Synopsis
This unique collection of science fiction stories focuses on the human emotions unbalanced by a world made unrecognizable by science and technology and including such stories as "The Children of Winter," a lucid tale of doomed love between alien species on a far-off world in the distant future. The book also offers three stories that deal with the Kethani aliens—a group that has come to present-day Earth offering life after death via technological resurrection. As the characters are pushed to their moral thresholds they attempt to deal with the unforseen consequences contained in fascinating new technologies.
Publishers Weekly
The 10 stories in this collection from British author Brown (Engineman) thoughtfully address questions of morality, life and death while creating deeply personal worlds. Two of the best are "The Children of Winter," about a first contact gone awry and its repercussion years later, and "Hunting the Slarque," about a man brought back from death who hunts down the creature that killed him. Death-or its absence-weaves together three stories set in a post-first contact Earth where the alien K thani have abolished death, including "The K thani Inheritance," in which a man has to come to terms with his resurrected, abusive father, and "Thursday's Child," in which a terminally ill girl's parents fight over whether to give her the implant that would guarantee her immortality. While some readers may feel the stories stop short of a full resolution, all can appreciate the graceful writing. (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.