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Full Spectrum 1
Here for the 1st time anywhere are 25 new stories from the leading edge of contemporary science fiction & fantasy. Bold, shocking, sly & visionary, these astonishing stories have one thing in common: they push the imagination to its limits. Spanning the full spectrum from Norman Spinrad's harrowing "Journal of the Plague Years," to the dreamy eloquence of Lisa Goldstein's "My Year With the Aliens," from Thomas M. Disch's hauntingly erotic "Voices of the Kill," to Kevin J. Anderson & Doug Beason's hard sf story "Reflections in a Magnetic Mirror," these daring excursions into the worlds of past, present & future represent the best of today's speculative fiction by both acknowledged masters & the most exciting new voices in the field. Filled with rich invention & vivid detail, with incredible fantasy & terrifying truth, Full Spectrum is one collection that no fan of science fiction & fantasy should be without.
CONTENTS:
Introduction / Lou Aronica and Shawna McCarthy
Voices of the kill / Thomas M. Disch
This is the year zero / Andrew Weiner
Proselytes / Gregory Benford
The fourth moxie branch / Jack McDevitt
Prayerware / Jack Massa
Mannequins / Charles Oberndorf
Moments of clarity / Elissa Malcohn
A gift of the people / Robert Samson
The last rainmaker song / Jeffrey J. Mariotte
Tinker to evers to chance / Steven Bryan Bieler
The farm system / Howard V. Hendrix
Ghost ship / Walton Simons
Phillipa's hands / Nancy Kress
Reflections in a magnetic mirror / Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason
Listening / Ronnie Seagren
My year with the aliens / Lisa Goldstein
Oz / Lewis Shiner
Dead men on tv / Pat Murphy
Once in a lullaby / Fred Bals
My imaginary parents / T.L. Parkinson
Bible stories for adults, no. 17: the deluge / James Morrow
Beyond the seventh sphere / Aaron Schutz
Magister Rudy / Richard Grant
The thing itself / Michael Blumlein
Journals of the plague years / Norman Spinrad
CONTENTS:
Introduction / Lou Aronica and Shawna McCarthy
Voices of the kill / Thomas M. Disch
This is the year zero / Andrew Weiner
Proselytes / Gregory Benford
The fourth moxie branch / Jack McDevitt
Prayerware / Jack Massa
Mannequins / Charles Oberndorf
Moments of clarity / Elissa Malcohn
A gift of the people / Robert Samson
The last rainmaker song / Jeffrey J. Mariotte
Tinker to evers to chance / Steven Bryan Bieler
The farm system / Howard V. Hendrix
Ghost ship / Walton Simons
Phillipa's hands / Nancy Kress
Reflections in a magnetic mirror / Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason
Listening / Ronnie Seagren
My year with the aliens / Lisa Goldstein
Oz / Lewis Shiner
Dead men on tv / Pat Murphy
Once in a lullaby / Fred Bals
My imaginary parents / T.L. Parkinson
Bible stories for adults, no. 17: the deluge / James Morrow
Beyond the seventh sphere / Aaron Schutz
Magister Rudy / Richard Grant
The thing itself / Michael Blumlein
Journals of the plague years / Norman Spinrad
483 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1988
2 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Lou Aronica
53 books89 followersI have been associated with the book publishing world since August 1979, when I started as an assistant in the Managing Editor’s Department at Bantam Books. Prior to founding The Fiction Studio, I served as Deputy Publisher of Bantam and Publisher of Berkley Books and Avon Books. During this time, I launched the premier science fiction and mystery imprints in the business, and also presided over the largest growth period to date in the history of the #1 single-title romance program.
My earliest publishing experiences were in the field of science fiction and fantasy. I started my first publishing imprint, Bantam Spectra, at the age of 27 and published my first New York Times bestseller with that imprint a year later. My first editorial acquisition, David Brin’s Startide Rising, won the field’s two highest awards, the Hugo and the Nebula. I subsequently published New York Times bestsellers with Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, David Brin, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Raymond Feist, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman, and others, while also acquiring five consecutive winners of the Nebula Award. In addition, I created the “Full Spectrum” anthology series, which won me a World Fantasy Award in 1994.
My biggest commercial accomplishment in the field of science fiction and fantasy was my acquisition and design of the Star Wars book publishing program. Started at a time when licensing interest in the movies was very low, the book publications consistently hit the New York Times list (as high as #1) while also jump-starting the entire Star Wars franchise.
In the nineties, I moved beyond science fiction. As Mass Market Publisher for Bantam, I launched the Bantam Crime Line mystery imprint and was closely involved in the development of several bestselling authors, including Elizabeth George, Robert Crais, and Diane Mott Davidson. I launched the Bantam Fanfare romance imprint, which led to the development of bestselling authors such as Amanda Quick, Tami Hoag, and Iris Johansen.
In 1994, I left Bantam to become SVP and Publisher of the Berkley Publishing Group. The two imprints I started there, Boulevard (a media imprint) and Signature (a literary imprint) had New York Times bestsellers within their first year. I also acquired and edited the bestselling futuristic mysteries by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts).
