The death of a pet fish signals an ominous threat of wordwide tragedy... Delta Company "plays" out a war light years away... A running back for the Cleveland Browns gives his all to relive a night from his past... In IRRATIONAL NUMBERS, as with much of his work, author George Alec Effinger straddles the line between allegorical fantasy and science fiction. It's a vein Effinger mines for a deep, meaningful understanding of human nature. Challenging and disquieting in the way only the best fiction can be, this collection of eight magnificent pieces of fiction will have readers clamoring for more. George Alec Effinger was a true master of satirical Science Fiction. Before his death in 2002, he gained the highest esteem amongst his peers for his pitch-perfect stylistic mimicry and his great insight into the human condition. Despite a life filled with chronic illness, Effinger was a prolific novelist and short story writer, earning multiple Nebula and Hugo Award nominations.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Irrational Numbers
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
8 short stories, some with a horror spin,
By Michele L. Worley (Kingdom of the Mouse, United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Irrational numbers (Doubleday science fiction) (Hardcover)
Effinger passed away in April 2002. He was at one time married to Barbara Hambly, and they remained good friends; she's mentioned that she plans to complete at least one of the projects left unfinished at the time of his death.All the stories herein first appeared between 1973 - 1975; this collection first appeared in 1976. The only conjecture I can offer as to why it became hard to find in Effinger's lifetime is that while the stories are all excellent, they're mostly disquieting as well. "And Us Too, I Guess" first appeared in the anthology _Chains of the Sea_. The viewpoint alternates between the 1st person narrative of Dr. Davis, a scientist, and the 3rd person narrative of Paul Moran, a factory worker. Both men have unsatisfactory lives. Davis is rebuilding his career - not for the first time - after a disaster (apparently) not of his own making. Moran, on the other hand, definitely has a hand in the making of his own disaster: his unsatisfactory marriage. Neither man knows the other, but they share a common passion: breeding mollies, a particular breed of tropical fish. On the day the story opens, both find that all their pets have died - and upon seeking replacements, that *all* mollies everywhere appear to have died in a single night. Then a few days later, another species - an obscure fungus - is found dead, and an ominous pattern of tragedy begins to unfold. "At the Bran Foundry" first appeared in _New Dimensions 3_. The annual Key Club outing - 18 teenagers with 2 fathers along, narrated by one of the boys - may first seem to have fantastic elements only in that 1) fathers, not mothers, are acting as chaperones, and 2) the kids are holding still for a tour of the Jennings Raisin Bran Corporation. But anomalies appear thick and fast as the lecture rolls on, both in the things we see, and those we don't. "Biting Down Hard on Truth" first appeared in _Orbit 15_. Mac, Willie, and Sam (Sam's Willie's wife) are the three protagonists, as 3 of the many people in a giant institution whose purpose is unclear even to them, let alone the reader. It's hard to tell at first whether this is an alternate history - the religion is Mithraism, but modified to allow female participation - or the future. Jennings, the mysterious figure who coaches sports, leads religious rituals, and lectures on various military topics, appears to be the one constant in their lives - at first. "Curtains" first appeared in _The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction_ (MFSF), August 1974, and appears to have the same setting as Lydectes (see below). Delta Company is a troupe (*not* troop) of soldiers on the battlefields of a future war arranged by the Representatives of Europe and North America, where "theater of war" takes on an entirely new spin, and a unit's reviews by the official critics are its first concern. "Hard Times" first appeared in _Amazing Science Fiction_ in 1973. Justin, having applied for a lowly office position in Federal Services, is undergoing a battery of psychological tests, but he isn't filling out forms. Instead, a la the Matrix, each test puts him into a dreamworld he can't distinguish from reality - drugged so that he doesn't remember it's a test - to see how he reacts. "How It Felt" first appeared in Universe 5. As the only person left with true feelings, Vivi is set apart. Her friends, however, are driven to appalling lengths to seek diversion, and often seek it by gauging *her* reaction to their actions. Today, however, she's attempting to create a more sophisticated veneer, and isn't providing her usual satisfactory responses. "Lydectes: On the Nature of Sport" (1975) My first reaction: 'Hmm. The title sounds like a philosophical essay by a classical author; should I know the name?' As it happens, the text appears at first to be exactly that sort of essay - but it was found in a sealed capsule among some ruins on Wolf 359, Planet B, and for reasons that become apparent as the story unfolds, the dictator of North America found it important enough to forward to a colleague, with his own chatty annotation weaving in and out of the text - which also reveals that he and his colleagues are on the brink of war. (The essay, incidentally, is much more readable than Plato in English translation.) "25 Crunch Split Right on Two" (MFSF, April 1975) MacDay's working life as a running back for the Cleveland Browns is spent translating such cryptic jargon into plays. But his coaches and fellow players don't know that what motivates him to try his hardest this year is that sometimes, when he's hit hard enough under just the right conditions (he's still working out what they are), he has flashbacks to a night five years ago: a night out with his wife, who died not long afterward. He'll pay whatever price he can even to see her again, but if he can change what happened...
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
