The Secret History of Science Fiction

by James Patrick Kelly (Editor), John Kessel (Editor)

Overview

The secret is out.

Exploring an alternate history of science fiction, this ingenious anthology showcases eighteen brilliant authors leading the way to a new literature of the future. These award-winning stories defy trends, cross genres, and prove that great fiction cannot be categorized.

Two strangely detached astronauts orbit Earth while a third world war rages on. A primatologist’s lover suspects her of obsession with one of her simian charges. The horrors of trench warfare dovetail with the theoretical workings of black holes. A dissolving marriage and bitter custody dispute are overshadowed by the arrival of time travelers. An astonishing invention that records the sense of touch is far too dangerous for Thomas Edison to reveal.

The future is here. Read it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781892391933
Publisher:	Tachyon Publications
Publication date:	10/01/2009
Pages:	380
Sales rank:	649,900
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.01(d)

About the Author

James Patrick Kelly is the Hugo, Nebula, and Italia award—winning author of Burn, Think Like a Dinosaur, and Wildlife. He is a member of the faculty of the Stonecoast Creative Writing MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine. He has co-edited a series of anthologies with John Kessel, described by the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as “each surveying with balance and care a potentially disputed territory within the field.” Kelly is the technology columnist for Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine and the publisher of the e-book ’zine Strangeways.

John Kessel is a Nebula, Sturgeon, and Locus award winner and the author of Corrupting Dr. Nice, Good News From Outer Space, and The Pure Product. He teaches courses in science fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at North Carolina State University. His criticism has appeared in Foundation, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, the New York Review of Science Fiction, and Science Fiction Age.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Secret History of Science Fiction

“These stories are good enough to make the New Yorker’s Eustace Tilley pop his cartoon monocle.”
—io9.com

“A compelling collection...very unique and thought provoking.”
—Sacramento Book Review

“All I really want to do, at the moment, is embrace the unsuspecting editors in a massive, spine-crunching bear hug”
—Los Angeles Times

“If you’re interested in reading a bunch of stories written by some of the best contemporary writers out there, you’ll like this anthology. If you also want to read some of the best science-fiction stories since the ’70s, you’ll love this anthology.”
—Tor.com

From the Publisher