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Impossible Places
For three decades science fiction legend Alan Dean Foster has captivated readers around the world, from his debut classic The Tar-Aiym Krang and his inspired scenario for the first Star Trek movie to a host of New York Times bestsellers, including Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and Flinx in Flux .
In this collection of twenty brilliant odysseys of the imagination, Foster once again soars beyond the limits of reality—where the real thrills begin. . . .
NASA Sending Addicts to Mars! : It was the most insane idea in the annals of space travel—and the only one that would work.
Diesel Dream : Sometimes on dark, lonely highways dreams do come true, and this trucker’s hope was the best one of all.
Sideshow : Flinx hadn’t a clue about the alien dancer, but Pip knew trouble when she saw it.
Empowered : A magnificent male discovers the not-so-super part about being a superhero.
The Question : A bold adventurer determines to solve one of life’s profound mysteries.
. . . and fifteen other amazing stories!
In this collection of twenty brilliant odysseys of the imagination, Foster once again soars beyond the limits of reality—where the real thrills begin. . . .
NASA Sending Addicts to Mars! : It was the most insane idea in the annals of space travel—and the only one that would work.
Diesel Dream : Sometimes on dark, lonely highways dreams do come true, and this trucker’s hope was the best one of all.
Sideshow : Flinx hadn’t a clue about the alien dancer, but Pip knew trouble when she saw it.
Empowered : A magnificent male discovers the not-so-super part about being a superhero.
The Question : A bold adventurer determines to solve one of life’s profound mysteries.
. . . and fifteen other amazing stories!
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 27, 2002
33 people are currently reading
163 people want to read
About the author
Alan Dean Foster
501 books2,040 followersBestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 9, 2011
Found this on a shelf with a bunch of crappy paperbacks at my local train station. It was a really fun read and a nice escape from everything else going on right now. I've read some Foster before, but I guess I never think about mass-market sci fi authors writing short stories. My favorite was definitely the one about Ory Checker: I saw where the plot was going and anticipated the twist, but it's the one where Foster reaches the most and consequently comes closest to the level of his heroes like Asimov. I also appreciated "The Question" and some of the others.
March 25, 2018
I have always been a fan of Foster's works, he writes great characters and tells fantastic stories. This is a collection of short stories that do not disappoint. It also comes with short Pip and Flinx tale. This is well worth the time, check it out.
June 9, 2010
Collection of short stories.
contents:
# Lay Your Head on My Pilose
# 22 • Diesel Dream
# 34 • Lethal Perspective
# 43 • Laying Veneer
# 55 • Betcha Can't Eat Just One
# 65 • Fitting Time
# 80 • We Three Kings
# 94 • NASA Sending Addicts to Mars! Giant Government Coverup Revealed!
# 109 • Empowered
# 123 • The Kiss
# 128 • The Impossible Place
# 145 • The Boy Who Was a Sea
# 159 • Undying Iron
# 188 • The Question
# 200 • The Kindness of Strangers
# 216 • Pein bek Longpela Telimpon
# 238 • Suzy Q
# 249 • The Little Bits That Count
# 261 • Sideshow
I'd only read one of them before ("The Boy Who Was a Sea").
Overall, I thought the collection was fairly mediocre. And, apparently, Foster rather agrees (I think). In the introduction, he talks about how, in his viewpoint, short stories are like "practice" for writing longer works, and makes an analogy about how sometimes an artist's sketch in a notebook turns out to be better than the final painting; so, sometimes a short story turns out to be great.
From what I've read in the past, I'd say most authors disagree. Those who write short stories do not consider them to be "lesser," in fact, I've read those who are of the opinion that only more-accomplished writers can really succeed at the more-difficult format of the short story.
I also thought the collection was a bit heavy on the inclusion of celebrities and pop culture in general. Not my kinda thing. I found it mystifying again, in one of the story introductions, where Foster was saying how he gets tired, sometimes, of trying to make his stories "contemporary" and he longs for the "Sense of Wonder" writing that truly transports the reader to another place and time. (The story this is introducing, btw, fails in that regard ('Undying Iron'), IMO) But still, I was left wondering - so WHY "try" to be contemporary, if that's not what you actually like to write! I know Foster has published several very commercial works (movie tie-ins and such), and I guess he is attempting (and succeeding) to just be commerically marketable?
