all over the genre map. Without exception, they are bright moments of storytelling, whether they concern mysterious creatures a la Lovecraft, time travel, political intrigue, epic battles, or the queen of the Seelie Fay. In "This Tragic Glass," Kit Marlowe's data throw off research on Renaissance poets at the University of Nevada, and the scholars arrange to bring him to their time (they've already got Keats) to reveal his greatest secret. Bear is as comfortable reimagining great literary figures--in "L'esprit d'escalier--Not a Play in One Act," besides Marlowe and Keats, she brings in Ginsberg, Shakespeare, Shelley, even Brautigan--as extrapolating physicists: "Schrodinger's Cat Chases the Super String" includes a conversation among Bohr, Schrodinger, Einstein, Heisenberg, and the Curies. An extraordinary gathering of stories that showcases Bear's chops most effectively. Regina Schroeder
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A new collection by one of the most popular and prolific authors of the last few years covers a wide range of material, from time travel to cyberpunk to contemporary fantasy. Twenty stories and two poems, originally published in high profile places like SciFi.com and Asimov's.