From multiple award-winning author David Brin comes this extraordinary collection of tales and essays of the near and distant future, as humans and aliens encounter the secrets of the cosmos--and of their own existence. In "Dr. Pak's Preschool" a woman discovers that her baby has been called upon to work while still in the womb. In "NatuLife" a married couple finds their relationship threatened by the wonders of sex by simulation. In "Sshhh . . . " the arrival of benevolent aliens on Earth leads to frenzy, madness . . . and unimaginable joy. In "Bubbles" a sentient starcraft reaches the limits of the universe--and dares to go beyond. These are but a few of the challenging speculations in Otherness, from the pen of an author whose urgent and compelling imaginative fiction challenges us to wonder at the shape and the nature of the universe--as well as at its future.
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In his latest collection of short fiction, essays, and insightful commentaries on both, Brin defines the term otherness as the currently popular relativistic dogma that other points of view are just as important as our own. Using this conception as a loosely organizing theme, Brin assembles some of his finest recent work, from "Shhh," a wryly original tale about alien first contact in which humans may hold a secret edge on their otherwise overwhelmingly superior visitors, to a skeptical critique of reports of extraterrestrial abductions. In "Bubbles," otherness is explored through the electronic awareness of a sentient spacecraft that discovers a doorway to another universe. In perhaps his most penetrating nonfiction piece concerning otherness, "The New Meme," Brin explores the limits to human interpretations of reality. Although, falling short on plot and character, the stories here often read as thinly disguised thought-experiments, they succeed as entertaining hard sf. A treat for Brin fans and connoisseurs of first-rate speculative science. Carl Hays
Review
'Brin is a fervently iconoclastic writer who loves to pick up a really neat new ideal and take it all the way to the logical limit' -- STARBURST
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By Amanda Ott
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book was great. I had to read it for a project in Chemistry. I loved the colection of stories in it. My favorite was The Giving Plague. I want ot deal with things like this in the future and I liked the story line. I also liked Dr. Pek's Preschool. I like how it brought every one to this place to have their children used to help man kind. I have always thought that the fetus is the best time to ask questions. They have no preconceptions of anything and David Brin sees that too. This is an excelent book and I would/have recomended it to others. For I am a nerd and I know this but this book would interest anyone.
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
While sifting through the rows of paperbacks on my dusty bookshelf, I came across Otherness. It had been given to me for one of my birthday's a few years ago, but I'd never read it. Too busy to venture into a new author, I had stuck it on my shelf. However, one day, looking for something to read, I found this book, and on a whim, picked it up and started it. And boy was I entranced! From the first few stories I was hooked. Later, however, my entusiasum died down I and puttered through, to be picked up again at the end. It was a great book. Full of insightful thought provoking observations or statements that really make you ask yourself, "What if that was true?". Purely, one of the best short story coladborations I have read. I'd reccomend it to anyone with a mind that thinks out of the box. Thought it was a little slow in the middle, one is rewarded at the end. I give it five stars for its in-depth thinking, and especially the putting of American views into a Dogma, the Dogma of Otherness. Excellent! Wonderful! A+. By Gosh, he's done it again!
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Startide Rising is not only my favorite Brin book, but also one of my top 3 favorite SF books--period..I bought Otherness because the themes of the book seemed related in a way to Startide...Otherness turned out to be a generally good read, but only one story stood out as one I'd read a second time..."Shhh". This snippett of a story seems worthy of a novel of its own...It raises the question...Are humans special at all or is it only our belief that we are unique that keeps us striving to grow? Some of the other short stories seem to -almost humorously- illustrate one man's (Brin's!)struggle to understand the "otherness" of women. Oh well, I give him credit for trying.
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4.4 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent visionary
I picked up Brin's _Earth_ when it first came out, I got through about 80-90 pages before I put it down out of utter boredom. I hadn't touched a Brin book since. Read more
Published on July 2 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stretch your mind
Years after reading this collection, it stays with me. A treatise on natural selection, even to universes. I've read SF from all the eras. For provoking thought, this is the best.
Published on Feb 23 1998
4.0 out of 5 stars
Humanitarian view of science, scientific view of humanity
The ideas flow freely, however there is a central theme. DB obviously had babies in mind when writing / compiling this book! Read more
Published on Nov 2 1997 by rob@riverweb.co.uk
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good, provocative and unexpected
I've tried to read David Brin books before and found them either too subtle for me, or just plain boring. Read more
Published on Sep 29 1997 by Will Robertson
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