Gravity Wells: Speculative Fiction Stories [Paperback]

James Alan Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006

Award-winning author James Alan Gardner evokes a sense of wonder that is synonymous with great speculative fiction. Now, in his first short-story collection, he brings together the numerous tales that have made his reputation, ranging from the everyday experience to the cosmic, from peanut butter sandwiches to space drives. There are stories of wonder, imagination, humanity, and the unknown and tales that remind us of the importance of possibility.

Some of the stories in this collection have won the Aurora Award and the grand prize in the prestigious Writers of the Future contest and been nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, while others are completely new and undiscovered.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

American SF buffs will welcome Canadian author Gardner's highly intelligent first story collection. "Muffin Explains Teleology to the World at Large," which won the Aurora Award, is as witty as the title implies. "Kent State Descending the Gravity Well: An Analysis of the Observer" deals provocatively with the media's distortion of history, even for eyewitnesses. The large cast of "The Last Day of the War, with Parrots," set in the League of Worlds, at times slows the pace, but not at the cost of vivid characterization. "Hardware Scenario G-49," written for the Clarion Workshop, manages to convey an intense emotional impact almost without action. The quasi-fantastic "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream" explores a crisis of faith arising from the invention of the microscope and the scientific and medical progress it made possible. "Sense of Wonder" is a good example of that difficult form, a story entirely in dialogue. Like the author's most recent novel, Radiant, these speculative tales can be heavy going, but they're all absorbing. Agent, Richard Curtis. (May 10)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Eos (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380813335
• ISBN-13: 978-0380813339
• Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,393,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overdue collection by Canada's best SF short-fiction writer, May 27, 2005

By 

Robert J. Sawyer "Science Fiction writer" (Mississauga, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gravity Wells: Speculative Fiction Stories (Paperback)

There's no doubt who is the best Canadian writer of short science fiction: it's long been James Alan Gardner: Hugo finalist, Nebula finalist, Aurora winner, and Writers of the Future Grand Prize Winner. This collection was announced some time ago, and at last it's finally here -- and well worth the wait. All of Gardner's stories are excellent, but the standout in this volume is probably "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream," which just totally kicks butt. Gardner is a brilliant stylist, a sly social commentator, and extremely witty in a clever, mordant Douglas Adams or Monty Python sort of way. Truly a wonderful collection; stands beside Ted Chiang's STORIES OF YOUR LIFE as one of the best single-author collections of the last decade.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and slanted collection of short stories, June 6, 2005

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Gravity Wells: Speculative Fiction Stories (Paperback)

A young girl tells her brother that everything is falling into place and that the universe will arrive where it's going--next week. An art critic visits a planet which somehow had no children. An author tries to write something meaningful about Kent State, from a science fiction perspective. A vampire tries to deal with ethics. A rock star discovers remains of a long-ago war. A slave seller goes bankrupt. A grim reaper tries to beat the game. The tarot speak. A fog threatens magic-wielding explorers. A love scene in a virtual world. A high priest deals with forbidden love. A strange organism visits the solar system. Are there snakes in the human bloodstream? And two boys discuss girls, sentient Dyson spheres, and basketball.

Author James Alan Gardner brings a fairy-tale style of story-telling to a series of interesting and sometimes fascinating topics. For me, the first story, 'Muffin Explains Teleology to the World at Large,' was especially strong, reminding me of the very best Ray Bradbury. But there were plenty of other treasures here as well. 'The Last Day of the War, With Parrots,' managed several twists and a great combination of action and character. 'The Young Person's Guide to the Organism,' the longest of the stories, combined first contact with a look at mankind's nature.

Gardner's uniformly strong writing, together with his often intriguing and always slanted way of approaching topics, makes GRAVITY WELLS an important read. If you're a fan of SF short stories, you'll definitely want to pick up Gardner's collection.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good first collection: 3.5 stars, August 21, 2005

By 

Peter D. Tillman (Taos, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gravity Wells: Speculative Fiction Stories (Paperback)

I enjoyed most of these stories, but Gardner didn't seem to have quite enough first-rate stories to fill a book. "Sense of Wonder" (1999), a Bisson-style short-short, was my favorite. Quite a few dusty workshopped-to-death pieces -- though all were previously bought by someone. Amazing Stories, for many of the weaker ones. Caveat lector. YMMV, of course, and anyway I'm lukewarm about Gardner.

Happy reading--
Pete Tillman