Black Mist: And Other Japanese Futures (Daw Book Collectors) [Paperback]

Orson Scott Card (Editor), Keith Ferrell (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Daw Book Collectors | Publication Date: December 1, 1997

Japan has long been one of the key players in business, technology, and culture...and now some of today's finest writers have created these all-new novellas envisioning how its influence will change the world! Calling on their expert knowledge of Japanese society, as well as science fact and fiction, these writers including Paul Levinson offer five different mesmerizing visions of the future that are sure to appeal to the multitude of fans of this unique culture!

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: DAW (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886777674
• ISBN-13: 978-0886777678
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,594,792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Huge disappointment for Card fans, September 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Mist: And Other Japanese Futures (Daw Book Collectors) (Paperback)

I own, literally, every book written by Orson Scott Card and most of the collections he's edited. This one disappointed me. There is not a single word from Card in the introduction, which is usually a source of insight into how/why the collection was assembled. While I enjoyed the title novella, "Black Mist", I felt the book as a whole lacked substance and was not up to the usual Card standard. So, if you've come to the page from a search on "Card," save your money. Bottomline: I will no longer automatically buy collections he edits, but he's still my favorite living author.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A considerable disappointment, August 31, 2007

By 

Michael K. Smith (South Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black Mist: And Other Japanese Futures (Daw Book Collectors) (Paperback)

I enjoy fiction with a Japanese setting, whether written by a Japanese author or not, so I had high hopes for this collection of five original stories. Alas, it's not nearly as good as it might have been. Richard Lupoff's title story, a murder mystery set in a Japanese research station on the Martian moon of Phobos, is perhaps the weakest in the volume. The characterization is shaky, the solution to the "mystery" is known almost from the beginning (I thought this was a red herring, but no), and a number of not entirely connected plot threads are left dangling (like the business with the "face on Mars"). "Tea from an Empty Cup," by Pat Cadigan, set in a cyberworld that has little resemblance to what we actually ended up with, has been reprinted several times, and while it's an interesting read, it's far from being her best work. The best thing here, actually, is Paul Levinson's rather short "A Medal for Harry," a sly and disturbing piece about the nature of political truth. "Niagara Falling," by Jack Dann, is a rather disconnected piece about a wealthy, newly-married young couple from Australia on their honeymoon at a Niagara Falls you won't recognize, in a future where Canada and the U.S. are in serious trouble -- though it's not clear why. There's nothing explicitly Japanese in this story, just a few bits of the background, and it's equally "Arab" in its setting, so I'm not sure why it's even in this collection. The best-written piece (or maybe just the most "literary"), though the plotting is a bit confusing, is "Thirteen Views of Higher Edo," by Patric Helmann. This one is about an artist living and working in a manufactured orbital world conceived and populated by those who were bullied (ijime) on Earth. It's interesting in places, especially in its delineation of the protagonist, Yukio, who only wants to be left alone to perform his job growing protein and to pursue his art on his own time, despite the mercantile demands of his world's governing council. Altogether, though, this collection is a serious disappointment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Weak stories., March 31, 2000

By 

Michael D Ward - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Mist: And Other Japanese Futures (Daw Book Collectors) (Paperback)

Nothing in this collection is really terrible, but nothing in it has anything to offer either. Mostly, they're just borring. "A Medal for Harry" has a nice (and humorous) twist at the end, but not much else going for it. Most of the writers are technically competent, but the stories are simply week.