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Future On Ice
A widely varied, immensely enjoyable, and historically important anthology, Future on Ice is a showcase for the hottest stories by the coolest SF writers of the 1980s. Complete with a preface, introduction, and story notes by Card himself, here are early stories from eighteen incredibly talented authors who have since shattered the face of science fiction.
432 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1998
6 people are currently reading
375 people want to read
About the author
Orson Scott Card
893 books20.7k followersOrson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 4, 2012
The short story collection Future on Ice was conceived as a companion book to Orson Scott Card's first anthology, Future on Fire. Meant to appear shortly after Fire's publication in 1991, Ice did not come out until 1998, my best friend gave me the book in 2002, and here I am ten years later finally reading the thing. So the first thing one might ask is: Do the stories hold up? Card chose these stories as the best of the '80s. Are they? And if they are, are the best science fiction stories of the 80s relevant twenty years later?
Are these the best? I really can't say. I don't know that I was ever immersed enough in 80s science fiction to make that judgement. My SF reading peak hit during the 80s and carried me through the early 90s, but even then I had a taste for the classics. You'd be more likely to find Bradbury or Asimov or Clarke or Silverberg or Sturgeon in my hands than anybody current or up-and-coming. And sure, Asimov is here...and a few other names that I know (Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Octavia Butler, C. J. Cherryh...and, of course, Orson Scott Card). Overall, the authors are new to me.
But, I can say that these are, for the most part, good solid stories. And there isn't one that feels dated. They could have taken place in 1985 or 1965 or 2005 or beyond. Because these are people stories first. They are about the human condition and what we do with that no matter what our circumstance or time period. The ones that aren't as good (in my opinion) are not as good because I don't connect as well with them...not because they don't work well now. They just don't work well for me.
I think Card did a very good job of selecting a variety of stories. There should be something here for everyone--from computer geeks to time travelers, from alien first contact to inter-species war, from cyber-genetics to cyber-intelligence. We get a look at Earth's "past"--from the viewpoint of a future archeologist and a glimpse of what the future of humanity might look like (personally, I don't want to go there).
The best of the best:
"Robot Dreams" by Isaac Asimov: a roboticist inadvertently creates a robot capable of dreaming. What should we as humans do with that? [5 stars]
"Portraits of His Children" by George R. R. Martin: a novelist's daughter takes a unique revenge; teaching him a lesson through his other "children" [5 stars for an emotionally raw, heart-breakingly terrific story]
"Blood Music" by Greg Bear: creation of a nano-culture based on human cells initiates a take-over from within...instead of without [5 stars]
"Press Enter [ ]" by John Varley: a totally different take on how computers might take over the world. [5 stars]
"Rockaby Baby" by S. C. Sykes: You're a para- or quadriplegic. Would it be worth it to have your physical self completely whole again if you forgot who you were and everything that made you who you were? [5 stars]
The rest of the stories are a mixed bag ranging from 2-3 1/2 stars. Average for the whole collection 3 1/2 stars.
Are these the best? I really can't say. I don't know that I was ever immersed enough in 80s science fiction to make that judgement. My SF reading peak hit during the 80s and carried me through the early 90s, but even then I had a taste for the classics. You'd be more likely to find Bradbury or Asimov or Clarke or Silverberg or Sturgeon in my hands than anybody current or up-and-coming. And sure, Asimov is here...and a few other names that I know (Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Octavia Butler, C. J. Cherryh...and, of course, Orson Scott Card). Overall, the authors are new to me.
But, I can say that these are, for the most part, good solid stories. And there isn't one that feels dated. They could have taken place in 1985 or 1965 or 2005 or beyond. Because these are people stories first. They are about the human condition and what we do with that no matter what our circumstance or time period. The ones that aren't as good (in my opinion) are not as good because I don't connect as well with them...not because they don't work well now. They just don't work well for me.
I think Card did a very good job of selecting a variety of stories. There should be something here for everyone--from computer geeks to time travelers, from alien first contact to inter-species war, from cyber-genetics to cyber-intelligence. We get a look at Earth's "past"--from the viewpoint of a future archeologist and a glimpse of what the future of humanity might look like (personally, I don't want to go there).
