Synopsis
In an anthology of original fantasy tales, thirteen science fiction writers--Harlan Ellison, George Alec Effinger, Connie Willis, and Karen Haber among them--set stories in their own hometowns
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Reviews
The science fiction writers whose work appears here have very different--and at times very loose--ideas of what hometowns can mean, as each revisits his or hers in fictional form. In Harlan Ellison's "Jane Doe #112," a man's home is where he finds it: Ben Laborde, who "had run off when he was 10," feels he has lived "half a dozen different existences." In "Wild for You" by Lewis Shiner, home is on the highway, as a driver moves from youth to old age on a day's drive that literally lasts a lifetime. And Karen Haber's "3 Rms, Good View" posits "the past as a suburb of the present": a young woman who works in 21st-century San Francisco commutes from a cheap apartment circa 1968. In some cases, ambivalence about roots constrains the authorial imagination--Edward Bryant's "The Great Steam Bison of Cycad Center" and Joe Haldeman's "Homecoming" border on the sentimental, while Robert Silverberg's "The Last Surviving Veteran of the War of San Francisco" is sketchy and implausible. Best and funniest is Ian Watson's "The Talk of the Town," in which a young man holds telepathic conversations with the depressive, slightly lunatic spirit of his village. Jordan, who coedited The Best Horror Stories from the Magazine of F & SF , contributes only mildly informative introductions.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Karen Haber's literal interpretation of "living in the past" ("3 Rms, Good View") to Connie Willis's enterprising approach to Hispanic-American history ("Cibola"), these 12 stories and one poem set in the hometowns of the contributing authors reflect a broad range of talent and artistry. Less focused than other "theme" collections, this volume belongs in libraries where short sf is popular.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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FIRES OF THE PAST Thirteen Contemporary Fantasies about Hometowns
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St. Martin's Press, New York NY, 1991
ISBN 10: 0312054335
ISBN 13: 9780312054335
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Hardcover. First Edition. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket; Including original stories by Harlan Ellison, Joe Haldeman, John Kessel, Connie Willis, Jane Yolen, Robert Silverberg, Ian Watson and more ; 212 pages. Seller Inventory # 23663
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FIRES OF THE PAST Thirteen Contemporary Fantasies about Hometowns
Published by
St. Martin's Press, New York NY, 1991
ISBN 10: 0312054335
ISBN 13: 9780312054335
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Fires of the Past Thirteen Contemporary Fantasies about Hometowns
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ISBN 10: 0312054335
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Fires of the Past: Thirteen Contemporary Fantasies About Hometowns
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ISBN 10: 0312054335
ISBN 13: 9780312054335
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FIRES OF THE PAST
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Ron Walotsky; (illustrator). First Edition. (xi) 212 pp. Black boards with gilt lettering on the spine. Light rubbing on the corners of the dustjacket; price intact; no interior markings. Dj art by Ron Walotsky. This anthology contains: Great Gray by Jane Yolen; Cibola by Connie Willis; 3 Rms Good View by Karen Haber; Jane Doe #112 by Harlan Ellison; Buffalo by John Kessel; Who Dat - a novelette by George Alec Effinger; Wild for You by Lewis Shiner; Homecoming - a poem by Joe Haldeman; Pogrom by James Patrick Kelly; The Great Steam Bison of Cycad Center - a novelette by Edward Bryant; Calling Hours by Kit Reed; The Talk of the Town by Ian Watson; and The Last Surviving Veteran of the War of San Francisco - a novelette by Robert Silverberg. Size: 8vo. Book. Seller Inventory # 229860
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Fires of the Past: Thirteen Contemporary Fantasies About Hometowns
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First Edition, First Printing. Not price-clipped ($15.95 price intact). Published by St. Martin's Press, 1991. Octavo. Black cloth boards stamped in gold. Signed by editor Anne Devereaux Jordan and author John Kessel on title page (flat signed not inscribed). Book is very good; with no writing or names. Sharp corners and spine straight. Binding tight and pages crisp. Dust jacket is very good with shelf wear, nicks, and a one-inch tear on front bottom edge. 212 pages. ISBN: 0312054335. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions or if you would like a photo. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Southampton, New York. We Buy Books! Individual titles, libraries, collections. Message us if you have books to sell! Seller Inventory # 125565
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Fires of the Past: Thirteen Contemporary Fantasies About Hometowns
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Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First printing. Black covers in a blue & pictorial dust jacket - now protected in a clear wrapper. 8vo, 212 pages. Dust jacket very lightly chipped at the spine ends. Seller Inventory # 095233
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Fires of the Past [SIGNED by THREE authors]
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Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. "First Edition: March 1991" and full printing line with "1" on its copyright page. SIGNED, with no personalizations or inscriptions, on the title page of their story by authors John Kessel, James Patrick Kelly, and Connie Willis. This book is in fine condition. Its binding is sound and square, with no spine crease. Covers are unmarked and unworn, with bright gilt titles on its spine. Pages are unworn and otherwise unmarked. Its dust jacket, now protected by a removable mylar cover, is in near fine condition: bright, whole, and unmarked, with some very light wear on the ends of its spine and flap folds, but otherwise unworn. I will ship this book in a moisture proof zip-loc bag, padded in bubble wrap, inside a sturdy box to assure it reaches its new owner in the same condition as my description. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 004932
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FIRES OF THE PAST
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Hardcover. fine hardcover copy in a fine,Ron Walotsky, dustwrapper. 1st edition. In an anthology of original fantasy tales, thirteen science fiction writers--Harlan Ellison, George Alec Effinger, Connie Willis, and Karen Haber among them--set stories in their own hometowns. Seller Inventory # FY25.026
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Fires of the Past
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ISBN 10: 0312054335
ISBN 13: 9780312054335
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Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. First Edition. Top edge of pages as some dust stains, but very clean; As New with an As New dust jacket. Seller Inventory # rh567