Starwater Strains
New Science Fiction Stories
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Gene Wolfe follows his acclaimed all-fantasy short story collection, Innocents Aboard, with a volume devoted primarily to his science fiction. The twenty-five stories here amply demonstrate his range, excellence, and mastery of the form that has traditionally been the heart of the field. Their diversity makes them otherwise impossible to characterize as a group, so a few tantalizing samples will have to suffice:
"Viewpoint" takes on the unreality of so-called "reality" TV and imagines such a show done truly for real, with real guns, and a real government clawing at the money. Wolfe has loved dinosaurs since he was kid, and in "Petting Zoo" he imagines the reunion of a man and an aged dinosaur who look back together on a day when they were much much younger, and much freer. "Empires of Foliage and Flower" is a special treat, an addition to the classic Book of the New Sun series first published only as a limited edition chapbook. The volume closes with its newest story "Golden City Far." It's about dreams, high school, and finding love, which Wolfe says "is about as good a recipe for a story as I've ever found." You're sure to agree.
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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Unlike his previous all-fantasy short fiction collection InnocentsAboard (2004),Wolfe's seventh volume of stellar short stories, written mostly between 2000 and 2005, ranges from haunting horror and biting near-contemporary social commentary to high fantasy and far-future SF, all amply demonstrating his mastery of trademark ironic twists of plot and characterization. Two longer pieces frame the collection. In "Viewpoint," Wolfe postulates a "reality show for real," with "a real government clawing for the money," while "Golden City Far" blends adolescent dreams of love and magic with a talking dog and deeds perilous and poignant. Between them Wolfe includes such minor masterpieces as "Petting Zoo," recounting the memories of better days lived by a man and an aged tofu-eating dinosaur, one of Wolfe's favorite beasts. Wolfe's dead-on ear for dialect shines in little morsels of horror like "The Fat Magician" and the apocalyptic "Mute," both treating humanity's capacity for self-destruction. The wonderful shocker "Pulp Cover" provides an invaluable clue to both this outstanding collection and Wolfe's creativity, that tiny, inevitable wrench when dream gives way to reality, reality to nightmare, and we understand, "It isn't really like that at all."
Customer Reviews
Wolfe’s Short Fiction From the Late 1990s to the Early 2000s
“Starwater Strains” is an 2005 anthology by Gene Wolfe, and it contains a collection of his short fiction published in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While most of it could be considered science fiction, there are some stories one would have to classify as speculative fiction. His work often crosses the lines between these.
One of the more interesting tales is the final story “Golden City Far” which I would have to call fantasy. It has magic swords and everything! The first story “Viewpoint” was clearly science fiction, and explored the idea of reality TV being all too real. I didn’t like that one very much. In between these two tales are 23 others that are very different from each other, and from what you might get from other authors.
The late Mr. Wolfe was a respected literary craftsmen, who produced highly allusive novels. Some of these stories are similar, but since they are shorter works, there is a smaller stage for the story to unfold. This collection covers a wide variety of narratives, and covers a period of his work that I was previously unfamiliar with.