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Loading... Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester (1997)by Alfred Bester
None. Alfred Bester had an interesting way of looking at the world. In this collection of what is considered to be his best short fiction, we get a view of his world. He seemed to be obsessed with childhood fantasies, such as time travel and getting all of your wishes, but he viewed them as an adult and from the POV of what could go wrong and why these fantasies would not quite work. Not every story is like that, only some, others are straight hard Sci-fi, and very very dark. I highly recommend this book to any fan of the genre as a genuine treat. (  ) burningtodd | Oct 21, 2008 |  Good writing, poorly presented: The nice thing about this book is that it's pretty much the only way to get a good chunk of Bester's short fiction collected in one place. That said, the book itself suffers from serious problems. It seems that some time after the last copy editor looked it over, someone in the production process changed the book's type font. Since several of Bester's stories involve playful typesetting and/or characters that are outside the (current) normal set of symbols, a great deal of flavor was lost. One-quarter or one-half fractions replaced by square boxes, that type of thing. Too bad, because the publishers were obviously aiming for a product that you'd call nicer than the usual mass-market paperback. The screwy typeface errors mar that considerably. euang | Sep 1, 2008 | no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0679767835, Paperback)Alfred Bester (1913-1987) was the author of two of science fiction's seminal works, The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination. He also wrote some fast-moving, sizzling short stories that were very highly regarded; many of them are included in the 17 stories showcased in Virtual Realities; two were never before published. Highlights include "Disappearing Act," in which shell-shocked soldiers vanish from their hospital ward; "Hobson's Choice," in which a statistician uncovers a disturbing population trend in post-nuclear Kansas; "Time Is the Traitor," wherein powerful business people manipulate their most valuable consultant; and "The Devil Without Glasses," a conspiracy tale with an X-Files feel. The science fiction and literary classic "Fondly Fahrenheit" stars wealthy Vandaleur and his mad android who has an unfortunate habit of turning murderous when the temperature gets too hot... All reet!Bester's use of the word girl and the occasional female as manipulating schemer are not in line with current sensibilities and may give readers pause, especially those accustomed to feminist improvements in modern SF. Nevertheless, these stories are a frenetic and delightful confection of SF from the mid-20th century. --Bonnie Bouman (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:58:27 -0500) A collection of science fiction stories, most of them reprints from the 1950s. In Hobson's Choice, tourists from the future visit our age to experience a nuclear war, while Adam and No Eve is on the world's last surviving male. |
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