From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:47:28 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Aug 18 15:23:44 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news99.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!sunic!02-newsfeed.univie.ac.at!newsfeed.de.ibm.net!ibm.net!newsfeed.uk.ibm.net!ibm.net!nntp.uio.no!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news-xfer.netaxs.com!netnews.com!eecs-usenet-02.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!news!wex From: aahz@netcom.com (Aahz) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: _Starlight 1_, ed. Patrick Nielsen Hayden Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 11 Aug 1997 20:41:22 GMT Organization: The Cat & Dragon Lines: 94 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:1487 Starlight 1 edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden reviewed by Aahz (copyright 1997) Summarizing Patrick's introduction, _Starlight 1_ is an attempt to recapture the best of the old book anthologies, taking the time that magazines cannot afford, to ensure that only the best stories get published. To a large extent, _Starlight 1_ succeeds. In fact, let me be a bit more fulsome in my praise and say that every single story is excellent by some measure, and all are well-written. Furthermore, _Starlight 1_ is SF in the broadest sense, speculative fiction that covers much of the landscape traditional for SF/F and also goes beyond it. I'm not sure how much editorial effort Patrick put into _Starlight 1_, but at the very least it is a showcase for his ability to extract excellent stories from a variety of authors. If you consider yourself a collector of SF, you should absolutely buy this book as it contains a large portion of the best stories of 1996, including two Hugo nominees: Swanwick's "The Dead" and McHugh's "The Cost to be Wise." If you're the kind of person who likes Pamela Dean's _The Dubious Hills_ or Steven Brust's _Agyar_, you'll definitely want to buy this, too. Surprise, surprise, both of those novels are also published by Tor. Not every story is similar in style, but from what I've seen, it's hard to find short stories similar to what they write. For everyone else, let me try to give a better idea of what you will and won't find in _Starlight 1_: * You won't find any space opera or sword & sorcery. * You'll find several stories that would feel comfortable between the pages of _Atlantic_ or _New Yorker_. * Several stories contain no clearly definable science fiction or fantasy element. I refuse to use the phrase "magical realism", but those who do can now search for it in this review (cf. a recent discusion in rec.arts.sf.composition). * While I would not categorize any of the stories as being horror, there were several stories that, for lack of a better phrase, I would say had a horrific element to them. * All but one of the stories take place on Earth; don't look for exotic locations here. * No stories that focus on humor. This is probably the biggest lack in the collection, from my point of view. * Several of the pieces are not 'stories' as my partner defines the term, because they lack a key element: a recognizable problem that the main character tries to solve, and a change that results from the attempt. This is not to say that the pieces aren't stories in the broader sense; it's the same thing as saying an account of what I did yesterday is not a 'story.' I actually picked up _Starlight 1_ at the library precisely because I wasn't sure I was going to like it. Patrick has excellent taste, but it's not my taste; I tend to prefer Brust's 'Vlad Taltos' series, Bujold and Weber, and even Eddings. Still, I found enough to like that I think I'll probably buy it. Certainly _Starlight 1_ is going to age well, and I'm looking forward to _Starlight 2_ next year. %E Nielsen Hayden, Patrick %T Starlight 1 %A Swanwick, Michael %A Duncan, Andy %A Yolen, Jane %A Feeley, Gregory %A Reed, Robert %A Clarke, Susanna %A Palwick, Susan %A Soukup, Martha %A Scholz, Carter %A Ford, John M. %A Kreighbaum, Mark %A McHugh, Maureen F. %I Tor %C New York %D September 1996 %P 316pp %O Trade paperback %G ISBN 0-312-86215-6 %O hardback %G ISBN 0-312-86214-8 --- Aahz (@netcom.com) Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6 <*> http://www.bayarea.net/~aahz Androgynous poly kinky vanilla queer het "I had lots of reasonable theories about children myself, until I had some." -- Michael Rios From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Oct 31 12:34:11 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news99.sunet.se!news00.sunet.se!sunic!newscore.univie.ac.at!newsfeed.ecrc.net!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!nntp.flash.net!newsswitch.lcs.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!not-for-mail From: "Evelyn C Leeper" Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: STARLIGHT 1 edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 30 Oct 1997 22:27:02 -0500 Organization: Software Agents Group Lines: 53 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: kangaroo.media.mit.edu X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:1580 STARLIGHT 1 edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden Tor, ISBN 0-312-86215-6, 1996, 316pp, US$13.95 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1997 Evelyn C. Leeper Two Hugo nominees out of twelve stories is not a bad percentage for an original anthology, and this anthology undoubtedly contributed to Nielsen Hayden's own Hugo nomination as Best Professional Editor. Plus it's not a theme anthology. This is not "Science Fiction Stories Set in the Interior of Stars" or "Fantasy Stories About Light." It's just good science fiction and fantasy. Everyone seems to be comparing this to such series as Terry Carr's "Universe" or Damon Knight's "Orbit," but in my opinion it's too soon to tell. I will say that this is a very auspicious start. The first story in STARLIGHT 1 is "The Dead" by Michael Swanwick; the last is "The Cost to Be Wise" by Maureen McHugh. Traditional anthology wisdom is to start with your strongest story, and end with your second strongest. Nielsen Hayden is certainly in agreement with this idea -- these were the two stories nominated for the Hugo Award. But don't ignore the stories in the middle, or you'll miss some excellent works. For example, "Mengele's Jew" by Carter Scholz is a unique combination of quantum mechanics and the Holocaust. "The Weighing of Ayre" by Gregory Feeley is a science fiction story of the seventeenth century. Jane Yolen has "Sister Emily's Lightship," the second "Emily-Dickinson-and-the-space- aliens" story of the year (and in my opinion, the better of the two). John M. Ford's "Erase/Record/Play" is written in the rather unusual form of a playscript, and reminds me in some ways of the plays of Vaclav Havel. It is subtitled "A Drama for Print," though it wouldn't surprise me to see this performed at some point. In fact, I wouldn't object if the folks at Boskone who do theatrical performances each year decided to do this one. Consider that a hint. I won't list every story, but I will recommend that you go out and get this book and discover them for yourself. I'm looking forward to the second volume. %B Starlight 1 %E Patrick Nielsen Hayden %C New York %D September 1996 %I Tor %O trade paperback, US$13.95 %G ISBN 0-312-86215-6 %P 316pp %S Starlight %V 1 Evelyn C. Leeper | eleeper@lucent.com +1 732 957 2070 | http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824 We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another. -- Jonathan Swift