The John Varley Reader: Thirty Years of Short Fiction

When it comes to the social side of world-building in Science Fiction, slathered with good science, beautifully messed-up situations, and a really vast setting of our Solar-System nestled neatly in Varley's collective imagination, Varley is a master.

I've read and raved about some authors for their sheer imagination, intense focus on the fringes of technology, and sometimes about the nitty-gritty of what it means to be human, or more specifically, gendered, but Varley takes gender to new heights. Specifically, he follows the same direction as his Eight Worlds novels and makes gender extremely fluid. Anyone can change it whenever they want. Death is also a taboo word because brain recordings are great backups for a force-clone of show more yourself. Old ideas, right? Well, Varley runs with them in wildly progressive and interesting ways, building vast societies that mess around the niches and the twists. Most of these short stories deal with one version of that or another. And I love it. :)

If I was to recommend any Varley, if only to get a taste as to what he's about and get a great feel for his easygoing and personable writing, it would be this collection.

I've loved most of his novels, too, and I came to this late, but I kinda wish I had started here. It works great as a primer to all the interesting and doubly-interesting stuff to come. :)

Worth it.

Oh! I should mention, Varley's very much a child of the sixties. Expect ruminations on hippies, Woodstock, sexual liberation, and a lot of the great ideals. And he never LOST them. I really appreciate the idealism. :) Love power! show less

Book of Short Stories. As I read them I will review them.
"The Barbie Murders"---A detective on the Moon must figure out which of the women in a religious community where they all look alike killed another one. Good story.
"The Phantom of Kansas"--A weather artist is cloned again after being killed three times before. In order to protect her from the killer she stays in her home on the Moon creating another weather show which leads her to the killer. You will probably figure out who the killer is before the end.

every story within is different, yet they all contain a wonder, a spark that draws you in and pulls you forward. most exciting to me are the individual introductions lovingly written by the author detailing his life at the time each of the stories were written.

This was excellent, including various award winners. I think I particularly responded to "The Flying Dutchman," but I had been traveling at the time. YMMV.

John Varley sold his first story, "Picnic on Nearside," in 1974. By 1985 his stories had garnered him three Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards, and nine Locus Awards, with a tenth Locus in 1987. This collection includes all of the Hugo and Nebula stories and several of the Locus stories. It's a great place to start if you've heard of Varley but haven't read him yet. Even if you have his other collections, you'll want this one as well, not only for the new material, but for the author's extensive comments that precede each story.

It turns out I'm not a fan of Varley's shorter work.

At least this was on sale.

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