Gravity's Angels [Paperback]

Michael Swanwick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 21, 2001

Gravity's Angels is a showcase for a decade's worth of Swanwick's shorter fictions, from his first published short story, "The Feast of Saint Janis," to a descent past the edge of a flat Earth otherwise very like our own in "The Edge of the World," which won the 1990 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. The stories collected here are luminous with the promise of his ambition, smart and allusive, dense with ideas and images, sacred and profane.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gravity's Angels is an extremely impressive collection. Each story is unique unto itself, and reading them closely together does not produce any sense that one has just read the same thing half an hour earlier. If there is any justice in the world, Gravity's Angels will bring Swanwick whatever recognition he has not had thus far."
—Locus

"This volume chronicles the career of one of the most impressive science fiction writers of the 1980s...Every story uses the traditional materials of the genre to explore deeper issues of character and conscience...Swanwick's work illustrates the power and the potential of contemporary science fiction."
—Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Michael Swanwick has received the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Theodore Sturgeon Awards for his work. His books include In the Drift, Vacuum Flowers, Griffin's Egg, Stations of the Tide, The Iron Dragon's Wife, Tales of Old Earth, and A Geography of Unknown Islands. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Marianne Porter, and their son, Sean.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Frog Books (February 21, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583940294
• ISBN-13: 978-1583940297
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,577,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful short fiction, May 14, 2001

By 

P. Johanneson "yet another reader" (Canada, eh) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gravity's Angels (Paperback)

I've been consistently amazed by Michael Swanwick's novels ever since I read Vacuum Flowers about 7 or 8 years ago. I was pleased to see that Gravity's Angels had been re-released, and so I bought a copy. I was assuming that his short fiction is on par with his novels.

It is. O boy, is it ever.

I'd read one of the stories here before - Mummer's Kiss is a part of the novel In the Drift - but it didn't matter, it's worth re-reading. One short story seems to serve as a proving ground for the society depicted in Vacuum Flowers; another is an interesting take on the Arthur myth/legend. One's about a healer trapped in a church and one's about a man who may or may not be holding reality together.

Not a single one of these stories is anything less than amazing. If you've read Swanwick, and enjoyed his work, then buy this book. If you've never read Swanwick (and it seems a lot of you haven't, which is too bad; he's a phenomenal writer, easily one of the five best working in SF today), there's not a better place to start.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Early Swanwick is Weak but Promising, July 1, 2003

By 

Jack M. Walter "Jack M. Walter" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gravity's Angels (Paperback)

These stories were all written in the Eighties, and the writing is quite involving, but there is a distinct lack of theme or intent in each tale. Only the last one, The Edge of the World, is ingenious and poignant and leaves a lasting impression. Swanwick's later works are much better. I suggest Tales of Old Earth, a masterful collection.