Jeff VanderMeer’s most recent fiction is the New York Times bestselling Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance), which Entertainment Weekly included on its list of the top ten novels of 2014 and which prompted the New Yorker to call the author “the weird Thoreau.” The series has been acquired by publishers in thirty-four other countries, and Paramount Pictures/Scott Rudin Productions have acquired the movie rights. Annihilation has won both the Nebula Award and Shirley Jackson Award for best novel. VanderMeer’s nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Atlantic.com, and the Los Angeles Times. A three-time winner of the World Fantasy Award, VanderMeer has also edited or coedited many iconic fiction anthologies; taught at the Yale Writers’ Conference and the Miami Book Fair International; and lectured at MIT, Brown, and the Library of Congress. He serves as the codirector of Shared Worlds, a unique teen writing camp located at Wofford College. His forthcoming novel is Borne.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS
Originally from Novosibirsk, Russia, Daniel Ableev is a certified strangeologist living in Bonn, Germany. He has studied law and comparative literature. His work has been published in German and English online at The Dream People and elsewhere, and he is the author of the novel Alu. Ableev is the coeditor of Die Novelle—Zeitschrift für Experimentelles.
John Chu has translated the work of such writers as Tang Fei and Cixin Liu for venues such as Clarkesworld. He is also a podcast narrator and a microprocessor architect, as well as a writer of fiction in his own right. His story “The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere” won the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.
Gio Clairval is an Italian-born writer, translator, and former international management consultant who has lived most of her life in Paris, France, and who now commutes between Lake Como, Italy, and Edinburgh, Scotland. She has translated from the French, German, Spanish, and Italian languages a number of literary classics, including works by Gustave Flaubert, Franz Kafka, Georg Heym, Karl Strobl, Julio Cortázar, Dino Buzzati, Michel Bernanos, and Claude Seignolle. She is currently translating contemporary French novels. Her fiction has appeared in such magazines as Weird Tales and the Postscripts anthologies, among others.
Brian Evenson is the author of a dozen books of fiction, including the story collections A Collapse of Horses and Windeye, as well as the novel Immobility. His novel Last Days won the American Library Association’s award for Best Horror Novel of 2009. His novel The Open Curtain was a finalist for an Edgar Award and an International Horror Guild Award. Other books include The Wavering Knife (which won the IHG Award for best story collection), Dark Property, and Altmann’s Tongue. He has translated work by Christian Gailly, Jean Frémon, Claro, Jacques Jouet, Éric Chevillard, Antoine Volodine, Manuela Draeger, David B., and others. He is the recipient of three O. Henry Prizes as well as an NEA Literature Fellowship. His work has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Slovenian. Evenson lives and works in California as a creative writing professor at California Institute of the Arts.
Sarah Kassem lives in Bonn, Germany. She is the author of the tetralogy Betula Pendula and coeditor of Die Novelle—Zeitschrift für Experimentelles.
Larry Nolen is a freelance translator. He has taught history and English for most of the past sixteen years in Tennessee and Florida. His first published translation, of Leopoldo Lugones’s “El escuerzo” appeared in the anthology ODD?, and his second, of Augusto Monterroso’s “Mister Taylor,” appeared in The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories. He is currently working on translating a selection of Roberto Arlt’s short stories into English.
James Womack has translated widely from Spanish and Russian, including works by Vladimir Mayakovsky, Sergio del Molino, Roberto Arlt, Silvina Ocampo, and Boris Savinkov. He lives in Madrid, Spain, where he is coeditor at Nevsky Prospects, a Spanish-language publishing house specializing in translations of Russian literature. His poetry collection, Misprint, was published by Carcanet in 2012.
Marian Womack is a translator, author, and editor. She has published Spanish versions of works by such authors as Mary Shelley, Lord Dunsany, Charles Dickens, and Daphne du Maurier, and English translations of Spanish speculative fiction for The Apex Book of World SF volume 4. Her own writing can be read in Apex Magazine, SuperSonic, and Weird Fiction Review. She is based in Madrid and Cambridge.
