Forbidden Planets

Jackaroo #2.2 - Dust

by Peter Crowther (Editor), Ray Bradbury (Introduction), Stephen Baxter (Afterword)

An anthology of science fiction short stories by some of today's top authors to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet. Filled to the brim with provocative tales of worlds where humans were never meant to go.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 7, 2006

About the author

Peter Crowther, born in 1949, is a journalist, anthologist, and the author of many short stories and novels. He is the co-founder of PS Publishing and the editor of Postscripts.

Reviews

[Peter Tillman]

Added to Mt TBR because Dozois had many stories from this in his "Honorable Mentions" in the back of his 24th Year's Best. Now on hand, 2/9/21
TOC: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?2...

DRAFT, reading &review in progress. Promising....
• Introduction (Forbidden Planets), short essay by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury was asked to write the screenplay for the movie! He declined.
• Passion Ploy [Luff Imbry], novelette by Matthew Hughes. A fine opener, an amuse bouche of considerable style by an old pro. Nicely done, 4 stars.
• Lehr, Rex, novelette by Jay Lake. A retelling of King Lear, just as the film classic was inspired by another Shakespeare play. Starts purple, but ends well, on a nice note of hope. RIP Mr. Lake ♰(1964-2014)
• Dust • [Jackaroo], novelette by Paul J. McAuley. The very first Jackaroo story! It's a good one, ringing changes on the titular film, and setting up the series. 4.5 stars.
79 • Tiger, Burning • novelette by Alastair Reynolds
110 • The Singularity Needs Women! • novelette by Paul Di Filippo
138 • Dreamers' Lake • short story by Stephen Baxter
152 • Eventide • short story by Chris Roberson
169 • What We Still Talk About • novelette by Scott Edelman
194 • Kyle Meets the River • [India 2047] • novelette by Ian McDonald
217 • Forebearing Planet • short story by Michael Moorcock
227 • This Thing of Darkness I Acknowledge Mine • short story by Alex Irvine
244 • Me•Topia • novelette by Adam Roberts
• Forbidden Planet (Afterword), essay by Stephen Baxter. Nice. Lots of cool stuff re the film. Which I need to watch again. Not seen since the Saturday "Creature Feature" reruns when I was a mere lad...

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all anthologies, the quality of the stories varies, in this case, some 3's, 4's. and 5's. Hence, my final rating. I don't think any rate worse than a 3, so there is that. On the other hand, made-for-themed anthologies feel a bit stressed at times. Some stories feel like they were waiting for their moment and got massaged into fitting this particular tome, and others were specific efforts to supply a story meeting the required homage. It felt a bit thin at times and the King Lear/Forbidden Planet connection was too obvious not to show up. I'd rather it hadn't though but that's just me.

This book is better to read as one or two stories between other novels than as a straight-through read in my opinion.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories with an introduction by Ray Bradbury. As the title indicates it is an homage to the film "Forbidden Planet" now some fifty years old. Also as usual with collections some stories appeal more than others. The ones I liked best include 'Lehr, Rex' which contains not only references to Shakespeare's 'The Tempest,' which was the template for 'Forbidden Planet' but 'King Lear' as well. Also enjoyable were 'Passion Ploy' and 'Tiger, Burning.' That last is a very nice take off on the film.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favorite anthologies.

[Narzack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good stuff here. The first few are pretty weak, but once you get past those, there's a lot to enjoy.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any anthology or compilation, this is hit and miss. Happily it's mostly hit, but when it misses, it really misses.
Ray Bradbury's introduction is revealing yet neither as smart nor as poetic as we've come to expect from the master. Jay Lake's story Lehr, Rex is peppered with ridiculous sexist language yet still manages to be a fascinating speculative work. Adam Robert's Me-Topia starts out fine and continues on strong, but ends on a big "What?" Seriously, the ending is beyond puzzling.
The biggest dud in the collection comes from Michael Moorcock. I've read nothing of this celebrated writer save his asinine comments about Tolkien, so I really had no expectations of him except perhaps that a writer so acclaimed would write something that was at least good. His story Forbearing Planet, however, reads like something from an angry college freshman who had just switched off a television pundit he hated. The speculation is there and has potential, but is put to no good use.
The real star here is Alastair Reynolds Tiger, Burning. He takes his inspiration more directly from the movie Forbidden Planet than the other writers, but turns out a story that is much more than a tribute with speculation on the very nature of space that is mind-blowing.
Stephen Baxter's afterword is quite insightful. The Author and Story Notes section is unnecessary yet amusing in parts. The other parts leave some authors looking even more like pompous blowhards.
On the whole, this is a good book for fans of Forbidden Planet and space travel fiction in general. It could, however, have easily been better