Far Horizons:: All New Tales From The Greatest Worlds Of Science Fiction - Hardcover

Robert Silverberg; David Brin; Orson Scott Card; Joe Haldeman; Ursula K. Le Guin; Anne McCaffrey; Dan Simmons; Nancy Kress; Frederik Pohl; Gregory Benford

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0380976307 ISBN 13: 9780380976300

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 1999

The universe of the mind is a limitless expanse of wonders, filled with worlds and secrets that cannot be fully explored within the pages of a single novel. Avid readers of science fiction have long appreciated the myriad joys of returning to fictional galaxies already experienced; delighting in the ever-unfolding mysteres of Frank Herbert's Dune or Asimov's Foundation series, for example.

In Far Horizons--edited by acclaimed author Robert Silverberg-- a veritable "Who's Who" of science fiction's most beloved and highly honored writers once again revisit the remarkable worlds they created and made famous.

Ursula K. Le Guin sends representatives of the Ekumen into the violent later years of a planetary civil war. Dan Simmons once again billiantly mixes allegory and space adventure in his dangerous, religion-dominated cosmos of Hyperion. Greg Bear reexplores his artificial universe, "The Way", from Eon, Eternity and Legacy.

Orson Scott Card recounts the momentous first meeting of his time-and-planet-hopping protagonist Ender Wiggin with Ender's computer based, soon to be companion, Jane.Gregory Benford rockets us back to the Galactic Center, Anne McCaffrey's Ship Who Sang sings again, and Joe Haldeman's Forever War rages on eternally. Here, also, are new stories by David Brin, Nancy Kress, Frederik Pohl, and Robert Silverberg himself--each venturing further into univestigated corners of familiar galaxies to delve into the perilous mystery of being human.

Perhaps the greatest concentration of science fiction talent ever in one volume, Far Horizons is an unprecedented masterpiece -- one that reopens vast empires of imagination and adventure to new explorations and appreciations. It is a major SF event, sure to bring unparalleled joy to the hearts of serious fans everywhere.

Review:

Far Horizons is the science fiction equivalent of Robert Silverberg's bestselling fantasy anthology Legends. For both books, Silverberg invited some of the most renowned authors in the field to write a new story based on their most popular series or settings. For instance, the first story in Far Horizons is Ursula K. Le Guin's "Old Music and the Slave Women," which takes place in the same Hainish universe as her famous novels The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed. Dan Simmons wrote a piece set in the realm of Hyperion, Anne McCaffrey turned in a Helva story from the world of The Ship Who Sang, and so on.

Like Legends, the list of writers in Far Horizons reads like a Who's Who of the genre: Le Guin, Joe Haldeman, Orson Scott Card, David Brin, Simmons, Nancy Kress, Frederik Pohl, Gregory Benford, McCaffrey and Greg Bear, as well as Silverberg himself. And like Legends, the authors take a page or two to introduce their stories so that newcomers won't be totally lost. The average story in Far Horizons is, as you might expect, a significant cut above the average SF story, although this anthology is not quite as successful as its predecessor. Authors like Le Guin and Simmons have come up with some first-rate stuff, but Card and McCaffrey have produced stories that are mediocre at best. Overall, though, the book has far more ups than downs, and serious readers won't want to miss this one. Those new to the world of SF will also find Far Horizons an invaluable reference when they're looking for good authors to read. --Craig E. Engler

About the Author:

Robert Silverberg has won five Nebula Awards, four Hugo Awards, and the prestigious Prix Apollo. He is the author of more than one hundred science fiction and fantasy novels -- including the best-selling Lord Valentine trilogy and the classics Dying Inside and A Time of Changes -- and more than sixty nonfiction works. Among the sixty-plus anthologies he has edited are Legends and Far Horizons, which contain original short stories set in the most popular universe of Robert Jordan, Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin, Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, Orson Scott Card, and virtually every other bestselling fantasy and SF writer today. Mr. Silverberg's Majipoor Cycle, set on perhaps the grandest and greatest world ever imagined, is considered one of the jewels in the crown of speculative fiction.

• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0380976307
• ISBN 13: 9780380976300
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496