The Forest of Time and Other Stories

by Michael Flynn

Overview

"Interesting, engaging, and believable."-San Diego Union Tribune *** Here is an eclectic collection of science fiction stories (and three short poems) by multiple award winning author Michael Flynn, author of such acclaimed titles as Eifelheim (Hugo nominee) and Firestar, called by the San Diego Union Tribune a 'knockout.' *** This collection itself includes two Hugo nominated stories ("The Forest of Time" and "Melodies of the Heart") as well as a selection of some of the author's finest works of short fiction that were originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact. *** Included in this edition are three humorous poems which also originally appeared in Analog. ***

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604504798
Publisher:	Arc Manor
Publication date:	10/29/2010
Pages:	362
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Michael Flynn lives in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Editorial Reviews

"[The stories in The Forest of Time are] unified by nothing but their author and their excellence... All are well-crafted and feature the kind of strong storytelling that good fiction needs... elegantly constructed and genuinely moving."

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Ten tales, including the author's afterwords, from Flynn (Firestar, 1996), seven of which first appeared in Analog magazine—though the publisher doesn't tell us when or upon what basis they were selected. In the title piece, an experimenter is marooned with no hope of returning home in an alternate world where the US doesn't exist. Elsewhere, a genetics whiz accidentally transforms himself into a water-breather with gills and webbed feet; a space cowboy yarn amuses, as does a satire on New Yorkers—for a while; a scientific investigation of a ghost proves equally illuminating of its investigator; a neural net computer writes a bestseller (sound familiar?); and, in WW I, some—aliens? fallen angels?—feed on emotions. Best of the bunch: A powerful, reactionary soldier- turned-businessman arranges for aliens to remove the "useless" elements from society, with unforeseen consequences; a time- traveler hopes to moderate Pizarro's destruction of the Incas; and a misanthropic doctor, whose young daughter is dying of progeria (accelerated aging), discovers that a patient of his is 200 years old.

Wonderfully diverse themes, but Flynn belabors matters long after his point is made; his plodding prose style doesn't help, neither do the afterwords wherein he explains how smart he's been.

Kirkus Reviews