Future Americas (Daw Science Fiction) [Paperback]

John Helfers (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Daw Science Fiction | Publication Date: June 3, 2008

Oh say can you see— sixteen original stories about the America to come

Predicting the future has long been a cornerstone of science fiction, and the number of trends in society, politics, and religion that have followed these forecasts is impressive. Now sixteen authors have taken up the challenge of gazing into the future and seeing where America may be the day after tomorrow. From an America where history has become myth and misinformation amid the ruins of a once-great land...to a place where the only existence for genetic misfits is as slaves...to a company intent on cloning the world’s species, both extinct and endangered, back to a balanced ecosystem, here are stories that will have readers thinking about the future, and about how their own actions now could make a difference tomorrow.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In his third novel, speculative-fiction rising star Jasper offers a finely nuanced blend of fantasy and horror centering on a salesman turned organic farmer who confronts an unusual terror in the woods surrounding his land. Gil and his wife, Melissa, are already facing some serious disillusionment about their quixotic move to the country when their son Noah disappears into the forest under Gil’s watch. Still reeling from the stillbirth of the couple’s second child, Gil faces the grim task of not only finding Noah but protecting his family from the diabolical denizens of the shadowy world around and below their property that he dubs “The Undercity.” Jasper shifts the narrative between Gil’s trek into the forest, Melissa’s battle with self-inflicted guilt while conducting her own confusing search, and Noah’s more innocent encounters with the mythical, dragon-like creatures that live beneath the forest’s earthen floor. Jasper demonstrates a sure hand in balancing his imaginative rendering of middle-class angst with the familiar supernatural ingredients of a 1980s-era horror novel. --Carl Hays

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: DAW (June 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756405084
• ISBN-13: 978-0756405083
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,797,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Collection!, September 17, 2008

By 

Steven Woodcock "Ferretman" (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Future Americas (Daw Science Fiction) (Paperback)

Very interesting suite of seventeen stories with differing takes on how America's future might unfold. There are some very good stories here (I am particularly fond of "A Souvenir to Remember" and "Better Guns") and others not so much ("Jesus Runs").

Recommended both for the subject matter and the interesting extrapolations....a fine read!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Simpson's Version of Dangerous Visions, February 28, 2011

By 

Grey Wolffe "Zeb Kantrowitz" (North Waltham, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Future Americas (Daw Science Fiction) (Paperback)

As an anthology, the idea is nothing new but it's execution is pitiful. Of the sixteen stories four are really good and deserve a better fate (the first and last are bookends). Only two are truly about America, the rest could have been written about anyplace and could fit into lots of other anthologies. Somebody should have spent more time making the authors stay on course.

Examples: one story has to do with Jesus clones, another about people living in archologies, the killing of your child (who turns out mediocre) because you didn't agree with the gene manipulator when you baby was created was truly silly, and a story about "patriots" attacking Graceland was downright pitiful.

So, don't waste your time unless you want to learn how bad some of these writers can be without having to read a whole novel. Don Wollheim would have been embarrassed to publish this book.

Zeb Kantrowitz