One story deals with the pure SF/fantasy-adventure characters Pip & Flinx, whom he's written several novels about. That wasn't bad - I may check more of them out sometime.
contents:
# Lay Your Head on My Pilose
# 22 • Diesel Dream
# 34 • Lethal Perspective
# 43 • Laying Veneer
# 55 • Betcha Can't Eat Just One
# 65 • Fitting Time
# 80 • We Three Kings
# 94 • NASA Sending Addicts to Mars! Giant Government Coverup Revealed!
# 109 • Empowered
# 123 • The Kiss
# 128 • The Impossible Place
# 145 • The Boy Who Was a Sea
# 159 • Undying Iron
# 188 • The Question
# 200 • The Kindness of Strangers
# 216 • Pein bek Longpela Telimpon
# 238 • Suzy Q
# 249 • The Little Bits That Count
# 261 • Sideshow
I'd only read one of them before ("The Boy Who Was a Sea").
Overall, I thought the collection was fairly mediocre. And, apparently, Foster rather agrees (I think). In the introduction, he talks about how, in his viewpoint, short stories are like "practice" for writing longer works, and makes an analogy about how sometimes an artist's sketch in a notebook turns out to be better than the final painting; so, sometimes a short story turns out to be great.
From what I've read in the past, I'd say most authors disagree. Those who write short stories do not consider them to be "lesser," in fact, I've read those who are of the opinion that only more-accomplished writers can really succeed at the more-difficult format of the short story.
I also thought the collection was a bit heavy on the inclusion of celebrities and pop culture in general. Not my kinda thing. I found it mystifying again, in one of the story introductions, where Foster was saying how he gets tired, sometimes, of trying to make his stories "contemporary" and he longs for the "Sense of Wonder" writing that truly transports the reader to another place and time. (The story this is introducing, btw, fails in that regard ('Undying Iron'), IMO) But still, I was left wondering - so WHY "try" to be contemporary, if that's not what you actually like to write! I know Foster has published several very commercial works (movie tie-ins and such), and I guess he is attempting (and succeeding) to just be commerically marketable?
One story deals with the pure SF/fantasy-adventure characters Pip & Flinx, whom he's written several novels about. That wasn't bad - I may check more of them out sometime.
February 14, 2023
Warning: Sex, adultery, murder, lingering death, swearing.
This is an anthology of short stories by Foster which he calls a bon mot (witty comment) and rather than read a regular novel, invites us to "eat dessert first."
Not only are these stories not dessert, I would use a stick to scrape them off my shoes. They are crude, base, and the ending is telegraphed nearly from the beginning. I have enjoyed some of his other books, but I will never again read a short story of hi;, in which he said he feels so much more freedom. I did not feel freedom. I felt sick.
Were the stories clever? I suppose every writer believes their ironic twist is clever. But getting to the end was not worth the journey, and it was not short enough--even when I began to skip pages. I could not read the entire book.
1/5 Stars Not worth the time spent reading it. And far too much time spent trying to forget it.
Hashtags to follow later.
This is an anthology of short stories by Foster which he calls a bon mot (witty comment) and rather than read a regular novel, invites us to "eat dessert first."
Not only are these stories not dessert, I would use a stick to scrape them off my shoes. They are crude, base, and the ending is telegraphed nearly from the beginning. I have enjoyed some of his other books, but I will never again read a short story of hi;, in which he said he feels so much more freedom. I did not feel freedom. I felt sick.
Were the stories clever? I suppose every writer believes their ironic twist is clever. But getting to the end was not worth the journey, and it was not short enough--even when I began to skip pages. I could not read the entire book.
1/5 Stars Not worth the time spent reading it. And far too much time spent trying to forget it.
Hashtags to follow later.
