Thursday, June 23, 2005

Science Fiction: The Best of 2004/The Things They Carried/New Story

Just finished the Haber/Strahan anthology Science Fiction The Best of 2004 which includes 13 stories from last year. I've already mentioned the Stephen Baxter story, which I enjoyed quite a bit, but some of the others that I thought were very good:

"The Best Christmas Ever" a touching story by James Patrick Kelly, whose work I've really enjoyed discovering.

"The Voluntary State" by Christopher Rowe. Some of my Clarion 2004 buddies and I have talked about this one at length. Nominated for a Nebula, it was one of the most intriguing stories I read this year. It's one of those stories that you have to read multiple times, but it's so good you don't mind.

Any Nancy Kress story is bound to be excellent and "My Mother Dancing" is no exception. "The Tang Dynasty Underwater Pyramid" by Walter Jon Williams is loaded with fun and certainly doesn't seem like it's fifty-seven pages long.

But the story I am most anxious to reread is M. John Harrison's "Tourists," a fascinating setting with fascinating characters in a story that walks a fine line between depression and redemption, especially in it's depiction of the relationships between men and women. It's a story that I wanted more of and I think if I read Harrison's novel Light, I'll get more.

Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried just knocked me down and held an Army-issued boot over my face. Wonderfully written, sometimes hard to stomach, sometimes so uplifting you'll think O'Brien's writing might have the ability to heal just about any wound this world can deliver. His vision of life, death, friendship and love in Vietnam is beyond gripping. You just can't turn away because if you do, you might miss something that no other writer is capable of sharing with you. Outstanding.

I'm about 1,000 words into a new story that takes place entirely at a press conference sometime in the 70's. I like the start, but I can see that it could go in several directions. I have to let the story tell me which direction it should go. Sent out two stores this week bringing my total "stories in circulation" number to five.

Now Playing: The Otis Redding Anthology

1 comment:

Dr. Phil (Physics) said...

For most of the last year I was running with about seven things "out there" to market, but this spring/early summer, some long overdue stuff came back, other things went by the wayside, leaving me down to only ONE. And that one will close in "late June." Today I sent out three more stories, but one is to Gordon, so I'll get that rejection in six days (grin).

It's hard when you're actually working, to keep up with this stuff (grin). To say nothing of continuing the post-Clarion rebuilding process. Most of the things going out these days are massive re-writes of pre-Clarion stories -- the new stories are finding themselves harder to finish, because I know so much more about things like Nancy Kress' "beginnings, middles and ends" that I just can't slap something on and hope no one notices the barely patched hole (grin).

Keep writing...

Dr. Phil