Gypsy
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
In the novella Gypsy a few visionary scientists, chosen and nurtured by an eccentric billionaire undertake humankind's most expansive adventure - a generations-long voyage to a distant planet. The Nine Billion Names of God uses a classic sci-fi text to deconstruct literary deconstruction itself, with hilarious results. Imprecations is an unforgiving examination of the primary lies in popular culture. Also featured is short stories Bad Pennies and the PM Press Outspoken Interview, in which a postmodern Renaissance man reveals his sources, frustrations and delights.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This sardonic collection from the author of Radiance is a bracing cold-water shower for readers more familiar with the upbeat problem-solving spirit of classic science fiction. In the title story, a starship flees a deteriorating Earth for safe harbor in Alpha Centauri. Engineers on the ship awaken sporadically from their multi-decade hibernation to confront technological glitches that defy their scientific expertise. The satirical "Bad Pennies," about an economic scam that's designed to bring down an imaginary third-world country but proves amusingly counterproductive, makes a savvy companion piece to "The United States of Impunity," a scathing essay that relates the California energy crisis of 2000 1 to many of America's current economic and political problems. As Scholz reveals in the final piece, a freewheeling interview with Terry Bisson, he's a multifaceted artist who first became interested in science fiction when he realized it was "the nearest extant thing to modernism." This compilation will appeal to fans of thought-provoking parables.
