L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Vol. 16 [Mass Market Paperback]

L. Ron Hubbard (Author), Algis Budrys (Author)

Book Description

Series: L Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Vol 16 | Publication Date: October 2000

Your ticket to genuinely exciting new universes! What would you do if . . . by traveling to Mars you could achieve immortality? Suppose . . . you have been hiding on a remote human colony on the rim of the solar system . . . and you were found? Imagine if you will . . . traveling in time and getting lost somewhere in the vast, open galaxy. From the far reaches of space and the limitless edges of the imagination come thirteen original stories, a wonderful mix of spellbinding tales by the best new writers of science fiction and fantasy - all winners of the internationally acclaimed L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest. Here is a first-rate collection of works and illustrations providing great entertainment and a chance to escape - if only for a little while - to other distant and different worlds. "This has become a major tributary to the new blood in fantastic fiction." - Gregory Benford Selected by judges who rank among the most famous names in the field of writing: Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason, Gregory Benford, Algis Budrys, Eric Kotani, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Andre Norton, Frederik Pohl, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Robert Silverberg, Jack Williamson, and Dave Wolverton. Illustrations selected by: Edd Cartier, Leo and Diane Dillon, H.R. van Dongen, Bob Eggleton, Will Eisner, Vincent Di Fate, Frank Frazetta, Frank Kelly-Freas, Laura Brodian Kelly-Freas, Shun Kijima, Ron Lindahn and Val Lakey Lindahn.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The untapped talents of new writers continue to astonish me and every WOTF ... volume provides a well-spring of the greatest energy... (Kevin J. Anderson) -- y

. . . Every WOTF volume provides a well-spring of the greatest energy put forth by the ambitious writers of tomorrow. -- Kevin J. Anderson

A first-rate collection of stories and illustrations. -- Booklist

From cutting-edge high tech to evocative fantasy, this book's got it all - it's lots of fun . . . -- Tim Powers

Some of the best SF of the future comes from Writers of the Future and you can find it in this book. -- David Hartwell

This contest has found some of the best new writers of the last decade. -- Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 495 pages
• Publisher: Bridge Pubns (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573182036
• ISBN-13: 978-1573182034
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,512,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great stories and novellas, with amazing range, November 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Vol. 16 (Mass Market Paperback)

What I like best about this annual antho is the diversity of the stories. Many anthologies stick to only one genre, or even one sub-genre, like Hard SF or Historical Fantasy. The "WotF" books always run the gamut, and this year is no exception. Each story packs a wallop and sticks in the reader's mind for days to come.

My personal favorites were:

William Brown's "Home Grown" - a Bradbury-esque, near-future tale about a robotic butler who has the glimmer of emotion, especially for the beautiful Dryad in the garden outside.

Toby Buckell's "In Orbite Mediavil" - An alternate history/fantasy of Columbus' ships taking a crack at an earth that's not quite flat, but not exactly round, either.

Michael Jasper's "Mud and Salt" - A near-future story of three men hunting an alien, it deals unflinchingly with a young man's first contact with an alien. The changes that meeting brings about are subtle, yet well-done.

Melissa Yuan-Innes' "Skin Song" - A deft fantasy edging on horror about a med student who can hear "songs" from simply touching the skin of others. The story gets really interesting when the med student enters the cadaver lab...

Leslie Walker's "As the Crow Flies" - A lyrical ghost story that forces the reader to figure out the rules as he or she reads. Nicely done.

Jeff Rutherford's "Daimon! Daimon!" - A classic horror story of demons and blues music, made even better by its historical context and swamp setting.

Other highlights include Gary Murphy's hard SF tale "Pulling Up Roots," Dan Barlow's time travel/comedy "A Conversation with Schliegelman," and Paul Martens' darkly humorous science fiction story "Your Own Hope." The collection also contains three longer novellas, "Atlantis, Ohio" by Mark Siegel, "Guildmaster" by Dan Dysan, and "The Quality of Wetness" by Ilsa Bick.

Contest rules are also included at the end of the book. I recommend any new writer sending their stories to the contest -- the diversity and the range of the stories make this anthology one to watch for, and the writers in this year's collection will definitely be names we'll all hear from again!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative and unexpectedly solid writing, October 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Vol. 16 (Mass Market Paperback)

The four first place stories alone were worth the price of the book. They were highly creative and fascinating. Easy to believe these authors will be well-known in the SF/F field soon enough.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the future? i hope so!, October 16, 2000

By 

"sirrengade" - See all my reviews

This review is from: L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Vol. 16 (Mass Market Paperback)

the only thing these stories have in common is that they're all good. the volume really spans the gamut from fantasy to hard sf, action-adventure to mind-bending logical teasers. there really are no weak stories in this collection.