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Derryl Murphy

Author of Napier's Bones

6+ Works 145 Members 12 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Includes the name: Derryl Murphy

Works by Derryl Murphy

Napier's Bones (2011) 102 copies
Wasps at the Speed of Sound (2005) 15 copies
Cast a Cold Eye (2009) 12 copies
Mayfly [short fiction] (2005) — Author — 6 copies

Associated Works

Mythspring: From the Lyrics and Legends of Canada (2006) — Contributor — 45 copies
Compostela: Tesseracts Twenty (2017) — Contributor — 44 copies
Tesseracts Nine: New Canadian Speculative Fiction (2005) — Contributor — 41 copies
Tesseracts 4 (2002) — Contributor — 31 copies
Masked Mosaic: Canadian Super Stories (2013) — Contributor — 25 copies
On Spec: The First Five Years (2002) — Contributor — 20 copies
Land/Space: An Anthology of Prairie Speculative Fiction (2003) — Contributor — 18 copies
Thou Shalt Not... (2006) — Contributor — 15 copies
Tesseracts 6 (1997) — Contributor — 14 copies
Arrowdreams: An Anthology Of Alternate Canadas (1997) — Contributor — 10 copies
Open Space: New Canadian Fantastic Fiction (2003) — Contributor — 7 copies

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Reviews

the concept sounded so interesting, where mathematics was equivalent to magic, but as the book wore on, "the numbers told me to do it" seemed an insufficient plot device. I had no empathy for the two main characters, Dom & Jenna.
To cap it all, when it got to part 3 (spoiler alert) and Billy's real identity was announced, I had kind of guessed and was totally irritated to find my guess correct as I can't stand William Blake's poems or crude art. By which time all the religious references were beginning to get on my tits too.
I can't believe either, that dolphins do maths, or that the world somehow changed because humans discovered quantum maths.
Annoying.
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Flagged
jkdavies | 3 other reviews | Jun 14, 2016 |
Parents and their child live in different time streams...
 
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AlanPoulter | 1 other review | Jul 6, 2014 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Before I start down I look one more time in the stream. I can see nothing swimming in it, no fish, no beetle.
As I walk, I wish there were still birds to sing to me.


Eleven stories about the end of the world as we know it. Although the overall theme of the book is ecological disaster, apocalypse comes in many forms, from invading aliens, water shortages, and garbage-covered oceans, to swarms of huge insects and far future earth that is about to be swallowed by the sun. "What Goes Around" is a more light-hearted story and brings a bit of light relief to the book.

The only story I disliked was "Summer's Humans", which was inspired by Nadine Gordimer's story "July's People". The characters were unpleasant and the aliens' constant hair-shedding made me shudder in disgust (although that was probably the point).

My favourite story was The History of Photography, which was subtle and lyrical and poignant. The author said that when this story appeared in a photography magazine, the readers sent in lots of irate letters complaining about inaccuracies, as the magazine hadn't made it clear that it was fiction. "Those Graves of Memory" and "Wasps at the Speed of Sound" make up my top three.
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isabelx | 4 other reviews | Jun 8, 2014 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
A collection of 11 apocalypsi (apocalypses?) - I think the thing that impressed me the most was how very different all the apocalypsi were, apart from a common environmental theme. Well written stories, and I enjoyed reading all excepting one (What Goes Around, which I just didn't get). My favourite is probably The History of Photography, but Blue Train, The Abbey Engine, and Those Graves of Memory also made pretty good impressions. Day's Hunt didn't overly appeal - it was pretty gruesome in fact - but still well-written. I have the feeling if I met most of the protaganists in the street I'd possibly cross it to avoid them, but somehow despite that Derryl Murphy made me care about almost all of them, leaving only the viewpoint character in the final story (Laura, from Summer's Humans) and everyone in the aforementioned What Goes Around that I was happy to leave.

Bottom line: Skip the foreword, go straight into the stories. A lot of interesting apocalypsi await you.
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Flagged
tarshaan | 4 other reviews | Jan 11, 2014 |

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Works
6
Also by
17
Members
145
Popularity
#142,479
Rating
½ 3.5
Reviews
12
ISBNs
11
Favorited
1

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