Absolute Magnitude - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312864493 ISBN 13: 9780312864491

Publisher: Tor Books, 1998

Synopsis

SF adventures for the 1990s from an ambitious new magazine.

The world of science fiction is built on the foundation of magazine fiction. The SF magazines have always been where the action is, on the cutting edge-the place where new stuff appears first. And one of the feisty magazines of the '90s, devoted to high quality SF adventure fiction, is Absolute Magnitude. Publishers Warren Lapine and Stephen Pagel have gathered an array of the best of Absolute Magnitude. It includes some of the best-known names in science fiction, such as Janet Kagan, Hal Clement, Barry B. Longyear, and Shariann Lewitt, as well as many up-and-coming writers.

About this title

Review

It's unreasonable to expect that you'll like every story in any anthology. But Absolute Magnitude hits far more than it misses. This volume benefits from being a sort of anthology of anthologies, culling some of the best short fiction from Absolute Magnitude magazine, from its inception (as Harsh Mistress) in 1993 through to 1997. And the plucky folks from AbMag have another strength going for them: they love old-school SF and it shows. This solid-without-being-slick collection has that church-bulletin charm of something clearly produced by and for the faithful.

The 16 stories take on everything from a Martian serial killer to the unexpected downside of having your brain frozen. Some of the choicest bits come from the magazine's first couple of issues: Denise Lopes Heald's well-realized "The Prize" follows grunts on the run behind enemy lines; Hal Clement's "Sortie" is the first of four installments in an excellent serial (you'll have to get back issues of the magazine to catch the rest); and the Frank O. Dodge piece, from the Harsh Mistress premiere issue, has a shotgun-wielding Jeep-driver chasing Spanish conquistadors. The book closes strongly, with Linda Tiernan Kepner's tense but funny "Planting Walnuts," perhaps the best of the batch. --Paul Hughes

From the Publisher

Praise for Absolute Magnitude:

"If this collection represents what the magazine is all about, it should persuade a lot of readers to take a look." --Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Certainly worth a try for story enthusiasts." --Kirkus Reviews

"This is an enjoyable and nicely varied SF anthology." --Publishers Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0312864493
• ISBN 13: 9780312864491
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: Lapine Warren, Pagel Stephen