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Eclipse #1
Eclipse One
An eclipse is a rare and unusual event, when the world is transformed and the sky becomes a dark eldritch thing. It's a time when anything could happen, when any kind of story just might be true. That sense of the strange and wonderful guides Eclipse: New Science Fiction and Fantasy, the first volume in an exciting new annual anthology series edited by acclaimed anthologist Jonathan Strahan.
Set to become a major event on the science fiction and fantasy calendar,Eclipse: New Science Fiction and Fantasy gathers together new science fiction and fantasy stories by the best writers working today. You can see that in Eclipse 1, which features extraordinary tales by Peter S. Beagle, Jack Dann & Paul Brandon, Terry Dowling, Andy Duncan, Jeffrey Ford, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Eileen Gunn, Gwyneth Jones, Ellen Klages, Maureen F. McHugh, Garth Nix, Lucius Shepard, Bruce Sterling and Ysabeau S. Wilce.
Set to become a major event on the science fiction and fantasy calendar,Eclipse: New Science Fiction and Fantasy gathers together new science fiction and fantasy stories by the best writers working today. You can see that in Eclipse 1, which features extraordinary tales by Peter S. Beagle, Jack Dann & Paul Brandon, Terry Dowling, Andy Duncan, Jeffrey Ford, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Eileen Gunn, Gwyneth Jones, Ellen Klages, Maureen F. McHugh, Garth Nix, Lucius Shepard, Bruce Sterling and Ysabeau S. Wilce.
273 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 21, 2016
4.5 stars
A generally excellent collection of SF stories from 2007, running the gamut of speculative fiction, but with a distinct slant toward the left-field and downright weird. 'Toother' by Terry Dowling is a weird psychic murder mystery - brilliant, but let down by a rushed denouement, I thought - while Jeffrey Ford's 'The Drowned Life' and Andy Duncan's 'Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse' are pretty much unclassifiable.
'The Transformation of Tag' from Paul Brandon & Jack Dann was funny, and reminiscent of the Alan Moore Futureshock 'The Wages of Sin', while Ellen Klages 'Mrs Zeno's Paradox' was perfect, clever little vignette.
The other stand-outs were 'The Lustration' by Bruce Sterling, which uses a planet-girdling computer of a peculiar sort to discuss what exactly is intelligence, and 'Quartermaster Returns' from Ysabeau S. Wilce, a weirdly brilliant and hilarious fantasy western.
A generally excellent collection of SF stories from 2007, running the gamut of speculative fiction, but with a distinct slant toward the left-field and downright weird. 'Toother' by Terry Dowling is a weird psychic murder mystery - brilliant, but let down by a rushed denouement, I thought - while Jeffrey Ford's 'The Drowned Life' and Andy Duncan's 'Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse' are pretty much unclassifiable.
'The Transformation of Tag' from Paul Brandon & Jack Dann was funny, and reminiscent of the Alan Moore Futureshock 'The Wages of Sin', while Ellen Klages 'Mrs Zeno's Paradox' was perfect, clever little vignette.
The other stand-outs were 'The Lustration' by Bruce Sterling, which uses a planet-girdling computer of a peculiar sort to discuss what exactly is intelligence, and 'Quartermaster Returns' from Ysabeau S. Wilce, a weirdly brilliant and hilarious fantasy western.
June 11, 2020
I honestly don't even know why I have this. A collection of stories from writers that I wasn't entirely familiar with (of the names on the cover, at the time I probably had read stories by Bruce Sterling and had at least heard of Lucius Shepard), it was also the first volume of what was later four anthology volumes, none of which I think I possess. The only thing I can think of is maybe I bought it on vacation (I was at the SF Museum in Seattle probably around the time it was published) but who knows?
But aside from unpacking the mysteries of my past, does this wind up being an obscure yet hidden classic of SF and fantasy short stories? Ah, not quite. There's some decent stories in here but overall it’s a mixed bag, with most of the more well-known authors supplying the more memorable stuff and even then it doesn't seem like they were bringing their "A" game to this.
The theme of at least this volume seems to be, per the back cover, "tales of lost identity and found purpose", with the "speculative fiction" tag giving the authors grounds to not stick with straight SF and instead veer into fantasy. I'm not so much a purist on those matters but other people might find themselves disappointed if they're expecting something a little more science-fictiony.
Unfortunately even those who are open to anything are going to have a little trouble sifting through the tales to find the gems. Its not as clear-cut as "well-known author=good story" as Bruce Sterling goes out of his way to write a story about a guy arguing with a priest about wooden computers or something. Some of them just have iffy premises that the authors can't bring off the ground (Andy Duncan's opening shot of "Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse" which squanders its title for a payoff that would have worked better if everything preceding it hadn't been so-so) or just seem like bad ideas from the start (Garth Nix's "Bad Luck, Trouble, Death and Vampire Sex", again taking a great title and running it straight into the ground). Others, like Terry Dowling's "Toother" feel like they needed a couple extra pages to explain exactly what's going on (they're chasing a serial killer who steals teeth while someone has dreams about serial killers, which we've all had) . . . the same problem persists in Kathleen Ann Goonan's "Electric Rains", though the story itself is well-told. I expected a little more from Gwyneth Jones's "In the Forest of the Queen" than what I got but I'm not sure if that's my fault or the story's. Maureen McHugh's "The Lost Boy: A Reporter At Large" asks questions about memory and its impact on everyone around us but then doesn't seem inclined to even address its own questions so the story just sort of hangs with a shrug. And I'm not going to pretend to know what's happening in "She-Creatures".
That's maybe half the stories. The others have a bit more success in pulling off their concepts. The best overall is a tossup between Shepard's "Larissa Miusov", which is mostly about moviemaking and shady Russians but hangs together in a way that suggests worlds outside its pages and lives that extend before and after what we see. It probably belongs in a different anthology but I'm glad its here. The same can be said for Jeffrey Ford's "The Drowned Life", which is wonderfully strange and poignant and despairing all at the same time, asking what happens when we can't get help anymore and the world doesn't seem interested in helping. It’s the first work I've read from him, even though I have several books in my queue for One Day Eventually but if this is what he does when he's just tossing off stuff for a random anthology, I'm looking forward to the novels
What remains is actually not bad, as most of the other authors take an idea and go as bizarrely far as they can with it, leading to results like Eileen Gunn's "Up the Fire Road" where two hikers meet the Sasquatch of Love and it gets ridiculous but never in a way that seems tedious or annoying as she seems to know how to pile the nuttiness so that it never gets too annoying. The same with Paul Brandon and Jack Dunn's "The Transformation of Targ" which takes what should be a silly idea (an evil overlord that isn't good at being evil) and makes it actually funny as he tries to find ways to go against his own nature. Its one of those works you'd like to see more in the same world but at the same time don't need to because its so complete. Ysabeau Wilce's "Quartermaster Returns" also scores with an army in a strange landscape dealing with a quartermaster brought back from the dead because he sucked at his job that eventually gets involved in a drinking contest. It plays everything straight and is all the better for it. Meanwhile Peter S Beagle (he of "The Last Unicorn" fame) uses the weird concept in "The Last and Only, or Mr Moscowitz Becomes French" of a man whose soul seems to change into the embodiment of all things French and manages to make it not funny but strangely contemplative with one of the few emotional endings in the anthology (I stopped for a second and thought about it before moving onto the next story, so it worked for me). And Ellen Klages "Mrs Zeno's Paradox" manages the rare feat of writing a story in about two pages that manages to tell a story and is funny and is exactly the right length.
Definitely a mixed grab-bag although as with any anthology the words "your mileage may vary" could never apply more. If you're drawn in by some of the names you recognize it may be worth a look because I found a number of pleasing surprises. But I'm not going to pretend its an embarrassment of riches or a series of home runs. If you find yourself liking at least half you're probably doing okay but that if you're even into that kind of metaphorical literary rolling of the dice in the first place.
But aside from unpacking the mysteries of my past, does this wind up being an obscure yet hidden classic of SF and fantasy short stories? Ah, not quite. There's some decent stories in here but overall it’s a mixed bag, with most of the more well-known authors supplying the more memorable stuff and even then it doesn't seem like they were bringing their "A" game to this.
The theme of at least this volume seems to be, per the back cover, "tales of lost identity and found purpose", with the "speculative fiction" tag giving the authors grounds to not stick with straight SF and instead veer into fantasy. I'm not so much a purist on those matters but other people might find themselves disappointed if they're expecting something a little more science-fictiony.
Unfortunately even those who are open to anything are going to have a little trouble sifting through the tales to find the gems. Its not as clear-cut as "well-known author=good story" as Bruce Sterling goes out of his way to write a story about a guy arguing with a priest about wooden computers or something. Some of them just have iffy premises that the authors can't bring off the ground (Andy Duncan's opening shot of "Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse" which squanders its title for a payoff that would have worked better if everything preceding it hadn't been so-so) or just seem like bad ideas from the start (Garth Nix's "Bad Luck, Trouble, Death and Vampire Sex", again taking a great title and running it straight into the ground). Others, like Terry Dowling's "Toother" feel like they needed a couple extra pages to explain exactly what's going on (they're chasing a serial killer who steals teeth while someone has dreams about serial killers, which we've all had) . . . the same problem persists in Kathleen Ann Goonan's "Electric Rains", though the story itself is well-told. I expected a little more from Gwyneth Jones's "In the Forest of the Queen" than what I got but I'm not sure if that's my fault or the story's. Maureen McHugh's "The Lost Boy: A Reporter At Large" asks questions about memory and its impact on everyone around us but then doesn't seem inclined to even address its own questions so the story just sort of hangs with a shrug. And I'm not going to pretend to know what's happening in "She-Creatures".
