It's hard to describe these collected stories beyond saying they're just wild. Set several thousand years from now—all in the same future history, from AD 6000 to 16000—Smith's flights of imagination are so out there, even by today's standards, that they really must have blown people's minds when he was writing in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps their oddness is why he doesn't have the name recognition of his contemporaries like Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, or Arthur C. Clarke, or maybe it's simply because he passed away at only fifty-three in 1966 and wasn't able to build the long legacy of those other writers of the golden age. Although a couple stories are marred by outdated views that are no longer tolerated by contemporary audiences, his work is well worth reading for sci-fi fans.
"No one ever wrote like Smith, with his special blend of intense myth-making and rich invention!"—Publishers WeeklyCordwainer Smith was one of the original visionaries to think of humanity in terms of thousands of years in the future, spread out across the universe. This brilliant collection, often cited as the first of its kind, explores fundamental questions about ourselves and our treatment of the universe (and other beings) around us and ultimately what it means to be human.In “Scanners Live in Vain” we meet Martel, a human altered to be part machine—a scanner—to be able withstand the trauma space travel has…
The character of Benjamin Sisko grew up in New Orleans where his father ran a restaurant, and I loved how Attico took great advantage of the food and music and culture of the city to ground the life of Sisko. Against this backdrop of "N'Awlins," we see the formative years of the fascinating character of Ben Sisko. He was given life on screen by the dramatic and often idiosyncratic performance of Avery Brooks, and Attico has taken care to infuse his print version with that on-screen vibe.
Now, full disclosure: Attico is a friend of mine, and I've been a raving Star Trek fan for over fifty years; make of those facts what you will, but if you're a fan of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, especially if you have a special fondness for Benjamin Sisko, I think you'll enjoy this book as much as I did.
The fascinating life of Starfleet's celebrated captain, and Bajor's Emissary of the Prophets, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Benjamin Sisko tells the story of his career in Starfleet, and his life as a father and Bajor's Emissary to the Prophets. Chart his rise through the ranks, his pioneering work designing the Defiant class, his critical role as ambassador and leader during the Dominion War, and his sacred standing as a religious leader of his adopted home.
Explore the hidden history of his childhood and early career in Starfleet, and the innermost thoughts of the man…
I love Sherlock Holmes; I came to that love through the original Conan Doyle stories and Jeremy Brett's loyal-to-the-source portrayal of the consulting detective in the British television series of the eighties and nineties. Laurie King's series captures much of those same feelings, yet, since she's exploring Holmes's retirement, she has room to expand upon Holmes's character, especially since he's dealing with a much different partner in the young Mary Russell. So this first novel in the series introduces a fascinating new detective character as well as serving up the return of favorite characters from the canon.
In 1915, Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honeybees when a young woman literally stumbles into him on the Sussex Downs. Fifteen years old, gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned, the young Mary Russell displays an intellect to impress even Sherlock Holmes--and match him wit for wit. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern twentieth-century woman proves a deft protegee and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective. But even in their first case together, the pair face a truly cunning adversary who will stop at nothing to put an end to their partnership.
In Volume 2 of the Tales of the Weird World War, encounters with monsters in human form have grown increasingly common—and increasingly difficult for the authorities to keep under wraps.
Tokyo, 1954. In William Leisner's Project G, production on a motion picture about a gigantic atomic-spawned monster is brought to a halt by sabotage. Was it the American government, trying to snuff out any negative depiction of its nuclear testing? Or was it otherworldly creatures at work, for reasons unknown? American reporter Rob Williams tries to uncover the story at the risk of having his own most deeply held secret exposed.
Minnesota, 1955. In Scott Pearson's They Came from Beyond, it's been ten years since a husband and wife were brutally murdered, their son, Jim, age nine, committed for the crime. But was a monster the real killer? Now Jim has been released, his memories blurred by years of psychiatric treatment and medication. To get to the bottom of the murders, former P.I. Henry Shaw is pulled back on the job by his old boss, Bob Neville. Shaw, who fled L.A. after his previous bloody encounters with the shape-shifting monsters (as told in Volume 1, The Big Dark & Meet John Doe), will have to face the ghosts of his past to find the truth.
Plus two bonus short stories by Scott Pearson set in the aftermath of They Came from Beyond: "The Creature in Jay Cooke Park" and "The Loneliness of Monsters."
