Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories
- Book Review,
by Terry Bisson
From Publishers Weekly
When Bisson ( Voyage to the Red Planet ) began to publish short fiction a few years ago, his flair and sharp but homey good humor brought him instant celebrity and won him a Nebula Award for the title story in this, his first collection. Immediately clear from this array of stories is the astonishing range of Bisson's talent. Readers turn from "Bears Discover Fire," a meditative tale that blends the irreconcilable sadness of the loss of a loved one with the weirdness of the very literal title, to the delightfully silly "They're Made Out of Meat," a dialogue between two odd aliens about the nature of life on Earth, to the elegaic "England Underway," in which a bookish Englishman confronts the New World, bringing all of England with him. Leavening even his most serious tales with humor, Bisson can deal with issues frequently blighted by stridency: three stories address environmental concerns with a black humor that enhances rather than mitigates their impact. Bisson's prose is a wonder of seemingly effortless control and precision; he is one of science fiction's most promising short story practitioners, proving that in the genre, the short story remains a powerful, viable and evocative form. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Whether narrating a parable of Earth's dying ("Carl's Lawn and Garden"), exploring the afterlife ("Necronauts"), or chronicling the relocation of a country ("England Underway"), Bisson continues to surprise his readers with his startling vision and iconoclastic imagination. These 19 stories (most published only in magazines) showcase the varied talents of a skilled and as yet unjaded writer. A good choice for sf and short story collections.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Bisson's critically acclaimed novel, Voyage to the Red Planet (1990), and this first collection of short stories together demonstrate why his name has quickly become one of the most popular in contemporary sf. Including the Hugo and Nebula award-winning title story in which bears forsake hibernation during an improbable evolutionary leap, Bisson's collection ranges in style from surrealistic satire to more traditional hard sf. His trademark wit is abundantly evident, for example in the burlesque, "Two Guys from the Future," spotlighting a pair of time-traveling art collectors, and in "Next," a dark farce on future racial laws that is skillfully rendered entirely in dialogue. In the high-tech category, "The Shadow Knows" is a brilliantly original variation on the theme of alien first contact wherein a retired lunar explorer attempts communication with an anomalous, shadowlike entity piggybacking a returning Voyager space probe. Every story showcases Bisson's keen intelligence and distinctive gift for deliciously wry prose--which make him highly recommendable to story enthusiasts regardless of their genre preference. Carl Hays
From Kirkus Reviews
Nineteen tales, one from 1964, the rest 1988-93: Bisson's first story collection since the illustrious Voyage to the Red Planet (1990), Talking Man, etc. Bisson's stock in trade is whimsy where, at his best, he combines a splendidly loopy inventiveness with real poignancy, a hard-edged sense of wonder and a grasp of the genuinely alien. The exemplars here: the award-winning title piece, in which bears forgo hibernation in favor of camping out along interstate highway medians, warming themselves at ineptly smoky fires; the funny but affecting long story of alien contact and an aging astronaut (``The Shadow Knows''); a rather untypical life-after-death hair-raiser (``Necronauts''); a quite hysterically bizarre short-short about ``Partial People,'' who are ``people only incompletely seen, or found in boxes, perhaps under benches. Lips and eyes stuck under theatre seats like gum''; and any number of agreeably batty commentaries featuring giant mountains, aliens, famous writers, computers, hunting, winged children, the environment, race relations, time travel, England, and what-all. About half the entries here are amusing if ephemeral; for the remainder, Bisson's distinctive style and priceless imagination lift his work to an altogether more exalted plane. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"Highly recommended . . . brilliantly original . . . every story showcases Bisson's keen intelligence and distinctive gift for deliciously wry prose."—Booklist
"Bisson's prose is a wonder of seemingly effortless control and precision; he is one of science fiction's most promising short story practioners."--Publisher's Weekly
"His quick jabs to the funny bone and the intellect often are more powerful than many a lesser artist's attempt at a knockout punch."—San Diego Union-Tribune
Book Description
Bears Discover Fire is the first short story collection by the most acclaimed science fiction author of the decade, author of such brilliant novels as Talking Man and Voyage to the Red Planet. It brings together nineteen of Bisson's finest works for the first time in one volume, among them the darkly comic title story, which garnered the field's highest honors, including the Hugo, Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon, and Locus awards.
Download Description
From the gentle fantasies that include the wry title story, winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, to ecological allegories; a horrific novelette about experimental excursions into the realm of death; and a first-contact mini-epic, this anthology showcases the wide range of Bisson's powerful talent. In every piece, Bisson's characters are just as absurd as their fantastic landscape, yet thoroughly ordinary, recognizable, and authentic. His pack of scientists, artists, rednecks, insurance salesmen, astronauts, truck drivers, owlish British gentlemen, and others will stay with you like your best friends and quirkiest relations.
Buy from Amazon
Compare Prices
|
|
Home
