Star Song and Other Stories (Five Star Speculatvie Fiction) [Hardcover]

Timothy Zahn (Author)

Book Description

Series: Five Star Speculatvie Fiction | Publication Date: November 2002

From the gripping title novella to the short story that packs a twist you'll never see coming, here are six stories from an author who has rightfully taken his place at the forefront of the science fiction field today.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

From a darkly humorous tale of the power of words ("Death and the Librarian") to a never-before-published response to the events of September 11 ("Ilion"), Friesner's 12 stories illustrate the author's acutely sensitive vision of wonder in the everyday world. Often cloaked in humor, these tales always provide keen insights using sf and fantasy as vehicles. Known primarily for his "Star Wars" novels, including Heir to the Empire, Zahn's short stories also deliver strong plots and memorable characters. Beginning with a tale of interstellar war against a hive-mind ("Point Man") and ending with a novella that combines space travel and music in a unique and surprising fashion, Star Song's six pieces illuminate the author's versatility and eclectic tastes. Zebrowski's many novels (e.g., Macrolife) mark him as a visionary as well as a master of hard sf. The ten short stories collected in In the Distance provide a benchmark of his creativity. From tales of the near future ("The Water Sculptor") to those of the far future ("Between the Winds"), the author expands his concept of the human condition to embrace the stars. Part of Five Star's continuing commitment to showcasing the short fiction of the genre's most prominent authors, these three volumes belong in most libraries where short sf is popular.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

A sextet of stories, all at least slightly on the light side, from the prolific and popular Zahn. In the story so titled, "The Broccoli Factor" is a breakthrough to fusion power with a difference. "The Play's the Thing" depicts an alien's ambitions to appear on Broadway as a revolutionary force. "Point Man" is about a character always in the wrong place at the wrong time, so that even when he prevents an interstellar war, he gets no credit. "Hitmen--See Murderers" offers the temptation of a telephone directory that predicts crimes. In "The Art of War," alien art appears to be a plot against humanity but is, in fact, a plot for something quite different. Finally, "Star Song" arises from the premise of interstellar travel with the help of space-dwelling aliens, or "flapblacks," with whom humans communicate musically, and it proceeds merrily thereafter. If no single story makes an extraordinary impact, not one is other than intelligent, and together they amount to quite a display of versatility. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 323 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (ME) (November 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786246960
• ISBN-13: 978-0786246960
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,156,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Timothy Zahn is the Hugo Award-winning author of more than a dozen original science fiction novels and the bestselling Star Wars trilogy Heir to the Empire, among other works. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Light Comedy With Music, December 2, 2002

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Song and Other Stories (Five Star Speculatvie Fiction) (Hardcover)

Star Song and Other Stories is, insofar as I am aware, the fourth collection of Zahn's short works. It contains 6 stories, of which I had already read 3 in Analog.

Point Man is a humorous, but exciting story in the David and Goliath tradition. Hitmen-See Murderers is also humorous, yet with a bit of wisdom. The Broccoli Factor, another humorous story, is technological slapstick, but even stranger ideas have come true. The Art of War is serious yet light, with an upbeat ending. The Play's the Thing is pure farce. Star Song is another serious yet light story.

If you haven't read any Zahn works other than the Star Wars novels, you should know that he has written at least 19 other books during his career. This collection shows his capabilities in short, light fiction. It strongly resembles Vernor Vinge's True Names in the innovative themes and easy to read style.

Overall, these are all fun, and some funny, stories. Perfect for a damp, dreary, dark evening. Recommended for anyone who likes light humor,
clear writing, and original approaches.

-Arthur W. Jordin

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More wonderful stories from Timothy Zahn, June 20, 2006

By 

Marshall Lord (Whitehaven, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Song and Other Stories (Paperback)

Timothy Zahn is one of the most imaginative science fiction authors writing today. He has written a large number of novels, which range from fair to excellent, and is probably best known for his contributions to the "Star Wars" Universe, particularly the novels in which he bought to life the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn and his people, the Chiss. However, Zahn's four short story collections are perhaps his best achievement.

This collection is named for a novella about a universe in there are sentient creatures living in space who are will take human ships between the stars in exchange for music. Any reader who enjoyed Zahn's novel on a similar theme, "Warhorse" will particularly like his one, and vice versa.

The first story in this book, "Point Man" is set in the same universe as "Final Solution" from the short story collection "Distant Friends." In that universe most star travelling races have "hive-minds" e.g. they have such powerful intra-species telepathy that effectively the whole race share one mind. The hive minds were shocked and horrified when they encountered human spaceships are realised that one of the dangerous "fragmented" species (e.g. those in which each specimen is an individual) has survived to discover interstellar travel. Such races are always warlike and usually blow themselves to radioactive slag long before that stage. In "Point Man the Drymnu hive race from "Final Solution" experiment with their own solution to he human problem.

All these short stories are disciplined and to the point, as they have to be to make this format work: they are also very accessible and easy to read.

As with his novels, Timothy Zahn's short stories are characterised not just by an amazing range of weird ideas about the creatures or scientific principles we might find in the universe, but also about the difficult moral choices which humans - and other intelligent creatures - might face as a result.

Some of these stories have a romantic element, some don't, and when they do the hero may or may not get the girl. Since Zahn doesn't write to a formula in this respect, you cannot always see a romance coming, or predict the outcome. This makes some of the stories more satisfying and others more poignant.

If you do like this book, you may want to try Zahn's other short story collections, which are

Cascade Point
Distant Friends (and others)
Time Bomb and Zahndry others

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Introduction to Zahn's work, August 28, 2010

By 

Daniel Clausen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Song and Other Stories (Paperback)

I've always been hesitant to read any science fiction that is either heavily technical or heavily into military-techno jargon. One of the brilliant things about Zahn's short stories is that he always uses speculative technology in ways that are easy to understand and that move the story forward in interesting ways. His short story Star Song is the best of the lot in using new technologies to create an imaginative new world.

If there is any one way to characterize Zahn's approach I would say that it is more political science fiction more than technical science fiction. Many of his stories have an undertone of political theory to it. I think the casual student of political science might appreciate this undertone as I did.

This approach could be problematic if the politics is allowed to overcome the human side of the story. I'll admit that deep soulful human dramas aren't Zahn's specialty (I apologize I read a Murakami book right before reading this book--talk about comparing apples and oranges). However, the human is never completely lost in his stories either. Hitmen, The Art of War, The Play's the Thing, and Star Song are all stories that are stronger in this regard, even if they don't work toward coffee house/ art house levels of soulfulness.

There is also the issue of this being a short story collection. What are short story collections supposed to do that novels and other longer forums don't have to? I think that they should should show an author's range. This collection certainly does that. Zahn is not known for his humor, yet The Play is the Thing had me laughing out loud. Also, short story collections have a license to substitute cleverness for greatness. Zahn shows a magnificent range of cleverness in each of these stories even as his stories seem to show a kind of thinness more relevant to cinematic writing.

Most importantly, a short story collection is supposed to pay testament to a writer's talent. This collection brings out the best in Zahn. Zahn isn't Haruki Murakami or Philip K. Dick, but he excels in what he is best at. That's why I'm giving the book five stars