Alexander Jablokov crafts science fiction for readers who refuse to sacrifice literate writing or vivid characters for the thrills they crave. He offers a seamless entry point for those outside the genre curious about journeys with dangerous AI or neurosurgeon/jazz musician turned detectives. Simultaneously, he delivers speculative flash, inscrutable aliens, and kitchen appliances with insect wing cases for hardcore SF aficionados. His work spans interplanetary espionage, complex future societies, and explorations of the bizarre in space opera.
A travelogue through a world where no one and nothing is truly what it appears to be, this novel is another tour de force of extrapolation and SF magic by an author whose invention and energy are rapidly earning him a name in the field. Jablokov is the acclaimed author of A Deeper Sea.
"Darkly suave competence" is how The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction refers to Jablokov's first novel, Carve the Sky, and the phrase could easily apply to many of the stories in this, Jablokov's first short story collection. Ranging from time travel to artificial intelligence, Jablokov covers a lot of ground in the ten stories here, although readers will quickly notice recurring themes both of art and self-identity amidst colorful, retro-decadent future worlds. Although his technique and consistency vary, Jablokov shows with his powerful, dynamic prose that he's a writer worth watching.Contents:The Breath of Suspension (1991)Living Will (1991)Many Mansions (1988)The Death Artist (1990)At the Cross-Time Jaunters' Ball (1987)Above Ancient Seas (1992)Deathbinder (1988)The Ring of Memory (1989)Beneath the Shadow of Her Smile (1985)A Deeper Sea (1989)
Returning to Mars after a long visit to Earth, a politician learns that his younger brother has become involved in a dangerous underground cult movement that is responsible for a governor's assassination. Reprint.
With the threat of interplanetary war looming in the twenty-fifth century solar system, Anton Lindgren, security officer for the powerful Lord Monboddo, acquires a priceless piece of art that comes with a legacy of intrigue and death. Reprint. NYT. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 90-47772