That's maybe half the stories. The others have a bit more success in pulling off their concepts. The best overall is a tossup between Shepard's "Larissa Miusov", which is mostly about moviemaking and shady Russians but hangs together in a way that suggests worlds outside its pages and lives that extend before and after what we see. It probably belongs in a different anthology but I'm glad its here. The same can be said for Jeffrey Ford's "The Drowned Life", which is wonderfully strange and poignant and despairing all at the same time, asking what happens when we can't get help anymore and the world doesn't seem interested in helping. It’s the first work I've read from him, even though I have several books in my queue for One Day Eventually but if this is what he does when he's just tossing off stuff for a random anthology, I'm looking forward to the novels
What remains is actually not bad, as most of the other authors take an idea and go as bizarrely far as they can with it, leading to results like Eileen Gunn's "Up the Fire Road" where two hikers meet the Sasquatch of Love and it gets ridiculous but never in a way that seems tedious or annoying as she seems to know how to pile the nuttiness so that it never gets too annoying. The same with Paul Brandon and Jack Dunn's "The Transformation of Targ" which takes what should be a silly idea (an evil overlord that isn't good at being evil) and makes it actually funny as he tries to find ways to go against his own nature. Its one of those works you'd like to see more in the same world but at the same time don't need to because its so complete. Ysabeau Wilce's "Quartermaster Returns" also scores with an army in a strange landscape dealing with a quartermaster brought back from the dead because he sucked at his job that eventually gets involved in a drinking contest. It plays everything straight and is all the better for it. Meanwhile Peter S Beagle (he of "The Last Unicorn" fame) uses the weird concept in "The Last and Only, or Mr Moscowitz Becomes French" of a man whose soul seems to change into the embodiment of all things French and manages to make it not funny but strangely contemplative with one of the few emotional endings in the anthology (I stopped for a second and thought about it before moving onto the next story, so it worked for me). And Ellen Klages "Mrs Zeno's Paradox" manages the rare feat of writing a story in about two pages that manages to tell a story and is funny and is exactly the right length.
Definitely a mixed grab-bag although as with any anthology the words "your mileage may vary" could never apply more. If you're drawn in by some of the names you recognize it may be worth a look because I found a number of pleasing surprises. But I'm not going to pretend its an embarrassment of riches or a series of home runs. If you find yourself liking at least half you're probably doing okay but that if you're even into that kind of metaphorical literary rolling of the dice in the first place.
July 25, 2009
A speculative fiction anthology whose theme appears to be 'stories Jonathan Strahan liked.' I don't always like what Jonathan Strahan likes. A few notes, in no particular order:
Bruce Sterling, "The Lustration." Sentient planet computer made entirely of wood! Kind of Ted Chiang lite, which still leaves it pretty interesting (though with whispers of some weird gender issues).
Jeffrey Ford, "The Drowned Life," and Peter S. Beagle, "The Last and Only or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French." You know when a story is good in an objective sense – evocative, creative, all that – but you don't actually like it? Yeah.
Ysabeau S. Wilce, "Quartermaster Returns." Huh! Okay, apparently I really need to be reading her novels.
Kathleen Ann Goonan, "Electric Rains." Post-apocalypse Washington D.C. Interesting and rich, but just not quite there yet.
Margo Lanagan, "She Creatures." . . . Oookay, whatever.
Garth Nix, "Bad Luck, Trouble, Death, and Vampire Sex." Cute and funny and interesting, but ultimately majority fluff.
Terry Dowling, "Toother." Gah! Creepy in the very good way.
Eileen Gunn, "Up the Fire Road." Speculative fiction goes to the Springer Show. *eyeroll* Really? Must we?
Bruce Sterling, "The Lustration." Sentient planet computer made entirely of wood! Kind of Ted Chiang lite, which still leaves it pretty interesting (though with whispers of some weird gender issues).
Jeffrey Ford, "The Drowned Life," and Peter S. Beagle, "The Last and Only or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French." You know when a story is good in an objective sense – evocative, creative, all that – but you don't actually like it? Yeah.
Ysabeau S. Wilce, "Quartermaster Returns." Huh! Okay, apparently I really need to be reading her novels.
Kathleen Ann Goonan, "Electric Rains." Post-apocalypse Washington D.C. Interesting and rich, but just not quite there yet.
Margo Lanagan, "She Creatures." . . . Oookay, whatever.
Garth Nix, "Bad Luck, Trouble, Death, and Vampire Sex." Cute and funny and interesting, but ultimately majority fluff.
Terry Dowling, "Toother." Gah! Creepy in the very good way.
Eileen Gunn, "Up the Fire Road." Speculative fiction goes to the Springer Show. *eyeroll* Really? Must we?
