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The Best of Interzone
This anthology collection of science fiction and fantasy stories have all appeared between the covers of "Interzone" and together span 100 issues of the magazine. Cyberpigs, reclusive astronauts, the USA under a military dictatorship, a drastic solution for the Welfare State...Just a few of the ideas in this stunning collection of the very best fiction from Hugo Award winning sf magazine 'Interzone'.
Contents:
Introduction (The Best of Interzone) • essay by David Pringle
Mitochondrial Eve (1995) / novelette by Greg Egan
The Message from Mars (1992) / short story by J. G. Ballard
The Sculptor (1992) / short fiction by Garry Kilworth
The Allure (1990) / short fiction by Richard Calder
Song of Bullfrogs, Cry of Geese (1991) / short story by Nicola Griffith
Pigs Mostly (1991) •/ short fiction by Ian Lee
The Tourist (1994) / short story by Paul Park
George and the Comet (1991) / short story by Stephen Baxter
Warmth (1995) / short story by Geoff Ryman
The Family Football (1991) / short fiction by Ian R. MacLeod
Ahead! (1995) / short story by Ian Watson
Bad Timing (1991) / short story by Molly Brown
World Wars III (1992) / short story by Paul Di Filippo
Bird on a Time Branch (1992) / short fiction by Cherry Wilder
Norbert and the System (1993) / novelette by Timons Esaias
Sharp Tang (1994) / novelette by John Meaney
Off the Track (1992) / short story by David Garnett
The Eye-Opener (1995) / short story by Brian W. Aldiss
The Welfare Man (1993) / novelette by Chris Beckett
The Data Class (1994) / short story by Ben Jeapes
Downtime in the MKCR (1994) / short story by Eric Brown
Eat Reecebread (1994) / novelette by Peter F. Hamilton and Graham Joyce
The Unkindness of Ravens (1994) / short story by Brian Stableford
The Man Who Read a Book (1994) / short story by Thomas M. Disch
Slow News Day (1994) / short story by Kim Newman
The Net of Babel (1995) / short story by David Langford
A Ring of Green Fire (1994) / short story by Sean McMullen
Human Waste (1994) / short story by Mary Gentle
Cyril the Cyberpig (1992) / short fiction by Eugene Byrne
Author Biographies (The Best of Interzone) • essay by David Pringle
.
Contents:
Introduction (The Best of Interzone) • essay by David Pringle
Mitochondrial Eve (1995) / novelette by Greg Egan
The Message from Mars (1992) / short story by J. G. Ballard
The Sculptor (1992) / short fiction by Garry Kilworth
The Allure (1990) / short fiction by Richard Calder
Song of Bullfrogs, Cry of Geese (1991) / short story by Nicola Griffith
Pigs Mostly (1991) •/ short fiction by Ian Lee
The Tourist (1994) / short story by Paul Park
George and the Comet (1991) / short story by Stephen Baxter
Warmth (1995) / short story by Geoff Ryman
The Family Football (1991) / short fiction by Ian R. MacLeod
Ahead! (1995) / short story by Ian Watson
Bad Timing (1991) / short story by Molly Brown
World Wars III (1992) / short story by Paul Di Filippo
Bird on a Time Branch (1992) / short fiction by Cherry Wilder
Norbert and the System (1993) / novelette by Timons Esaias
Sharp Tang (1994) / novelette by John Meaney
Off the Track (1992) / short story by David Garnett
The Eye-Opener (1995) / short story by Brian W. Aldiss
The Welfare Man (1993) / novelette by Chris Beckett
The Data Class (1994) / short story by Ben Jeapes
Downtime in the MKCR (1994) / short story by Eric Brown
Eat Reecebread (1994) / novelette by Peter F. Hamilton and Graham Joyce
The Unkindness of Ravens (1994) / short story by Brian Stableford
The Man Who Read a Book (1994) / short story by Thomas M. Disch
Slow News Day (1994) / short story by Kim Newman
The Net of Babel (1995) / short story by David Langford
A Ring of Green Fire (1994) / short story by Sean McMullen
Human Waste (1994) / short story by Mary Gentle
Cyril the Cyberpig (1992) / short fiction by Eugene Byrne
Author Biographies (The Best of Interzone) • essay by David Pringle
.
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 22, 2016
Interzone the sf magazine in UK is the starting point for lot authors who have not been published before.
This were lot authors who would never normal be published yet here we get first taste.Authors who then go onto become famous.
But not just new authors but also new ss by old authors too.