In 1995, I moved to Avon Books to spearhead a turnaround of that company as SVP and Publisher. I supervised significant changes to the company’s industry-leading romance program, which led to the largest growth period in the program’s history to that point. Committing the company to a profitable path of publishing for dedicated readers, I launched a series of imprints focused on science fiction, literary fiction, mystery, pop culture, health, history, and teen literature. Most of these imprints had bestsellers very quickly.
In 1999, I left Avon after the acquisition of the company by The News Corporation. The creative investment I made in that house continues to pay significant dividends, however, as writers whose publishing programs I developed became breakout bestsellers, including Dennis Lehane, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, J.A. Jance, Stephanie Laurens, Lisa Kleypas, Bruce Feiler and Peter Robinson.
In addition to my current role with The Fiction Studio, I am a novelist and nonfiction writer. My novels, The Forever Year and Flash and Dazzle appeared under the name Ronald Anthony. My nonfiction books include the New York Times bestseller The Element (written with Sir Ken Robinson), the national bestseller The Culture Code (written with Dr. Clotaire Rapaille), Conscientious Equity (written with Neal Asbury), Miraculous Health (written with Dr. Rick Levy) and A Million Thanks (written with Shauna Fleming).
Finding myself missing the publishing side of the business, in 2008, literary manager Peter Miller and I started a small book imprint called The Story Plant. Right now, it’s a tiny opera
My earliest publishing experiences were in the field of science fiction and fantasy. I started my first publishing imprint, Bantam Spectra, at the age of 27 and published my first New York Times bestseller with that imprint a year later. My first editorial acquisition, David Brin’s Startide Rising, won the field’s two highest awards, the Hugo and the Nebula. I subsequently published New York Times bestsellers with Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, David Brin, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Raymond Feist, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman, and others, while also acquiring five consecutive winners of the Nebula Award. In addition, I created the “Full Spectrum” anthology series, which won me a World Fantasy Award in 1994.
My biggest commercial accomplishment in the field of science fiction and fantasy was my acquisition and design of the Star Wars book publishing program. Started at a time when licensing interest in the movies was very low, the book publications consistently hit the New York Times list (as high as #1) while also jump-starting the entire Star Wars franchise.
In the nineties, I moved beyond science fiction. As Mass Market Publisher for Bantam, I launched the Bantam Crime Line mystery imprint and was closely involved in the development of several bestselling authors, including Elizabeth George, Robert Crais, and Diane Mott Davidson. I launched the Bantam Fanfare romance imprint, which led to the development of bestselling authors such as Amanda Quick, Tami Hoag, and Iris Johansen.
In 1994, I left Bantam to become SVP and Publisher of the Berkley Publishing Group. The two imprints I started there, Boulevard (a media imprint) and Signature (a literary imprint) had New York Times bestsellers within their first year. I also acquired and edited the bestselling futuristic mysteries by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts).
In 1995, I moved to Avon Books to spearhead a turnaround of that company as SVP and Publisher. I supervised significant changes to the company’s industry-leading romance program, which led to the largest growth period in the program’s history to that point. Committing the company to a profitable path of publishing for dedicated readers, I launched a series of imprints focused on science fiction, literary fiction, mystery, pop culture, health, history, and teen literature. Most of these imprints had bestsellers very quickly.
In 1999, I left Avon after the acquisition of the company by The News Corporation. The creative investment I made in that house continues to pay significant dividends, however, as writers whose publishing programs I developed became breakout bestsellers, including Dennis Lehane, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, J.A. Jance, Stephanie Laurens, Lisa Kleypas, Bruce Feiler and Peter Robinson.
In addition to my current role with The Fiction Studio, I am a novelist and nonfiction writer. My novels, The Forever Year and Flash and Dazzle appeared under the name Ronald Anthony. My nonfiction books include the New York Times bestseller The Element (written with Sir Ken Robinson), the national bestseller The Culture Code (written with Dr. Clotaire Rapaille), Conscientious Equity (written with Neal Asbury), Miraculous Health (written with Dr. Rick Levy) and A Million Thanks (written with Shauna Fleming).
Finding myself missing the publishing side of the business, in 2008, literary manager Peter Miller and I started a small book imprint called The Story Plant. Right now, it’s a tiny opera
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 5, 2009
A fair collection of original science fiction stories.
January 12, 2025
As with any large collection like this, you have to hope that the killer will outweigh the filler, and I think that Full Spectrum clears the hurdle. It lives up to its name by sampling a quite vast span of sci fi and fantasy subgenres and tones. I think it's at its best when its dipping into the surreal as with Pat Murphy's "Dead Men on TV" or Jack McDevitt's "The Fort Moxie Branch" or Richard Grant's "Magister Rudy".
There isn't really anything approaching Hard Sci Fi, so it's not going to scratch absolutely everyone's itch, but nothing felt like it overstayed its welcome too long and the wide variety meant that I didn't frequently feel burnt out at the end of a story (except for the three sports stories in a row, that might have been a little much).
There isn't really anything approaching Hard Sci Fi, so it's not going to scratch absolutely everyone's itch, but nothing felt like it overstayed its welcome too long and the wide variety meant that I didn't frequently feel burnt out at the end of a story (except for the three sports stories in a row, that might have been a little much).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews