Freeze Frames [Hardcover]

Katharine Kerr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1995

The first book of a grand, mystical family saga tells the story of Maggie Corey's descendants, five generations of mothers and daughters from various imaginary Californias who are stalked and defended by the men around them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reading more like a loosely connected set of short stories than a novel, Kerr's latest opens in the heart of the Haight-Ashbury drug scene of the late 1960s and follows the women of one family for five generations. Each woman is presented during a moment of crisis in which she encounters the forces of evil in the form of Nick Harrison?the Devil himself?and those of good in the more subtle character of Rabbi Akiba. The narrative also includes a coup by the religious right and aliens from outer space who convert to Catholicism. Despite the disjointed plotting and some stylistic unevenness, parts of this tale are delightful, especially the penultimate?and longest?chapter, which concerns Tiffany Margaret Owens, a warm and thoughtful character who deals with her own recovery from a war injury that killed her twice and with the choice of which alternate future to live in. This launches a new series from Kerr (the Deverry series, including Days of Air and Darkness).
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The latest from the author of the excellent and popular Deverry series is the first volume in a family saga set on the borderline between sf and fantasy. It deals with Maggie Cory and the ups and downs of her and her descendants through five generations in an alternative San Francisco in which the 1960s were the prelude to a revolution. The plot is a loose variation of the Faust legend, with Maggie in the role of Marguerite, the sinister Nick Harrison as Mephistopheles, and a Rabbi Akiba opposing Harrison. The novel has more northern California literary flavor than Kerr's previous work, but it also features most of her superior skills at characterization, world building, and graceful language. It may help her start picking up a nonfantasy readership, which she deserves. Roland Green

Product Details

• Hardcover: 285 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312890443
• ISBN-13: 978-0312890445
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,202,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intresting, original, and very, very strange!, June 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Freeze Frames (Paperback)

This book is like no other book I have ever read. Its basically an account of all the strange things that happen to a family through out the successive generations. The book could be seen as a collection of successive inter-linked short stories. But the thing that makes this book so enjoyable is it's originality, it seems like in the world of Katherine Kerr anything goes! You are never sure where the story is going to go! Let me warn you this book is really bizarre. It features all sorts of characters from futuristic asylum seekers to the devil, and even has cameos from giant dragonflies! Ok, It's weird, It's crazy, It's such an amazing book I recommend it to all!

3.0 out of 5 stars It works better as short stories, November 14, 2001

By 

Katherine Blackthorne "Katherine Blackthorne" (Chico, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freeze Frames (Hardcover)

OK, I'm biased. One of the four stories that make up this book was previously published independently as "Resurrection" -- and I already owned that title when I bought "Freeze Frames".

I really feel this book would work better if it were openly billed as a group of short stories, rather than trying (ineffectively) to integrate them into a whole. I think part of the reason I disliked it so much is because it tried -- and failed -- to connect stories that should have been allowed to stand independently.

3.0 out of 5 stars Misleading synopsis, November 14, 2001

By 

Katherine Blackthorne "Katherine Blackthorne" (Chico, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freeze Frames (Paperback)

I owned "Resurection", which makes up one of the four stories here, when this book came out. The back page synposis was really misleading. I would have enjoyed it more had I never read it.

This works best simply as four independend short stories. Any "connection" implied in the synopsis is truly misleading, and you'll be disappointed if yo look for it.