Facets

In my humble opinion, Walter Jon Williams is a largely undiscovered gem of science fiction. "Facets" is a collection of his early short stories, originally published 1985-1990, and is well worth your time. Williams writes in too many genres to really classify, but during that period, he was best known for two (awesome) cyberpunk novels, Hardwired and Voice Of The Whirlwind. This collection shows the cyberpunk influence, and includes a sequel of sorts to Voice of the Whirlwind, "Wolf Time." As always, Williams is inventive and diverse, and includes far-future stories, alternate histories, and some stuff that is harder to classify. Many of the stories are haunting and have stuck with me since I first read them, decades ago. If there's a common thread, it's that many of the stories dip into the essence of cyberpunk - a sense of sadness born out of loss. Whether it's Edgar Allen Poe fighting in the Civil War or a former superhero narrating his fall, there's a beautiful noir-style fatalism to most of these stories that unites them. Well worth your time.

This collection of Walter Jon Williams's output of short fiction from the late eighties boasts a pair of remarkable characteristics: rarely will you see a writer exhibit such a breadth of subject matter (Williams is equally at home a hundred years in the past or millions of years in the future), and rarely will you see a story collection in which every single selection is legitimately first rate. The odds of both of these superlatives intersecting in a single anthology are slight, but intersect they have. This may not be the best single-author SF collection ever, but those who read it will likely find that it is the best collection by an author whose other work they have never read. Shame on whatever forces allow this book to continue to be out of print. And now, the contents (all stories originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine unless otherwise noted): "Surfacing" (1988): A linguist, already able to converse with whales, attempts to decipher the language of underwater behemoths on an alien planet and must also contend with an entity who occasionally inhabits the body of his lover. A fantastic character study, although my suspicion is that whales and dolphins aren't going to turn out to be as intelligent as some people hope. This is set in the same universe as Williams's novel "Knight Moves," in which humanity has attained immortality (other stories and novels may well be set there, too; I'm not familiar with most of Williams's work). "Video Star" (1986): In a cyberpunk future, gangs war over a supply of stolen drugs, but the real conflict arises as a result of the injudicious editing of a documentary of the crime. "No Spot of Ground" (1989): Ingenious alternate history tale that sees unsuccessful (though significantly longer-lived) writer Edgar Allen Poe serving as a Confederate general during the Civil War. To say more would be to detract from the artistry of this piece. "Flatline" (1988): A mild-mannered fellow develops a virus to invade the atificial intelligences that run everything; will the infection make them weaker or stronger? "Side Effects" (1985): A cabal of drug companies, insurance companies and doctors ignore the interests of patients in favor of the bottom line. While it tends toward alarmism (the real pharmaceutical industry does infinitely more good than harm), I found it bittersweet; despite his nefariousness, the story's central character comes tantalizingly close to a real breakthrough. "Witness" (1987, originally published in the first volume of the "Wild Cards" shared world series edited by George R. R. Martin): After World War II, four Aces (possessors of superpowers as a result of an alien virus) serve freedom's interests around the world until they become inconvenient and are subjected to the scrutiny of the House Un-American Acitivites Committee. Yet another excellent alternate history tale from Williams, though unfortunately he treads the customary fine line regarding communism. One can

A good hard sf collection; 'facets' of Williams' talent.