Beast of the Heartland [Paperback]

Lucius Shepard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 1999

The fiction of Lucius Shepard has more to do with Joseph Conrad than Isaac Asimov. Fascinated by deception and decay, and generally labeled a cyberpunk writer, his work transcends the limits of genre fiction. Beast of the Heartland contains seven tales that explore the darkside where science fiction meets horror. Headed by the award-winning "Barnacle Bill the Spacer," a story of high-space mutiny, the book includes "A Little Night Music," a gothic tale of insanity; "All the Perfumes of Araby," where an adventurer in the Middle East links up with an ancient entity; "Human History," a postapocalyptic chiller; "Sports in America," a noir tale in the Chandler tradition; "The Sun Spider," a mini space opera; and the title story -- an ingenious picture of a battered boxer on the decline.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you're already familiar with Lucius Shepard, you won't need any encouragement to pick up Beast of the Heartland, a collection of short works that leads with the Hugo-winning novella "Barnacle Bill the Spacer." In addition to the Hugo, Shepard has bagged the Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Award (twice), and when he came into sci-fi and fantasy back in the '80s, he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer. All this acclaim just confirms the obvious--Shepard is an artist of extraordinary skill. He draws from the forms of both sci-fi and horror, but he ultimately surpasses them with his dark, compact, literary style.

The seven stories in this collection are solid Shepard. "Barnacle Bill the Spacer" is in fine company with a few other real gems: "A Little Night Music," the creepy tale of a music reviewer writing up some jazz zombies; "All the Perfumes of Araby," a mystic, Middle Eastern opium trip; and "The Sun Spider," a dark take on classic SF. The collection is rounded out by "Human History" and "Sports in America," but the best-of may have to go to the title piece, "Beast of the Heartland," a moving portrait of a boxer on the outs. --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

"Not the great movements of time but the ordinary things that make us what we are" are the concern of the seven stories in this scintillating collection. Though their settings range from the mean streets of contemporary Boston to the badlands of a postapocalyptic future earth, Shepard's genre-bending blends of fantasy, crime, western and SF find a common compass in small moments that invite characters to examine themselves and the relationships that define their identities. In the Nebula-winning "Barnacle Bill the Spacer," a security officer fights a fascist gang overrunning a space station and sees in their persecution of a half-witted maintenance worker self-destructive traits that have hindered humanity's efforts to colonize the stars. In "A Little Night Music," a critic finds the music of a zombie jazz band resonating with the death of love in his marriage. Except for the female narrator of "The Sun Spider," Shepard's protagonists are men employed in rugged, often outlaw occupations that have shaped their solitary, self-reliant personalities. Like the gangster in "Sports in America," who finds a metaphor for his work in the ruthless business side of professional athletics, and the aging boxer in the title story whose injuries give him special insight into the animal nature of his opponents, they find quiet epiphanies in their brutish daily experience. Redolent with the influence of Hemingway and Conrad, these engrossing stories extend the legacy Shepard has already established through The Jaguar Hunter and The Ends of the Earth, as one of the most provocative writers of short speculative fiction. (Apr.) FYI: This book was published in Great Britain in 1996 as Barnacle Bill the Spacer and Other Stories.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press (March 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568581262
• ISBN-13: 978-1568581262
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not his best, but the guy's an underappreciated genius., July 24, 2000

By 

Matthew Dunphy (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beast of the Heartland (Paperback)

I'm sorry that I wasn't as impressed with this particular collection of Shepard's stories as I was with some of his other work. There are a couple of gems in here, however; "Barnacle Bill the Spacer", winner of the Hugo Award, is alone worth the price of admission.

However, if by chance fate has you perusing this page and wondering whether or not to take a chance on Shepard, do it. I first randomly ran across his 'Life During Wartime' in an airport, and I've read everything else of his that I could get my hands on since.

This collection is a fairly mild intro to some of the awe-inspiring concepts that Shepard constructs with the ease of Legos; and not only that, this guy can put words together like nobody's business. Borges would be proud.

It's a crying shame that a lot of his other work is now out of print or otherwise difficult to find; "The Jaguar Hunter", "The Ends of the Earth", and "The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter" I would all rate as superior to this particular collection, but don't let that stop you. Shepard is worthy of your reading time, and his full-length novels are equally astonishing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Writer is a one-of-a-kind, December 23, 2000

By 

puffinswan "puffinswan" (Brigadoon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beast of the Heartland (Paperback)

This book is a collection of short stories, and although I liked them all, the one entitled Barnacle Bill the Spacer took my breath away. Lucius Shepard writes with such beautiful, unique precision, and expresses himself in such an uncommon and thought provoking manner that I found myself reading many of his sentences over and over just to savor their flavor and texture. His words linger, and his plots won't leave you alone. His uncommon writing gave me an uncommon pleasure-highly recommended.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucius Shephard deserves to be read., May 14, 2000

By 

J. A. Bellamy "bluejaye" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beast of the Heartland (Paperback)

I love short stories, and it is clear to me that anyone else that loves short stories will love this collection, regardless of whether they condsider themselves sci-fi fans or not. In fact, two of the stories are completely devoid of anything fantastical, and two more only touch upon the surreal. In all seven, you do find the clear and descriptive writing that carries with it an insight into human beings all across the world - or universe. Shephard is able to portray the humanity and inhumanity as they battle within each of his primary characters, and over all, you might say that this is really what this collection is about. Each story has a clear and entertaining plot, but underneath, each focuses on a character that is struggling with his desires or angers or impulses that often lead to self-destructive life patterns; vivid and recognizable as elements of our own lives.

The genre sci-fi stories work the best for me. "Barnacle Bill, the Spacer" and "Human History" make my top five list of the best short stories ever. "Sun Spider" is interesting, but without the punch. And the remaining three straight stories were good, but less so than the others. However, in that "Barnacle Bill, the Spacer" and "Human History" are practically short novels, the book is well worth having just for these two stories alone. Consider the others bonus stories. Collections as a general rule are spotty. There are always pages you want to rip out and sometimes pages you want to hang on the wall. This is the first I've read in a long time that has no rip out material. Everything here is good. And some of it is truly amazing. Enjoy.