This were lot authors who would never normal be published yet here we get first taste.Authors who then go onto become famous.
But not just new authors but also new ss by old authors too.
July 27, 2024
Science fiction has a much different history in England than in the US. In America, it was initially associated mainly with cheap pulp magazines, very much a low culture item taken seriously only after spacefaring seemed plausible. And even then, it was still a sort of ghettoized stepchild in the publishing industry.
This was never the case on the other side of the Atlantic, probably because well-respected authors like H.G. Wells had already established the genre’s bona fides earlier. Ironically, this emphasis on serious, novel-length SF meant that the English could actually be said to lag the Americans in magazine culture.
“Interzone,” first appearing in 1982 (the year of my birth) did a lot to correct the issue. It aimed to publish quality SF and fantasy, but also the weirdly interstitial stuff that resists easy categorization. Borges is very much a name-checked influence in the works, and the title of the mag itself comes from a place that features centrally in William Burroughs’ works. Still, its ultimate aim is not something that requires a manifesto or even much of a masthead. They set out to publish quality science fiction, both traditional and experimental, with an emphasis on English authors, and they succeeded.
Here is the crème de la crème, as it were, at least as selected by editor David Pringle. Having read all five-hundred plus pages and not found it much of a slog (except in small stretches) I can only second his choices. Subjects treated within include everything from hermaphrodism to alternative presents that tamper with the nature of history and the fabric of time. One tale—“Mitochondrial Eve”—proves to be prescient in the way it sees ascertaining ancestry from DNA evidence and how controversial that might be. Small wonder that the brilliant tale is written by none other than the seldom-seen, never photographed Greg Egan. “The Message from Mars,” by J.G. Ballard also deserves singling out. It plows the most well-furrowed ground in the SF canon, and manages to hit all the old familiar beats while saying familiar things in new and cryptic ways. It reminded me quite a bit of William Gibson’s “The Gernsback Continuum,” in the way it shows itself conscious of genre history while also willing to subvert it.
I could go on, and frankly would like to, but will spare you a story by story summary. Suffice it to say that if you like well-written and imaginative SF stories, and you want a lot of them to read, this tortoise-shell cracker of a volume works. Recommended, though no illustrations or section containing covers from the magazine are included. Maybe such a glossy color section inserted in the middle of the book (as is sometimes included) would have made the item much pricier? A bit of an oversight, I think, but I guess you could go online to find the corresponding issues in which each of these stories first appeared.
This was never the case on the other side of the Atlantic, probably because well-respected authors like H.G. Wells had already established the genre’s bona fides earlier. Ironically, this emphasis on serious, novel-length SF meant that the English could actually be said to lag the Americans in magazine culture.
“Interzone,” first appearing in 1982 (the year of my birth) did a lot to correct the issue. It aimed to publish quality SF and fantasy, but also the weirdly interstitial stuff that resists easy categorization. Borges is very much a name-checked influence in the works, and the title of the mag itself comes from a place that features centrally in William Burroughs’ works. Still, its ultimate aim is not something that requires a manifesto or even much of a masthead. They set out to publish quality science fiction, both traditional and experimental, with an emphasis on English authors, and they succeeded.
Here is the crème de la crème, as it were, at least as selected by editor David Pringle. Having read all five-hundred plus pages and not found it much of a slog (except in small stretches) I can only second his choices. Subjects treated within include everything from hermaphrodism to alternative presents that tamper with the nature of history and the fabric of time. One tale—“Mitochondrial Eve”—proves to be prescient in the way it sees ascertaining ancestry from DNA evidence and how controversial that might be. Small wonder that the brilliant tale is written by none other than the seldom-seen, never photographed Greg Egan. “The Message from Mars,” by J.G. Ballard also deserves singling out. It plows the most well-furrowed ground in the SF canon, and manages to hit all the old familiar beats while saying familiar things in new and cryptic ways. It reminded me quite a bit of William Gibson’s “The Gernsback Continuum,” in the way it shows itself conscious of genre history while also willing to subvert it.
I could go on, and frankly would like to, but will spare you a story by story summary. Suffice it to say that if you like well-written and imaginative SF stories, and you want a lot of them to read, this tortoise-shell cracker of a volume works. Recommended, though no illustrations or section containing covers from the magazine are included. Maybe such a glossy color section inserted in the middle of the book (as is sometimes included) would have made the item much pricier? A bit of an oversight, I think, but I guess you could go online to find the corresponding issues in which each of these stories first appeared.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews