Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories

"Bears Discover Fire" and "Necronauts" are two of the most beautiful stories I have ever read, in very (very (very)) different ways.
The rest of these stories are funny, fascinating, thought-provoking, and since Bisson is a master of just telling what needs to be told, none overstay their welcome like some authors who get a little too wordy.

A collection of some of the quirkiest, but best written stories I have ever read. The title story alone is worth the price of the book. Sure, bears suddenly starting to use fire in our time, with a preference for camping out along our highways when they do that, pretty odd. But how would you go about trying to find out why did this happen here and now. They are bears, they can't actually tell you what is going on. And then there is the story about the Appalachians suddenly rearing up and reaching the stratosphere. So, of course, a special highway with special trucks has to be built to get stuff from one side to the other. Really, who would want to go back and forth on a route like that day after day? And then there is the other story show more and the other and the other... show less

Terry Bisson is a terrific short story writer. Initially, I wrote this review for the title story only, but I have since finished the entire book, so this review is now updated and complete.

Bears Discover Fire is a mixture of humor and pathos, that tells us more about the narrowness of people than the progressiveness of bears. The opening scene is a 60-some year old man changing a tire when two bears come out of the woods with torches and light his work area for him. Just the mental image made me laugh. What is serious about this story is buried in its humor. The bears are enlightened, most of the people are not.

Thanks to my friend, Lynn, for the recommendation and my introduction to this writer.

The Two Janets, a humorous tale about a show more girl who moves to the city from her provincial town to pursue a publishing career, while, ironically, all the famous writers move to her hometown.

Over Flat Mountain - Great sci-fi story about a truck driver who picks up a hitchhiker in a much changed post-Apocalyptic Appalachia.

George - What if your child is different, very different, and will not be like others and you could change that?

Next Appears to be a simple story about two young people who want to marry, but morphs into something far beyond that. The couple are both black and there is a law, African Americans cannot marry one another. Bisson has definitely dealt with bureaucracy somewhere along the line.

"It's because I want to marry Yusef."
"Who just happens to be black? Let's get real, girl. There's nothing subtle about you same-race couples. The way you strut around, as if daring the world to rain on your disgusting little intraracial parade."

Necronauts This is almost a novella and the best story in the bunch. It is about a blind painter who is pulled into an experiment designed to kill a person, bring him back and have him paint what is on the other side. It is eerie, gruesome, and fascinating. I hung on every word. Sci-fi lovers shouldn't miss this one.

Two Guys from the Future - Super cute time warp story. Again, very sci-fi in content and style, but just captivating.

Also included, but not 5-star material, as all the above were (still, not a bad story among them):

They’re Made Out of Meat
Press Ann
The Coon Suit
Are There Any Questions?
The Toxic Donut
Cancion Autentica de Old Earth
Partial People
Carl's Lawn & Garden
The Message
England Underway
By Permit Only
The Shadow Knows
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Um compilado de diversos contos indicados e/ ou vencedores do Hugo, Nebula e outras premiações, escritos pelo autor Terry Brison. (Irei resenhando os que pegar, sem ordem específica)

Press Ann — 2/5 (Indicado ao Hugo, Nebula, e Asimov)

Uma espécie de… realismo-mágico versão sci-fi, onde uma dupla de ficantes, prestes a assistir um filme, se deparam com um caixa-automático senciente, que começa a sugerir opções estranhas que vão além de Saldo, Saque e Depósito.

Por exemplo, em determinado momento o Caixa-eletrônico faz perguntas incisivas sobre o relacionamento de ambos, invade a conta de um deles para provar um ponto, e até participa e sugere diferentes abordagens, tentando salvar a menina de um relacionamento tosco.

A show more ideia é ótima, e o fato de nada ser explicado me agrada, pois são apenas seis páginas. No entanto, o desfecho é bem piegas e nada surpreendente. Fica no ar para caso escritores desejem fazer uma melhor e mais trabalhada incursão no tema. show less

I bought this book based solely on the title. "Bears Discover Fire." The implications of that are horrifying. A second sapient species on the planet? Man reigns supreme only because of his oversized brain; on a level playing field, the bears would wipe the floor with us every time.

The book is actually a collection of short stories, and unfortunately none of them, including the titular ursine escapade that was brimming with promise, are particularly good. Terry Bisson is one of those classic science fiction writers who has a brilliant imagination, and some amazing ideas, but lacks the writing ability to really bring them to their full potential (the terminal point along that spectrum being the filthy, wretched hovel of Philip Jose show more Farmer). Some of the stories are quite bad; most are merely not good. They're readable, certainly, but Bisson just makes so many mistakes. He drops foreshadowing too early, leaves blatant hints that the reader could easily guess for themselves, and his stories just seem to lack some vital spark. A good effort, but give this one a miss. show less

A mixed bag of short stories. I bought this for 'They're made of meat', but none of ter other stories come close. I enjoyed a few of them - the final one about first contact was OK, although frustrating, but not great overall. Never the less, 'They're made of meat' is outstanding, perhaps my favourite short story of all time.

This solid short story collection really relies on the title story. However, this story alone is worth buying the whole collection for. Bears Discover Fire is probably the best SF short story I've ever read by far.