Vladimir Zhenevsky began in 2007 as a translator from English into Russian of obscure British crime fiction writers but happily moved on to the likes of Peter Watts, Clive Barker, and Thomas Ligotti. He started translating Russian speculative fiction into English in 2013. A resident of Ufa, Russia, he was an author of his own weird and horror stories. Zhenevsky died in 2015.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to everyone who helped with this anthology through sharing information, engaging in discussion, or in other ways. In particular, thanks to our editor, Tim O’Connell, and to the rest of the crew at Vintage. Additional thanks to the likes of Matthew Cheney and Eric Schaller for their generosity with their time and knowledge of the field. Thank you to Adam Mills, Lawrence Schimel, Vida Cruz, Maxim Jakubowski, Anil Menon, Yoshio Kobayashi, Edward Gauvin, Jaroslav Olsa Jr., and Karin Tidbeck for additional research and to all the readers out there who have shared their favorite stories with us over the years.
Sadly, a good friend and an invaluable source of information on Russian and Ukrainian SF, Vladimir Zhenevsky, passed away last year, shortly after delivering his translation and research for author notes to us. Vlad was beloved by many and we will endeavor to ensure he is not forgotten. We consider him to be the patron saint of The Big Book of Science Fiction, along with Judith Merril, to whom we have dedicated this anthology.
We would also like to thank the editors, living and dead, who have worked tirelessly, out of a deep love of SF, to bring stories to readers through their magazines and anthologies. Any list is of necessity incomplete, but in particular we would like to acknowledge the work of Judith Merril, David G. Hartwell, Franz Rottensteiner, Damon Knight, Donald A. Wollheim, Terry Carr, Grania Davis, John Joseph Adams, Ellen Datlow, Frederik Pohl, Alisa Krasnostein, Groff Conklin, Cristina Jurado, Robert Silverberg, Isaac Asimov, Jonathan Strahan, Harlan Ellison, Hugo Gernsback, Michael Moorcock, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Terri Windling, Sheila Williams, Sheree R. Thomas, Alberto Manguel, Gardner Dozois, and Gordon Van Gelder.
We owe a deep debt of gratitude to all our translators, who helped bring new stories or new translations into the public eye. Thank you Daniel Ableev, John Chu, Gio Clairval, Brian Evenson, Sarah Kassem, Larry Nolen, James Womack, Marian Womack, and Vlad Zhenevsky. We would also like to acknowledge the other translators of stories acquired in their original English-language form and all translators—past, present, and future—who, although not always recognized, continue to meet the challenge of presenting wonderful fiction written by others to a new audience of appreciative readers.
This book would not have been possible without the assistance, guidance, support, and love of the genre of several people we want to thank: Jason Sanford, John Glover, Dominik Parisien, Richard Scott, Fábio Fernandes, Merrilee Heifetz, Ken Liu, Lauren Rogoff, Vaughne Hansen, and Sara Kramer. We also want to acknowledge Bud Webster’s assistance over the years in tracking down estates of writers. We are saddened deeply by his recent passing. We are also at a loss over the death of David G. Hartwell. We spent many hours together arguing about and sharing our love of fiction. He was generous with his time, and he will be sorely missed by many.
It is impossible to list everyone, but know that even if you are not named here, we appreciate your contribution.
Finally, thanks to our intrepid agent, Sally Harding, and everyone at the Cooke Agency.
PERMISSIONS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Yoshio Aramaki: “Soft Clocks” by Yoshio Aramaki, copyright © 1988 by Yoshio Aramaki. Translation by Kazuko Behrens and stylized by Lewis Shiner. Originally published in Japanese in Uchujin (April 1968). This translati
on originally appeared in Interzone (January/February 1989). Reprinted by permission of author’s estate and translators.
Juan José Arreola: “Baby HP” by Juan José Arreola. Translation copyright © 2016 by Larry Nolen. Originally published in Spanish in 1952. This new translation published by permission of the translator.
Isaac Asimov: “The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov, copyright © 1956 by Asimov Holdings LLC. Originally published in Science Fiction Quarterly (November 1956). Reprinted by permission of Asimov Holdings LLC and William Morris Endeavor Entertainment LLC.
J. G. Ballard: “The Voices of Time” from The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard by J. G. Ballard, copyright © 1963 by J. G. Ballard. Originally published in New Worlds (October 1960). Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., and The Wylie Agency LLC.
Iain M. Banks: “A Gift from the Culture” by Iain M. Banks, copyright © 1987 by Iain M. Banks. Originally published in Interzone 20 (Summer 1987). Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.
Jacques Barbéri: “Mondocane” by Jacques Barbéri, copyright © 1983 by Jacques Barbéri. Translation copyright © 2016 by Brian Evenson. Originally published in French in Fausse caméra, edited by Jacques Barbéri (Les Locataires, 1983). This first English-language translation published by permission of Éditions La Volte and the translator.
John Baxter: “The Hands” by John Baxter, copyright © 1965 by John Baxter. Originally published in New Writings in SF 6, edited by John Carnell (Corgi Books, 1965). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Barrington J. Bayley: “Sporting with the Chid” by Barrington J. Bayley, copyright © 1979 by Barrington J. Bayley. Originally published in The Seed of Evil (Allison & Busby, 1979). Reprinted by permission of the author’s representative.
Greg Bear: “Blood Music” by Greg Bear, copyright © 1983 by Greg Bear. Originally published in Analog (June 1983). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Dmitri Bilenkin: “Where Two Paths Cross” by Dmitri Bilenkin, originally published in English as “Crossing of the Paths” in Aliens, Travelers, and Other Strangers, edited by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (Macmillan, 1984). Originally published in Russian as “Пересечение пути” (“Peresechenie puti”) in Vokrug sveta 10 (1973), copyright © 1973. Translation copyright © 2016 by James Womack. This new translation published by permission of the author’s estate and the translator.
Jon Bing: “The Owl of Bear Island” by Jon Bing, copyright © 1986 by The Estate of Jon Bing. Originally published in Norwegian in Hvadata?: lesestykker for informasjonssamfunnet (Grøndahl og Dreyer, 1986). This translation originally appeared in Tales from Planet Earth, edited by Frederik Pohl and Elizabeth Anne Hull (St. Martin’s Press, 1986). Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate and the Gyldendal Agency.
Adolfo Bioy Casares: “The Squid Chooses Its Own Ink” by Adolfo Bioy Casares, copyright © 1962, 2015 by Heirs of Adolfo Bioy Casares. Originally published in Spanish as “El calamari opta su tinta” in El lado de la sombra (Emecé Editores, 1962). Translation copyright © 2016 by Marian Womack. This new translation published by permission of the author’s estate and the translator.
Michael Bishop: “The House of Compassionate Sharers” by Michael Bishop, copyright © 1977, 2011 by Michael Bishop. Originally published in Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine (May 1977). Revised text from The Door Gunner and Other Perilous Flights of Fancy: A Michael Bishop Retrospective, edited by Michael H. Hutchins (Subterranean Press, 2012). Reprinted by permission of the author.
James Blish: “Surface Tension” by James Blish, copyright © 1952, 1980 by The Estate of James Blish. Originally published in Galaxy (August 1952). Reprinted by permission of Judith L. Blish and The Virginia Kidd Agency, Inc.
Michael Blumlein: “The Brains of Rats” by Michael Blumlein, copyright © 1990 by Michael Blumlein. Originally published in The Brains of Rats (Scream Press, 1990). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Jorge Luis Borges: “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” by Jorge Luis Borges, copyright © 1988 by Maria Kodama. Translation copyright © 1998 by Penguin Random House LLC. Originally published in Spanish in Sur (May 1940). This translation originally appeared in Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Andrew Hurley (Viking Press, 1998). Reprinted by permission of Viking Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, and The Wylie Agency LLC.
Ray Bradbury: “September 2005: The Martian” by Ray Bradbury, copyright © 1949 by Popular Publications, renewed 1977 by Ray Bradbury. Originally published in Super Science Stories (November 1949). Reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc.
David R. Bunch: “Three from Moderan” by David R. Bunch, originally published individually as “The Flesh-Man from Far Wide,” copyright © 1959, in Amazing Stories (November 1959); “New Kings Are Not for Laughing” by David R. Bunch, copyright © 1970, and “No Cracks or Sagging” by David R. Bunch, copyright © 1970, originally published in Moderan (Avon Books, 1971). Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.
Octavia E. Butler: “Bloodchild” from Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler, copyright © 1984, 1995 by Octavia E. Butler. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Seven Stories Press (www.sevenstories.com).
Pat Cadigan: “Variation on a Man” by Pat Cadigan, copyright © 1984 by Pat Cadigan. Originally published in Omni (January 1984). Reprinted by permission of the author.
André Carneiro: “Darkness” by André Carneiro, copyright © 1963 by The Estate of André Carneiro. Translation by Leo L. Barrow. Originally published in Portuguese in the collection Diário da nave perdida (Edart, 1963). This translation originally appeared in Nova 2, edited by Harry Harrison (Walker, 1972). Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.
Stepan Chapman: “How Alex Became a Machine” by Stepan Chapman, copyright © 1996 by Stepan Chapman. Excerpted from The Troika (Ministry of Whimsy Press, 1997), with one section, “Spraying for Bugs,” originally published in Fantastic Worlds vol. 1, no. 1 (1996). Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.
C. J. Cherryh: “Pots” by C. J. Cherryh, copyright © 1985 by C. J. Cherryh. Originally published in Afterwar, edited by Janet Morris (Baen Books, 1985). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Ted Chiang: “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang, copyright © 1998 by Ted Chiang. Originally published in Starlight 2, edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Tor Books, 1998). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Arthur C. Clarke: “The Star” by Arthur C. Clarke, copyright © 1955 by The Estate of Arthur C. Clarke. Originally published in Infinity Science Fiction (November 1955). Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate and Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency, Inc.
John Crowley: “Snow” by John Crowley, copyright © 1985 by John Crowley. Originally published in Omni (November 1985). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Samuel R. Delany: “Aye, and Gomorrah” by Samuel R. Delany, copyright © 1967 by Harlan Ellison®, copyright renewed © 1995 by Samuel R. Delany. Originally published in Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison (Doubleday, 1967). Reprinted by permission of the author and Henry Morrison, Inc.
Philip K. Dick: “Beyond Lies the Wub” by Philip K. Dick, copyright © 1952 by Philip K. Dick. Originally published in Planet Stories (July 1952). Reprinted by permission of The Wylie Agency LLC.
Cory Doctorow: “Craphound” by Cory Doctorow, copyright © 1998 by Cordoc-Co LLC. Originally published in Science Fiction Age (March 1998). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Jean-Claude Dunyach: “Paranamanco” by Jean-Claude Dunyach, copyright © 1987 by Jean-Claude Dunyach. Translation by Sheryl Curtis. Originally published in French in Imagine…45 (June 1987). This translation reprinted by permission of the author and the translator.
S. N. Dyer: “Passing as a Flower in the City of the Dead” by S. N. Dyer, copyright © 1984 by Sharon N. Farber. Originally published in Universe 14, edited
by Terry Carr (Doubleday, 1984). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Harlan Ellison: “ ‘Repent Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktock Man” by Harlan Ellison®, copyright © 1965 by Harlan Ellison®, renewed © 1993 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation. Reprinted by arrangement with, and permission of, the author and the author’s agent, Richard Curtis Associates, Inc., New York. All rights reserved. Harlan Ellison is a registered trademark of The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
Carol Emshwiller: “Pelt” by Carol Emshwiller, copyright © 1958 by Carol Emshwiller. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (November 1958). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Karen Joy Fowler: “The Lake Was Full of Artificial Things” by Karen Joy Fowler, copyright © 1985 by Karen Joy Fowler. Originally published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (October 1985). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Sever Gansovsky: “Day of Wrath” by Sever Gansovsky. Translation copyright © 2016 by James Womack. Originally published in Russian in 1964. This new translation published by permission of the translator.
William Gibson: “New Rose Hotel” by William Gibson, copyright © 1984 by William Gibson. Originally published in Omni (July 1984). Reprinted by permission of the author and Martha Millard Literary Agency.
Angélica Gorodischer: “The Unmistakable Smell of Wood Violets” by Angélica Gorodischer, copyright © 1991 by Angélica Gorodischer. Translation copyright © 2016 by Marian Womack. Originally published in Spanish in Minotauro (1985). This first English-language translation published by permission of the author and translator.
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