I Remember the Future: The Award-Nominated Stories of Michael A. Burstein

[Note: this review first appeared on SFScope.com.] Michael A. Burstein is a good friend of mine. He has been ever since Charles Ardai dragged him along to my birthday party when I was a young assistant editor for Analog Science Fiction and Fact and Asimov's Science Fiction magazines (and just starting out as a science fiction writer, too). Michael (then a not-yet-published author) seemed almost sychophantically pleased to meet me (or maybe that's just my ego rewriting the scene). Since then, I've watched his career as a science fiction writer grow much larger and faster than my own, and though I'll frequently (jokingly) tell him I hate him for his success, while my own writing languishes, in truth (and he knows it), I couldn't be happier for him. And perhaps hate is too strong a word: I envy him. I envy his ability to turn words into evocative stories; it's an ability I'm still trying to develop, and for him it seems to have taken no effort. I still remember the young Michael at my birthday party, and I still want to be the one farther along the career curve. Yet I know he's worked hard at his craft, and succeeded. He's gotten what he's achieved through his own efforts, and he deserves to be a well-known, well-liked, admired science fiction writer. Let's face it: he's good. That's a far more personal introduction for a book review than I've ever written, or than I expect to read, but Michael's stories engender that personal kind of feeling. Every story in this collection, whether implicitly or explicitly, truly or not, seems to be about him, his relatives, and the people he knows (or would like to). They aren't, of course, but they feel just that intimate. Here, he's collected sixteen stories, most of which appeared first in Analog Science Fiction and Fact and were subsequently nominated for major awards in the science fiction field (Hugos, Nebulas, and several others), and written new afterwords discussing their geneses. Most of these are quiet, thoughtful stories, rather than gosh-wow slam-bang action stories. In the afterword to "Broken Symmetry", he writes about an early rejection for the story, asking him to add more "zing", and how, by moving the explosion up to the very beginning of the story (and coincidentally killing off my namesake character in the second line), he achieved that, selling the story. But these aren't "zing" stories. They're stories of people in sometimes difficult situations trying to improve their lot in life, or just improve life in general. They're frequently (though not always) religious people, as Michael himself is, but their religion isn't their raison d'être, it's simply a part of who they are (though strict adherence to a religion is sometimes a cause of difficulty in a largely secular world). His stories are quiet, often moving explorations of life and loss and memory. He writes eloquently about the need to remember horrible events after all the survivors have died ("Kaddish for the Last Survivor", "Time Ab

Michael Burstein is sometimes pigeonholed as an "old-fashioned" SF writer. Those who wish to do so will certainly find the proof they want in this, his first collection of short stories. Yet it also misses the point. Burstein has the same transparent style we associate with Isaac Asimov, but that doesn't mean the writing is artless nor that the content isn't right up-to-date. In fact his stories might well have shocked an editor like John Campbell. Characters who are Orthodox Jews or poor black kids or Catholic priests? Stories that reflect on the history of the genre itself? This is NOT your father's science fiction. I've known Michael Burstein for more than ten years and from his famous debut, "TeleAbsence," to his most recent stories, it's always been a pleasure to see where he's going next. This is a long overdue collection and a marvelous introduction to Burstein's work.

This collection of entertaining, thought-provoking, and accessible science fiction stories should captivate any fan of the genre. "I Remember the Future" gathers some of Michael Burstein's best stories (most of which were nominated for the Nebula and/or Hugo awards) along with a few new ones. My personal favorites are Kaddish for the Last Survivor, TeleAbsence, and Sanctuary, but I expect any one of these stories will be someone's favorite. The complete list of stories: * Kaddish for the Last Survivor: As the last Holocaust survivor lies dying, reporters and Holocaust deniers crowd around his home, while his granddaughter comes to visit with her non-Jewish boyfriend. This is probably Michael Burstein's most famous story, and justifiably so. In the afterword, the author includes the original ending for the story, which was fascinating to read - especially as it contained a personal result for the protagonist that, from reading the story as printed, I had assumed to be the opposite. * TeleAbsence: A black kid from the inner city sneaks into an expensive virtual reality school. * TelePresence: A murder mystery set in a virtual reality school, years after the events in "TeleAbsence." * Broken Symmetry, Absent Friends, Reality Check, Empty Spaces: These four stories form the "Broken Symmetry" series, about a leak formed between two parallel universes and its repercussions for all the people involved. "Empty Spaces" is a new story in the series, written for this collection. * Spaceships: In the far future, when humans no longer have bodies and exist as immortal presences in space, Kel has isolated himself from the rest of Humanity. He also has an odd hobby: he likes to collect spaceships.... * Decisions: An intriguing answer to the question of why, if there are aliens out there, we haven't heard from them yet. * Time Ablaze: A heartbreaking time-travel story that focuses on the General Slocum tragedy in turn-of-the-century New York City. * Seventy-Five Years: The only science-fiction story I've ever read that's about the US Census. * Sanctuary: An alien fleeing religious persecution seeks sanctuary in a Catholic chapel. * I Remember the Future: A dying science-fiction writer is in for quite a surprise. * Cosmic Corkscrew: A time-traveler journeys to 1938 to make a copy of Isaac Asimov's first story. * Paying it Forward: A fan writes an email to a dead writer - and receives a reply.

Michael A. Burstein is an Isaac Asimov for the new millennium, producing award-nominated story after award-nominated story in the grand Asimovian tradition: straight-forward prose, clever ideas, and a shining humanity that makes one proud to be part of our species. My personal favorite is "Kaddish for the Last Survivor," but all the stories gathered here are terrific reminders of what SF is capable of in the hands of someone who genuinely loves the genre and knows its history. Bravo!