May 24, 2017
The editor states that his goal for this anthology was to recreate the spirit of the original anthology series of the 1960s and 1970s using contemporary types of stories. The cover calls it "New Science Fiction and Fantasy," and while there is quite a bit of the fantasy, there is precious little of the science fiction. Most of the writers are big names in post 1980s science fiction and fantasy. The stories in this series did not for the most part catch my fancy. Two of them, the first one by Andy Duncan and the last by Lucius Shepard, were neither science fiction nor fantasy, but just plain old ordinary fiction. The few science fiction stories, apart from one, were all near-future, neo-realist pieces that thus also had the feeling of being plain old fiction. Kathleen Ann Goonan's "Electric Rains" was typical in this regard, about a girl in a post-apocalyptic Washington, DC, trying to take her grandmother's dead body to the cemetery without herself getting killed. A good number of the stories are urban fantasies with a slightly satirical edge to them. "Bad Luck, Trouble, Death, and Vampire Sex" by Garth Nix is typical of these amusing pieces, about a man on the run, hopping through dimensions using some off-kilter magic. Peter S. Beagle's "The Last and Only, or Mr. Moskowitz Becomes French" is another amusingly off-kilter piece, this one about a Jewish American who becomes more French than French people, to the dismay of his long-suffering wife. "The Tansformation of Targ" by Paul Brandon and Jack Dann to me was the most amusing of these. It tells about an evil War Lord from a hellish dimension who is seeking career advice because, well, he just doesn't feel like being evil any more. The one story of science fiction that really stretches the imagination is Bruce Sterling's "The Lustration," an intriguingly different take on the Gaia hypothesis on a planet where the "humans" are lizard-bird people who have developed a sophisticated computer technology based on the principles of the abacus. The remaining stories are competently written, but to my taste lacked imaginative flair. In sum, the collection has decent reading, but feels too close to home.
October 6, 2025
An eclectic and entertaining collection of tales in this anthology, and most are unclassifiable! My favorite tale (and quite possibly the weirdest) is "Up The Fire Road" by Eileen Gunn where a young couple seeking refuge in the mountains of a national park while trekking find a sasquatch-like creature that appears to be both male or female depending on the sexual partner! What gets them all on TV though is craziest of all! Other good tales include the fantasy "In The Forest Of The Queen" by Gwyneth Jones, where a wealthy couple get lost in an encianted forest, and "Electric Rains" by Kathleen Ann Goonan, a piece of dystopian SF where the east coast of the US has been plagued by a terrorist-released nanoprogramme which uploads minds. Finally, we get another piece of weird fantasy from Lucius Shepard, where the eponymous "Larissa Miusov" helps a struggling young scriptwriter get his work filmed. However, the money may well come from some dubious Russian sources and when both Miusov and her uncle Misha disappear in pools of blood, suspicion falls on Paul.
December 18, 2020
This collection contains most science-fiction tropes. Although some of them are used in unrecognisable (to most sci-fi fans) ways. It was interesting to see the way in which these various methods were utilised. All in all a very interesting book that is well worth the effort required to read it. A good exercise in trope spotting, for future authors.
May 18, 2020
A very mixed bag - many poor/dull, a few quite good, but overall disappointing.
July 28, 2020
more horror than i expected
September 1, 2023
Didn't really love any of these stories.
June 5, 2017
First posted on SF Crowsnest April 2009.
In his introduction, editor Jonathan Strahan points out that he was looking for a very broad definition of science fiction and fantasy, and this volume certainly fulfils that brief. The scope is so broad in fact that several of the stories were barely speculative at all. If you’re looking for high fantasy and space opera then you’ll likely be disappointed. All of the stories are well written, but I obviously have a very different taste to the editor as I didn’t find many of them very entertaining or satisfying. There were a few that I did enjoy though.
‘Toother’ is an intriguing mystery from Terry Dowling, the title referring to the old occupation of collecting teeth from corpses to make dentures. The practice has been revived by a serial killer in this story, a man who seems to have been active for a very long time and has a strange connection to a clairvoyant mental patient. It reads like a disturbing episode of CSI and offers plenty of tension and bizarreness.
Ysabeau S. Wilce’s alternate California is the excellently atmospheric setting for ‘Quartermaster Returns’. It starts off like a Western in an especially seedy army outpost, but the presence of an ice sprite soon dispels that preconception. The army camp, the characters and the whole situation is portrayed masterfully and makes for a memorable piece.
Nanotech seeded ‘Electric Rains’ have caused most of Washington DC’s inhabitants to either go insane or be uploaded elsewhere in Kathleen Ann Goonan’s poignant story. A little girl is left alone after her adoptive grandmother passes away and she has to defend herself in the almost deserted city where the few people left normal struggle to maintain a veneer of civilisation. It’s an uplifting tale, offering a different outcome to the usually grim post-apocalyptic genre.
The shortest story of the book is ‘Mrs. Zeno’s Paradox’ by Ellen Klages, an odd little tale of physics, time travel, and afternoon tea. It’s not to be taken seriously, but manages to cram a ridiculous amount into only a couple of pages.
