Full Spectrum 3 [Paperback]

Lou Aronica (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1991

An anthology of twenty-three science fiction stories features the work of Poul Anderson, Karen Joy Fowler, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kevin J. Anderson, Gregory Benford, and others. Reprint.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ursula K. Le Guin and Poulsp okay Anderson are the best known of the 22 talented contributors to this diverse and richly imaginative collection, the third in a series of speculative fiction anthologies. In "Desert Rain," Mark L. Van Name and Pat Murphy give a high-tech variation on the familiar relationship triangle: a man named Jeff, a woman named Teresa and a prototype of a computerized home management system named Ian, a caring kind of guy who could "steal your heart." In Wolfgang Jeschke's "Loitering at Death's Door" (translated from the German), coming back from the dead isn't all it's cracked up to be, when Kristos Katsuranis returnspk as a "really lousy copy" of his former self. An Afrikaner realizes what it means to be black in South Africa when he becomes invisible to other whites in Michael Bishop's "Apartheid, Superstrings, and Mordecai Thubana." In Ted Chiang's "Division by Zero," a brilliant mathematician's world begins to crumble when she discovers she can prove, irrefutably, that one equals two. The people of Earth learn a lesson in humanity when they detect a sign of life on another planet: an SOS from "alien, but cute" beings, in Norman Spinrad's "The Helping Hand."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

Twenty-two new variations ranging--as the title promises--from hard sf to the supernatural, and sometimes successfully blending them. Outstanding examples of the latter include Karen Joy Fowler's long story about voodoo and drugs, Michael Bishop's extended parable exploring apartheid and physics, and Ursula K. LeGuin's tale of space habitat refugees who hallucinate the ruined Earth they've fled. The finest entry of all is Marcos Donnelly's ``Tracking the Random Variable''--a sparkling, witty study of statistics, obsession, and infidelity. Also, interestingly, two translations appear, one from French (descent into madness) and one from German (resurrection). While more variable in quality, the remainder should provide sufficient scope--ecological parables, ghosts, sculpture, helpful aliens, psychic powers, witches, mathematical puzzles, werebeasts, and more--to tempt even readers turned off by the bland, dull, writers'-workshop uniformity so characteristic of short stories in recent years. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 550 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (May 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385418027
• ISBN-13: 978-0385418027
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,996,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am the author of several works of fiction and nonfiction, including the New York Times bestseller, THE ELEMENT (written with Sir Ken Robinson) and the national bestseller, THE CULTURE CODE (written with Dr. Clotaire Rapaille). Prior to focusing on writing, I spent two decades as a senior executive in the publishing industry, including stints as Publisher of Avon Books and Deputy Publisher of Bantam Books. I am currently Publisher of two independent publishing houses, The Story Plant and The Fiction Studio.

My latest novel, BLUE, is the most personal and passionate work of my career to date. It took me six years to complete, and it deals with themes I've wanted to address my entire life. The extremely warm reception it has received from reviewers has been tremendously rewarding.

I live in southern Connecticut with my wife and four kids.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice variety, August 27, 2002

By 

Glen Engel Cox (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Full Spectrum 3 (Paperback)

Highlights include:

* James Morrow's "Daughter Earth" -- I'm not a big fan of Morrow's short stories, and I've not read his novels, but this story astonished me with its audacity. Not just anyone could pull this off--I'm not even sure that Morrow does--but just the fact that he tried gives him brownie points in my book. A biosphere is born to a new age-farmer couple, and they try to keep it out of the hands of the government. Life-affirming and planet-affirming.

* Mark L. Van Name and Pat Murphy's "Desert Rain" -- Pat told us (in the NOVA Express interview) that she was writing this story with Mark, but she didn't say it was gonna be this good. An artist's construction of rain in the desert is hampered by her feelings for her husband and the home software he's creating. This is what Jonathan Carroll would write if he wrote science fiction.

* Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Precious Moments" -- Kind of an "Odd Joan" story, filled with this author's nouveau family angst and some really intriguing characters.

* Peg Kerr's "Lethe"--This is a tale about medical and cultural responsibility for dying. It reminded me of the empathy of Theodore Sturgeon, and this story should be considered for the award that bears his name. I'm keeping my eye out for Kerr stories in the future.

* Marcos Donnelly's "Tracing the Random Variable" -- A Twilight Zone-ish tale of a man obsessed with stability, that only serves to increase his instability.

* Norman Spinrad's "The Helping Hand" -- It may be a little saccharine tasting, but who'd have thought that Spinrad would write a little piece of wish-fulfillment fantasy like this? I couldn't help myself; I like it.

* Elizabeth Hand's "Snow on Sugar Mountain" - I was predisposed not to like this story by Hand, based on having read some wrong-headed critical pieces by her in the past, but she overcame all that, and this tale of an orphan, a dying astronaut, and their friendship was probably my third favorite story in this collection.

And that's not to mention the contributions by Tony Daniel, Greg Benford, Ursula K. Le Guin, Wolfgang Jeschke, Karen Joy Fowler, R.V. Branham, or Michael Bishop, which I also liked.