John Kessel Knihy

Kyberpunk jako revoltující, řvoucí a živoucí subžánr se po mnoha letech od svého vzniku sice téměř rozplynul v širokém proudu současné science fiction, ale jak dokazuje šestnáct kratších prací zahrnutých do zcela nové antologie, tu a tam kyberpunkové motivy vyplouvají na povrch stejně silné jako kdysi. Proslulá autorská dvojice se tentokrát v nezvyklé roli editorů pokusila zachytit nespoutanou duši, která stále žije. A daří se jim to nad očekávání. Povídky od autorů jako Bruce Sterling, Greg Egan, Pat Cadiganová, William Gibson, David Marusek, Michael Swanwick, Charles Stross, Elizabeth Bearová, Paolo Bacigalupi či Cory Doctorow se mohou směle měřit s tím nejlepším z klasického období kyberpunku. Po více než dvaceti letech se však přece jen změnila řada věcí. A tak místo technologie spjaté přímo s lidským tělem jde spíše o výdobytky moderní doby, které transformují samotnou lidskou duši a dávají tušit, že nás někdy v budoucnu může potkat zrod tajuplné singularity. Je na ni lidstvo připraveno? A co virtuální realita, obklopí nás v budoucnosti světy jen stěží rozeznatelné od toho našeho?

The Dark Ride collects John Kessel’s best short fiction, beginning with 1981’s “Not Responsible! Park and Lock It!” and ending with 2021’s “The Dark Ride.” The stories range from flash pieces to novellas, from comedy to existential horror, from far future SF to Kafkaesque fantasy, including 40,000 words of never-before-collected fiction and extensive author’s notes. All his best are here, among them Nebula Award winners “Another Orphan” and “Pride and Prometheus,” by the writer Sci-Fi Weekly called “quite possibly the best short story writer working in science fiction today.”Table of Contents:Introduction by Kim Stanley RobinsonNot Responsible! Park and Lock It!Events Preceding the Helvetican RenaissancePride and PrometheusThe Motorman’s CoatThe ClosetSome Like It ColdThe Miracle of Ivar AvenueSpirit LevelStories for MenThe Pure ProductGulliver at HomeBuddha Nostril BirdInvadersThe LecturerBuffaloCleanAnother OrphanConsolationThe Baum Plan for Financial IndependenceThe Dark RideStory Notes

George Eberhart is dead. Or was. The newsnet he works for has illegally revived him. But he finds himself examining the sensationalist stories he has been reporting on - for evidence that there are Aliens among us. Lucky Eberhart, George's wife, loses her job for her role in reviving him, and finds that there are worse things on Earth than she had dreamed of in her philosophies. The Reverend Jimmy-Don Gilray believes that the Day of Judgment will arrive on the stroke of midnight, December 31, 1999. But all bets are off if the Aliens are already here. Meanwhile, Carla Hazard, Sandy Ellison, and Martha Shummel are finding that this is their lucky day. Or is it all a sinister Alien game? And Judgment Day approaches...

John Kessel's latest collection — which includes the Nebula and Shirley Jackson Award winner "Pride and Prometheus" — is a long-awaited road map to the fantastic where Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, The Wizard of Oz, and Flannery O'Connor intersect. Kessel's four-story modern classic sequence about life on the moon, The Lunar Quartet, makes up the center of the book."A sustained exploration of the ways gender dynamics can both empower and enslave us. Kessel's wit sparkles throughout, peaking with the most uproariously weird phone-sex conversation you'll ever read ("The Red Phone")." A-—Entertainment WeeklyWinner of the Nebula, Sturgeon, Locus, and Tiptree awards, John Kessel is the author of The New York Times Notable Book Meeting in Infinity. He co-edited the anthologies Feeling Very Strange and Rewired. Kessel and his family live in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he co-directs the creative writing program at North Carolina State University.