On a much larger scale, ‘The Lustration’ is Bruce Sterling’s far-future story of a world-spanning wooden computer that performs immensely slow operations by shunting spheres along great wooden channels. The society that maintains it is ancient and staid, having developed a complex philosophy that doesn’t take well to change. It’s a mind-bending concept that forms the heart of an intriguing story.
The final piece is Lucius Shepard’s ‘Larissa Miusov’, the tale of a struggling screenwriter and the eponymous Russian beauty upon whom he becomes fixated. She feeds him strange stories of her youth in Russia, tantalises him with her presence and backs the production of his movie. It’s a finely written story that I thoroughly enjoyed and that left me with that magical feeling of inspiration.
Of course, anyone else reading this volume will likely pick a completely different set of stories. For me the book is worth those few alone, so it’s no wonder that Eclipse One has been so highly praised. As an example of the immense scope of speculative fiction it is certainly worthy of anyone’s bookshelf.
In his introduction, editor Jonathan Strahan points out that he was looking for a very broad definition of science fiction and fantasy, and this volume certainly fulfils that brief. The scope is so broad in fact that several of the stories were barely speculative at all. If you’re looking for high fantasy and space opera then you’ll likely be disappointed. All of the stories are well written, but I obviously have a very different taste to the editor as I didn’t find many of them very entertaining or satisfying. There were a few that I did enjoy though.
‘Toother’ is an intriguing mystery from Terry Dowling, the title referring to the old occupation of collecting teeth from corpses to make dentures. The practice has been revived by a serial killer in this story, a man who seems to have been active for a very long time and has a strange connection to a clairvoyant mental patient. It reads like a disturbing episode of CSI and offers plenty of tension and bizarreness.
Ysabeau S. Wilce’s alternate California is the excellently atmospheric setting for ‘Quartermaster Returns’. It starts off like a Western in an especially seedy army outpost, but the presence of an ice sprite soon dispels that preconception. The army camp, the characters and the whole situation is portrayed masterfully and makes for a memorable piece.
Nanotech seeded ‘Electric Rains’ have caused most of Washington DC’s inhabitants to either go insane or be uploaded elsewhere in Kathleen Ann Goonan’s poignant story. A little girl is left alone after her adoptive grandmother passes away and she has to defend herself in the almost deserted city where the few people left normal struggle to maintain a veneer of civilisation. It’s an uplifting tale, offering a different outcome to the usually grim post-apocalyptic genre.
The shortest story of the book is ‘Mrs. Zeno’s Paradox’ by Ellen Klages, an odd little tale of physics, time travel, and afternoon tea. It’s not to be taken seriously, but manages to cram a ridiculous amount into only a couple of pages.
On a much larger scale, ‘The Lustration’ is Bruce Sterling’s far-future story of a world-spanning wooden computer that performs immensely slow operations by shunting spheres along great wooden channels. The society that maintains it is ancient and staid, having developed a complex philosophy that doesn’t take well to change. It’s a mind-bending concept that forms the heart of an intriguing story.
The final piece is Lucius Shepard’s ‘Larissa Miusov’, the tale of a struggling screenwriter and the eponymous Russian beauty upon whom he becomes fixated. She feeds him strange stories of her youth in Russia, tantalises him with her presence and backs the production of his movie. It’s a finely written story that I thoroughly enjoyed and that left me with that magical feeling of inspiration.
Of course, anyone else reading this volume will likely pick a completely different set of stories. For me the book is worth those few alone, so it’s no wonder that Eclipse One has been so highly praised. As an example of the immense scope of speculative fiction it is certainly worthy of anyone’s bookshelf.
June 18, 2009
Eclipse 1 is a good-not-great anthology of speculative (née "science") fiction and fantasy (rather: "new weird") short stories edited by Jonathan Strahan. My "good-not-great" may be stemming from my disappointment that there was more "new weird"/fantasy than there was science fiction[†:] but there were still quite a few "big wins" in the pile that is this paperback binding.
As for the computed average of my ratings on the individual stories themselves (out to four decimal places), Eclipse 1 scores: 3.3000
Includes:
• "Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse" by Andy Duncan: ★★★½
➟ Cute, weird.
• "Bad Luck, Trouble, Death, and Vampire Sex" by Garth Nix: ★★
• "The Last and Only or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French" by Peter S. Beagle: ★★★
• "The Lost Boy: A Reporter At Large" by Maureen F. McHugh: ★★★★★
➟ Probably double visceral if you've ever lived in the Baltimore/DC area but outstanding regardless of your geographic history.
• "The Drowned Life" by Jeffrey Ford: ★★
• "Toother" by Terry Dowling: ★★★½
➟ I couldn't put my finger on why I wasn't bowled over by this one. I wanted to like it a lot more but something about it left me wanting a bit...
