Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge (Paperback)

by Lou Anders (Editor), Kage Baker (Collaborator), Stephen Baxter (Collaborator), Elizabeth Bear (Collaborator), Paul di Filippo (Collaborator), Ken MacLeod (Collaborator), Larry Niven (Collaborator), Brenda Cooper (Collaborator), Robert Charles Wilson (Collaborator), Gene Wolfe (Collaborator)
Key Phrases: terror bard, fainting game, mushroom ship, Lord Deathlok, Father Nolan, Prince Argul (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. The solid, straightforward storytelling of the 19 stories and two poems that Anders (Futureshocks) gathers for this first in a projected series of all-original SF anthologies speculates on people's efforts to "make sense of a changing world." The contributors don't necessarily assume that humans will find it easy or even possible to cope with all the changes around and within them—but they'll try, which is just part of SF's continuing dialogue about the future. The collection's strongest pieces include Robert Charles Wilson's character study of an almost-artist in search of a muse ("YFL-500"), Mary A. Turzillo's dissection of love ("Pride"), Paul Di Filippo's witty extrapolation of electronic consumerism and democracy gone berserk ("Wikiworld") and Ken MacLeod's understated, moving report on the Second Coming ("Jesus Christ, Reanimator"). All the selections in this outstanding volume prompt thoughtful speculation about what kind of tomorrow we're heading toward and what we'll do when we get there. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
An anthology inspired by its editor's declaration that "science fiction is a tool for making sense of a changing world" contains quite a range of stories, from Elizabeth Bear's "The Something-Dreaming Game," in which children play a fainting game (basically autoerotic asphyxiation), and one girl communicates with the possibly last member of an alien species, to Tony Ballantyne's "Aristotle OS." In that mind-boggler, a journalist with computer problems upgrades from the familiar, platonic OSs to the titular system; the different systems operate on the theories of the philosophers referenced, causing some very interesting problems when the journalist connects to the Internet with its wealth of contradictory information. Ken MacLeod's "Jesus Christ, Reanimator" is an interesting take on the second coming, replete with fascinating rationalizations by both scientific and Christian establishments, none of which wants to take Jesus on faith. Louise Marley tells a time-travel story about a particular performance instruction, p dolce, in the music of Brahms. Other contributions by such familiar and new names as Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, Mike Resnick and Nancy Kress, Gene Wolfe, and Paul DiFiippo fill out a worthy menu of engrossing forays into wildly, creatively varied futures. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 409 pages
• Publisher: Pyr (February 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591024862
• ISBN-13: 978-1591024866
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #534,037 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars ...from the Cutting Edge, February 28, 2007

By	Anthony M. Hildebrand (Lawrence, KS USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fast Forward 1 once again demonstrates Lou Anders' editing prowess (his Live Without a Net and Futureshocks are also excellent). The tagline identifies the collection as "future fiction from the cutting edge," and almost every story offers up an intriguing view of the future from some of the field's best writers.

Robert Charles Wilson's "YFL 500" opens the anthology with a gripping character tale regarding intellectual property, art, and theft in a post-scarcity world. Paolo Bacigalupi's "Small Offerings" is a chilling tale of sacrifice on an ecologically damned Earth. "Plotters and Shooters," by Kage Baker, is a lighthearted "Lord of the Flies"-esque chronicle of the rise of hackers and geeks as the defenders of mankind in a new age.

Indeed, in a collection of 19 short stories and 2 poems (the latter a refreshing addition courtesy of Robyn Hitchcock), only 4 stories don't seem to belong. Elizabeth Bear's "The Something-Dreaming Game" and Louise Marley's "p dolce," while well-written, deal in concepts already well-traversed throughout the genre. Pamela Sargent's "A Smaller Government," while an entertaining satire, is more of a political fantasy than a work of science fiction. And George Zebrowski's "Settlements" is too trite and rife with tropes to be considered "cutting edge" - a story of mysterious aliens with advanced technology imposing peace on a violent, adolescent humanity.

Where the collection truly shines, though, are in the off-kilter stories. Tony Ballantyne's "Aristotle OS" is a comedic, philosophical view of the world through one of the most pervasive, defining facets of our society: the computer operating system. "Jesus Christ, Reanimator" is Ken MacLeod's rational look at the possible second coming of the Christ - charming in its grounded outlook amidst a momentous religious event. Mary A. Turzillo's "Pride" is the endearing tale of a boy and his sabretooth kitten. Finally, the perfect capstone to the anthology is Paul Di Filippo's "Wikiworld" - one of the most brilliant short stories I've read - an adventure through a foreign but realistic near-future, where political lines are drawn between usergroups and power, prestige, and popularity ebb and flow organically between the real world and the virtual.

While the writing and stories are excellent, it is the variety of worlds and tales that makes the anthology truly compelling. Having enjoyed the majority of the book, I can safely say that Fast Forward holds something for everyone. One can only hope that Fast Forward 2 is future fact.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Anthology...a must for SF readers and writers..., February 13, 2007

By	S. S. White "Calico Reaction" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was able to read the ARC of this book prior to its release, and I was very, very pleased with the selections. I enjoyed 14/21 stories in this, with Robert Charles Wilson's, Paolo Bacigalupi's, Elizabeth Bear's, Louise Marley's, and the Mike Resnick/Nancy Kress piece being my personal faves for their "wow" factor. I recognized some of the stories in this anthology were not to my particular SF taste (and some stories I wished were written a bit differently, but that's me), but most of these pieces had good/fun premises, and it was nice to see a variety of stories in this anthology.

I'd definitely recommend this anthology to anyone reading (or writing) science fiction, and I'm not just saying that because I got the ARC: I think I'll pick up the actual copy myself, when I get the chance. Some of these stories really blew me away, and while I would've bought the anthology solely for Bacigalupi's work, I wouldn't have minded paying for the rest of it either, if that makes sense. In other words, there's something in here for everyone, and there's some really, really good stories here.

Also, an interesting stat that some people won't care about: 9/21 stories are penned by women (though two of those nine are co-written by men). The reason this stat jumps out at me is the fact that I've heard several women complain about how when you pick up an anthology of SF stories, there are few to no women featured. It's something I've noticed myself, so a big shout-out to Lou Anders for both sampling a variety of SF and not limiting anthology slots to the male population of the SF community.

Great anthology. Check it out.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, June 15, 2009

By	Blue Tyson "- http://freesf.blogspot.com" - See all my reviews

It is pretty cool to have new new a good old fashioned (in series terms at least, not in content) sf anthology series.

The book starts well with a good introduction by Anders as to why he wants to do it, and some of his inspirations, including a quote from Pohl.

There are also a couple of poems included for those that like them.
The stories are good, the average rating being 3.53, which is a bit over what you hope for from a book, and is rather well done in a new original project as opposed to some sort of reprint.

The standout is Di Filippo's Wikiworld, but Pride and Kage Baker's Plotters and Shooters were also excellent.

In fact, only called three of these '3' or average, so it is a book that is well worth looking at.

The one quibble I would have is the format, being the considerably more expensive trade paperback compared to the recently seen competitor the Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, being the good old paperback. I wonder if this will affect the success of either.

(From print version This part has now come true for some! :) Wouldn't mind seeing an electronic version for easier obtainability, either.)

Otherwise, I definitely recommend having a look. In fact, at the moment I would suggest that anything Pyr puts out is worth a look at, presuming you like fantasy as well, of course.

A fine opening effort, I was pleasantly surprised.