Another Orphan

by John Kessel

A man awakens on Captain Ahab's whaling ship, and remembering Moby Dick from school, has some foresight into the future of his dream. Nebula Award Winner, Hugo Award Nominee

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Short Stories, Novella, Fiction

89 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2003

About the author

John (Joseph Vincent) Kessel co-directs the creative writing program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. A winner of the Nebula, Locus, Sturgeon, and Tiptree Awards, his books include Good News From Outer Space, Corrupting Dr. Nice, The Pure Product, and The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories. His story collection Meeting in Infinity was a New York Times Notable Book. Most recently, with James Patrick Kelly he has edited the anthologies Feeling Very Strange, Rewired, The Secret History of Science Fiction and Kafkaesque. Born in Buffalo, NY, Kessel has a PhD in American Literature, has been an NEA Fellow, and for twenty years has been one of the organizers of the Sycamore Hill Writers Workshop.

Reviews

[Sue Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting. First read in 1984 or 1985 in Portland, Maine. Which reality was”real”? Reminds me of The Night face up but more philosophical.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novelet about a man named Fallon who works a as broker for the Chicago Board of Trade, who awakes one morning laying in a hammock on board a ship. His immediate thought is that somehow he has time - travelled back in time. However he soon discovers that he is onboard a whaler called the Perquad, being captained by a man named Ahab. Ring any bells? An interesting concept. Well written but I can only give it a three.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, hands down, THE best book I’ve read in a couple months. Turning Moby Dick into a sci-fi novel was really cool to experience.

[Erich · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and compelling read, rewarding whether or not the reader has read Moby Dick. The main character's awareness of the story that is unfolding around him creates a suspenseful story that succeeds as science fiction or metafiction without being tongue-in-cheek.

Another Orphan is often (only?) available as a two-in-one book with Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear, which is a win/win situation for the reader, in my opinion.

[Trinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read but a little weird.