Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian

by Janis Ian (Editor), Mike Resnick

Thirty original stories-each inspired by a Janis Ian song-from some of the biggest names in science fiction and fantasy, including: Tad Williams, Harry Turtledove, Orson Scott Card, Joe Haldeman, John Varley, Mercedes Lackey, Judith Tarr, Janis Ian, and others.

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction, Music, Science Fiction Fantasy

592 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 5, 2003

About the author

I was was born April 7, 1951, a month and day shared with Billie Holiday. Wrote my first song at 12, was published at 13, made a record at 14, had a hit at 15, and was a has-been at 16. I took a break for 3 years shortly thereafter, and moved to Philadelphia to write and find out if I really could be a great songwriter. "Came back" in 1973 with an album called Stars, and was fortunate enough to have a second career.
I've been lucky enough to have ten Grammy nominations in eight different categories, and two Grammys - most recently for the spoken word edition of my autobiography, "Society's Child".

I love writing - articles, speeches, stories, songs, books. I love reading. For years, my fans brought me used books on tour in lieu of flowers or jewelry. I'm 74 now, and thinking about "retirement", trying to call it "transitioning" instead. Less time a2ay from home, more time to write.

If you want to reach me please email through the contacts page of my website (below). I don't check email on Goodreads very often!
Thanks for reading.
Janis

Reviews

[Book2Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed in most of these. Supposed to mirror Janis Ian's songs, but not the way I heard them. One or two I liked though.

[Susan]

When this book first came out I checked it out of the library and read some of the stories, then I got it in e-book format from the StoryBundle, so now I at least OWN the book, too :D

• Come Dance with Me by Terry Bisson
• The Scent of Trumpets, the Voices of Smoke by Tad Williams
• Finding My Shadow by Joe Haldeman
• Ride Me Like a Wave by Jane Yolen
• In Fading Suns and Dying Moons by John Varley
• "On the Other Side" by Mercedes Lackey 12/8/2004
• "Nightmare Mountain" by Kage Baker 12/1/2004
• On the Edge by Gregory Benford
• Two Faces of Love by Tanith Lee
• Immortality by Robert J. Sawyer
• Hunger by Robert Sheckley
• Society's Goy by Mike Resnick
• Second Person Unmasked Janis Ian
• "Play Like a Girl" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch 12/2/2004
• All in a Blaze by Stephen Baxter
• Old Photographs by Susan Casper
• Ej-Es by Nancy Kress
• "You Don't Know My Heart" by Spider Robinson
• "Riding Janis" by David Gerrold 12/9/2004
• East of the Sun, West of Acousticville by Judith Tarr
• Hopper Painting by Diane Duane
• An Indeterminate State by Kay Kenyon
• This House by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
• Calling Your Name by Howard Waldrop
• Shadow in the City by Dean Wesley Smith
• Joe Steele by Harry Turtledove
• Inventing Lovers on the Phone by Orson Scott Card

[Dave Creek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the ebook re-issue of this anthology, which is one of the best in recent years. My copy of the print version, which was signed by both Ian and Resnick, was damaged beyond repair in some otherwise minor flooding in my home a few years ago, so I was glad to get this new version.

Janis Ian, best known for her songs "At Seventeen" and "Society's Child," turns out to be a major SF fan. She explains how a fan letter she wrote to Mike Resnick led to her attending a Worldcon with him, which in turn led to a contract for a book of stories based on her music.

This new edition even has a new story, "For I Have Lain Me Down on The Stone of Loneliness and I'll Not Be Back Again," by Michael Swanwick.

The Swanwick story is one of those I highly recommend; it examines how 1916's Easter Rebellion in Ireland designed to throw off British rule and create an independent Irish Republic has consequences that will follow us past the present day and even into our spacefaring future.

There are plenty of other stories to recommend. "Riding Janis" by David Gerrold is a look at gender issues among the crew of a spaceship sending an asteroid (the Janis of the title) flying past the Earth as part of an Olympics celebration.

Robert J. Sawyer's "Immortality" imagines a former singer oddly similar to Janis Ian attending her 60th high school reunion and discovering the true nature of artistic immortality.

The ebook version even has links to Janis Ian's website where you can hear the songs that inspired each story.

The entire volume is highly recommended!