The best of the best:
"Robot Dreams" by Isaac Asimov: a roboticist inadvertently creates a robot capable of dreaming. What should we as humans do with that? [5 stars]
"Portraits of His Children" by George R. R. Martin: a novelist's daughter takes a unique revenge; teaching him a lesson through his other "children" [5 stars for an emotionally raw, heart-breakingly terrific story]
"Blood Music" by Greg Bear: creation of a nano-culture based on human cells initiates a take-over from within...instead of without [5 stars]
"Press Enter [ ]" by John Varley: a totally different take on how computers might take over the world. [5 stars]
"Rockaby Baby" by S. C. Sykes: You're a para- or quadriplegic. Would it be worth it to have your physical self completely whole again if you forgot who you were and everything that made you who you were? [5 stars]
The rest of the stories are a mixed bag ranging from 2-3 1/2 stars. Average for the whole collection 3 1/2 stars.
April 5, 2010
Lots of good stories in this collection. Seems a bit dated because all of them were written in the 80s, but some of them had aged well.
The best part of this book was the introductory essay by Orson Scott Card. My friends know that I have a lot of respect for OSC, not only as an author, but also as a thinker. In his essay, entitled "Science Fiction and The Force" he paints a picture of the modern western moral universe.
That universe is one in which established religion is anathema. It has been excommunicated. But the soul of man needs a system of beliefs, a moral philosophy. And so, almost inexplicably, science has risen to fill the gap. Card is brilliant when he uses psychology as an example of the new religion. Freud, Jeung, and Maslow are all prophets, issuing dogma, yet conscripting the religion of science to back up their beliefs. "But it's scientific" they say. And what does science have to say about morality or what is best? Nothing.
Card goes on to say that, in this new religion that is not religion, Star Wars is the new Bible. At least the moral universe of Star Wars. A universe in which actions are not moral or immoral by themselves, but only in context of who performs them. A universe in which everyone wears a uniform and is easily identifiable. If a Storm Trooper kills a man, it is evil. If Hans Solo kills a man, it is good. Why? Because we know that all Storm Troopers are evil, and all Rebels are good. So, in this moral universe, everyone is always in character, things are simple. In addition, order is bad. It is cold and brutal. The only necessity is to rebel. If you are a rebel, you don't even need a plan. Everything will work out if you just overcome the right people.
Card goes on to put forward the genre of science fiction as the only place where serious moral philosophy can take place, by virtue of the complete absence of religion. That is not to say that it always does, but at least it is possible. Card is rightfully scathing of the politically correct platitudes that are mouthed in "new ways" by the academic literary establishment. Case in point: Benjamin Button. A man lives his whole life in reverse and comes out saying "Live every day to its fullest. Experience life." Wow. Revolutionary.
Card presents an interesting analysis of our life and times. He also admits that his analysis may not be exclusive to our time, which I tend to agree with. It has always been easier to paint in broad strokes. However, as I read the Federalist papers, I'm noting a much more thoughtful strain in that era. So it goes.
The best part of this book was the introductory essay by Orson Scott Card. My friends know that I have a lot of respect for OSC, not only as an author, but also as a thinker. In his essay, entitled "Science Fiction and The Force" he paints a picture of the modern western moral universe.
That universe is one in which established religion is anathema. It has been excommunicated. But the soul of man needs a system of beliefs, a moral philosophy. And so, almost inexplicably, science has risen to fill the gap. Card is brilliant when he uses psychology as an example of the new religion. Freud, Jeung, and Maslow are all prophets, issuing dogma, yet conscripting the religion of science to back up their beliefs. "But it's scientific" they say. And what does science have to say about morality or what is best? Nothing.
Card goes on to say that, in this new religion that is not religion, Star Wars is the new Bible. At least the moral universe of Star Wars. A universe in which actions are not moral or immoral by themselves, but only in context of who performs them. A universe in which everyone wears a uniform and is easily identifiable. If a Storm Trooper kills a man, it is evil. If Hans Solo kills a man, it is good. Why? Because we know that all Storm Troopers are evil, and all Rebels are good. So, in this moral universe, everyone is always in character, things are simple. In addition, order is bad. It is cold and brutal. The only necessity is to rebel. If you are a rebel, you don't even need a plan. Everything will work out if you just overcome the right people.
