Michael Swanwick is among the most acclaimed science-fiction writers of his generation. These Hugo and Nebula award–winning stories range across genres, from the hardest of hard science fiction to the purest of fantasies, with stops in between and stories that defy categorization.
Available Format(s): Trade Paperback, Hardcover, and Limited Hardcover
An unprecedented three of the six short-stories nominated for the prestigious Hugo Award in 1999 were written by one author: Michael Swanwick. Those stories—“Radiant Doors,” The Very Pulse of the Machine,” and “Wild Minds”—appear here in this collection, along with sixteen other razor-sharp visions by this Nebula Award–winning author. “The Very Pulse of the Machine” won the Hugo Award in 1999. One piece, “The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O,” was written especially for this collection. Swanwick is among the most acclaimed science-fiction writers of his generation. The stories here range across genres, from the hardest of hard science fiction to the purest of fantasies, with stops in between and stories that defy categorization.
Praise for Michael Swanwick
“Michael Swanwick is darkly magnificent. Tales of Old Earth is just one brilliant ride after another, a midnight express with a master at the throttle. Sit back and enjoy.”
—Jack McDevitt
“One of the most powerful and consistently inventive short story writers of his generation.”
—Gardner Dozois
“Swanwick has emerged as one of the country’s most respected authors.”
—Philadelphia Inquirer
“I have admired Michael Swanwick’s storytelling—his style, his imagination, his compassion—from the beginning of his career. Over time he has simply improved. Indeed, he writes so well the kinds of stories that I would like to write that he obviates the necessity of my even trying to write them. This collection showcases his exemplary talent.”
—Michael Bishop
Michael Swanwick is one of the most acclaimed science-fiction and fantasy short-story writers of his generation, having received five consecutive Hugo Awards. He has also won the Theodore Sturgeon and World Fantasy awards. Swanwick’s novels include The Iron Dragon’s Daughter, a New York Times Notable Book, and the Nebula Award–winning Stations of the Tide. His short fiction has appeared in many venues, including OMNI, Penthouse, Amazing, Asimov’s Science Fiction, New Dimensions, and Full Spectrum, and his work has been translated into more than ten languages.
Praise for Michael Swanwick
“[Swanwick] is an amazingly assured writer, seemingly incapable of writing a sentence that isn’t interesting in itself, in addition to the way it moves the story forward…. This is a book that merits a place on any serious science-fiction readers’ shelf.”
—New York Review of Science Fiction
“One of the most powerful and consistently inventive short story writers of his generation.”
—Gardner Dozois
“Swanwick has emerged as one of the country’s most respected authors.”
—Philadelphia Enquirer Magazine
Praise for Cigar-Box Faust and Other Miniatures
“[W]onderful strangeness.”
—True Review
“Always brilliant, Swanwick shines in these quirky short pieces, with over 70 gathered in this collection, including ‘An Abecedary of the Imagination,’ with six new entries.” —Locus
“[M]iniaturized, tightly compressed fictions that are alternately startling, funny and mysterious, and often possess the resonance of especially vivid dreams…. [W]himsical, wonderfully eccentric collection.”
—Washington Post Book World
“Felicities, surprises, bon-mots, witticisms, epiphanies, goodies of every description.”
—Fantastic Metropolis
Praise for Gravity’s Angels
“I don’t think I’ve come upon as finely crafted, as deft a collection of stories in quite some time…. Buy this book. I mean it—it’s one of the best science-fiction collections I’ve ever read.”
—Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
“Gravity’s Angels is a showcase for a decade’s worth of Swanwick’s shorter fictions, from his first published short story, ‘The Feast of Saint Janis,’ to a descent past the edge of a flat earth otherwise very like our own in ‘The Edge of the World,’ which won the 1990 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award…. The stories collected here are luminous with the promise of his ambition, smart and allusive, dense with ideas and images, sacred and profane.”
—Interzone
“Gravity’s Angels is an extremely impressive collection. Each story is unique unto itself, and reading them closely together does not produce any sense that one has just read the same thing half an hour earlier. If there is any justice in the world, Gravity’s Angels will bring Swanwick whatever recognition he has not had thus far.”
