The Perseids and Other Stories [Paperback]

Robert Charles Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001

In his first story collection, Robert Charles Wilson, one of the most distinguished SF authors of his generation, weaves a tapestry of tales set in and around the city of Torontoa haunted, numinous Toronto of past, present, and future, buzzing with strangeness.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

These stories by the author of the prizewinning best-seller Darwinia (1998) are mostly urban fantasies set in Wilson's hometown, Toronto. Readers familiar with that other Canadian master of urban fantasy, Charles De Lint, will certainly find echoes of him in them, and they will enjoy a feast. Wilson works variations on a variety of classic fantasy themes, giving a particular, individual twist to each one. "The Fields of Abraham" introduces Finders' bookstore and deals with immortality and alternate worlds. "Divided by Infinity" begins in Toronto but ends in a surpassingly original postholocaust world. "The Observer" features writer Aldous Huxley, the astronomer Edward Hubble, and ufologist George Adamski as its characters. "Pearl Baby" focuses on Deirdre Frank, a character who makes beneficial cameo appearances in several other stories. "Ulysses Sees the Moon in the Bedroom Window" is a cat story (something of an obligation for a fantasy collection) that employs a compelling twist to represent, sans sentimental anthropomorphism, the cat's viewpoint. The other tales have their delights, too. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Robert Charles Wilson lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; Reprint edition (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031287524X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312875244
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,155,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Archons and Demiurges Populating Northern Lights of Toronto, February 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Perseids and Other Stories (Hardcover)

Robert Charles Wilson's fictions are always a great pleasure to read: populated by heartbroken, sometimes courageous, sometimes tragic characters caught in the galactic spinning wheels not of their design, depicted in elegant, spare and caustically witty prose, and addressing heavy metaphysical questions without losing sight of human-scale sufferings and losses. I sort of regard him as Graham Greene of contemporary science fiction, a healthy antidote to all the postmodern ironies and self-congratulatory razzle-dazzle that infect fictions of every genre these days. His first collection of short stories is, if anything, sparer and tougher than his epic novels like MYSTERIUM or DARWINA. Without employing unnecessary pyrotechnics (although he does kill off all life on earth in "Infinity Divided by Infinity") or dangling his attitude in front of our noses, Wilson draws us into the realm of horrors and wonders both cosmic (like Lovecraft minus the baroque intimations of "unspeakable") and personal. Potentially dreary subjects like alien abduction ("The Observer") and mineral-based life form ("Pearl Baby") are reworked into strange and unexpected touching meditations on the nature of mystery and the human ambivalence toward it. On the other hand, the collection's intimate scope might turn off fans of BIOS and DARWINIA, the stories being firmly rooted in the physical and emotional geography of Toronto. Some may also feel that science is not "hard" enough; others may object to the author's somewhat strenuous effort to construct a "shared world" around the stories that seem to have very little in common. I for one am quite satisfied, and am eagerly looking forward to his second collection.

5.0 out of 5 stars Linked pieces of a whole, January 13, 2011

By 

Dick Stanley (Austin, TX, United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Perseids and Other Stories (Paperback)

The alternating fragile and strong linkages between the stories makes them more fun to read and think about than if they were all completely separate. Even down to giving the same phrases and similar ideas to new characters and their different perspectives. Even the lightweight stories, like Ulysses Sees The Moon..., find a nice fit in the whole. A few of them even end positively, which is a refreshing change from most modern short stories.

5.0 out of 5 stars Succeeds Every Time, December 4, 2010

By 

Ellzeena (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Perseids and Other Stories (Paperback)

Wilson is a brilliant story teller. Each story stands on its own as a compelling and scary experience with full bodied characters you easily come to like, hate, even fear. His rendering of Toronto is such that I feel I have walked its streets. There are several sub-plots that weave together, not in a way that disrupts each tale but rather come together in a surprising, amusing and satisfying way toward the end of the work. Highly recommended.