Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This delightfully diverse collection of early works from longtime author Bear contains a clear message: parents, don't let your babies grow up to be true believers (of any variety). The 14 stories and one television script (which never made it to the screen) span fantasy, horror, and SF, as well as occasionally mingling them; all have been recently revised and include notes from the author. Fans of Bear's gritty fantasy novels (Songs of Earth and Power) will appreciate the decent young protagonist unraveling a magic curse in "Sleepside Story." Fans of his horror work (Psychlone) will enjoy an early glimpse at his meditations on the deceptive appearance of innocence in "Richie by the Sea." Most, though, will look to the SF, which includes his breakout nanotech tale, "Blood Music" (later turned into a novel), and his renowned alt-history "Tangents," dedicated to persecuted genius Alan Turing. Lesser-known stories, such as a sensitive look at genetic engineering set amid the insensitivities of high school life, and his script for Outer Limits, "Genius," which wraps four-dimensional tentacles around three emotionally struggling individuals, also highlight Bear's talent for combining human reality with speculative possibility. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Speculative fiction and sf, in particular, may be thought of in two groups-works that simply use common tropes of the genre and those that truly push the boundaries. Bear falls squarely in the second realm, and this collection of 13 tales, the first of three volumes by the multiple Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author (Legacy) displays his versatility and talent. Gems such as "Blood Music," upon which the novel of the same title is based, take science in new and unexpected directions, while others defy strict genre classification. Stories like "Dead Run" and "Richie by the Sea" are closest to horror, while "Sleepside Story" and "The White Horse Child" could be compared to the best fairy tale work of Neil Gaiman, albeit predating Gaiman's work by a significant margin. Each of these stories, newly revised by Bear, is built around excellent characterizations, and his musings can pack a powerful emotional punch as in "Sisters," a tale of human genetic manipulation and its perils. Others, such as "Silicon Times E-Book Review" and "Tangents" evoke a sense of whimsy. Verdict All libraries would do well to add this title and the companion volumes, Far Thoughts and Pale Gods and Beyond the Farthest Suns, which are being released simultaneously. The three together showcase the short fiction oeuvre of an sf genius.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