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stars is a very good collection of stories with an unusual twist; they're all based on (or at least strongly influenced by) songs by Janis Ian. I'm sure that people who are unfamiliar with her music would enjoy the stories, too, but I had fun playing them as a soundtrack while reading. Naturally, some of the stories are most successful than others, just as some of the songs are more enjoyable to individual listeners. Strangely, I didn't note any correlation between most and least favorite stories and songs. My favorites were stories by Kay Kenyon, Robert Sawyer, Orson Scott Card, and Janis Ian herself. Favorite song... well, they're all good, hard to choose, but "At Seventeen" always hits me even after all these years.

[Book2Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Janis Ian's music, and was aware she was a huge Sci-Fi fan. I had heard of this book, but it took me a few years to get around to reading it.
Let me say, to begin, that I am more a fan of fantasy than science fiction. There are some science fiction authors that I really enjoy though. Three of which are in this anthology: Mercedes Lackey, Jane Yolen (writes more YA), and Orson Scott Card, none of which disappoint here. New favorites were: Kage Baker, Tanith Lee, Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Sheckley, Susan R. Matthews, Judith Tarr, Dean Wesley Smith, and Harry Turtledove.
Overall I averaged 3.5 stars for this book. Because it is Janis Ian's work, that rounds up to 4 stars.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me forever to get through this audiobook. First of all, it was more than 20 hours and as I have lamented here before, I just don’t do that much driving anymore. Secondly, although I loved most of the stories, I had to take a break now and again so that the tales did not run together. Several authors used the same Ian songs and I would lose track of what was going on. Third and last reason – I ran out of renewals and had to let the library have the audio back for a while before I checked it out again. (I actually don’t have to pay fines because I retired from the library, but my ethics get in the way of me keeping things overdue.)

I fell in love with Ian’s music when I first heard “Society’s Child” and I thought she knew me when I heard “At Seventeen”. So, this collection has been on my radar for quite some time. Except for a few odd misses, I liked every story on this audiobook. It fascinates me how many different ways there are to interpret one song.

I found the narrators to all be especially good, but I was really pleased that Ian herself read the last story which is by Michael Swanwick. I liked the story and I love the combination of Ian and Swanwick together since they both have had an influence in my life. Which is a story for another time.

Thank you to the writers, narrators and Janis Ian for almost 21 hours of delight.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title indicates, this is a set of stories inspired by the songs of singer-songwriter Janis Ian.

I'll be honest, I'm not really a big music guy, in that while I might enjoy individual songs when I hear them, I don't feel the need to seek it out or follow in detail the people who produce it. So, when I got this book (it was actually part of an ebook bundle), Janis Ian's name wasn't only not a draw, I had no idea who she was. I couldn't think of a single thing I'd heard her sing, but hey, I don't have to know the musical inspiration for a short stories to enjoy it, so I dug into it. In the introduction, I learned that she had indeed written, and sung, songs I'd heard of, even at least one I'd say I particularly like, I just hadn't known the artist. But, more importantly, I learned she was a lifelong science fiction fan. Not only is she a fan, but she was engaged enough in the fan community that this collection idea was sparked at a convention while talking to a writer/editor who was a fan of hers as well, and many authors she enjoyed were thrilled to participate. So I instantly like her more than I otherwise would, since she's just my kind of people.

That said, the anthology, well, it's a typical anthology, not every story is going to land, some are in subgenres I just don't care for, others with themes I don't connect with, and a few seemed to rely on too much resonance with a song I'd never heard. There was a secondary problem, in that my favorite stories in the collection... were ones I realized I had read before (and after the first couple, a dim recollection formed of a "Year's Best SF" collection that contained a number of stories that were mentioned written in tribute to somebody's songs, which was obviously her). So, although they were still good, they weren't as novel, and thus I didn't enjoy them as much as I would have when they were fresh.

Still, my favorites in the collection were probably "Ej-Es" by Nancy Kress, "In Fading Suns and Dying Moons" by John Varley, "Riding Janis" by David Gerrold, "All In A Blaze" by Stephen Baxter

Of the rest, there were decent ones but few really stood out. Although there were a variety of songs that served as inspiration, a few were used again and again, most notably "Society's Child", although I don't think any of them really did justice to the idea. One wrote a story that was barely science fiction at all (with just a mention of a technology lurking in the background) but had the concept of the two characters from the song meeting at a reunion decades later, and the others just literally reinterpreted the story in a science fictional context (one played for laughs). The only one to do it in a particularly interesting way was "An Indeterminate State" by Kay Kenyon.

