- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Orb Books; First Edition edition (May 2 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0765312034
- ISBN-13: 978-0765312037
- Product Dimensions: 23.3 x 15.5 x 2.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 363 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #605,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Unlike his previous all-fantasy short fiction collection InnocentsAboard (2004),Wolfe's seventh volume of stellar short stories, written mostly between 2000 and 2005, ranges from haunting horror and biting near-contemporary social commentary to high fantasy and far-future SF, all amply demonstrating his mastery of trademark ironic twists of plot and characterization. Two longer pieces frame the collection. In "Viewpoint," Wolfe postulates a "reality show for real," with "a real government clawing for the money," while "Golden City Far" blends adolescent dreams of love and magic with a talking dog and deeds perilous and poignant. Between them Wolfe includes such minor masterpieces as "Petting Zoo," recounting the memories of better days lived by a man and an aged tofu-eating dinosaur, one of Wolfe's favorite beasts. Wolfe's dead-on ear for dialect shines in little morsels of horror like "The Fat Magician" and the apocalyptic "Mute," both treating humanity's capacity for self-destruction. The wonderful shocker "Pulp Cover" provides an invaluable clue to both this outstanding collection and Wolfe's creativity, that tiny, inevitable wrench when dream gives way to reality, reality to nightmare, and we understand, "It isn't really like that at all."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–The 20-plus science-fiction stories in this solid collection vary greatly in length, setting, and subject. In Petting Zoo, a captive T-rex relives old times with a human friend; Lord of the Land is a horror story with an ancient Egyptian twist; in Calamity Jane, an unusual dog brings increasingly strange gifts to its owner; and The Boy Who Hooked the Sun is a mythlike tale set in Atlantis that explains the origin of seasons. Of special interest to teens will be Viewpoint, in which reality TV is taken to a future extreme, and Golden City Far, in which a high school student's fantastic dreams spill over into his everyday life. Throughout, the writing is perfectly suited to each story–clear and precise, with not a word wasted. Readers may not like all of the tales, but there is something here for everyone who enjoys fantastic fiction.–Sandy Freund, Richard Byrd Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
As always, an excellent collection!, Aug 21 2005
By Richard J. Arndt - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Starwater Strains (Hardcover)
Wolfe once again provides SF/fantasy stories that range from gentle to horrific to speculative and does a great job on all of them. One story, 'The Boy Who Hooked The Sun' concerns a boy who actually does have the sun on the end of a fishing line and wards off the rest of the villagers by flinging gemstones of Atlantis at them. A near perfect metaphor for this collection with Wolfe the writer merged with Apollo, flinging bright gemstones of stories at the reader. Finding stories like these will make you wealthy beyond your years, so go do it. Go read them. If it's your first encounter with the stories of Gene Wolfe, how I envy you!
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Stuff, Oct 23 2005
By Brett J. Callahan - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Starwater Strains (Hardcover)
Gene Wolfe is the perfect short story author. His stories are accessible to fans of any genre, but will be especially rewarding to fans of fantasy, s f, or magical realism. The stories in this book, although supposedly "new science fiction stories" really fall into all three of the above categories. I also purchased Wolfe's other fairly recent collection, "Innocents Aboard" and found it to be excellent also. Each book features a good mix of very short (2-3 page) stories, and longer, not quite novella length stories.Wolfe's settings are diverse, ranging from a far off desert planet to a short story set on the far future "Urth" of his Book of the New Sun Series, to places as seemingly mundane as Houston, TX, or the set of a present dayish reality tv show. Of course, Wolfe's stories are never mundane, and it is in taking a place that holds no magic and twisting our perceptions so that we come away with a sense of wonder that Wolfe really excells.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Science Fiction's Best Literary Stylists Is Back With A Superb Short Story Collection....., Dec 12 2006
By John Kwok - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Starwater Strains (Hardcover)
Calling Gene Wolfe a great science fiction writer is a mere literary understatement, since he ranks, along with Ray Bradbury, not only as one of the premier elder statesmen of American science fiction, but more importantly, as one of the finest literary stylists in American fiction of any genre. "Starwater Strains", his new short story collection, merely reaffirms his splendid literary gifts for writing brilliant, evocative prose and marvellous storytelling. Most of these stories in this collection were written in the past decade, ranging emotionally from horrific to suspenseful to tranquil, covering themes as vast as contemporary fantasy to space opera harkening back to his "The Book of The New Son" series of novels. My own personal favorite is "In Glory like Their Star", which is an absolutely refreshing, polished literary gem of a tale about the religious connotations of First Contact by space travelers visiting a primitive planet inhabited by pastoral, devout believers. But it is not the lone gem, which I think also includes such diverse tales as "Of Soil and Climate", "The Fat Magician", "The Boy Who Hooked the Sun", and "The Seraph from its Sepulcher". The ones I've omitted citing are, in their own way, almost as riveting as those cited above. "Starwater Strains" will certainly delight those unfamiliar with Wolfe's impressive body of work, as well as his long-time fans and admirers.
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