—Locus
“An important writer whose work is contributing to the shape of things to come in our field.”
—Pat Cadigan
“This volume chronicles the career of one of the most impressive science-fiction writers of the ’80s…. Every story uses the traditional materials of the genre to explore deeper issues of character and conscience…. Swanwick’s work illustrates the power and potential of contemporary science fiction.”
—Publishers Weekly
“There is a multitude of stories here…. Swanwick speaks to your heart and sensibilities about relationships, about spirituality about despair, about real people in fantastic situations, about hopes, dreams, and desire.”
—True Review
Praise for Michael Swanwick’s Field Guide to the Mesozoic Megafauna
“Swanwick has written a short-short story for each of the 13 dinosaurs from the Mesozoic era…. The stories are very funny, often ironic, and well worth the very brief time they take to read. Highlights include ‘The Thief of Time,’ which ironically plays with the different meanings of the egg-stealing Eoraptor; the hilarious ‘A Matter of Size,’ which gives an unexpected look at how the Giantosaurus of South America may have regarded its North American cousins; ‘Three Conversations,’ which gives a sting-in-the-tale ending to a short adventure in kite-flying; ‘Pocket Brontosaurs,’ where Swanwick shows that Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg may have missed the real commercial appeal of bringing dinosaurs back to life; and the darkly funny ‘Herbivores,’ which you should read for yourself. All are worth seeking out….”
—Locus
“A User’s Guide to Michael Swanwick”: An essay by Bruce Sterling
The Thief of Time
A Matter of Size
Three Conversations
How the West Was Won II
The Scientific Method
Dueling Mosasaurs
Pocket Brontosaurs
Herbivores
Parallels
Wusses
Dinosaur Music
The Bird-Fishers
Proving Dr. Tom's Hypothesis
FIVE BRITISH DINOSAURS
Iguanodon anglicus
Yaverlandia bitholus
Altispinax dunkeri
Megalosaurus bucklandii
Craterosaurus pottonensis
Tales of Old Earth
Michael Swanwick
2001 Locus Award winner – Best Collection
Michael Swanwick is among the most acclaimed science-fiction writers of his generation. These Hugo and Nebula award–winning stories range across genres, from the hardest of hard science fiction to the purest of fantasies, with stops in between and stories that defy categorization.
Tales of Old Earth
by Michael Swanwick
ISBN: 1583940561
Published: 2000
Available Format(s): Trade Paperback, Hardcover, and Limited Hardcover
An unprecedented three of the six short-stories nominated for the prestigious Hugo Award in 1999 were written by one author: Michael Swanwick. Those stories—“Radiant Doors,” The Very Pulse of the Machine,” and “Wild Minds”—appear here in this collection, along with sixteen other razor-sharp visions by this Nebula Award–winning author. “The Very Pulse of the Machine” won the Hugo Award in 1999. One piece, “The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O,” was written especially for this collection. Swanwick is among the most acclaimed science-fiction writers of his generation. The stories here range across genres, from the hardest of hard science fiction to the purest of fantasies, with stops in between and stories that defy categorization.
Praise for Michael Swanwick
“Michael Swanwick is darkly magnificent. Tales of Old Earth is just one brilliant ride after another, a midnight express with a master at the throttle. Sit back and enjoy.”
—Jack McDevitt
“One of the most powerful and consistently inventive short story writers of his generation.”
—Gardner Dozois
“Swanwick has emerged as one of the country’s most respected authors.”
—Philadelphia Inquirer
“I have admired Michael Swanwick’s storytelling—his style, his imagination, his compassion—from the beginning of his career. Over time he has simply improved. Indeed, he writes so well the kinds of stories that I would like to write that he obviates the necessity of my even trying to write them. This collection showcases his exemplary talent.”
—Michael Bishop
Michael Swanwick is one of the most acclaimed science-fiction and fantasy short-story writers of his generation, having received five consecutive Hugo Awards. He has also won the Theodore Sturgeon and World Fantasy awards. Swanwick’s novels include The Iron Dragon’s Daughter, a New York Times Notable Book, and the Nebula Award–winning Stations of the Tide. His short fiction has appeared in many venues, including OMNI, Penthouse, Amazing, Asimov’s Science Fiction, New Dimensions, and Full Spectrum, and his work has been translated into more than ten languages.
Praise for Michael Swanwick
“[Swanwick] is an amazingly assured writer, seemingly incapable of writing a sentence that isn’t interesting in itself, in addition to the way it moves the story forward…. This is a book that merits a place on any serious science-fiction readers’ shelf.”
—New York Review of Science Fiction
“One of the most powerful and consistently inventive short story writers of his generation.”
—Gardner Dozois
“Swanwick has emerged as one of the country’s most respected authors.”
—Philadelphia Enquirer Magazine
Praise for Cigar-Box Faust and Other Miniatures
“[W]onderful strangeness.”
—True Review
“Always brilliant, Swanwick shines in these quirky short pieces, with over 70 gathered in this collection, including ‘An Abecedary of the Imagination,’ with six new entries.”
—Locus
“[M]iniaturized, tightly compressed fictions that are alternately startling, funny and mysterious, and often possess the resonance of especially vivid dreams…. [W]himsical, wonderfully eccentric collection.”
—Washington Post Book World
“Felicities, surprises, bon-mots, witticisms, epiphanies, goodies of every description.”
—Fantastic Metropolis
Praise for Gravity’s Angels
“I don’t think I’ve come upon as finely crafted, as deft a collection of stories in quite some time…. Buy this book. I mean it—it’s one of the best science-fiction collections I’ve ever read.”
—Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
“Gravity’s Angels is a showcase for a decade’s worth of Swanwick’s shorter fictions, from his first published short story, ‘The Feast of Saint Janis,’ to a descent past the edge of a flat earth otherwise very like our own in ‘The Edge of the World,’ which won the 1990 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award…. The stories collected here are luminous with the promise of his ambition, smart and allusive, dense with ideas and images, sacred and profane.”
—Interzone
“Gravity’s Angels is an extremely impressive collection. Each story is unique unto itself, and reading them closely together does not produce any sense that one has just read the same thing half an hour earlier. If there is any justice in the world, Gravity’s Angels will bring Swanwick whatever recognition he has not had thus far.”
—Locus
“An important writer whose work is contributing to the shape of things to come in our field.”
—Pat Cadigan
“This volume chronicles the career of one of the most impressive science-fiction writers of the ’80s…. Every story uses the traditional materials of the genre to explore deeper issues of character and conscience…. Swanwick’s work illustrates the power and potential of contemporary science fiction.”
—Publishers Weekly
“There is a multitude of stories here…. Swanwick speaks to your heart and sensibilities about relationships, about spirituality about despair, about real people in fantastic situations, about hopes, dreams, and desire.”
—True Review
Praise for Michael Swanwick’s Field Guide to the Mesozoic Megafauna
“Swanwick has written a short-short story for each of the 13 dinosaurs from the Mesozoic era…. The stories are very funny, often ironic, and well worth the very brief time they take to read. Highlights include ‘The Thief of Time,’ which ironically plays with the different meanings of the egg-stealing Eoraptor; the hilarious ‘A Matter of Size,’ which gives an unexpected look at how the Giantosaurus of South America may have regarded its North American cousins; ‘Three Conversations,’ which gives a sting-in-the-tale ending to a short adventure in kite-flying; ‘Pocket Brontosaurs,’ where Swanwick shows that Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg may have missed the real commercial appeal of bringing dinosaurs back to life; and the darkly funny ‘Herbivores,’ which you should read for yourself. All are worth seeking out….”
—Locus
Visit the Michael Swanwick website.
“A User’s Guide to Michael Swanwick”: An essay by Bruce Sterling
The Thief of Time
A Matter of Size
Three Conversations
How the West Was Won II
The Scientific Method
Dueling Mosasaurs
Pocket Brontosaurs
Herbivores
Parallels
Wusses
Dinosaur Music
The Bird-Fishers
Proving Dr. Tom's Hypothesis
FIVE BRITISH DINOSAURS
Iguanodon anglicus
Yaverlandia bitholus
Altispinax dunkeri
Megalosaurus bucklandii
Craterosaurus pottonensis
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