Eclipse 3: New Science Fiction and Fantasy [Paperback]

Jonathan Strahan (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2009

To observe an eclipse is to witness a rare and unusual event. Under darkened skies the sun becomes a negative image of itself, its corona transforming the landscape into a strange space where anything might happen, and any story may be true... In the spirit of classic science fiction anthologies such as Universe, Orbit, and Starlight, master anthologist Jonathan Strahan (The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year) presents the non-themed genre anthology Eclipse: New Science Fiction and Fantasy. Here you will find stories where strange and wonderful things happen - where reality is eclipsed by something magical and new.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Australian editor Strahan continues his wide-ranging and occasionally controversial anthology series with 15 boundary-pushing stories. Pat Cadigan's “Don't Mention Madagascar” and Nnedi Okorafor's “On the Road” play wittily with reality and identity, and are exquisitely crafted. Maureen McHugh's “Useless Things” and Ellen Kushner's “Dolce Domum” are melancholy but no less fascinating. Jeffrey Ford's “The Coral Heart” nicely tweaks high fantasy tropes, while Peter S. Beagle's “Sleight of Hand” and Nicola Griffith's “It Takes Two” examine the nature and power of love from very different angles. The less successful efforts by Elizabeth Bear, Molly Gloss and Paul Di Filippo are still ambitious enough to be worth reading. Only Daniel Abraham's cliché-driven “The Pretender's Tourney” and Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple's predictable short-short “Mesopotamian Fire” seem really out of place. Despite the weak spots, Strahan continues to secure his place as a top anthologist. (Dec.)
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From Booklist

In a brilliant, wide-ranging anthology, Strahan presents stories by authors as diverse as Karen Joy Fowler, Elizabeth Bear, and Paul Di Filippo. Ellen Klages contributes “Lotion,“ a story about imaginary numbers and the strange powers of math, in which a young girl discovers the magical potential of pure math. Ellen Kushner’s “Dolce Domum” is, perhaps, not about what its characters think it is. Bear’s “Swell” is a fairy tale about a musician seeking her voice, in which a mermaid’s gift is not as wonderful as at first glance it seems. Molly Gloss’ “The Visited Man” presents a lonely pensioner who lives upstairs from le douanier Rousseau and the relationship that develops after the painter brings the retiree a stray cat. As for the previous Eclipse anthologies, Strahan has picked stories whose authors care about both the craft of storytelling and the stories they tell. Each piece is distinctive and haunting. --Regina Schroeder

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Night Shade Books; 1 edition (November 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597801623
• ISBN-13: 978-1597801621
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,333,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-own for anthology lovers, July 15, 2010

By 

Erin Stocks (Oklahoma City, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eclipse 3: New Science Fiction and Fantasy (Paperback)

I've been collecting SFF anthologies for the last ten years now. That combined with my own writing for the short story market and keeping up with all the SFF magazines has resulted in a preference for stories that cut deeper than just an initial reaction to the lines on the page. Stories that have multiple meanings, and keen insight that stays with the reader for hours after the read, even days. Eclipse 3 was just that for me - it left me spellbound. I didn't care for 2-3 of the stories, and even skimmed them, but the rest astounded me, and in my opinion, rank extraordinarily high on my list of best-ever SFF short stories. Karen Joy Fowler's "The Pelican Bar" has been nominated for multiple awards after this antho was released, and has deserved each one of them, in my opinion. Elizabeth Bear's "Swell" was gorgeous. Jeffrey Ford, a master of short stories, stunned me with "The Coral Heart." Caitlin R. Kiernan's "Galapagos" thrills with suspense and horror and longing. I didn't care for the Kushner at first, but once I'd invested in it, I realized there were layers there that I'd missed the first read-through, and its beauty was nearly overwhelming.

These stories aren't glossed-up with tech and drama and big SFF antics - if you want that, look for anthologies themed with latest baddie (zombie, vampires, etc.). In Eclipse 3, Strahan has instead collected stories that cross a marvel of complex emotion, and describe real life woven into the scary possibility of fantasy and science fiction. It's the best of the three Eclipse anthologies so far, and one of the best you can buy.

16 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointingly thin collection even for lovers of sci-fi pulp, February 5, 2010

By 

Jack Gillibrand (California, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Eclipse 3: New Science Fiction and Fantasy (Paperback)

Science fiction short stories are, to me, like candy: even if they're not that good for you, they're almost always delicious. And, if you're like me, you devour them like candy, plowing through year-end collections and monthly magazines, re-reading the classics with pleasure. Nowadays, with even hallowed brands like the "Best American" series including genre fiction in their "Nonrequired Reading" titles, it almost seems like this is a new golden age for speculative short stories. With so much quality work out there, a collection this poor is really inexcusable.

The introduction should have been a warning -- it consists of a few brief paragraphs, written with all the care of a high school student on deadline, about how the cover of the first Eclipse book wasn't so great but this new cover is just super. It reads almost as a joke, especially considering how dopey the cover actually is.

The stories that follow are almost uniformly dull. Ellen Klages' childhood mystery aims for Stephen King but goes nowhere, Peter S. Beagle's grief-stricken wish-fulfillment tale has zero gravitas, Daniel Abraham's story of a magic sword is just ridiculous. The first piece in the collection, about a young girl trapped in a horror-story juvenile prison, is just plain icky. There's also an odd theme: not one, not two, but three stories center on woman-on-woman love, and while I applaud inclusiveness, there's a disturbing exploitativeness and an almost pornographic feel to all of them--more "male gaze" than diverse post-feminism. One story, for instance, fantasizes about a beautiful stripper tricked chemically into falling for another woman, a tale more appropriate to Penthouse Forum.

I can't emphasize enough how tolerant I am of corny sci-fi, and I'm forgiving of sloppy style or inept characterization if there are some intriguing ideas at play in a story. But Eclipse 3 was too silly, and weirdly prurient, even for me, and I finished the collection deeply disappointed. Skip it.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars "Gruel" is any watery or liquidy food that is of unknown character. Just like the short stories in this anthology., March 26, 2011

By 

John V. Karavitis (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eclipse 3: New Science Fiction and Fantasy (Paperback)

I typically don't waste my time writing a critique of a book that I did not enjoy reading, but I feel compelled to do so with this "work". This "anthology" of "short stories" read like a collection of publishers' rejects, or perhaps the pathetic writing efforts of people suffering from major head trauma. There were a number of interesting ideas or kernels in a number of these short stories, but not a single one of them was at all developed in a satisfactory manner. There was no direction or solid plot or character development in any of these "works". I felt compelled to push forward and read the entire anthology, in the hope of finding at least one single "gem", one grain of wheat, among all this chaff. I thought, if I come across a short story that "knocks one out of the ballpark", I'd be amply rewarded for my gamble and my time. Instead, I was completely disappointed. In a way, I think I subconciously figured out early on that this anthology was a complete and utter waste of time, but I pressed on in order to punish myself for NOT bailing out when I knew better. In addition, there was very little "science fiction" in these short stories, and whatever "fantasy" was presented was limp and flaccid. Again, more like these short stories were efforts by people who thought they had a snowball's chance in hell of being good "writers". I noted by the title of this anthology (and confirmed in the editor's Preface) that this is the "third" such anthology by this editor. Although I have not read either of the first two anthologies, I pray that this editor never learned to count past the number "3". Take a pass, this anthology is a waste of time, and would make Gutenberg regret inventing the printing press. So sad. John V. Karavitis, John Karavitis, Karavitis.