About the Author:
Stephen Dedman is the author of the novels Foreign Bodies and The Art of Arrow Cutting. The latter was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Horror Novel. His award-nominated short fiction has appeared in most major genre magazines, including The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Asimov's, and SF Age, as well as such highly regarded anthologies as Little Deaths, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Dreaming Down Under, and Centaurus. A collection of his short work, The Lady of Circumstances, was published in 1999. He lives in Perth, Australia, and is currently working on a third novel of magic noir.
From Publishers Weekly:
Sullen social commentary and a creative investigation of gender and ego prove more prominent than the slow moving plot in Dedman's second novel (after the Bram Stoker-nominated The Art of Arrow Cutting). A few decades into the 21st century, Mike Galloway is a WINnerAan official citizenAin a world full of losers. Overzealous social reforms and increased environmental distress have eliminated the legitimacy of the lives of myriad peopleAcalled strippersAwho are now permanently homeless. Galloway is fascinated by the strippers and, in particular, by Swiftie, a girl who has taken up residence on his balcony and shares his love of science fiction. Over cups of coffee, she dictates to him a story of a dangerous future where time travel might provide the only hope for human survival. What Swiftie doesn't mention is that she herself is from this future and that time travel is accomplished by a form of body snatching. Soon, Galloway finds himself in Swiftie's abandoned body, forced to learn to survive in the wilds of the urban jungleAas a woman. Galloway is aware of classic SF plots and often refers to them in an attempt to frame an understanding of his own situation. Readers who are not familiar with the genre might feel that they are missing something. The story concept itself will hook readers in, but the action takes second place to philosophical explorations. Ultimately, Dedman works out a satisfying ending without making his protagonist overly heroic or pushing a false-toned happily-ever-after. Agent, Richard Curtis.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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