Description

Modern Greats of Science Fiction: Nine Novellas of Distinction. “These are good times for the novella”, says editor Jonathan Strahan, offering nine of these “marvels of compression”. From a distant future where both beer and rebellion brew in a tavern on Mars to an alternate WWII—where the cutting-edge science is quantum biology, and from a haunting story of a bizarre prison without guards or rules to a Bradbury-esque tale of small-town America, Modern Greats of Science Fiction: Nine Novellas of Distinction is a landmark collection of some of the finest short work in science fiction, a must-have collection for sf readers. Contents: *Introduction (Best Short Novels: 2004) (2004) • essay by Jonathan Strahan * The Empress of Mars [Mars] (2003) / novella by Kage Baker: a distant future where both beer and rebellion brew in a tavern on Mars. *The Green Leopard Plague [College of Mystery] (2003) / novella by Walter Jon Williams: tells of a philosopher who develops a way to make human skin photosynthetic-ending starvation as a tool of oppression. But his breakthrough has unforeseen repercussions. * Springdale Town (2003) / novella by Robert Freeman Wexler: Bradbury-esque tale of small-town America. *The Swastika Bomb (2003) / novella by John Meaney * Jailwise (2003) / novella by Lucius Shepard: haunting story of a bizarre prison without guards or rules. *Just Like the Ones We Used to Know (2003) / novella by Connie Willis: the ultimate global warming effect: a freak snowstorm that effectively shuts down North America. * Greetings (2003) / novella by Terry Bisson *Awake in the Night (2003) / novella by John C. Wright: life in a distant future after the sun has gone out and true humans are confined to a single giant pyramid. * Off on a Starship (2003) / novella by William Barton: a sf-loving teen travels on-an automated probe that carries him across space to a world where he’s all alone, except for a robot that becomes increasingly female. Also published titled: Best Short Novels: 2004 (May2004) Also published titled: The Best Short Science Fiction Novels of the Year (Jan2006) .