The John Varley Reader: Thirty Years of Short Fiction [Paperback]

Varley exploded on the Science Fiction scene in 1974 with the first story in this book, "Picnic on Nearside," and quickly became one of the best loved writers of the 1970s because of his stories. His career as a novelist came later, and if he had only managed to produce these eighteen stories, his place in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame would be assured.

John Varley fans will have already read the first thirteen stories in this book. The last five have never been seen in a Varley collection before, and if you ask me they alone are worth the price of the book. But what about those disenfranchised readers who have somehow managed to miss the Science Fiction of John Varley? Is this the "best of?" Well, owing to Varley's high overall quality, a "best of" collection would necessarily be a weighty tome indeed. The John Varley Reader is a good representative sampling of his short fiction. In it you will find nine stories from Varley's signature Eight Worlds series. (Picnic on Nearside, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, Gotta Sing Gotta Dance, The Barbie Murders, The Phantom of Kansas, Beatnik Bayou, Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo, Options, and The Bellman.)

The independent stories in this collection are among the best Science Fiction has to offer: "Air Raid" is a time travel shocker that was later expanded into the fantastic, witty, fun novel Millennium, and a lackluster film of the same name.. "The Persistence of Vision," "Press Enter," and "The Pusher," are all multiple award winners. If you haven't yet read them, buy this book just for that reason. They are that good. These stories are also prime reasons why Varley is so highly regarded in the field.

The five previously uncollected stories are all essential reading for Varley fans: "Just Another Perfect Day" is a tight exploration of short-term memory loss and how it relates to true love and the incomprehensible motives of alien invaders. It is followed by "Fading Suns and Dying Moons" which carries on the theme of incomprehensible aliens but with a sinister twist. "Good Intentions" is Varley's entry in the sell-your-soul-to-the-devil category. And "The Bellman" is an Eight Worlds story, featuring the character Anna-Louise Bach, written decades ago but that languished in limbo waiting for Harlan Ellison's long awaited collection "The Last Dangerous Visions."

In all this is a great introduction to John Varley. For those to whom Varley needs no introduction, there are introductions for each story that contain autobiographical tidbits. These introductions are laced with Varley's characteristic wit and style. "The Persistence of Vision" had a particularly interesting origin, one that cannot be guessed from the story itself. Varley manages to keep his private life out of his stories, still it is curious to know a little of the author's frame of mind at the time of writing. The reader will be interested to know that at the time he wrote "Press Enter" Varley was a complete computer novice. These and many more details are waiting for you inside. For me, these details are worth the price of the book. You will be hard pressed to find a stronger single author collection. If these don't turn you into a Varley fan, then Varley is not for you.

Ever hear a band, read a book or see a film where the singer/writer/director seems to have done their best work before you found them? Bruce Springsteen is a good example. Play any of his music before and then after The River and you'd have a hard time proving their the same artist.

Having said that, John Varley remains one of my favorite authors and I have high hope he's going to knock my socks off again. The John Varley Reader did that but I'd read most of it before. I want a new Gaea, Louise Baltimore, Cirocco Jones! I want Titanides, symbs and the Eight Worlds! I just haven't gotten it in awhile.

But when I was...John Varley remains one of my favorite authors.

I first read his Gaea trilogy and was bowled over by how fantastic the story was. His Living World (Gaea) and Cirrocco Jones are two characters that I've revisited many times over the years. I've reread the trilogy no less than a half dozen times.

After reading his short story collections (Persistence of Vision and Blue Champagne) I decided that the Eight Worlds was pretty amazing and his short stories as fun and tight as they come. After 5 years of searching every bookstore, I found The Ophiuchi Hotline and it became my favorite book of all time. Man, but that boy could write!

Millenium kicked but was tonally different. Great book, can't stop reading it when I start, but I guess that was the morph from the Varley then and the Varley now. I know in the autobiographical parts of the Reader, it seems like things did change for him at that point. Superheroes, a collection of short stories by other people about (what else) superheroes was fun, but it was not a true Varley novel.

Recent years have brought some disappointments for me. Steel Beach and the Golden Globe I could not work my way through. Red Thunder is a lot of fun and very reminiscent of Heinlein's work for younger readers. There is enough meat there to entice adult readers and reminded me of why I liked Varley in the first place. From his notes in the Reader, it seems Mr. Varley is writing a sequel to Red Thunder. I await it eagerly.

Eagerly but sadly. I've spent years waiting to be bowled back over and its ironic that it took this collection of short stories to do it.

Suffice it to say that they're just as wild, inventive and dynamic as they were when I read them in my teens and the couple of times since. They're amazing and this collection reminds me of nothing quite so much as the possibilities of scifi and where it can take you.

John, if you're reading this...bravo! And if you are, please make a return to form! Knock my socks off like Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo. Or the Barbie Murders or the Trilogy. I'm quite happy waiting for whatever you write next, but would love to see you back doing what you do best: inventing a future where we'd all choose to live. Thanks again for all the great words!

As someone who had only read the novels of John Varley, excepting one short story, which happened to be the last story in this collection, The Bellman, I came to it with fresh eyes and no fog of nostalgia from reading the stories when they were new.

Not only are the stories solid, we also get some brief autobiography and background of the stories containing such interesting info as Varley rates a car as one of the best places he's lived(during Woodstock), his first novel didn't get published, but his first short story, which is contained in this collection, did, he does not like writers groups and showing his work for criticism and generally does not rewrite his work.

Not only do the stories, particularly the 8-worlds and the Anna-Louise Bach stories, have the wow factor one expects from the field, they also make you think. Particularly the 8-worlds stories where gender changing, body changing and age changing is fast, easy and ubiquitious. What happens to gender roles and how people relate when your friend shows up at your door tomorrow as the opposite sex?

One problem of story collections is that it can be a little much to read nothing but short bites of the same author, to badly mix a metaphor, but this collection gets it right despite a moderate length by mixing the stories of his various milieus up. At the end you will be sated with Varley, but not fed up.

Highly recommended, as are his Gaea trilogy.

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