The Secret History of Science Fiction

by James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel (Editor), Lucius Shepard

This ingeniously conceived anthology raises the intriguing question, If Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow had won the Nebula award in 1973, would the future distinction between literary fiction and science fiction have been erased? Exploring the possibility of an alternate history of speculative fiction, this literary collection reveals that the lines between genres have already been obscured. Don DeLillo’s “Human Moments in World War III” follows the strange detachment of two astronauts who are orbiting in a skylab while a third world war rages on earth. “The Ziggurat” by Gene Wolfe traverses a dissolving marriage, a custody dispute, and the visit of time travelers from the future. T. C. Boyle’s “Descent of Man” is the subversively funny tale of a man who suspects that his primatologist lover is having an affair with one of her charges. In “Schwarzschild Radius,” Connie Willis draws an allegorical parallel between the horrors of trench warfare and the speculative physics of black holes. Artfully crafted and offering a wealth of esteemed authors—from writers within the genre to those normally associated with mainstream fiction, as well as those with a crossover reputation—this volume aptly demonstrates that great science fiction appears in many guises.

Contents

Introduction by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel

“Angouleme” by Thomas M. Disch
“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin
“Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is Your Crisis” by Kate Wilhelm
“Descent of Man” by T. C. Boyle
“Human Moments in World War III” by Don DeLillo
“Homelanding” by Margaret Atwood
“The Nine Billion Names of God” by Carter Scholz
“Interlocking Pieces” by Molly Gloss
“Salvador” by Lucius Shepard
“Schwarzschild Radius” by Connie Willis
“Buddha Nostril Bird” by John Kessel
“The Ziggurat” by Gene Wolfe
“The Hardened Criminals” by Jonathan Lethem
“Standing Room Only” by Karen Joy Fowler
“10^16 to 1” by James Patrick Kelly
“93990” by George Saunders
“The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance” by Michael Chabon
“Frankenstein’s Daughter” by Maureen F. McHugh
“The Wizard of West Orange” by Steven Millhauser

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Literary Criticism, School

380 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

James Patrick Kelly (please, call him Jim) has had an eclectic writing career. He has written novels, short stories, essays, reviews, poetry, plays and planetarium shows. His short novel Burn won the Science Fiction Writers of America's Nebula Award in 2007. He has won the World Science Fiction Society’s Hugo Award twice: in 1996, for his novelette “Think Like A Dinosaur” and in 2000, for his novelette, “Ten to the Sixteenth to One.” His fiction has been translated into eighteen languages. He produces two podcasts: James Patrick Kelly's StoryPod on Audible and the Free Reads Podcast (Yes, it’s free). His most recent publishing venture is the ezine James Patrick Kelly’s Strangeways. His website is www.jimkelly.net.

Reviews

[Pearl · Rating 4 out of 5]

My best friend is the most fashionable (and chaotic) woman I know. She’s working at an agency based in Tokyo, eyeing a permanent move to Paris, a far cry from our Surfers Paradise youth. She convinced me to move to Berlin, and I’ll be forever grateful to her for that. I wear every bit of clothing and makeup I get from her to disintegration. Her recommendations are the only ones in my social circle that I’ll consistently follow. Her taste is pristine.

The other day she recommended Dune to me.

I really held my tongue, and listened on our Videochat while she talked about what she loved about Villeneuve’s much delayed film. I didn’t mention that I’d read the book nearly two decades ago, and while I enjoyed it, found its themes and storyline antique even then. I quietly realised what pigeon-holing science fiction had done to the culture: this work that was absolutely ground-breaking thematically to my friend, was for me, at best, a nice memory of a different time.

I’ve had other variations of that moment since: friends who recommend one of the new Star Trek reboots, watching the Mandalorian a few years ago and realising it’s essentially Firefly Lite. I don’t want to put down any of this media, but I’ve realised recently how much I expect from a work of science fiction. As one of the authors quoted at the start of the chapters said: I don’t want to go to the same place, I want to go somewhere new.

These stories fluctuated between new and old, between tactile and hard. I really enjoyed diving into each world, and have noted down a few authors that really leapt out. They are not all groundbreaking—but they expect more from you as a reader, than most modern sci fi expects of you as a consumer.

Individual reviews:

Angouleme by Thomas M. Disch: I didn’t love it, but I thought he covered the feeling of the future just being kinda boring if you’re a citizen of it, as well as the languid boredom of summer. I think leaning more into a Famous Five skeleton might have helped this rather diffuse story.

The Ones Who Walk Away From the Omegas by Ursula K. Leguin: I’ve read this story before, and didn’t much like it then. I get the point, I just think it’s a philosophical statement, much more than an enjoyable short story.

Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is Your Crisis by Kate Wilhem: Hunger games from the other side. It had some good moments, but again, mostly depressing.

Descent of Man by T.C Boyle: Odd and occasionally fun. It did feel very 1980s though.

Human Moments in World War III by Don DeLillo: This was the first story I genuinely LOVED. I love the quiet circles these two astronauts take. DeLillo takes an extraordinary situation, populates it with the ordinary and then makes that, and not the space stuff, shine.

