Author picture

Carter Scholz

Author of Kafka Americana: Fiction

26+ Works 379 Members 14 Reviews

About the Author

He lives in California. (Bowker Author Biography)

Works by Carter Scholz

Associated Works

The Secret History of Science Fiction (2009) — Contributor — 196 copies
New Legends (1995) — Contributor — 174 copies
Space Odyssey (1983) — Contributor — 138 copies
Starlight 2 (1998) — Contributor — 137 copies
Starlight 1 (1996) — Contributor — 132 copies
Universe 10 (1980) — Contributor — 130 copies
Universe 7 (1977) — Contributor — 125 copies
The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 1 (2016) — Contributor — 100 copies
The Best of Crank! (1998) — Author — 99 copies
Terry's Universe (1987) — Contributor — 72 copies
Universe 14 (1984) — Contributor — 62 copies
The Best Science Fiction of the Year #16 (1987) — Contributor — 50 copies
Clarion SF (1977) — Contributor — 48 copies
Afterlives (1986) — Contributor — 46 copies
The Arbor House Treasury of Science Fiction Masterpieces (1983) — Contributor — 43 copies
New Dimensions 12 (1981) — Contributor — 34 copies
The Eagle Has Landed: 50 Years of Lunar Science Fiction (2019) — Contributor — 31 copies
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas 2016 (2016) — Contributor — 30 copies
Universe 11 (1981) — Contributor — 29 copies
Kafkaesque: Stories Inspired by Franz Kafka (2011) — Contributor — 27 copies
New Dimensions Science Fiction Number 10 (1980) — Contributor — 18 copies
Orbit 18 (1976) — Contributor — 17 copies
The John W. Campbell Awards Vol. 5 (1984) — Author, some editions — 13 copies
Isaac Asimov's Near Futures and Far (1981) — Contributor — 10 copies
Univers 1986 (1986) — Contributor — 9 copies
I mondi del possibile (1993) — Contributor — 7 copies
Overview: Stories in the Stratosphere (2017) — Contributor — 5 copies
New Dimensions No. 13 (1982) — Contributor — 4 copies
Die wahre Lehre — nach Mickymaus (1993) — Contributor — 4 copies
Clarkesworld: Issue 139 (April 2018) (2018) — Contributor — 2 copies
Mondaugen — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

1st (9) 20th century (12) American (7) anthology (423) best of (7) collection (24) ebook (32) fantasy (55) fiction (268) FR3 (8) hardcover (18) HB (8) HC (9) Kindle (17) literature (11) new (11) not free sf reader (10) online (8) original anthology (14) own (8) owned (11) paperback (12) read (18) science fiction (551) Science Fiction/Fantasy (11) sf (232) sff (38) short fiction (32) short stories (264) short story (7) signed (9) speculative fiction (22) SS (12) stories (30) Strand (6) to-read (147) tpb (8) unread (31) used (6) year's best (10)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

Oof. That first story was rough. Like The Cold Equations for the 21st century.
 
Flagged
Jon_Hansen | 4 other reviews | Dec 7, 2021 |
Fantastic.

A more serious, emotional, poignant and heart-breaking version of The Martian.

I loved it. Gets my Hugo nomination.
 
Flagged
mjhunt | 4 other reviews | Jan 22, 2021 |
A brilliant, overlooked novel about 2 physicists entangled in corruption, mid-life crises, institutional incentives, technological inevitability, the end of the Cold War, nuclear bombs & the Star Wars missile defense program, existential risks & accelerationism. Based on true events, with unparalleled realistic dialogue. A bleak masterpiece...

(...)

Thematically, Scholz pairs a character that is realistic and sees human politics for what it is – inevitable, Machiavellian, out of control, conflicted – and one that is naive, in search for truth. But in the novel – as in life – truth is problematic, as even smart men can’t agree. It is not much of a spoiler to say the tragedy of Quine is that he eventually makes ‘moral’ mistakes like Highet too. Yet, morality is in the eye of the beholder, and while Scholz has written an indicting, political book, it steers clear of easy judgements or finger pointing. Democratic oversight is very hard to get right, and bureaucracy unavoidable. Decisions are “taken in the absolute vacuum of procedure and contingency”, and humans have complex, differing motivations. We all need to eat.

(...)

Full review on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It
… (more)
 
Flagged
bormgans | 2 other reviews | Jul 1, 2020 |
I read this right after finishing a complete collection of Kafka's shorter works, and I kind of think that's what these guys had done right before they wrote these pieces. They're riddled with references to Kafka's work. References to the novels were pretty obvious and inevitable, but there was a good bit of "Josephine the Singer", "In the Penal Colony", "The Burrow", "The Judgement" and "The Vulture". Those are just the ones I caught. What they actually do with these references is not necessarily all that satisfying. I found "Receding Horizons" (the long-ish piece co-written by both) and "K for Fake" (by Lethem alone) to be the most worthwhile. I enjoyed the idea of having Kafka (who invented so much of what we think of as uniquely 20th Century angst) survive to experience a bit more of that Century.
It wasn't mind-blowing but it was also only 100 pages. It's not like I'm underwhelmed after enduring a dense, discursive tome. They knew how much material they could get out of the subject-matter and the concept.
… (more)
 
Flagged
CGlanovsky | 4 other reviews | Jul 30, 2018 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
26
Also by
42
Members
379
Popularity
#63,709
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
14
ISBNs
12

Charts & Graphs