• "Up the Fire Road" by Eileen Gunn: ★★½
➟ *groan*sigh*snort* (reversed)
• "In the Forest of the Queen" by Gwyneth Jones: ★★
• "Quartermaster Returns" by Ysabeau S. Wilce: ★★★★
➟ A playful tone and artfully written, toys with the right conventions, too.
• "Electric Rains" by Kathleen Ann Goonan: ★★★★½
➟ As with "The Lost Boy..." (v.s.), this one probably hits harder for folks with a little DC time under their belt but hits all the high notes even without that.[††:]
• "She-Creatures" by Margo Lanagan: ★★
➟ The prurient overtones didn't exactly make up for the brogue veneer and otherwise bewildering plot.
• "The Transformation of Targ" by Paul Brandon and Jack Dann: ★★★
➟ Maybe ★★★★ and in my heart of hearts a sympathetic ★★★★★ — this was an extremely fun story.
• "Mrs. Zeno's Paradox" by Ellen Klages: ★★★★
➟ The fact that the story is so short (about 3 pages? 4?) was like its own double-entendre. And any light-hearted story that can work in "ångström" should get bonus points.
• "The Lustration" by Bruce Sterling: ★★★½
➟ I think it's good? Though maybe a bit too oblique?
• "Larissa Miusov" by Lucius Shepard: ★★★★★
➟ Far and away the best story in this collection. If your library has this anthology then you owe it to yourself to at least read this one.
---
† = Call it a personal preference.
†† = Also, for the private few reading this that have also read a certain manuscript of mine, I'd like to share that I had a big (and vocal) "WTF?" the night I was reading this in bed. I felt a little dirty and cheated — but how can someone rip you off when they've never heard of you? or read your work? (Besides, it was different enough to not be "the same".)
As for the computed average of my ratings on the individual stories themselves (out to four decimal places), Eclipse 1 scores: 3.3000
Includes:
• "Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse" by Andy Duncan: ★★★½
➟ Cute, weird.
• "Bad Luck, Trouble, Death, and Vampire Sex" by Garth Nix: ★★
• "The Last and Only or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French" by Peter S. Beagle: ★★★
• "The Lost Boy: A Reporter At Large" by Maureen F. McHugh: ★★★★★
➟ Probably double visceral if you've ever lived in the Baltimore/DC area but outstanding regardless of your geographic history.
• "The Drowned Life" by Jeffrey Ford: ★★
• "Toother" by Terry Dowling: ★★★½
➟ I couldn't put my finger on why I wasn't bowled over by this one. I wanted to like it a lot more but something about it left me wanting a bit...
• "Up the Fire Road" by Eileen Gunn: ★★½
➟ *groan*sigh*snort* (reversed)
• "In the Forest of the Queen" by Gwyneth Jones: ★★
• "Quartermaster Returns" by Ysabeau S. Wilce: ★★★★
➟ A playful tone and artfully written, toys with the right conventions, too.
• "Electric Rains" by Kathleen Ann Goonan: ★★★★½
➟ As with "The Lost Boy..." (v.s.), this one probably hits harder for folks with a little DC time under their belt but hits all the high notes even without that.[††:]
• "She-Creatures" by Margo Lanagan: ★★
➟ The prurient overtones didn't exactly make up for the brogue veneer and otherwise bewildering plot.
• "The Transformation of Targ" by Paul Brandon and Jack Dann: ★★★
➟ Maybe ★★★★ and in my heart of hearts a sympathetic ★★★★★ — this was an extremely fun story.
• "Mrs. Zeno's Paradox" by Ellen Klages: ★★★★
➟ The fact that the story is so short (about 3 pages? 4?) was like its own double-entendre. And any light-hearted story that can work in "ångström" should get bonus points.
• "The Lustration" by Bruce Sterling: ★★★½
➟ I think it's good? Though maybe a bit too oblique?
• "Larissa Miusov" by Lucius Shepard: ★★★★★
➟ Far and away the best story in this collection. If your library has this anthology then you owe it to yourself to at least read this one.
---
† = Call it a personal preference.
†† = Also, for the private few reading this that have also read a certain manuscript of mine, I'd like to share that I had a big (and vocal) "WTF?" the night I was reading this in bed. I felt a little dirty and cheated — but how can someone rip you off when they've never heard of you? or read your work? (Besides, it was different enough to not be "the same".)
October 18, 2012
The 15 short stories in here are a hodge-podge of science fiction and fantasy stories (more biased towards fantasy/paranormal than science fiction), some of which provided a-ha! moments, whilst others left me puzzled.
I'd say there were overall more a-ha! stories than puzzling ones.