Homelanding by Margaret Atwood: I always find Atwood a little cold, and she’s her usual frosty self here. I adored the closing paragraph though: “…take me to your trees. Take me to your sunsets, your bad dreams, your shoes, your nouns. Take me to your fingers; take me to your deaths.”

The Nine Billion Names of God by Carter Scholz: Now we’re cooking with gas baby! This correspondence story was so fun. I love the idea of sci fi having a heritage, and antiquated form that we can look back on but dont have to emulate.

Interlocking Pieces by Molly Glass: Excellent. I loved all the unspoken background in this story of one patient finding another. Would have read a whole book about how this concept turned out.

Salvador by Lucius Shepard: This was probably my favourite story of the lot. Battlestar Galactica’s 2003 reboot was the first piece of sci fi media that I found alone and loved, so military sci-fi always has a soft spot in my heart. But I loved the combination of natural magic that infused Dantzler, even when he’s ‘home’. Have put everything Shepard has ever written on my TBR pile.

Schwarzschild Radius by Connie Willis: I’ve honestly yet to find a piece of German POV WW1 fiction written by a non-German that I can believe. I don’t know how to describe it, but I feel like Americans always have a misguided feeling that they’ll be the first ones to get it right. The story was okay, but I spent the whole time distracted by that fact.

Buddha Nostril Bird by John Kessel: This was interesting at first but then got too spacey for me. And not spacey as in ‘outer space’, but spacey as in ‘everyone’s acting weird and dead characters keep coming back to life in a very college short story way’.

The Ziggurat by Gene Wolf: A great look into a misogynistic, honorable, asshole of a character. I agreed with Emery on many points, but never felt like I could trust him. Anyway, a great piece of fiction of showing a mans perspective and gain on a strange event.

The Hardened Criminals by Jonathan Lethem: Gruesome and depressing, but boy oh boy did this one stick with me. An absolutely wild concept of a ‘live’ prison in some horrible future.

Standing Room Only by Karen Joy Fowler: The past as science fiction or science fiction as the past? I loved this, with the same part of my brain that love the last Little Women adaptation, whatever that means.

10 16 to 1 by James Patrick Kelly: Solid Stephen King-ish fare. Good sci fi food. Would eat again.

93990 by George Saunders: I get the point but I didnt like it. Humans are cruel, nature sometimes exalts. Didn’t really wanna read about it in this depressing format.

The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance by Michael Chabon: hey it’s ayelet’s husband! I really enjoyed this and would love to read the rest of the story. Rich in atmosphere, and character. You feel that you are in the hands of a really competent author.

Frankenstein’s Daughter by Maureen F. McHugh: This is how I like my depressing stories of hopelessness. With all the trappings of love and community human beings excel at. Lovely, absolutely lovely and devastating.

The Wizards of West Orange by Steven Millhauser: A hard story to finish on. The style is completely at odds with the flowing stories that came before it, and I struggled to focus on it. Will have to reread again someday.

[V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one wonderful anthology. If you are into science fiction: read it. If you are not into sf but into literary fiction: read it.

It stands exactly on the edge there, show-casting all the things that New Wave and its heirs have introduced into sf and let slip from sf into mainstream, navigating the sea gate between genre and literary, where the most interesting things grow, though often either overlooked (because people who read literary will not read anything with an sf label and keep insisting that Margaret Atwood does not write SF) or discarded (because a lot of hardcore sf fans are guarding their little corner against the stink of what they think to be literary pretence). But if you are willing to open the door just a bit and let the other in or, like me, honestly enjoy this mixture most of all, you'll love this book.

I knew only one of of the stories before - Ursula K LeGuin's classic "The One Who Walk Away from Omelas" - and the rest is well chosen. Chabon's and Millhauser's are too much Steampunk for me and were slower reads (but then again, Steampunk is just not mine, being more fantasy than sf to my physicists' eyes, and the stories are definitely needed to be in the anthology as a whole), but the rest I could not stop reading. Books by George Saunders and Carter Scholz are not my reading list now; I definitely need to finally read Gene Wolfe, even though - or perhaps because? - I had to google up some reviews of his story to come up with a proper interpretation that would satisfy me.

Added to the 19 actual stories is a wonderful introductory essay and, before each story, a few citations, usually juxtaposed opinions on the role and rules of science fiction, both as a genre or as something that can facilitate or ruin a writer's career. I would like to cite pretty much all of them, but I'll go for one only:

For my generation, the New Wave people, the big disappointment is that they did not find an audience large enough to sustain their work and their careers.
-- Thomas M. Disch --

This is true and this is still one of my biggest disappointments in sf. Certainly, pearls like this anthology would have been more often otherwise ...

[Philipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories with a unique twist - in 1974, science-fiction as a niche, as a group of people, had a chance to break out of its tropes and merge with the wider literary world. Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow was nominated for a Hugo! But instead, Rendezvous with Rama won. The chance was gone. But what if?

This here collection unites SF-writers forays into 'regular' literature and 'regular' writers forays into literature, a world where SF isn't a weirdo genre with its own conventions and tropes, but where SF is instead merged into the mainstream.

Favorite stories:

Le Guin's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omela, on a perfect society that needs to rest on a terrible open secret,

Lethem's The Hardened Criminals, on a future-prison where the walls are made out of the reanimated corpses of past prisoners as if it's the Greek mythology's underworld,

McHugh's Frankenstein's Daughter, on a mother coming to terms living with a disabled clone of her dead daughter.

Weirdest story: Wolfe's The Ziggurat. I expected Wolfe-typical dense, layered text that needs rereading to understand, but I got a relatively straightforward 'modern' story with some SF-elements thrown in, with an engineer-main-character who behaves in the weirdest, nonsensical way ("You killed my son and I don't understand your language? Guess I'll marry you and kiss you while you sleep" wat)

Since the 70s, the borders between SF and regular writing have indeed been falling. The introduction points out Chabon winning the Nebula for Yiddish Policemen's Union. Nowadays we're lucky to have writers like Ted Chiang who blur the boundaries between genre-SF and 'literature' nowadays, alternative-1974 is happening now. Good times!

[Drunken_orangetree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelly, and John Kessel, pull together a collection of stories by both writers associated with SF--Kelly and Kessel for instance--with other writers more associated with the mainstream--T. C. Boyle or Margaret Atwood.

The ordering is more or less chronological and I would consider the selection very good.

I think the hard and fast division between the literary ghetto and the mainstream has been breaking down for some time anyway. Writers like Michael Chabon or Joy Williams, widely respected, use tropes and images far removed from the realist novel, the novel that dominates the pages of the NYTimes Book Review.

Best stories by my lights: Maureen McHugh's "Frankenstein's Daughter," Jonathan Letham's "The Hardened Criminals," Don Delillo's "Human Moments in World War III."

[Ryan Berger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review to come, possibly on Substack or somewhere else (Remmington SL3 for more). The topic is larger than the scope of a single review.

What you need to know:

If one of the primary goals of a social media platform for readers is to find inexplicably passed-over gems, neglected masters, and unsung masterworks to then bring them back to the village for all to see, then let me throw my weight behind this anthology as a tragically underread collection and a capital-I Important Project.

This is one of the strongest anthologies I've ever read. Rating short stories is a nearly impossible exercise (as the saying goes, there are no perfect novels but there are perfect short stories) but in my informal survey, nearly all of them are worth a full five-stars and only one story out of 15~ that I'd consider mediocre.

Every entry asks something different of SF as a form. It challenges it, tames it, makes it perform new tricks. Some stories could be said to cast the old spell of dressing old stories in new clothes (an exercise you can either find cheap or refreshing), but most here go farther. They prove that SF is, on large, the most innovative literary form.

Now, to speak in absolutes and chest-thumping often comes across as tribalism or worse *fandom*, but the issue is far more complex than that. The goal of this anthology is not simply to legitimize SF (although it does) or assert SF as a dominant mode over traditional fiction with a first-rate pissing competition-- but instead to challenge assumptions and widely-held beliefs within the genre and from outsiders.

I have a kind of familial relationship with criticizing SF. The idea that "nobody can do it except one of our own". Too often I find criticisms from the outside narrow, unpersuasive, uninformed, incurious, and altogether uninformed. But for SF to break free of its rut and continue moving forward (or, to frame it more honestly, to wrestle control back from the commercial preoccupation with slop) it must be self-critical and more self-aware. These stories give a better sense for where we're at, where we've been, and where we can go because they are actively asking that same set of questions with each consecutive story.

Not only a great collection, but I'd wager an essential one. The fact that it is a near-total unknown only makes these conversations that much more urgent.

Seek it out.

[Luke Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I once watched an interview with Isaac Asimov, Gene Wolfe, and Harlan Ellison. The better part of the conversation was about what science fiction was. Ellison was particularly belligerent and referred to it as a pigeonholing marketing technique created for stupid people. Asimov and Wolfe described characteristics of SF to the interviewer as if he was a schoolchild. They both agreed that such a definition was too narrow to describe their fiction or much fiction in general.

This anthology, in some ways, is an answer to this conversation and an attempt to reframe the place science fiction could have in the literary community. Kelly and Kessel have curated a collection of sci-fi stories that are not easily defined and demonstrate how science fiction as a genre can, while unbeknownst to some, produce quality literature that can appeal to a mainstream audience. I thoroughly enjoyed the anthology, particularly the stories the Hardened Criminals, Frankenstein’s Daughter, 10^16 to 1, and Interlocking Pieces. Some stories are bizarre, harrowing, powerful, or ambiguous. They are (nearly) all worth a read.

I thought I would render a sentence or two for each story as to some of my thoughts and impressions. Glancing comments that hint at key plot points ahead, all ye who enter here.

Angouleme: The moral I took away from this is don’t let children read classic literature and I’m sticking to that. 2/5

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas: For the love of God, walk back to Omelas and let that little kid outside. The shadowy reverse sided coin of a Eucharistic symbology and just as meaningfully deep. Brilliantly done. 5/5

Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crisis: This is hunger games but good and from the other side of the screen. Now go touch grass. 4/5

Descent of Man: lol what did I just read? 4/5

Human Moments in World War III: Just look out the window. Maybe I’m a bore that doesn’t appreciate slice of life but this was like watching paint dry from 1,000,000 feet. 2/5

Homelanding: Margaret Atwood just strikes me as too preachy. This might just be my reaction from the comical interpretation of her Handmaid’s Tale. That doesn’t mean she’s not an adept story teller but this just didn’t strike me. 3/5

The Nine Billion Names of God: This story is somehow equally smart and dumb simultaneously. Not sure if the author is a just goofy guy or really pretentious. “Probably” “both.” 3/5

Interlocking Pieces: One of the most science fictioniest out of the science fiction stories. It asks an excellent question and raises its eyebrows and smiles at you while you try to answer it. Definitely one of the best in this anthology. 5/5

Salvador: This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. 3/5

Schwarzschild Radius: I have a theory that if I read about someone having a theory again I will see red. I will mention seeing red at least once every paragraph. The real black holes were the friends we made along the way. 2/5

Buddha Nostril Bird: This guy literally read a book and hated it so much he wrote the literary equivalent of a punching bag. This is not a satire nor a deconstruction nor a criticism. Just a dumb cartoonish kick in the ass. A fun kick in the ass. 4/5

The Ziggurat: I mean, I’m with Jan here. When people say the battle of the sexes, I don’t think this is what anyone means. All that being said, this is a very interesting and strange story very much like a trek through the snow: you can’t be sure what you are seeing is what it seems and you never know what’s lurking behind the drift. Fair warning, you will google this multiple times. 4/5

The Hardened Criminals: This is by far my favorite story. Powerful family drama in a fascinating SF set-piece. Horrific, gut-wrenching, awesomeness. 5/5

Standing Room Only: Great concept. I can’t help but feel that it was underutilized. That being said, it was cleverly and subtlety done. Can’t help but think it’s a little morbid for a tourist stop. Maybe this is the cheapo option and it’s all they can afford. 4/5

10^16 to 1: it is every little boy’s dream: to save the world. This story uses this fact against me. It begins with an amusing Spielbergesque premise and then a Kafka-fisted gut punch. This story is for nerds like me and probably nerds like you too. 5/5

93990: This is your monkey on drugs. Very interesting style and premise. I know the story is supposed to make me mad. Regardless, I’m mad and I also happen to be mad that I’m mad. 3/5

The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance: Wins the story most unlike it’s title award. Steam-punk alternate history will always be a win for me. Gripping but felt like the first thirty pages of a novel that doesn’t exist. I’m sorry that it doesn’t. 4/5

Frankenstein’s Daughter: This is a powerfully written story that carries so much relevance today. Its complexity and subtlety support something that stays with you long after you finish reading. This story is the summit of this anthology’s vision and definitely one of my favorites. 5/5

The Wizard of West Orange: Have you ever met someone who has done psychedelic drugs a few times and now it’s their whole personality? This story is about that guy but he’s steampunk. Get over it. 3/5

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection interesting short fiction. The co-editors created it to illustrate how SF might have been seen had the genre been "absorbed" into the mainstream - at least for literary critics, reviewers, and devotees. To that end, most of these tales are different from the "classic" space opera, hard science, and even the SF-fantasy crossover stories that are so common.

Personally, I liked the individual tales and the snippets of interviews with authors (cut up and scattered throughout the book). I think that the caliber of work included is quite high. Where I disagree with the editors is in their title. This is no "history" of the genre, or its practitioners, or even a series of stories showing how authors develop from concepts and plots of earlier works. So, if you like the title, be forewarned.

In a sideways sort of way, the tales in this anthology remind me of stories from "The Twilight Zone" series. While there is far less overt "SF" in the collection, there is the same elevation of plot, character development, and drama over techno mumbo-jumbo and BEMs. Not that there isn't a bit of science/technology or aliens scattered here and there. But these elements take a 2nd priority to rich story-telling and ultimately that is the point of the collection: SF could have (should have?) grown past the "traditional" at a moment in time when new authors were trying to bring it back into "respectable" literature.

This sounds so reasonable and yet it is flawed, too. Yes, publishers and rabid fans and critics pigeonhole authors who write genre types of fiction. But, the strength and size of such publishing has also done good for the niche. The late Issac Asimov was brashly unapologetic about how SF and SF fans were like any other mainstream activity. True he was a larger-than-life presence within the community, but he made the point even without needing to. While we may never lose the taint of the "pulp" past of SF we can and should embrace all of its facets. I for one like a good space opera now and then along with more intricate and nuanced fiction.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the awful title, this collection is full of great short stories. One of the goals of the collection is to question our conventional understandings of science fiction as a "genre," challenging the traditional division between literature, mainstream fiction, and science fiction, and many of the stories do an exemplary job of demonstrating the power and artistry of well-written science fiction. The introductory essay is also one of the best I have read about the status of science fiction as a genre, a question that has become increasingly important for many authors writing within this tradition. It is an illuminating read for those interested in the politics of genre labels, and the stories are great fun for those who enjoy not just good science fiction, but great fiction.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2696038.html

This is an anthology of stories and writers which supposedly straddle the boundary between mainstream fiction and sf. I confess that I didn't really see the point of the question ("What if sf didn't exist as a genre, but was being written anyway?") but I did enjoy most of the stories. One or two I already knew ("The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", "Salvador") but the one I particularly enjoyed, contra my own expectations (also contra other reviewers who I've read) was "Ziggurat", an interesting and convoluted short by Gene Wolfe, who I've tended to bounce off in the past.

[Justpassingby]

I had forgotten about the Short Story.

I studied English as a 3rd language at school. My teachers loved short stories and poetry because they fitted into the sparse hours allotted to them more easily than novels. Therefore the blame is entirely on me: nearly all the fiction I have ever read since school consists of book-length stories. One notable exception that should have woken me up but didn't, is the marvellous bundle Vizio di forma by Primo Levi.

The Secret History of Science Fiction is an anthology of unusual science fiction short stories. In their introduction the editors convincingly argue that science fiction deserves to be shed of its pulp fiction image among the mainstream literary audience.

The selection is highly varied, the only apparent linking theme being negative: they do not represent the traditional 1930s fare of spaceships, distant planets and aliens, as reinforced by the Star Trek TV series and the Star Wars film franchise.

My current favourite, "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", reflects on poverty and responsibility.

I may one day revisit this review to discuss the individual stories in more detail. For now, I solemnly pledge to start paying more attention to short stories, a form particularly well suited for imaginative fiction.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on Short Story Review:

After reading John Kessel and Jim Kelly’s The Slipstream Anthology, I was sold on their taste in stories, so when I found The Secret History of Science Fiction, I picked it up with the expectation that their taste in science fiction would also mesh well with mine. I was mostly right.

There are nineteen stories included in this collection as well as an introduction by the editors in which they discuss the “genrefication” of science fiction and its status as a lower form of literature ascribed to it by readers and critics unfamiliar with it. Throughout the course of the book, before each story, quotes are included by famous science fiction writers and writers who dabble in sci fi but would otherwise be considered “literary” writers as well as those who straddle both lines regularly, such as T.C. Boyle and Ursula K. Le Guin. The quotes continued the introduction’s discussion and were just as good as the stories, and I found myself eager to read them as well.



Of the nineteen stories in this collection, I became enamored with eight of them. Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” which I’d read previously but was more than happy to revisit, concerns a utopian society and is written as if the author is trying to convince the reader of the society’s existence. “Ladies and Gentleman, This Is Your Crisis” by Kate Wilhelm tells the story of a young couple and their weekend obsession with a reality television show a bit more dangerous than ours today, in which the contestants face actual death, and through their viewing of the show, the narrative explores the nature of relationships between men and women.

In T.C. Boyle’s “Descent of Man,” an absolutely hilarious story, a man is concerned when his girlfriend becomes wrapped up in her work assisting a hyper-intelligent ape. Margaret Atwood’s “Homelanding” is a short piece which uses a woman landing on a foreign planet to explore, very briefly but no less affectingly, our own planet’s treatment of women. “The Nine Billion Names of God” by Carter Scholz is also a hilarious read, in which a writer submits Arthur C. Clarke’s famous story as his own, and the story consists of his back-and-forth with the editor who rejects him.

I found “Schwarzschild Radius” by Connie Willis beautifully poignant. To quote Kelly and Kessel, this story “uses the physics of black holes as a metaphor for the isolation of men trapped in war, drawn inexorably toward their deaths.” Maureen F. McHugh’s “Frankenstein’s Daughter” tells the story of a broken family coping with the hardship of raising a cloned child developmentally disabled by the procedure. I appreciate the way it uses a common sci fi premise to tell the domestic story of the difficulties of raising children. My favorite story in the anthology is “The Wizard of West Orange” by Steven Millhauser, in which a new invention of Thomas Edison’s will allow people to record and experience touch.



The Secret History of Science Fiction introduced me to a wealth of writers I would like to check out more of. I would certainly recommend this to any reader skeptical of the worth of science fiction.

[John Orman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories that crossover from science fiction to mainstream, these writing defy trends and cross genres. LeGuin, Wilhelm, Willis, Atwood, and Greg Wolfe are represented.

In The Descent of Man, T.C. Boyle writes of a weird researcher at a Primate Center who goes ape for a resident, bringing him lice in her navel. Then the ape goes wild and the relationship ends badly.

In the poem Homelanding, Margaret Atwood describes and alien who does not believe in the "take me to your leader" cliche:
No, take me to trees, breakfasts,
sunsets, shoes, dreams, and deaths.
These are worth it,
are what I have come for.

In The Nine Billion Names of God, an author submits the well-known Arthur Clarke story word for word to an editor, supposedly generated by a computer program that generates random numbers then looks up the corresponding words in a dictionary. The author claims that since the story has a "new context," it is a "new" story. The editor does not buy that belief, or the story. When the author runs his program in reverse, it generates another famous story, Asimov's The Last Question. The editor still does not buy it.

[Mscout · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a collection of stories that set out to examine the boundaries between "literature" and "genre". What makes a story science fiction? Why does that label automatically devalue the story in some circles? The authors chosen for the anthology are mostly not generally associated with scifi, so it may be an eye-opener for a lot of serious lit folks. Overall, the collection is very solid and highly recommended.

