Impossible Places [Mass Market Paperback]

Alan Dean Foster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 2002

For three decades science fiction legend Alan Dean Foster has captivated readers around the world, from his debut classic The Tar-Aiym Krang and his inspired scenario for the first Star Trek movie to a host of New York Times bestsellers, including Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and Flinx in Flux.

In this collection of twenty brilliant odysseys of the imagination, Foster once again soars beyond the limits of reality—where the real thrills begin. . . .

NASA Sending Addicts to Mars!: It was the most insane idea in the annals of space travel—and the only one that would work.
Diesel Dream: Sometimes on dark, lonely highways dreams do come true, and this trucker’s hope was the best one of all.
Sideshow: Flinx hadn’t a clue about the alien dancer, but Pip knew trouble when she saw it.
Empowered: A magnificent male discovers the not-so-super part about being a superhero.
The Question: A bold adventurer determines to solve one of life’s profound mysteries.

. . . and fifteen other amazing stories!

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

For three decades science fiction legend Alan Dean Foster has captivated readers around the world, from his debut classic The Tar-Aiym Krang and his inspired scenario for the first Star Trek movie to a host of New York Times bestsellers, including Splinter of the Mind?s Eye and Flinx in Flux.

In this collection of twenty brilliant odysseys of the imagination, Foster once again soars beyond the limits of reality?where the real thrills begin. . . .

NASA Sending Addicts to Mars!: It was the most insane idea in the annals of space travel?and the only one that would work.
Diesel Dream: Sometimes on dark, lonely highways dreams do come true, and this trucker?s hope was the best one of all.
Sideshow: Flinx hadn?t a clue about the alien dancer, but Pip knew trouble when she saw it.
Empowered: A magnificent male discovers the not-so-super part about being a superhero.
The Question: A bold adventurer determines to solve one of life?s profound mysteries.

. . . and fifteen other amazing stories!

About the Author

Alan Dean Foster has written in a variety of genres, including hard science fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He is also the author of numerous nonfiction articles on film, science, and scuba diving, as well as novelizations of several films, including Star Wars, the first three Alien films, and Alien Nation. His novel Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first science fiction work ever to do so.

Foster’s love of the far-away and exotic has led him to travel extensively. He’s lived in Tahiti and French Polynesia, traveled to Europe, Asia, and throughout the Pacific, and has explored the back roads of Tanzania and Kenya. He has rappelled into New Mexico’s fabled Lechugilla Cave, panfried piranha (lots of bones, tastes a lot like trout) in Peru, white-water rafted the length of the Zambezi’s Batoka Gorge, and driven solo the length and breadth of Namibia.

Foster and his wife, JoAnn Oxley, reside in Prescott, Arizona, in a house built of brick that was salvaged from a turn-of-the-century miners’ brothel. He is presently at work on several new novels and media projects.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (August 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345450418
• ISBN-13: 978-0345450418
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #715,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Dean Foster's work to date includes excursions into hard science-fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He has also written numerous non-fiction articles on film, science, and scuba diving, as well as having produced the novel versions of many films, including such well-known productions as "Star Wars", the first three "Alien" films, "Alien Nation", and "The Chronicles of Riddick". Other works include scripts for talking records, radio, computer games, and the story for the first "Star Trek" movie. His novel "Shadowkeep" was the first ever book adapation of an original computer game. In addition to publication in English his work has been translated into more than fifty languages and has won awards in Spain and Russia. His novel "Cyber Way" won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first work of science-fiction ever to do so.

Foster's sometimes humorous, occasionally poignant, but always entertaining short fiction has appeared in all the major SF magazines as well as in original anthologies and several "Best of the Year" compendiums. His published oeuvre includes more than 100 books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining short stories, November 6, 2002

By 

Kathleen Cobcroft (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Impossible Places (Mass Market Paperback)

Impossible Places is a collection of works that Foster has written from the start of the ninties to 2002 - most were originally published in magazines or other collections.

They all have two things in common: they are fantasy/SF "Outer Limits" type of stuff, and are located in far-flung places (hence "Impossible Places") from invented worlds to places that Foster has visited on holiday, like South America and outback Australia. I found the first story to be a little dull but the rest are quite enjoyable, and there is a Pip and Flinx story written just for the anthology.

There is also a comment from the author at the start of the book about why he writes short fiction, and a brief note at the start of each story explaining where the idea came from, where he was at the time of writing it, or just an insight into his personality.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Stories, January 8, 2003

By 

General Pete (SC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Impossible Places (Mass Market Paperback)

Impossible Places

Sometimes I don't like short stories a lot. By the time you are interested in the story it is over. Most of these stories are actually very good

Lay your head on my Pilose-Just a creepy story, full of murder and subtlty I wish this one had been longer

Diesel Dream-This is one my two favorite stories it tells the tale of a trucker on his way to fullfill one of his runs (at least on the surface).

Leathel Prespective-My other favorite story tells the story of monsters and their invisible war against human kind, it is very short but very good.

Fitting Time-A dearly departed friend of Elvis asks a tabloid editor to stop running stories about the rock star, it was O.K

We Three Kings-Monsters of legend learn the true meaning of Christmas, very funny

Empowered-Also very good ask the fundimental question "What if the Lawyers got the better of the Super Hero's

Sideshow-I had never read any of the Pip and Flinx adventures before I will have to now, this is really interesting

The only story I didn't like was "The Kiss" just a stupid and pointless story. The other stories I haven't mentioned I didn't read because they didn't capture my interest. Whoever most of the stories in this book were really good and I highly recommend

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read with a misleading cover, September 27, 2008

By 

Mark A. Adams (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Impossible Places (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed this book very much. The stories are inventive and read well. The only disappointment was the cover statement "Featuring a new Pip and Flinx Adventure". Because I have been enjoying the F & P stories I purchased this collection in part because of the cover statement. While the statement was technically true, I have a difficult time reconciling that statement with a couple of page episode of Flinx sleeping and having his dream influenced by plants. The influence of the plants was presented in previous novels, so not only did the vignette not reveal anything new, but was hardly an adventure.