Card goes on to put forward the genre of science fiction as the only place where serious moral philosophy can take place, by virtue of the complete absence of religion. That is not to say that it always does, but at least it is possible. Card is rightfully scathing of the politically correct platitudes that are mouthed in "new ways" by the academic literary establishment. Case in point: Benjamin Button. A man lives his whole life in reverse and comes out saying "Live every day to its fullest. Experience life." Wow. Revolutionary.
Card presents an interesting analysis of our life and times. He also admits that his analysis may not be exclusive to our time, which I tend to agree with. It has always been easier to paint in broad strokes. However, as I read the Federalist papers, I'm noting a much more thoughtful strain in that era. So it goes.
April 7, 2021
A wide collection of authors and stories. I picked this up because I like the editor, OSC, and I think there was a George RR Martin story in here that I wanted to read, as well. Short stories are nice because you can read them slowly and put the book down and go to bed without that page-turning pressure you can get from a novel, especially when you have no self-discipline (like me). I enjoyed this collection and flagged several of the authors to read more of their works, another benefit to such a collection. OSC got a bit ranty in several of the author intros - like that random diatribe against Margaret Atwood that suggests a bad run in - what do I mean suggests, he flat-out says in her rejection of herself as s-f (and I agree, that's crazy, Atwood definitely veers into s-f) that she insulted other authors of the genre while on a panel with them. Maybe Card, maybe someone he respected. Anyway, the intros were an interesting window into Card's mind, which I enjoyed (though some won't), and the stories made for a great collection.
November 1, 2024
the hottest stories by the coolest SF writers of the 1980s. yes I'd agree with that,
Most of them
Most of them
January 2, 2011
Future on Ice is a collection of short stories selected circa 1998 by Orson Scott Card representing his take on the best short science fiction of the eighties (it follows the earlier, similarly themed Future on Fire).
It was a strange exercise in cognitive dissonance for me. Many of Card's selections are terrific -- the list of contributors includes several of my personal favorites, like John Crowley, Karen Joy Fowler, Lewis Shiner, Nancy Kress, and John Kessel. But Card's introductions, with lots of invective directed against cyberpunk and literary fiction, among other targets, seem whiny and tiresome in the aggregate. (He spends an awful lot of time fussing about the state of the speculative fiction genres for someone who, as he states in his preface, has "no idea what has been happening in the field of written science fiction since about 1992.") I found myself in the odd position of almost wanting to not enjoy the stories, just because Card was recommending them -- but generally failing. At the same time, I wasn't able to just skip Card's introductions -- they had a sort of ghastly fascination people always ascribe to traffic accidents.
The eighties was also the last decade in which I was still naive enough to not perceive how much science fiction was political (or even topical), and also not to notice how many of the writers I'd grown up reading held positions I deeply disagreed with. And sometimes my adult self is bothered by clumsy or heavy-handed writing to which my younger self was blissfully oblivious. So revisiting the fiction I liked in my childhood and adolescence is always a little fraught with the risk that a treasured memory will be damaged. I was a bit worried about re-reading John Varley's "Press Enter," which made an enormous impression on me when I first read it; I thought it held up quite well. To the extent that it advances a political point of view it's pretty far from mine, but it's hardly a polemic.
It was a strange exercise in cognitive dissonance for me. Many of Card's selections are terrific -- the list of contributors includes several of my personal favorites, like John Crowley, Karen Joy Fowler, Lewis Shiner, Nancy Kress, and John Kessel. But Card's introductions, with lots of invective directed against cyberpunk and literary fiction, among other targets, seem whiny and tiresome in the aggregate. (He spends an awful lot of time fussing about the state of the speculative fiction genres for someone who, as he states in his preface, has "no idea what has been happening in the field of written science fiction since about 1992.") I found myself in the odd position of almost wanting to not enjoy the stories, just because Card was recommending them -- but generally failing. At the same time, I wasn't able to just skip Card's introductions -- they had a sort of ghastly fascination people always ascribe to traffic accidents.
