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Distant Stars
Delany has a grasp of the evolutionary nature of mythology, a subtle comic touch, and a lyric sense of the outsider making his unorthodox way in the world--or worlds--that give his work a dimension unusual...
Contents:
Of doubts and dreams : an introduction / by Samuel R. Delany --
Prismatica / illustrated by John Pierard --
Corona / illustrated by John Collier --
Empire star / illustrated by John Jude Palencar --
Time considered as a helix of semi-precious stones / illustrated by Jeanette Adams --
Omegahelm / illustrated by John Coffey --
Ruins / illustrated by John Pound --
We, in some strange power's employ, move on a rigorous line / illustrated by Michael Sorkin.
Contents:
Of doubts and dreams : an introduction / by Samuel R. Delany --
Prismatica / illustrated by John Pierard --
Corona / illustrated by John Collier --
Empire star / illustrated by John Jude Palencar --
Time considered as a helix of semi-precious stones / illustrated by Jeanette Adams --
Omegahelm / illustrated by John Coffey --
Ruins / illustrated by John Pound --
We, in some strange power's employ, move on a rigorous line / illustrated by Michael Sorkin.
354 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1981
6 people are currently reading
292 people want to read
About the author
Samuel R. Delany
289 books2,246 followersSamuel Ray Delany, also known as "Chip," is an award-winning American science fiction author. He was born to a prominent black family on April 1, 1942, and raised in Harlem. His mother, Margaret Carey Boyd Delany, was a library clerk in the New York Public Library system. His father, Samuel Ray Delany, Senior, ran a successful Harlem undertaking establishment, Levy & Delany Funeral Home, on 7th Avenue, between 1938 and his death in 1960. The family lived in the top two floors of the three-story private house between five- and six-story Harlem apartment buildings. Delany's aunts were Sadie and Bessie Delany; Delany used some of their adventures as the basis for the adventures of his characters Elsie and Corry in the opening novella Atlantis: Model 1924 in his book of largely autobiographical stories Atlantis: Three Tales.
Delany attended the Dalton School and the Bronx High School of Science, during which he was selected to attend Camp Rising Sun, the Louis August Jonas Foundation's international summer scholarship program. Delany and poet Marilyn Hacker met in high school, and were married in 1961. Their marriage lasted nineteen years. They had a daughter, Iva Hacker-Delany (b. 1974), who spent a decade working in theater in New York City.
Delany was a published science fiction author by the age of 20. He published nine well-regarded science fiction novels between 1962 and 1968, as well as several prize-winning short stories (collected in Driftglass [1971] and more recently in Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories [2002]). His eleventh and most popular novel, Dhalgren, was published in 1975. His main literary project through the late 1970s and 1980s was the Return to Nevèrÿon series, the overall title of the four volumes and also the title of the fourth and final book.
Delany has published several autobiographical/semi-autobiographical accounts of his life as a black, gay, and highly dyslexic writer, including his Hugo award winning autobiography, The Motion of Light in Water.
Since 1988, Delany has been a professor at several universities. This includes eleven years as a professor of comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a year and a half as an English professor at the University at Buffalo. He then moved to the English Department of Temple University in 2001, where he has been teaching since. He has had several visiting guest professorships before and during these same years. He has also published several books of criticism, interviews, and essays. In one of his non-fiction books, Times Square Red, Times Square Blue (1999), he draws on personal experience to examine the relationship between the effort to redevelop Times Square and the public sex lives of working-class men, gay and straight, in New York City.
In 2007, Delany was the subject of a documentary film, The Polymath, or, The Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman. The film debuted on April 25 at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
Delany attended the Dalton School and the Bronx High School of Science, during which he was selected to attend Camp Rising Sun, the Louis August Jonas Foundation's international summer scholarship program. Delany and poet Marilyn Hacker met in high school, and were married in 1961. Their marriage lasted nineteen years. They had a daughter, Iva Hacker-Delany (b. 1974), who spent a decade working in theater in New York City.
Delany was a published science fiction author by the age of 20. He published nine well-regarded science fiction novels between 1962 and 1968, as well as several prize-winning short stories (collected in Driftglass [1971] and more recently in Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories [2002]). His eleventh and most popular novel, Dhalgren, was published in 1975. His main literary project through the late 1970s and 1980s was the Return to Nevèrÿon series, the overall title of the four volumes and also the title of the fourth and final book.
Delany has published several autobiographical/semi-autobiographical accounts of his life as a black, gay, and highly dyslexic writer, including his Hugo award winning autobiography, The Motion of Light in Water.
Since 1988, Delany has been a professor at several universities. This includes eleven years as a professor of comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a year and a half as an English professor at the University at Buffalo. He then moved to the English Department of Temple University in 2001, where he has been teaching since. He has had several visiting guest professorships before and during these same years. He has also published several books of criticism, interviews, and essays. In one of his non-fiction books, Times Square Red, Times Square Blue (1999), he draws on personal experience to examine the relationship between the effort to redevelop Times Square and the public sex lives of working-class men, gay and straight, in New York City.
In 2007, Delany was the subject of a documentary film, The Polymath, or, The Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman. The film debuted on April 25 at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 23, 2021
This is a big, lovely collection of seven of Delany's stories, each very nicely illustrated by a different artist. They're not necessarily his best works, and some also appeared in his first collection, Driftglass (and Empire Star appeared individually), but it's well worthwhile in this format for the lavish illustrations. Not to mention a lovely Michael Whelan cover and an interesting introduction from Delany. Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones is an award-winning classic, Empire Star was always one of my favorites, and We, In Some Strange Power's Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line is one my favorite titles. It's a really nice book!
January 20, 2008
This was my first Delany book, and it left me pretty impressed. The first few stories in this collection, namely "Prismatica", "Corona", and "Empire Star" (really a novella) would have been off-putting for their slick cleverness if the prose and the imagination behind the prose weren't so damn good.
My favorite stories, strangely, tended to be the ones with the longest, strangest names: "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones", and, especially, "We, in Some Strange Power's Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line".
My favorite stories, strangely, tended to be the ones with the longest, strangest names: "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones", and, especially, "We, in Some Strange Power's Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line".
November 22, 2020
It can take me a little while to get into the groove with a Delany tale so I'm not surprised that the best of this bunch are the longer entries which are given more time to hit their stride. Even so, these short stories can feel truncated or impulsive as if they're part of a planned bigger work that the author abandoned or whatever the literary equivalent of a watercolor is. I also suspect, after reading this collection, that when it comes to fiction, the more Delany leans into scifi -- and away from fantasy -- the more his mind has space to roam.
November 21, 2017
Nice collection, with a great introduction by the author. However, other than "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones" (which is among the best short stories/novelettes ever, and is available in other collection), nothing that really stands out. A good read if you enjoy the work of Mr. Delany.
May 9, 2018
Brilliant, as Delany always is - a couple of the stories didn't really grab me, but..
Prismatica was a delightful tale that felt old and new at the same time
Empire Star was a coming of age story-cum-Rubik's cube-cum-space faring adventure
Omegahelm was my favourite though, an absolutely devastating piece exploring the nature of power, parenthood, moral relativism, and violence
Prismatica was a delightful tale that felt old and new at the same time
Empire Star was a coming of age story-cum-Rubik's cube-cum-space faring adventure
Omegahelm was my favourite though, an absolutely devastating piece exploring the nature of power, parenthood, moral relativism, and violence
August 4, 2022
The stories in this collection range from thoughtful to epic to incomprehensible. Most are quite good, especially "Empire Star" and "We, In Some Strange Power's Employ, Move In a Rigorous Line." Oddly, I thought the Nebula award winner was the weakest story in the bunch.
June 19, 2018
I did not care for his prose
July 17, 2019
I thought this book was great.
March 3, 2024
3.5-4/5
December 7, 2022
**** Of Doubts and Dreams (1981)
** Prismatica (1977)
**** Corona (1967)
**** Empire Star (1966)
**** Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones (1968)
** Omegahelm (1981)
** Ruins (1968)
**** We, in Some Strange Power's Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line (1968)
After Delany's first story collection, "Driftglass", was published in the early 70s, Delany wrote few stories. This book, published about a decade later collects the early novella Empire Star, three of the best stories from "Driftglass", and only three new stories from the later 70s. Unfortunately the three new stories are not up to the level of any of the stories that appeared in the early collection. These three stories - "Prismatica", "Omegahelm", and "Ruins" - are all more fantasy fables than sf, and I found them less than convincing. I like Delany but I only like the new stories two stars worth sorry to say. The publication makes up for this somewhat with a wealth of excellent illustrations from seven artists - different sf artist for each story.
** Prismatica (1977)
**** Corona (1967)
**** Empire Star (1966)
**** Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones (1968)
** Omegahelm (1981)
** Ruins (1968)
**** We, in Some Strange Power's Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line (1968)
After Delany's first story collection, "Driftglass", was published in the early 70s, Delany wrote few stories. This book, published about a decade later collects the early novella Empire Star, three of the best stories from "Driftglass", and only three new stories from the later 70s. Unfortunately the three new stories are not up to the level of any of the stories that appeared in the early collection. These three stories - "Prismatica", "Omegahelm", and "Ruins" - are all more fantasy fables than sf, and I found them less than convincing. I like Delany but I only like the new stories two stars worth sorry to say. The publication makes up for this somewhat with a wealth of excellent illustrations from seven artists - different sf artist for each story.
April 6, 2012
The important thing about this book is not the stories themselves, which are also collected with others in the more readily available "Aye and Gomorrah" and Other Stories, but Delany's introduction to it, in which he talks about his writing process. This book also has some illustrations for the stories, most of which are low quality.
August 5, 2014
Delany is a killer writer, but this felt like kind of a mish-mash of stories that couldn't be more "distant" from one another in subject or style. It was like a sampler, and I suppose that's alright, but I didn't feel that was how this book was billed.
Also, whoever did the editing on this book missed an atrocious number of simple errors.
Also, whoever did the editing on this book missed an atrocious number of simple errors.
March 12, 2015
The first Samuel Delany book I ever bought. He is an amazing writer.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews