Second Creation

by Gordon Eklund, Gavin L. O'Keefe (Illustrator), Gregory Benford (Introduction)

This volume is the first in a series bringing together the short stories of veteran science fiction author Gordon Eklund. Heading this collection is the author’s first published story, ‘Dear Aunt Annie’, which appeared in Fantastic Stories magazine in 1970 and which was nominated for a Nebula Award. The other stories within these pages originally appeared in such publications as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Amazing Science Fiction, and Terry Carr’s 'Universe' anthologies, and the themes explored by Eklund are a race of man-serving robots attempting to recreate their creator, a family of healers who find their gift a double-edged sword, a man who absorbs the mind of the painter Vermeer, a mad-scientist inspired by a H. G. Wells novel, and much more. Fellow writer Gregory Benford, with whom Eklund shared a Nebula Award for their 1974 story ‘If the Stars are Gods’, has written a new introduction for this collection.

270 pages, Paperback

Published March 14, 2016

About the author

Gordon Eklund is a Nebula Award-winning, American science fiction author whose works include the "Lord Tedric" series and two of the earliest original novels based on the 1960s Star Trek TV series. He has written under the pen name Wendell Stewart, and in one instance under the name of the late E. E. "Doc" Smith (1890-1965).

Eklund's first published SF short story, "Dear Aunt Annie", ran in the April 1970 issue of Fantastic magazine and was nominated for a Nebula Award. Eklund won the Nebula for Best Novelette for the 1974 short story "If the Stars Are Gods", co-written with Gregory Benford. The two expanded the story into a full-length novel of the same title, published in 1977.

In his teens, Eklund was a member of a Seattle SF fan club, The Nameless Ones, and in 1977, Eklund was a guest of honor at the 1977 SF convention Bubonicon 9, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Cushing Memorial Library of Texas A&M University has a "Gordon Eklund Collection" housing the typed manuscript of the story "The Stuff of Time".

Eklund has retired from a long career with the U.S. Postal Service, and is considering writing full-time again. He's a member of the Fantasy Amateur Press Association and the Spectator Amateur Press Society.