The eighties was also the last decade in which I was still naive enough to not perceive how much science fiction was political (or even topical), and also not to notice how many of the writers I'd grown up reading held positions I deeply disagreed with. And sometimes my adult self is bothered by clumsy or heavy-handed writing to which my younger self was blissfully oblivious. So revisiting the fiction I liked in my childhood and adolescence is always a little fraught with the risk that a treasured memory will be damaged. I was a bit worried about re-reading John Varley's "Press Enter," which made an enormous impression on me when I first read it; I thought it held up quite well. To the extent that it advances a political point of view it's pretty far from mine, but it's hardly a polemic.
October 22, 2019
I'm nearing the end of my Orson Scott Card adventure. I have one more collection of stories edited by him, and then I'd have more-or-less relived by adolescent SF short story years.
The good: many of these stories are 10/10 solid SF stories. I'll summarize the best ones below.
The bad: Card's commentary. The slight insight you can get into 1980s SF writing is wrapped in what I am now realizing is the Card norm: condescension, arrogance, and just general ugliness. I do not like this man, and am ready to leave him behind and never look back.
Specific stories I enjoyed:
"Robot Dreams" - A pretty much perfect Asimov story.
"Time's Rub" - A fun logic puzzle with robot-crab creatures, a human-turned god, and basic questions of survival and immortality.
"Snow" - What if you could capture every moment of your life for review later on? Very well done, sentimental, reflective, and powerful.
"Press Enter _" - A pretty good hacker-adventure-mystery, although the trope of an older man sexualizing a younger women has aged like milk. Also see in this collection "Portraits of His Children."
"Face Value" - A powerful story about not knowing what you have and not understanding what you're losing because you are too stubborn and arrogant.
"Dinosaurs" - What if communication was really impossible? How would you even attempt to interact with other cultures? Is success even possible?
The good: many of these stories are 10/10 solid SF stories. I'll summarize the best ones below.
The bad: Card's commentary. The slight insight you can get into 1980s SF writing is wrapped in what I am now realizing is the Card norm: condescension, arrogance, and just general ugliness. I do not like this man, and am ready to leave him behind and never look back.
Specific stories I enjoyed:
"Robot Dreams" - A pretty much perfect Asimov story.
"Time's Rub" - A fun logic puzzle with robot-crab creatures, a human-turned god, and basic questions of survival and immortality.
"Snow" - What if you could capture every moment of your life for review later on? Very well done, sentimental, reflective, and powerful.
"Press Enter _" - A pretty good hacker-adventure-mystery, although the trope of an older man sexualizing a younger women has aged like milk. Also see in this collection "Portraits of His Children."
"Face Value" - A powerful story about not knowing what you have and not understanding what you're losing because you are too stubborn and arrogant.
"Dinosaurs" - What if communication was really impossible? How would you even attempt to interact with other cultures? Is success even possible?
May 23, 2013
A great follow up to the 'Future on Fire' 80's sci-fi genre with the notable exception of OSC inane ramblings in the forward and also before each short story. I am talking about a hodgepodge of blog-post-esque crazy about: cyberpunk sucks, he hasn't read/been part of sci-fi since 1989, ripping on some authors, oddly flattering others, bemoaning how he can't break the 'sci-fi mold' he has been cast in, but mostly putting folks in little partitions that, partly, only seem to make sense to him and the other part to stir up trouble.
In the end the stories were fantastic, but just skip the commentary. It doesn't add a lick of help to frame the stories. The authors all seemed to be of high pedigree, and the stories vary from the frighting of 'Blood Music', to the touching about a post outbreak world where most folks cannot speak or read in 'Speech Sounds', the sad tale of 'Snow' where a husband watches snippets of video from his jet setting wife's life, but the problem is the video chunks are random, and the whole thing degrades over time.
Over all a great edition of authors before they were big, and almost all the stories had a great twist or memorable impact.