April 13, 2009
Foster always delivers solid and enjoyable stories, and this latest collection is no exception. It's entertaining, interesting, and well-crafted work. "Chauna" is a very nice story that reminded me of Heinlein, "At Sea" is an hilarious tale of Norse mythology updated, and there are several other memorable stories. The only disappointment was that the cover claims that the feature is a new Pip & Flinx adventure, but that piece is more of a short vignette that doesn't have much going for it.
December 9, 2024
Casual fan of "Uncle" Alan, actually no relation that I know of, but would easily accept the invitation.
This compilation has something for nearly every casual reader of sci-fi/ fiction.
# 3 • Lay Your Head on My Pilose- hairy bed= bed bugs 4*
# 22 • Diesel Dream = Norma Jean 3*
# 34 • Lethal Perspective - best killer = cigarette 3*
# 43 • Laying Veneer – Aussie pavement conundrum 2*
# 55 • Betcha Can't Eat Just One – eat til you pop! 3*
# 65 • Fitting Time – Elvis’ costume fitter ghost 4*
# 80 • We Three Kings – 3 Monster Xmas fun 4*
# 94 • NASA Sending Addicts to Mars! Giant Government Coverup Revealed! – weed in space -1*
# 109 • Empowered – Capt. Planet aka Earth Spirit hero sued 2*
# 123 • The Kiss – frog kissing gone wrong 2*
# 128 • The Impossible Place – mystic place of missing people 3* descriptive!!
# 145 • The Boy Who Was a Sea – sea water for blood 4*
# 159 • Undying Iron – Under Orion, sentient ship parts for human exploration 4*
# 188 • The Question – An interesting attempt to humanize a rhetorical question. Uncommon visual effort forcing a dumb grin upon the reveal. 3*
# 200 • The Kindness of Strangers – another “Amazing Stories”-type roadside tale that feels late 80’s. 3*
# 216 • Pein bek Longpela Telimpon – innocence gone awry. Alas revenge is meted out fairly 3*
# 238 • Suzy Q – Another misdirect that forces a dumb grin on the reveal. 3*
# 249 • The Little Bits That Count- felt potentially like more than it turned out to be. Head tilt and shoulder shrug for the ending 2*
# 261 • Sideshow – down and dirty philosophical Flinx & Pip outing 4*
My take comes out to 3.8, so I gave it the family bump to 4 stars, without reservation. It is really a solid collection of conversation starters.
Recommended if you come across a copy.
Thanks for reading.
This compilation has something for nearly every casual reader of sci-fi/ fiction.
# 3 • Lay Your Head on My Pilose- hairy bed= bed bugs 4*
# 22 • Diesel Dream = Norma Jean 3*
# 34 • Lethal Perspective - best killer = cigarette 3*
# 43 • Laying Veneer – Aussie pavement conundrum 2*
# 55 • Betcha Can't Eat Just One – eat til you pop! 3*
# 65 • Fitting Time – Elvis’ costume fitter ghost 4*
# 80 • We Three Kings – 3 Monster Xmas fun 4*
# 94 • NASA Sending Addicts to Mars! Giant Government Coverup Revealed! – weed in space -1*
# 109 • Empowered – Capt. Planet aka Earth Spirit hero sued 2*
# 123 • The Kiss – frog kissing gone wrong 2*
# 128 • The Impossible Place – mystic place of missing people 3* descriptive!!
# 145 • The Boy Who Was a Sea – sea water for blood 4*
# 159 • Undying Iron – Under Orion, sentient ship parts for human exploration 4*
# 188 • The Question – An interesting attempt to humanize a rhetorical question. Uncommon visual effort forcing a dumb grin upon the reveal. 3*
# 200 • The Kindness of Strangers – another “Amazing Stories”-type roadside tale that feels late 80’s. 3*
# 216 • Pein bek Longpela Telimpon – innocence gone awry. Alas revenge is meted out fairly 3*
# 238 • Suzy Q – Another misdirect that forces a dumb grin on the reveal. 3*
# 249 • The Little Bits That Count- felt potentially like more than it turned out to be. Head tilt and shoulder shrug for the ending 2*
# 261 • Sideshow – down and dirty philosophical Flinx & Pip outing 4*
My take comes out to 3.8, so I gave it the family bump to 4 stars, without reservation. It is really a solid collection of conversation starters.
