VANISHING ACTS: A Science Fiction Anthology.

Datlow, Ellen, editor. Joe Haldeman, signed.

ISBN 10: 0312869622 / ISBN 13: 9780312869625

Published by TOR / Tom Doherty Associates, 2000

About this Item

First printing. An anthology with sixteen stories - 12 original to this volume, including a long novella by Ted Chiang, and 4 previously published - on the theme of endangered species. Other contributors include Suzy McKee Charnas, Bruce McAllister, Keren Joy Fowler, Brian Stableford, David Schow, and others. SIGNED by Joe Haldeman at his contribution, a poem "Endangered Species." 380 pp. Fine in fine dust jacket. Seller Inventory # 89700

Bibliographic Details

Title: VANISHING ACTS: A Science Fiction Anthology.

Publisher: TOR / Tom Doherty Associates

Publication Date: 2000

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: FINE

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

Assembles a collection of original science fiction stories that explore the idea of endangered species--interpreted in some cases to include the human race--by award-winning science fiction authors, including Ted Chiang. 12,500 first printing.

Review:

Ellen Datlow has a fine reputation as an editor of original anthologies, both solo (Little Deaths, Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers) and with Terri Windling (their adult fairy-tale series includes Black Heart, Ivory Bones). With Windling she also edits the annual reprint volume The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. This collection, fifteen stories and one poem, is unusual in that the pieces are a mix of originals and reprints.

The central theme is that of endangered species: plant and animal, human and alien, real and imagined. The seven pieces that stand out include all four reprints. Bruce McAllister's "The Girl Who Loved Animals" and Karen Joy Fowler's "Faded Roses" are both set in near futures bereft of most of the mammal species we love. Both cultures try different solutions. Both stories are unbearably sad. Also poignant but uplifting in its theme of the redemptive power of music is Suzy McKee Charnas's "Listening to Brahms." M. Shayne Bell's "The Thing About Benny" is a more dispassionate examination of the practical impact of reduced biodiversity, and Mark W. Tiedemann gives us a cautionary tale of difference--and possibilities wrenched from our grasp. Interestingly, it is the oldest piece in the book, Avram Davison's "Now Let Us Sleep," that perhaps comes closest to mirroring third-millennial angst, cynicism, and despair. The last story, however, is the utterly delightful "Seventy-two Letters," a new novella from Ted Chiang, that allows the reader to close the book feeling hopeful about the perpetual self-renewal of life. --Luc Duplessis