Also of note, Janis Ian has a short story of her own in the collection, I believe it's her first (but not her last), called "Second Person Unmasked," and it's actually quite well-done. The only reason I didn't include it in my list of favorites above was because I wanted to talk about it separately. For a first story it did remarkably well and although it was probably lower on my list of favorites than the others, still managed to be one of the more memorable ones.

The collection might do particularly well with somebody who's a bigger fan of her than I am, but otherwise, it's solid.

[Shaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology is part of the Women in Science Fiction bundle. It contains stories (not all of them strictly science fiction but definitely speculative) from quite a distinquished selection of writers (not all of them women). Overall, I enjoyed reading this. It made me listen to and get acquainted with Janis Ian's music. I really only knew At Seventeen before this. It has also made me wonder about stories that could be told inspired by various songs as I listen to music.

Some stories I enjoyed were An Indeterminate State by Kay Kenyon, This House by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Calling Your Name by Howard Waldrop, Shadow in the City by Dean Wesley, Riding Janis by David Gerrold. Honourable mentions go to both stories contributed by the editors, the funny Society's Goy by Mike Resnick and the twisted Second Person Unmasked by Janis Ian.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of overlap betweeen Janis Ian fans and science fiction fans, which makes sense if you think about it - intellectual openness meets emotional directness; imaginative writing that isn't overly literary - and once Ian started going to SF conventions she found she was a favorite of many of her favorites. Thus was born the idea for this anthology, in which heavyweight writers contribute stories inspired by one or another of her songs. In this company, it's striking that one of the most gripping entries is by Ian herself. It's a long collection, as I imagine it was hard to leave anyone out, and while I wish they had only included one "Society's Child" instead of FOUR (all variations of the same idea) there is enough quality work here that I'm not inclined to gripe.

[Debbie is on Storygraph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology blew me away. It was a bit of an odd premise - stories based on the songs of a singer - but it worked. The variety of the stories were astounding, and while there were the few that I did not enjoy as much, the majority of them were very quick reads, well written, and some were very impressive indeed. There was some repetition in themes (several stories were based on Janis Ian's song "Society's Child") but even that did not get tiring. Plus, there was a new Valdemar story, and the last story by Orson Scott Card more than made up for the few lackluster ones in the mix. Highly recommended.

[idle · Rating 3 out of 5]

An anthology of sci-fi stories inspired by a singer-songwriter who is a sci-fi fan and written by her fans. I've never heard of Janis Ian but I know many of the authors' names and that is invitation enough.
A mix of nice, enjoyable stories with interesting ideas, okay ones and several that went completely over my head.

[Howard Brazee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories by famous successful SF authors based upon songs of Janis Ian.

Janis Ian's songs have better lyrics than tunes, and these stories fit the feeling of the stories very well. They may be more "literary" than some readers like.

I'm a big fan of hers.

[Brian Gaston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must admit that I gave it a 4 partly based on the nostalgic nature of the songs.

[Charles James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a Janis Ian fan ,and an occasional reader of Sc - Fi . This collection of short stories suffers from the problem I have with other short story compilations by different authors namely that some are very good, others average and some downright disappointing . Some of the stories created amazing imaginary worlds others just droned on .It also appears that most sci-fi writers have only heard of Janis Ian's Society's Child , which popped up regularly as inspiration for a short story. There is a much mor interesting back catalogue of Janis Ian's music to chose from . Good reads appears to think that there are only 21 stories , I can assure there are 31 .I listened to the Audible narrated version . This may have been a mistake on the basis that on quite a few occasions I had not realised the story had finished and had to rewind to check the ending .The stories may have been appreciated ore if I had read it and been able to think about the ending before going on to the next story .

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm generally not that into short stories. It seems like they either aren't fleshed out enough or they aren't a big enough idea. Sometimes the really work though, and there were several in this book that worked very well.

[Bronwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories taken from songs by Janis Ian, most of these short stories are rather dark, and I never thought of her songs as that grim

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

some great stories, some not so great, but all in all a great read

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

meh