The Best of Michael Swanwick
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4.4 • 15 Ratings
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
<font face="Times New Roman" size="3">It's here at last--the first comprehensive overview of the extraordinary career of master storyteller Michael Swanwick. Covering over a quarter of a century, from his first two published stories--both of them Nebula finalists--to his most recent, these works bear witness to one of the most vivid and far-ranging imaginations in contemporary fiction. From the hardest of hard science fiction to the purest of core fantasy, from the heartwarming to the despairing, these are works incandescent with literary brilliance.</font>
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<font face="Times New Roman" size="3">In these pages, Janis Joplin is worshiped as a god, teenagers climb down the edge of the world, zombies are commodified, a vengeful man tracks a wizard across the surface of a planet-sized grasshopper, dinosaurs invade Vermont, a train leaves New York City bound for Hell, and those lovable Post-Utopian con men, Darger and Surplus, seek their fortunes in Buckingham Labyrinth.</font>
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<font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Michael Swanwick is one of the most acclaimed and prolific writers of his generation, as well as being the only person ever to win five Hugo Awards for fiction in the space of six years. All five of those stories are included here--plus much, much more, all of it beautifully written, critically acclaimed, and deeply satisfying to read.</font>
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
More than a quarter century's worth of short fiction is gathered in this comprehensive collection of stories from Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award winner Swanwick. The tales run the gamut from strict space adventures like "The Very Pulse of the Machine" to deceptively complex ghost stories like "Radio Waves." In "The Feast of Saint Janis," Janis Joplin is worshiped as an ancient goddess made flesh, with all the power and pitfalls that accompany the role. The more surreal pieces such as "Mother Grasshopper," wherein wizards chase one another across an insect the size of a planet nonetheless have a method to their madness, and though it would be easy for alien monster shorts like "A Midwinter's Tale" to dissolve into self-conscious silliness, even the weaker setups conclude with a bang. Swanwick's blend of savvy science fiction, Freudian fantasy and top-notch storytelling both chills and charms.