In the end the stories were fantastic, but just skip the commentary. It doesn't add a lick of help to frame the stories. The authors all seemed to be of high pedigree, and the stories vary from the frighting of 'Blood Music', to the touching about a post outbreak world where most folks cannot speak or read in 'Speech Sounds', the sad tale of 'Snow' where a husband watches snippets of video from his jet setting wife's life, but the problem is the video chunks are random, and the whole thing degrades over time.
Over all a great edition of authors before they were big, and almost all the stories had a great twist or memorable impact.
January 27, 2015
As others here have said, the stories in this anthology are a little bit hit-or-miss, because they were written in the 1980's. Some have aged badly, while some are still absolutely wonderful. The only reason I rated this anthology a 3 instead of a 4 was due to Orson Scott Card's introductions to the stories. Some of them had interesting tidbits or little anecdotes about his meeting the authorsa at some convention or other. However, the majority of them are just him venting at what he sees as wrong with fiction writing in general, or politics, or the belief systems of some people. By about halfway through the book, I stopped reading his longer introductions because I knew he was going to go off on some rant about something. The short ones were fine, because he was generally talking about his thoughts on a particular author, not on how the Force relates to peoples real-world belief systems and is taking over all modern thought or some such nonsense.
It's a good read, just skip the intros to things unless you enjoy staring at car accidents, then feel free to rubberneck your hours away with them.
It's a good read, just skip the intros to things unless you enjoy staring at car accidents, then feel free to rubberneck your hours away with them.
February 3, 2016
Readability 7. Rating 6. Date estimated. Another review after the fact. Card edits this lengthy collection of short stories, chosen by him, not because they are important, but because he considers them to be of very high quality. In addition, it seems, they are a fair bit on the dark side. As I glance through the table of contents, 5 or 6 of the 18 stories immediately come back to me - memorable, well-written, compelling. A few more are vaguely familiar. The rest make me wonder if I skipped them for some unknown reason. For this reason, a ‘6’, even though some of the best rate at least 7, and might therefore warrant another pass through the book. However, I remember being turned off by the negative slant of the works, as well as by Card’s overt arrogance in choosing them - he essentially states that, as a fantastically talented writer and critic, he knows what is good and what is not. Within bounds, he is almost certainly right, but he seems unaware that any bounds could exist.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2010
When I decided to pick this book up, I had long been a fan of the science-fiction genre. However, I'd never gone outside of the few select authors I was familiar with. Choosing a compilation was definitely the right choice in stepping outside of my comfort zone. The selection in this book gave such a wide range of styles. I never grew tired of the seperate authors, each one of them had mastered their own style of literature, presenting it with such skill that I enjoyed every story almost equally. However, certain authors stuck out, balancing between detailed descriptions and exhilerating narratives with great care. I would recommend this book to anyone, no matter your literary preference. There's something in here for every type of reader.
July 10, 2014
I haven't finished all the short stories in this collection, but I think I'm done with it. Some stories were good, some were confusing. In general a good way to kill time while I was travelling. I got it for a dollar at a bookstore so it was well worth the price, I guess.
Not sure why Card must ramble on in some of the writer intros. Definitely skippable; go straight to the stories.
Not sure why Card must ramble on in some of the writer intros. Definitely skippable; go straight to the stories.
June 22, 2007
This is the second part to a two part anthology edited by Orson Scott Card. The first volume was Future on Fire. This was a pretty good collection of stories my favorite of which was 'Pots'. It includes stories from a wide range of sci-fi writers and introduced me to a few new ones.
July 9, 2007
Great exposure to sci-fi authors outside my normal comfort zone. I hadn't read non-OSC stories in a looooong time.
February 25, 2008
Amazing collection of short imaginative fiction from the 1980s. An excellent introduction to writers who expanded the genre.
March 26, 2010
Quite possibly the best SF anthology I have ever read. Ever. Read it! Go, now!
April 30, 2014
Butler's SPEECH SOUNDS and Martin's PORTRAIT OF HIS CHILDREN are arresting in their brilliance.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews