From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jan 9 11:53:21 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!pipex!pipex!howland.reston.ans.net!ix.netcom.com!netcom.com!postmodern.com!not-for-mail From: ecl@mtgpfs1.mt.att.com (Evelyn C Leeper) Subject: TOMORROW SUCKS edited by Greg Cox and T. K. F. Weisskopf Message-ID: <9501051355.ZM1758@mtgpfs1.mt.att.com> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Sender: mcb@postmodern.com (Michael C. Berch) Organization: The Internet Date: Sun, 8 Jan 1995 04:58:12 GMT Approved: mcb@postmodern.com (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Lines: 53 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:712 rec.arts.books.reviews:188 TOMORROW SUCKS edited by Greg Cox and T. K. F. Weisskopf Baen, ISBN 0-671-87626-0, 1994, 271pp, $4.99 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1994 Evelyn C. Leeper In these days when it seems as though publishers think every anthology must have at least two dozen stories, all new, it's almost a relief to see a good, old-fashioned reprint anthology, even if it is titled "Tomorrow Sucks" and has a terribly trendy cover. Think of it: there are only eleven stories here, and they've all been printed before. Of course, the fact that they are by such authors as Ray Bradbury, Brian Stableford, Keith Roberts, Roger Zelazny, and C. L. Moore may help sell this radical concept. The stories are bracketed by essays by the editors talking about the history of the vampire story and its connection with science fiction, since what supposedly sets these vampire stories apart is that they *are* science fiction. (The cover caption is "SF in a Jugular Vein.") But the editors seem willing to stretch a point--if there's something science-fictional about "Kaeti's Nights" by Keith Roberts, I must have missed it. As with most anthologies, there are some good stories and some not-so-good (in my opinion, of course--your mileage may vary). The Roberts and the Stableford stories are very good (and perhaps the least science-fictional of the bunch). On the other hand, I tired of Spider Robinson's "Callahan" stories long ago, and his foray into the world of vampires hasn't changed my mind. One wonders how they missed Damon Knight's classic "Eripmav" (with NESFA scoring a merchandising coup when they reprinted it--on a T-shirt!). In general, although I like science fiction, I seem to prefer my vampire stories as more supernatural and less scientific, at least based on my likes and dislikes here. Even so, there's a wide enough range of lesser known vampire stories here that there will be something to please most fans of the genre. %E Cox, Greg %E Weisskopf, T. K. F. %B Tomorrow Sucks %I Baen %C New York %D October 1994 %G ISBN 0-671-87626-0 %P 271pp %O pb, $4.99 -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com "As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place." -Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg on her visit to Auschwitz