[Christopher Stormer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of Science Fiction stories that confound, extend, and ultimately bring to question ideas about Sci-Fi as a genre that is necessarily separate from mainstream literature. All are good-- my favorites are "The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin, "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Carter Scholz, and "The Hardened Criminals" by Jonathan Lethem.

[Kristen Nace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best anthology I've ever read....some interesting selections, but on the whole my reaction was mostly "Meh"

[Dan Slimmon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think that this compilation of stories lives up to the editors' ambition of laying out the "secret history of science fiction." Or maybe I didn't understand the critical point of view they were arguing against.

In any case, it's a pretty good collection that plays with the gray area between science fiction and Respectable Literature. I especially liked the Molly Gloss and Gene Wolfe stories.

[Cristian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection overall. Unfortunately, many of the stories feel lacking, even amongst the better ones you might find yourself at a loss at the end of the reading, not sure if it succeeded in delivering its point across or not, while a couple others just feel plain gimmicky.

Nonetheless, the couple of gems sprinkled in here will more than compensate for the few duds and the mediocrity of the rest.

[Roger Mexico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting stories, some of them a little too dry/dense. Definitely liked the Saunders one written like a lab report. This collection makes a good case for taking science fiction "more seriously" (or viewing it as less of "pulp"/"niche" genre and more of a "literary pursuit) which is one of the editors goals, so, "kudos to you!", editors!

[Ebenmaessiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas," by Ursula K. Le Guin, 5 pg. (1973): 9.25
- Much more impressive than my faded memory would have had me believe, that being that it's a riff off the Shirley Jackson “Lottery”, with the obvious variations in the victim's treatment. Instead, Le Guin—fittingly for the time and progressive literary movements of which she was a part—crafts a much more self-conscious, broadly implicatory, and (paradoxically) playful vision, in which it actually helps to know the twist to understand the nature of her pre-twist tone (insouciant, a bit condemnatory and derisively exhausted toward toward the reader): meaning, she proceeds from the given premise (what if a perfect society existed BECAUSE it did this) and actively creates/fills in the gaps during the writing (ie “well what do you think a "perfect" society’s technological level would look like?”).

"Salvador," by Lucius Shepard (1984): 8
- Above all else, this reads like story from 1984, and not simply because of the Contra allusions, but more so for the half-reactionary anti-Reagan meandering at play here, the kind of knee-jerk ‘againstness’ here struggling to find a coherent ideological/narrative outlet, instead opting for ambiguity rather than directness. STORY: in an only slightly-altered timeline [depicting a much more concentrated (maybe?) American presence in El Salvador/”anti-communist” insurgencies throughout the Third World], a soldier, concurrently taking way too many hyper-combat-readiness drugs, maybe hallucinates / maybe actually finds his way into an in-between world, where a girl tells him to, effectively, bring the war home to Americans. In turn, he slaughters his regiment and returns home, and we leave the story on the cusp of him, likely, slaughtering some American civilians for these murky reasons. It works half-effectively as a hazy, what’s-happening play on the messiness of both America’s Cold War commitments, as well as on the toll that the nature of this cruel war has on the ones perpetrating it (although, in that line, in falls square in line with takes on SFF/genre lit, in which Vietnam and our country’s sundry sins are played out as, first and foremost, tragedies for us, rather than for those against whom these actions are committed). At the very least, it works much better at this angle than it does at all in the ‘depiction of battle or soldiers’ angle, case in point being DT, the menacing, jive talkin’ black commander of the group.

“Angouleme,” by Thomas M. Disch (1971): 9
- If an example of the “realistic fiction of the future,” as described by this collection’s editors in their introduction, then Disch’s little what-if-Leopold-and-Loeb in a dystopia reflects that realism less in a representative slice-of-life narrative way than in its finely observed, subtly clued character study. Indeed, I struggle to see our prepubescent plotters as typical of any social cadre even in the future depicted here, although this doesn’t take away from the power Disch finds in illuminating the contours of this most plausible of futures — little noticeable technological change, “progressive” socio-cultural changes overlaying general socio-economic degeneration, shunting have nots onto a UBI-like “now-don’t-complain” program — through them. Disch employs a slightly overwrought, half strained, and half quite effective prose style that is probably the main source of lumping him in with the li-fi crowd—in addition to the decidedly degenerate and relatively low-stakes atmosphere of his work. The thing, though: it’s pretty good. Nonetheless, clearly suffers as a stand-alone, ie sure the cumulative effect of reading this in conjunction with the rest of 334 provides more generous view than getting it solo here. STORY: slightly off-kilter future with bored rich kids doing what bored rich kids do: planning to murk someone.

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm probably the ideal reader for this kind of anthology, since a lot of my favorite fiction is stylistically interesting, intelligent, and a little weird (more is always better). While it's not quite perfect (exclusions of certain influential writers for inclusions of the editors?), and the introductory essay brings up some contentious issues (which it clearlymeans to do), overall quality was high. All the stories were new to me, though I imagine they are familiar to those who read anthologies more regularly than I do.

Some favorites:

"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," Ursula K. Le Guin
Beautifully written story with palpable atmosphere that presents an ambiguous and fascinating allegory on sacrifices made for happiness. Further evidence that Le Guin is a great writer.