The few I really liked were:
- Bad Luck, Trouble, Death, and Vampire Sex (Garth Nix)
Well, what can I say - I initially picked up this book because I saw his name on the cover. Gardner, a bumbling wizard, somehow kills his adopted grandmother, the most powerful witch-queen in the nether-world by sheer accident. Now on the run, Gardner, with the help of Gurl, the gargoyle that used to sit above Granny's office desk, must figure out what's really going on. The story is laugh-out-loud funny. Its series of comedic errors would have made perfect reading for teens, except for its preoccupation with vampire sex. Then again, after twilight, who cares about vampire sex?
- Toother (Terry Dowling)
Someone has been killing women and stealing their teeth and Peter, a psychic, is the only one with leads to this terrible murderer that spans decades. Toother is a little dark, slightly reminiscent of Criminal Minds.
- The Transformation of Targ (Paul Brandon and Jack Dann)
What happens when the Mighty Revenant Overlord Targ, Destroyer of Mordane and Ruler of Hellinor doesn't want to be evil anymore? He goes to consult Hiram Hirsch, Consultant to Evil, that's what. The story is light, entertaining and brilliantly written.
I'd say there were overall more a-ha! stories than puzzling ones.
The few I really liked were:
- Bad Luck, Trouble, Death, and Vampire Sex (Garth Nix)
Well, what can I say - I initially picked up this book because I saw his name on the cover. Gardner, a bumbling wizard, somehow kills his adopted grandmother, the most powerful witch-queen in the nether-world by sheer accident. Now on the run, Gardner, with the help of Gurl, the gargoyle that used to sit above Granny's office desk, must figure out what's really going on. The story is laugh-out-loud funny. Its series of comedic errors would have made perfect reading for teens, except for its preoccupation with vampire sex. Then again, after twilight, who cares about vampire sex?
- Toother (Terry Dowling)
Someone has been killing women and stealing their teeth and Peter, a psychic, is the only one with leads to this terrible murderer that spans decades. Toother is a little dark, slightly reminiscent of Criminal Minds.
- The Transformation of Targ (Paul Brandon and Jack Dann)
What happens when the Mighty Revenant Overlord Targ, Destroyer of Mordane and Ruler of Hellinor doesn't want to be evil anymore? He goes to consult Hiram Hirsch, Consultant to Evil, that's what. The story is light, entertaining and brilliantly written.
April 29, 2016
Who wouldn't want to read something with a title like that? I mean, come on BAD LUCK, TROUBLE, DEATH, AND VAMPIRE SEX?! Sounds FABULOUS.
'“Oh yeah,” I said. I’d forgotten I was a wizard too, a green wizard, not a somewhat sorcerous private eye with a proclivity for bizarre sex and firearms.'
This a (very) short story but amusing nevertheless. There's just something perfect about a conspiracy to seize the crown centering around a crowned tooth. Fear not though, my friends, there's very little dentistry here. And, now I think of it, very little vampire sex. (Garth Nix makes a good point - “You must be desperate. Whatever gave you the idea that you would enjoy cold undead flesh anyway?” so screw you Breaking Dawn!) Check it out, it's well worth five minutes of your time.
'“Oh yeah,” I said. I’d forgotten I was a wizard too, a green wizard, not a somewhat sorcerous private eye with a proclivity for bizarre sex and firearms.'
This a (very) short story but amusing nevertheless. There's just something perfect about a conspiracy to seize the crown centering around a crowned tooth. Fear not though, my friends, there's very little dentistry here. And, now I think of it, very little vampire sex. (Garth Nix makes a good point - “You must be desperate. Whatever gave you the idea that you would enjoy cold undead flesh anyway?” so screw you Breaking Dawn!) Check it out, it's well worth five minutes of your time.
August 1, 2010
“If you look at photos taken of the sun during a lunar eclipse,” editor Jonathan Strahan writes in the introduction to ECLIPSE ONE: NEW FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, “you’ll see a strange, dark eldritch thing.”
Strange, dark and eldritch certainly describe this anthology, which collects 15 original fantasy and science-fiction short stories. All the tales in ECLIPSE ONE are creepy at the very least, and the spookiest of them could very well keep you up at night. While the title gives equal billing to two genres, there are only a couple of sci-fi stories here; its stories are far more similar to the works in Ellen Datlow’s great THE YEAR’S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR annuals than, say, Strahan’s previous sci-fi collections.
More: http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/sci-f...
Strange, dark and eldritch certainly describe this anthology, which collects 15 original fantasy and science-fiction short stories. All the tales in ECLIPSE ONE are creepy at the very least, and the spookiest of them could very well keep you up at night. While the title gives equal billing to two genres, there are only a couple of sci-fi stories here; its stories are far more similar to the works in Ellen Datlow’s great THE YEAR’S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR annuals than, say, Strahan’s previous sci-fi collections.
More: http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/sci-f...
May 25, 2010
This is far from uniformly great - there are better anthologies out there and there are a couple of stories I *really* didn't like. Garth Nix's, for example, seemed to be YA with some added swears (well, he does write plenty of YA fiction, yes?)
And, apart from his collaboration with William Gibson on the Difference Engine, I've just never really been able to get into Brude Sterling. Must be missing something.
That said, where I enjoyed it, I really did, so, given that there are a reasonable number of stories in it, I am prepared to overall give it the benefit of the doubt.
Besides which, it has a Lucius Shepherd story at the end, and he is always excellent.
And, apart from his collaboration with William Gibson on the Difference Engine, I've just never really been able to get into Brude Sterling. Must be missing something.
That said, where I enjoyed it, I really did, so, given that there are a reasonable number of stories in it, I am prepared to overall give it the benefit of the doubt.
Besides which, it has a Lucius Shepherd story at the end, and he is always excellent.
October 18, 2015
The opening blurb on this includes 'rare and unusual event.' I have to admit that there were two stories that were strong in this area! One I had a difficult time following but once I got to a certain point it kind of fell together. That said, there are some truly outstanding gems in this collection.
If you need a variety of Science Fiction and Fantasy to get you going it's worth giving a peek at to see if this one is what will grab you. Like I said, some did and some didn't. But I did read all of them. I would have given it a three if the gems didn't put it over the top. Added a couple of must find authors to my list from this one though.
If you need a variety of Science Fiction and Fantasy to get you going it's worth giving a peek at to see if this one is what will grab you. Like I said, some did and some didn't. But I did read all of them. I would have given it a three if the gems didn't put it over the top. Added a couple of must find authors to my list from this one though.
January 24, 2010
I wasn't as impressed as I was supposed to be. I think I read a recommendation for this on someone's blog and figured it was time to be up-to-date in my short story reading. But this can't really be the good stuff, could it? I can't say I read a single story that really knocked my socks off. There was one about a hermaphrodite bigfoot that captured my attention and then lost my respect when the ending imploded. To top it off, I wasn't that impressed with the binding. This one gets two stars for trying, but I'm sure there are better collections out there.
November 19, 2010
Billed as Sci-fi, it's more fantasy. One of, if not the, worst compilations I've ever read. Were if not for my somewhat obsessive/compulsive nature, I would have tossed this into the fireplace. Even Bruce Sterling's story failed for me. The only standouts are Lucius Shepard's story "Larissa Miusov", and Paul Brandon & Jack Dann's "The Transformation of Targ", the latter being the best story included in this book. Also Ellen Klages' "Mrs. Zeno Paradox", (the shortest tale in this book) was somewhat interesting.
June 26, 2009
I picked this up for the Ysabeau S. Wilce story. It turned out to be more of the early adventures of Tiny Doom. It was a good read.
The others ... nothing really jumps out at me. Except for the Garth Nix story, which poked subtle fun at the paranormal romance genre.
The others ... nothing really jumps out at me. Except for the Garth Nix story, which poked subtle fun at the paranormal romance genre.
March 27, 2010
A book of sci fi short fiction from Night Shade Books. Night shade has great authors and has fantastic fiction free on the website that you can read on your Kindle. However,most of the stories in this anthology did not grab me. I do highly recommend Toother by Terry Dowling and Electric Rain by Katherine Goonan.
December 30, 2009
A solid and interesting collection of short pieces by top authors. I could have used a few more stories of rollicking adventure, and maybe one or two less of abstract fantasy, but you won't be sorry you cracked its spine.
May 28, 2012
Overall Eclipse Once is pretty good. I did find myself trudging through a few of the stories, but nothing too painful. The best one by far was The Transformation of Targ by Paul Brandon and Jack Dann. If you want it quick read this anthology is a good pick.
August 13, 2012
While the writings here do not lack for style (as in the management of wording), they do lack for story line.
Quite a few times in going through the collection I would catch myself thinking "if I were reading this when 12 years old, this would be awesome."
Quite a few times in going through the collection I would catch myself thinking "if I were reading this when 12 years old, this would be awesome."
April 3, 2013
Interesting and chewy anthology! I generally like "hard" science fiction, but the fantasy stories here aren't "sword and sorcery" things, they are the kind that are only a step away from SF. All the stories are fresh and really interesting, and almost all are good. A pleasure to read.
January 25, 2014
Mostly good, a couple of stories sucked but mostly good. Overall good enough to read Eclipse Two. Bought them from the clearance section of a used bookstore for $1 each so no grand expectations and I like getting exposed to new authors.
July 16, 2011
An enjoyable, broad-spectrum anthology. Could have been fatter. Looking forward to future volumes.
May 17, 2012
I liked almost all the stories, and like some of them very much. Will definitely be looking for more of this series.
December 13, 2017
My long-ago review on The Fix:
https://web.archive.org/web/200805151...
https://web.archive.org/web/200805151...
November 3, 2018
Amusing, but the gutter language isn't typical for Garth Nix
July 26, 2019
This short story did not sound like Garth Nix at all but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. And I would love to read more stories in this setting, it sounds fascinating!
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