Once Upon a Galaxy [Paperback]

Wil McCarthy (Author), Martin H. Greenberg (Author), John Helfers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 3, 2002

...in these original new stories by today's masters of science fiction and fantasy. Two time-tested genres test the limits of "happily ever after" when beloved tales like "Goldilocks" and "Sleeping Beauty" are given an outer-space spin.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Fairy tales aren't meant to be nice. They are, at heart, reminders of the harsh and arbitrary world; happy endings were tacked on later to appeal to the romantic sensibilities of grown-ups who have forgotten how horrifying childhood is. Once Upon a Galaxy brings fairy tales into the science-fiction age, and many of the stories in it recall how cruel fairy tales can be. Richard E. Friesen's "Dancing in the Ashes," in particular, shatters the romantic aura of palaces and princes and knows how painful a happy ending can be. The other stories stand up well, from Michelle West's lovely and haunting "The Nightingale" to Wil McCarthy's unsettling "He Died That Day, In Thirty Years." Most of the stories are based on very familiar fairy tales, such as "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "Goldilocks," though, of course, some bases are harder to identify than others. A delicious and varied collection of stories that breathe new life into hoary folklore. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: DAW (September 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756400910
• ISBN-13: 978-0756400910
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,293,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Lineup, September 12, 2002

By 

Ben (The Other Side) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once Upon a Galaxy (Paperback)

Lest's see... stories by Gregory Benford, Paul Di Filippo, Stanley Schmidt, Tanya Huff, and 10 others including Wil McCarthy himself. The skew is mainly but not totally toward hard science fiction. Some of the fairy tales are recognizable (even named the same as the original), and some are not. Are they well disguised, or perhaps original? Fine reads in any case. Much better than you usually find in these concept anthologies.

McCarthy's introduction is illuminating: "Fairy tales are among our most formative influences, adding a visceral heft and sting to the purely verbal warnings of authority. But fairy tales, without exception, hinge on a supernatural occurrence. And in a way, this seemed to undermine their authority, to relegate them to some other universe where things like that could really happen."

Though not quite up to the level of Starlight, this is an excellent collection by some of the best writers in the field.