"Ladies and Gentleman, This is Your Crisis," Kate Wilhelm
Not as stylish as some of the stories, but I found her 1976 take on the future of reality TV refreshing. While there's the usual disturbing subtext, Wilhelm focuses her attention on the viewers and the way these shows can build/enhance bonds between people (while furthering our disconnect).

"Descent of Man," T.C. Boyle
The rare "Post-Modern" style story that engaged me through some really great writing. Some unreal elements that commit the usual mistake of over-reaching, but still fun.

"Homelanding," Margaret Atwood
I figured out her primary "trick" too quickly, but Atwood is always interesting.

"Salvador," Lucius Shepard
Pretty emotional, provocative story set in a near-future war in Latin America. Effects of a drug highlight the real dehumanizing effects of warfare, but built more on characterization than this concept.

"Buddha Nostril Bird," John Kessell
One of those stories that resists mere allegory by filling in enough details that we can imagine the world as a real thing. Built primarily on ancient Greek elements with some Eastern thrown in.

"Hardened Criminals," Jonathan Lethem
Probably my favorite story in the collection, apart from Le Guin's. Brilliant concept the serves as metaphor but is also treated as "real" and fully integrated w/the characterization (which is its primary thrust). I've heard great things about Lethem's work, and this convinces me that he's the sort of writer I connect with. Will read more.

"10/16 to 1," James Patrick Kelly
Had a very classic feel, which may be tied to the early 60's setting (when Bradbury was writing a lot of his best short work). I think it was this feel that appealed to me--concise, well-written story built on an interesting concept, good characterization, and nice "twist" at the end. Plus I'm a sucker for time travel.

"The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance," Michael Chabon
The dense language sometimes cloaks the action, but this is probably the intentionally archaic style that enhances the overall feel. Chabon certainly gets the syntax right and shows himself capable with rollicking alternate history steampunk adventure. OMG airship! Yeah, it's kinda like that.

"The Wizard of West Orange," Steven Millhauser
Gets a bit repetitive, but beautifully written and sorta steampunkish. I love fusions of past/present/future and exploring all these potential worlds and possibilities, which this story does quite well.

The stories by Delillo and Wolfe were mildly disappointing. "Human Moments in World War III" is frankly dull, the dialogue unrealistic, and the characters not particularly human or engaging, which I realize is the point but doesn't make for a particular interesting read. Ends up being just an ineffective whine, a "why should I care?" "The Ziggurat" is as sophisticated in its use of an unreliable narrator as plenty of literary fiction and interesting to think about, but suffers from a horribly plodding pace and too much padding. Will probably explore both writers more eventually, since they are generally so well regarded.

The rest are all good, interesting in terms of style and technique, but don't pop out as much in my memory. You may very well find they suit you more than me.

[Mathew Walls · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was reminded recently of the short story The Nine Billion Names of God by Carter Scholz and wanted to read it again. I found it in this collection and decided I may as well read the rest. Most of the rest aren't very good, but I would almost recommend the book just on the strength of that one story; it's really great. There rest aren't worth going out of your way for, but most of them have at least enough of something to hold your interest.

Angeloume didn't do much for me, and I'm not really sure what I was supposed to get out of it. It's one of those stories about teenagers with big plans failing to carry them out and nothing really happens.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas was weird and seemed fairly pointless. I don't get it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crisis reminded me a bit of Black Mirror. More plausible, less outrageous. Not particularly original, but not bad.

I gave up on Descent of Man. It was very unpleasant.

Human Moments in World War III was another where not much happened and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to get out of it.

Homelanding was another one I didn't see much point in.

The Nine Billion Names of God is brilliant. Read it. Or listen to the author read it.

Interlocking Pieces was one of the better ones, though I don't have much to say about it, it was worth reading.

Salvador was also OK, and also a bit Black Mirror-ish - though less so than This is Your Crisis.

Schwarzchild Radius was weird and didn't really have any impact on me.

Buddha Nostril Bird was the strangest of the stories and it wasn't clear at all what was actually going on or what we were meant to understand from it. A lot of the time it felt like it should have been part of a larger story.

The Ziggurat wasn't bad, but also felt like it should have been part of a longer story. I'd read that story, but I'm not sure whether it would be good or not.

The Hardened Criminals was very Black Mirror and incredibly dumb.

Standing Room Only was another one that felt like the start of a longer story, and in fact, it just seems to end at a fairly arbitrary point, as though the author reached her word count.

10¹⁶ to 1 was an interesting premise that never really went anywhere. The protagonist compares his experience to an episode of The Twilight Zone and the comparison is appropriate. The story kind of sets up the alternate reality and encourages you to think about it, but to what end is unclear.

93990 can be summarised as "monkey experiences atypical lack of response in drug trial. Results inconclusive." Seriously, nothing happens.

The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance was yet another that felt like the first chapter of a novel rather than a self-contained short story. It ends just as it has your attention.

Frankenstein's Daughter is sort of like 10¹⁶ to 1 except that the interesting premise is shoved into the background and has no real relevance to the mundane story actually being told.

The Wizard of West Orange is one of those old-fashioned sort of sci-fi stories where some new technology is speculated on and described, and then the author wonders what its consequences will be but provides no answers. It's fine for the type of thing it is though.

In all, a distinctly underwhelming collection except for the one shining piece of brilliance buried within.

[Tomislav · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors' contention is that there is a neglected but important middle-ground between the SF genre and mainstream literature. SF writers should be able to break out of the SF ghetto, receive some literary recognition, and not risk losing their fanbase. At the same time, in order to remain relevant to 20th and 21st century life, literature needs to stop avoiding speculative concepts. This cross-over was in strong development in the 1970s, but fell away perhaps due to lack of commercial success. This anthology falls into that range, with stories by SF writers using literary devices, and with literary writers using speculative devices. A few representative stories from the 1970s, such as Le Guin's, are included. But Kelly and Kessel are trying to show the middleground, while neglected commercially, has not gone away - so more recent works are included. The content of this anthology, with a very few exceptions, is just outstanding.

Angouleme, by Thomas M. Disch
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, by Ursula K. LeGuin
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Crisis, by Kate Wilhelm
Descent of Man, by T. C. Boyle
Human Moments in World War III, by Don DeLillo
Homelanding, by Margaret Atwood
The Nine Billion Names of God, by Carter Scholz
Interlocking Pieces, by Molly Gloss
Salvador, by Lucius Shepard
Schwarzschild Radius, by Connie Willis
Buddha Nostril Bird, by John Kessel
The Ziggurat, by Gene Wolfe
The Hardened Criminals, by Jonathan Lethem
Standing Room Only, by Karen Jay Fowler
10^16 to 1, by James Patrick Kelly
93990, by George Saunders
The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance, by Michael Chabon
Frankenstein's Daughter, by Maureen F. McHugh
The Wizard of West Orange, by Steven Millhauser

[Falbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was truly eye-opening for me. I've never given a whole lot of thought to 'genre' before, but now it's on my mind constantly. And great, great stories by the way.

"It seems to me that SF is standing, these days, in a doorway. The door is open, wide open. Are we just going to stand there, waiting for the applause of the multitudes? It won't come; we haven't earned it yet. Are we going to cringe back into the old safe ghetto room and pretend that there isn't any big, bad multitude out there? Is so, our good writers will leave us in despair, and there will not be another generation of them. Or are we going to walk through the doorway and join the rest of the city? I hope so. I know we can and I hope we do, because we have a great deal to offer- to art, which needs new forms like ours, and to critics who are sick of chewing over the same old works and above all to readers of books, who want and deserve better novels than they mostly get. But it will take not only courage for SF to join the community of literature, but strength, self-respect, the will not to settle for second rate. It will take genuine self-criticism. And it will include genuine praise."
-Ursula K. Le Guin (The Master, as always)

[Frank Taranto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Science Fiction as literature. The idea always sounds good, but I read for pleasure more than literary tricks or denseness.
A very good group of short stories nevertheless.
Includes:
LeGuinn's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas", which I've read often and still leaves me somewhat confused.
Kate Wilhem's "Descent of Man", which I found amusing.
Jonathan Lethem's "The Hardened Criminals" which was an interesting tale set in a prison made of prisoner's bodies who still have their memories and the ability to talk.
Karen Joy Fowler's "standing Room Only", about a time trip to see Lincoln's Assissination.
Maureen F. McHugh's "Frankenstein's Daughter", a very touching tale.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I liked the point of the book more than I liked the book. Yes, science fiction can be so much more than what most people who don't read it believe it to be. Yes, to label a story as science fiction is restrictive and these stories cross genres over and over again and each author is clearly trying to make the reader feel something or relate to something rather than trying to fit a story into a predetermined library shelf. But in the end, I feel as if I should have liked more of them. I did thoroughly enjoy three of them, and I did appreciated most of the others. I was just expecting more.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology offers twenty stories from well-known authors to show the progression of "genre" fiction since the 70s. I enjoyed roughly about half of the stories included, which is really the most I expect from an anthology. As rewarding as the stories themselves were the quotes from the authors about their beliefs and philosophies about writing.

[Richard]

(Borderlands Bookstore's Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club met on Sunday, 15 May, 2011, at 6 pm to discuss The Secret History of Science Fiction by James Patrick Kelly, et al.)

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. Each story was framed with quotations from contributing authors reflecting on the genre of SF, its contributions to literature and how it is perceived in the broader literary community. This juxtaposition provided the stories with an added depth that I enjoyed exploring.

[Emily Cait · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish they'd bothered to edit this... For example: it's Molly GlOss (not GlAss) who wrote "Interlocking Pieces" and Kate WilheLm who wrote "Ladies and Gentlemen, This is Your Crisis".

There are some gems in here ("The Hardened Criminals" - Jonathan Lethem) and some really bad (and stupidly long) pieces ("The Ziggurat" - Gene Wolfe).

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, my own idiocy led me to be disappointed with this book. I'd hoped it would be an anthology of secret history stories, and instead it is a collection of stories on the boundary of genre and "literary" fiction.

It was still pretty good, overall.