Customer Reviews

The Fiction Factory

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Jack Dann, The Fiction Factory (Golden Gryphon, 2005)

I first encountered the work of Jack Dann and his frequent collaborate Gardner Dozois on a stifling summer day in 1982. A friend of mine had a contraband porn stash, and I was leafing through an issue of Oui, reading a Motorhead interview. I wasn't the speed-metal devotee I later became at the time (and I have often wondered if that interview played any part), but it was interesting, and contained pictures of really ugly guys with naked girls. (This is why every kid dreams of being a rock star.) Then I turned the page, and saw "Bruckmann first discovered that Wernecke was a vampire when they went to the quarry that morning." And I was lost. I took some flak for actually reading the words in a porn mag, but I would not be distracted until I had finished the entire story (which appears in this volume on page 151; else I would not be relating the tale). Fast-forward twenty-odd years, and I wanted to read the story again, so I picked this up. And it turns out it's not even the best story in the collection--while it's still great, and holds up well after all this time, nothing could have prepared me for "The Clowns". I mean, jeez. Everyone knows clowns are evil and must be destroyed, right? Dann nails that here. Almost as wonderful is "High Steel"; I'm not a huge fan of science fiction most of the time, but this is a story that really works. And there are a bunch more to be found here, too. There are collaborations not only with Gardner Dozois, but also Michael Swanwick, Janeen Webb, Jack Haldeman II, and a bunch of others. If you like short stories, and are unfamiliar with the work of Jack Dann, this is an excellent place to start. ****

Although the stories in this compendium are quite good, what brings the whole thing up to a 5 star rating are the remembrances for all stories for the various writers (Jack, of course, and primarily Mike Swanwick and Gardner Dozois).

Well worth your money.