Iterations: And Other Stories [Paperback]

Robert J. Sawyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2008

Robert J. Sawyer - called "the dean of Canadian science fiction" by the Ottawa Citizen and "just about the best science fiction writer out there these days" by the Rocky Mountain News - won the World Science Fiction Society's Hugo Award for his novel Hominids and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Nebula Award for his novel The Terminal Experiment.

Iterations is Sawyer's first short story collection, gathering 22 fantastic tales from such diverse places as Amazing Stories, the Village Voice, the Globe & Mail, and Nature.

Among them, these stories have:

• Won the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Award ("the Aurora")
• Won the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award,
• Been nominated for the Hugo,
• Nominated for and the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award,
• Been performed on CBC Radio, and
• Appeared in best-of-the-year collections.

In Iterations, you'll:

• See Sherlock Holmes solve the problem of the missing aliens,
• Find out what really happened to the bones of Peking Man,
• Learn the truth about the alligators in the sewers of New York,
• Visit a future Toronto sealed inside a steel dome,
• Encounter pure evil aboard the Russian space station Mir,
• Follow a serial killer as his consciousness is transferred into a Tyrannosaurus rex, and
• Meet a man doomed to commit murder over and over again because of the pressures of Canadian publishing.

Each story is accompanied by Sawyer's own commentary, and the collection is introduced by award-winning SF author James Alan Gardner.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"From prehistoric vampires to orbiting murder mysteries to intergalactic exploration, nothing is off-limits to Sawyer's imagination."
-- Quill & Quire

"Sawyer has a gift for casting jarringly original ideas in lucid, sharp-edged prose that mainstream fiction as well as SF readers should appreciate."
-- Booklist

"These are stories to make you drunk on imagination; they're narcotics of science and philosophy."
-- FFWD Weekly

"Science Fiction fans everywhere will find something to enjoy in Iterations and Other Stories. . . A fine addition to any short fiction collection focusing on science fiction."
-- The Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Robert J. Sawyer-called "the dean of Canadian science fiction" by The Ottawa Citizen and "just about the best science-fiction writer out there these days" by The Denver Rocky Mountain News-won the 2003 Best Novel Hugo Award-the top international honor in science-fiction writing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 306 pages
• Publisher: Red Deer Press; 1 edition (April 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088995416X
• ISBN-13: 978-0889954168
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #538,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert J. Sawyer -- called "the dean of Canadian science fiction" by the OTTAWA CITIZEN and "just about the best science-fiction writer out there" by the Denver ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS -- is one of eight authors in history to win all three of the science-fiction field's highest honors for best novel of the year: the Hugo Award (which he won for HOMINIDS), the Nebula Award (which he won for THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT); and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (which he won for MINDSCAN).

Rob has won Japan's Seiun Award for best foreign novel three times (for END OF AN ERA, FRAMESHIFT, and ILLEGAL ALIEN), and he's also won the world's largest cash-prize for SF writing -- the Polytechnic University of Catalonia's 6,000-euro Premio UPC de Ciencia Ficcion -- an unprecedented three times.

In 2007, he received China's Galaxy Award for most favorite foreign author. He's also won twelve Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards ("Auroras"), an Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada, ANALOG magazine's Analytical Laboratory Award for Best Short Story of the Year, and the SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE Reader Award for Best Short Story of the Year.

Rob's novels have been top-ten national mainstream bestsellers in Canada, appearing on the GLOBE AND MAIL and MACLEAN'S bestsellers' lists, and they've hit number one on the bestsellers' list published by LOCUS, the U.S. trade journal of the SF field.

Rob is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences, teaches SF writing occasionally, and edits his own line of Canadian science-fiction novels for Red Deer Press.

His novel FLASHFORWARD (Tor Books) was the basis for the ABC TV series of the same name. He enjoyed spending time on the set and wrote the script for episode 19 "Course Correction."

His WWW trilogy, WAKE, WATCH, and WONDER (Ace Books), is all about the World Wide Web gaining consciousness.

Next up is TRIGGERS, April 2012. Set in Washington D.C., TRIGGERS is a science fiction political thriller about the nature of memory.

For more information about Rob and his award-winning books, check out his web page: http://sfwriter.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Most of the Stories are Good!, July 15, 2009

By 

Michael A. Newman (New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Iterations: And Other Stories (Paperback)

I am not usually a big fan of the short story. There are some really good ones in this collection by Sawyer who in my opinion is the current best at the scifi novel. Each tale is presented with an introduction as to how Sawyer came up with the idea for the tale.

There is an excellent tale involving Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson being drawn into the future to solve a puzzling riddle. There is also a tale about high school student who is kind of nerdy but smart. He is always the last one picked (or not even picked) for sports teams in school. He gets the ultimate revenge against the jocks that wronged him.

There is are several tales that deal with parallel universes and dinosaurs. All in all I really enjoyed about half the tales and the other half were just so-so. Since you can skip over the tales that you don't care for, I give the book 4 stars based on the really good ones.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science Fiction fans everywhere will find something to enjoy, July 14, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iterations: And Other Stories (Paperback)

Science Fiction fans everywhere will find something to enjoy in "Iterations and Other Stories", a collection of short stories from Hugo and Nebula award winner Robert J. Sawyer. With a vast array of subjects, the short stories range in perspective from that of a T-Rex to that of the pope, and many of the tales are award winners or finalists in their own right. "Iterations and Other Stories" is a fine addition to any short fiction collection focusing on science fiction.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch