Lou Anders (editor), Fast Forward 1 (Pyr, 2007)
Fast Forward 1 is but one of dozens of anthologies and collections which have arrived here at Green Man for possible review over the past month. Some of them were very good, some were neither good nor terribly interesting, and a lot simply looked trendy because of their choices of the writers included. Most of us here have gotten in the habit of wandering down to the shelves in the Mail Room to see what's come in that might be interesting, and whoever sorted the review material had thoughtfully put all the anthologies and collections together. I commandeered the leather chair near the window in this room, grabbed a tall pile of anthologies and collections and settled in to see what tickled my fancy. A few hours later, Fast Forward 1 was one of a handful of ones I thought worthy of reading. I wasn't wrong!
Pyr, certainly one of the hottest new genre publishers we've seen over the past few decades, is responsible for Fast Forward 1. The Pyr Web site does a crack job of summing up who they are by saying Pyr:
is a new science fiction and fantasy imprint from Prometheus Books, a leader in publishing books for the scientific, professional, library, educational, popular and consumer markets. Prometheus Books took its name from the courageous Greek god who gave fire to humans, lighting the way to reason, intelligence, and independence. Pyr, the Greek word for fire, continues this connection to fire and the liveliness of imagination. In its exciting first year, Pyr has set the bar high for creativity, intelligence, and quality. Prometheus Books is proud of this addition to our legacy.
Lou Anders, Pyr Editorial Director, has a most excellent blog where he discusses Pyr and other related subjects.
He certainly rounded up a number of great writers (Robert Charles Wilson, Justina Robson, Paolo Bacigalupi, Robyn Hitchcock, Kage Baker, Tony Ballantyne, Elizabeth Bear, Stephen Baxter, AM Dellamonica, Larry Niven & Brenda Cooper, Louise Marley, Ken MacLeod, Mike Resnick & Nancy Kress, Ian McDonald, Pamela Sargent, Mary A. Turzillo, George Zebrowski, Gene Wolfe, John Meaney, Paul Di Filippo) for this anthology. Some I am very familiar with -- Kage Baker, Elizabeth Bear, and Gene Wolfe to name but three -- but many I had not read before (Paolo Bacigalupi, Tony Ballantyne, and AM Dellamonica, to name three of the latter). But I had heard of all of them in one way or another. I firmly believe that any anthology should introduce the reader to writers he or she has not encountered before. (Trendy is never good if it simply means picking whatever's cool at the moment.) Not surprisingly, many of these writers are published on Pyr. Surprised? I'm not. Anthologies are oft times used by publishers to introduce the readers to the crop of writers published by that company.
How do you read an anthology. Do you start at the beginning, read the introduction, and then the stories in order? Usually I don't. I go straight to the contents, look for the authors I know well, read their stories first, and than read the rest of the stories. After I read everything for the fiction, I go back and see what the editor thinks was the raison d’etre for what is here. Sometimes I shake my head in bemusement, sometimes I agree with what the editor thought he or she was doing, and sometimes I say what the fuck. I think Anders does a better job of rationalizing his choices than most do. Alvin Toffler of Future Shock fame said: 'The future arrives too soon and in the wrong order' and the 'Welcome to the Future' intro Anders does riffs off that premise rather well.
So what's good here? A story by Kage Baker ('Plotters and Shooters') is set in her Company universe but which is not a Company story, but a space opera in the form of a look at war in space above and beyond. Or how about a witty look at the future of wikis? 'Wikiworld' by Paul Di Filippo takes the ideas of Cory Doctorow one step further by showing what would happen in a society run on gifts, wikis, fast and lose consensus, and running code. The Something-Dreaming Game' by Elizabeth Bear is a gem of a great story as is Gene Wolfe's 'The Hour of the Sheep'. Most everything is superb here, with the only disappointment for me being Larry Niven & Brenda Cooper's 'The Terror Bard', which just felt like tired sf tropes recycled once 'gain. Overall I think Anders has done an exemplary job of putting together first rate anthology.
