Pirates of the Universe
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times Notable Book for 1996.
"It is the Bissons of the field ... upon whom the future of science fiction depends."
—Washington Post Book World
"What's not to like? Laconic, corrosive future satire with a real space hero and vacuum jellyfish aliens that embody the strong anthropic principle. America never had it so good!"
—John Kessel, Nebula winning author of, Good News from Outer Space
Here come the Peteys! Vacuum jellyfish the size of small moons, they drift through our solar system like messengers from another universe. Some worship them, others study them, and still others hunt them for their skins, which are more valuable than gold or even oil on the ruined, depleted Earth.
Gunther is a hunter. He knows the rules. He knows the risks. He knows the rewards. What he doesn't know, is that he's being hunted too.
About the Author: Best known for his short stories "They're Made out of Meat" and "Bears Discover Fire," Terry Bisson has won every major award in SF, including the Hugo, the Nebula, the Sturgeon and Locus awards, and France's Gran Prix de l'Imaginaire. He lives in California.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the six years since the publication of his celebrated satire Voyage to the Red Planet, Bisson has published only short stories--one of which, "Bears Discover Fire," won both a Nebula and a Hugo. Now Bisson has returned, with elan, to the novel to tell the adventures of Space Ranger Gunther ("Gun") Ryder, who is one mission away from the coveted "Pirate of the Universe" title (and permanent resident, with his "best girl" Donna, in a Disney-Windows "live-in theme park"). When Gun returns from an encounter with some "Peteys" (mysterious, unmanned spaceships that have revolutionized Earth's economy), he finds himself entangled in a Kafkaesque conundrum. Unable to access either his money or his e-mail, he moves vulnerably from bureaucrat to administrator, with each encounter more macabre than the last, until he realizes that he and his fugitive cousin must, literally, save the universe. In the hands of a lesser craftsman, this comic-book plotting would dominate, but Bisson's deadpan narrative and dialogue carry the day, as do his laconic and dysfunctional, but very empathetic, characters. Readers will want to root for Gun as he tries to make sense of goings-on, even as they laugh at his creator's sharply satiric observations and cheer his storytelling panache.
