Beaker's Dozen

As in all collections of shorter fiction, the offerings varied. I enjoyed the first and last pieces the most. Others I felt were too restricted by the form and had potential for expansion, while others I just didn't get at all (though she does admit in the intros for some that most readers didn't so perhaps that's on her).

Science fiction writers often write short fiction and Nancy Kress is one of the best at it. This collection of 13 short stories was published in 1998 and all of the stories were written in the last decade of the twentieth century. So some of these stories are more than 20 years old but they are not dated.

In her introduction Kress acknowledges the fact that it is significant that these stories were written in the 1990s. She says"...strange and wondrous things are happening in science labs around the world." She mentions cloning and pharming and genetic engineering. Eight of the stories are "concerned with what might come out of the beakers and test tubes and gene sequencers of microbiology." She also says "The twenty-first century...will show more transform our knowledge of biology in the same way that the twentieth century transformed physics." I would say she was remarkably prescient; genetics has almost become mainstream and there are still over 80 years to go in this century.

I don't know that I have a favourite story in this collection because they are all good but the last story "Dancing on Air" will probably be the one that stays with me longest. It deals with how genetic engineering could transform ballet dancers; but then is it still an art form if performance is dependent upon who has the best doctors?

I love the way Kress writes. Note to self: read more of her work. show less

This collection did get me to think about issues around bioengineering. But overall, I was disappointed. The plotting and characters veered from trite to inplausible in a way that felt like something straight out of "Days of Our Lives" or "Guiding Light" (American television soap operas, for those of you that might not be familiar with this genre).

Which is not to deny that there are several decent stories here, including the memorably strange "Feigenbaum Number," the only story in the collection that wasn't new to me. Overall, my favorite was "Unto the Daughters," a feminist take on the Garden of Eden story. The biggest disappointments were "Ars Longa," in which teacher dearest robs the world of the genius of Walt Disney, and "Dancing show more on Air," a story about genetically enhanced dogs and ballerinas. show less

A collection of short stories, novelettes and novellas previously published in science fiction magazines and anthologies. Some of my favorite Kress stories are here including the novella of Beggars in Spain which came before the novel. I also highly recommend Flowers of Aulit Prison, a stunning LeGuinesque story about a political prisoner. Dancing on Air is a fine story about the risks, benefits and temptations of genetic engineering -- and about ballet as well.

Introduction
Beggars in Spain

Feigenbaum Number

Margin of Error

Fault Lines
Unto the Daughters

Evolution

Ars Longa

Sex Education

Grant Us This Day

Flowers of Aulit Prison

Summer Wind

Always True to Thee, In My Fashion

Dancing on Air