Recommended if you come across a copy.
Thanks for reading.
November 24, 2025
This is an entertaining collection of short stories written in a variety of genres. I like Alan Dean Foster’s sci-fi/fantasy novels that I’ve read. A few of my favorite stories were: “NASA Sending Addicts to Mars!”-someone decides that astronauts smoking weed in space is a good idea!; “Empowered”-I can totally see this actually happening in our lawsuit happy society; “Laying Veneer” very creepy; “Betcha Can’t Just Eat One”-oh dear!; “Diesel Dream”-unique and interesting; and “Sideshow”-a Flinx & Pip short story, made me want to start that series!
Fun collection with lots of really different stories, enjoyable book.
(From the book blurb): “In this collection of twenty brilliant odysseys of the imagination, Foster once again soars beyond the limits of reality—where the real thrills begin. . . .
NASA Sending Addicts to Mars! : It was the most insane idea in the annals of space travel—and the only one that would work.
Diesel Dream : Sometimes on dark, lonely highways dreams do come true, and this trucker’s hope was the best one of all.
Sideshow : Flinx hadn’t a clue about the alien dancer, but Pip knew trouble when she saw it.
Empowered : A magnificent male discovers the not-so-super part about being a superhero.
The Question : A bold adventurer determines to solve one of life’s profound mysteries.
. . . and fifteen other amazing stories!”
Fun collection with lots of really different stories, enjoyable book.
(From the book blurb): “In this collection of twenty brilliant odysseys of the imagination, Foster once again soars beyond the limits of reality—where the real thrills begin. . . .
NASA Sending Addicts to Mars! : It was the most insane idea in the annals of space travel—and the only one that would work.
Diesel Dream : Sometimes on dark, lonely highways dreams do come true, and this trucker’s hope was the best one of all.
Sideshow : Flinx hadn’t a clue about the alien dancer, but Pip knew trouble when she saw it.
Empowered : A magnificent male discovers the not-so-super part about being a superhero.
The Question : A bold adventurer determines to solve one of life’s profound mysteries.
. . . and fifteen other amazing stories!”
August 24, 2019
Anthology of short stories, bought for the single very good Flinx and Pip story. The other stories were all fairly good and interesting.
May 19, 2020
Short stories some good some so-so. Overall an easy read.
April 25, 2024
Great collection of stories. Wide variety of really short stories. Not all science fiction based. Well worth picking up.
June 10, 2024
Very good collection of short stories.
July 3, 2018
I bought this based on the cover, thinking it was a Pip and Flinx novel, it isn't. This is an anthology of short stories, the last being a Pip and Flinx. The introduction states that short stories are a type of workout for writers, it takes less time, greater freedom then their usual, etc. But all in all I wasn't impressed by the offerings. I'll stick to the Pip and Flinx novels, thank you very much.
December 25, 2007
A common enough collection of shorts from Foster, with pleasant introductions to each by the same. His fare is a little more distopian than I'd like, but he does have a rich and varied imagination that's fun to peek inside of. Probably not an ideal introduction to either his work in general nor the Pip & Flinx universe, but good nevertheless.
March 1, 2012
After reading several reviews, I was expecting a book of horror stories. Instead, this is a book of twists. Foster is extremely imaginative with his story twists, and i would often be very surprised at the end of a story. Many were quite funny. In only one story did I guess the outcome from the beginning. Even though I knew where the story was heading, I still enjoyed the moon rocks entry.
October 7, 2007
Some of the short stories in this book weren't bad. Others were.
February 29, 2008
WONDERFUL collection of short stories.
December 18, 2008
Pip & Flinx adventure story #16
*BIO*
*BIO*
April 3, 2016
A bunch of competent short fiction. Several where he plays with your perception via the narrator who is not what they appear at first.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews