Picnic on Nearside

According to the start of this book, it has also been called the Barbie Murders. Yet more of Varley's high quality burst of short fiction collected. No particular standouts, just overall above average to good work for the whole book, with nothing remotely in the ordinary range. Some of the stories again are in settings used before, The Barbie Murders, etc. A 3.67 average here, so rather good. Picnic on Nearside : BAGATELLE - John Varley Picnic on Nearside : THE FUNHOUSE EFFECT - John Varley Picnic on Nearside : THE BARBIE MURDERS - John Varley Picnic on Nearside : EQUINOCTIAL - John Varley Picnic on Nearside : MANIKINS - John Varley Picnic on Nearside : BEATNIK BAYOU - John Varley Picnic on Nearside : GOOD-BYE ROBINSON CRUSOE - John Varley Picnic on Nearside : LOLLIPOP AND THE TAR BABY - John Varley Picnic on Nearside : PICNIC ON NEARSIDE - John Varley An expert and the police have a cyborg turned into a nuclear bomb by terrorists to deal with. 4 out of 5 Hell's Snowball last trip Free-Birth hijack. 3.5 out of 5 Standard lookalikes hard to investigate. 4 out of 5 Engineer birth hunt Parameter Symbiote ennui Ringer alternative. 4 out of 5 Male parasite paranoia phantom pregnancy. 3.5 out of 5 Age specific education and punishment. 3.5 out of 5 Transplant Disneyland ghost shark shag shot cash fightback. 3.5 out of 5 Mother love hunt black hole sneaky convo. 3.5 out of 5 No change celibate old bloke chat conkout. 3.5 out of 5 4.5 out of 5

The stories in this collection are very enjoyable, and if you've read The Ophiuchi Hotline, some of them provide excellent background for that novel's characters and events, especially a great story featuring Parameter-Solstice. I would have liked more variety between the stories, though. They're all set in Varley's "occupied Earth" universe, and while they have do have interesting plots, they contain the same themes in the background: sexual ambiguity, body manipulation, etc. I'd like to see Varley move away from this general setting and try something different.I agree that this book should be put back in print, along with Ophiuchi Hotline, Persistence of Vision, and a mass-market edition of Millennium. It's hard to understand why Varley's best work is either out of print or in expensive trade editions, while his worst work (Steel Beach, Titan) is still available.

I find Varley's short stories are generally better than his novels. The stories in The Barbie Murders are not quite his best (look for "The Persistance of Vision" -- also out of print) but still worth the time. Favorites: title story, Equinoctals, Picnic on Nearside.

Varley is one of the greatest writers of SF of the last 20 years. Why is it that major book publishers let what amount to classic short stories go out of print?! Shame on you! If you can find a used copy of this book, buy it! You will not be disappointed, Varley's vision of the future is sharp, haunting, and intelligent!

When in God's name is this collection coming back into print? No wonder sf readers often have no sense of history when good, relatively recent stuff like this is unavailable. For shame.