The Perseids and Other Stories
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3.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Robert Charles Wilson's time has come. His first novel from Tor, Darwinia, was a finalist for science fiction's Hugo award, and a #1 Locus bestseller in paperback. His next novel, Bios, is a critical and commercial success. Now Wilson's brilliant short science fiction is available in book form for the first time.
Beginning with "The Perseids," winner of Canada's national SF award, this collection showcases Wilson's suppleness and strength: bravura ideas, scientific rigor, and living, breathing human beings facing choices that matter. Also included among the several stories herein are the acclaimed Hugo Award finalist "Divided by Infinity" and three new stories written specifically for this collection.
"Beautifully observed, skillfully worked out: stories that flow subtly, almost imperceptably, from the prosaic to the preternatural."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Winner of Canadian SF's Aurora Award, Wilson (Darwinia) is best known in the States for his novels, so this brief collection of short stories will come as a pleasant surprise to many readers. Three of the nine stories here are new; all are linked by their connection (slight in several cases, crucial in others) to Finders, a unique secondhand bookstore where characters frequently find items crucial to their destinies. As one character describes it, Finders "fostered meaningful coincidence... the way a houseplant attracts gnats." The lead story, "The Fields of Abraham," introduces the owner of Finders, a young man whose gift for chess creates his means of escape from a hopeless life. Aliens onstage and off figure prominently in "The Perseids" and "The Observer." Metaphysical journeys reveal surprising inner landscapes in "The Inner Inner City" and "Plato's Mirror," and the inner lives of ants and cats underscore "Ulysses Sees the Moon in the Bedroom Window" and the chilling "Protocols of Consumption." "Divided by Infinity" presents a man trapped by his ability to shift between two worlds. The closing tale, "Pearl Baby," is a straightforward horror story. Wilson's slow-building, many-layered yarns shape characters out of the raw materials of loneliness and intellectual isolation. Readers in search of thoughtful, resonant writing will enjoy this collection of urban fantasies.
