refaced with an introduction by Karen Joy Fowler, this volume presents 14 stories by well-known SF novelist Richard Paul Russo rescued from the pages of various SF magazines, notably Asimov's and F&SF.
In "Listen to My Heartbeat," the narrator reconciles with his newly cyborg-transformed astronaut wife on the verge of her ascent into space.
"Just Drive, She Said" finds a kidnapped motorist taken on a cross-dimensional ride. A Vietnam vet recalls his buddy's encounter with a UFO during the height of the war in "In the Season of the Rains." "The Open Boat" charts the descent into madness of some hapless interstellar castaways. "Lunar Triptych: Embracing the Night" examines the occult side of the space program. In "Celebrate the Bullet," a photographer finds herself drawn into a creepy experiment in social engineering. A dead woman materializes out of the stuff of dreams in "Watching Lear Dream," provoking trouble between her two former lovers. "Telescope, Saxophone, and the Pilot's Death" dissects the twisted relationship between a blocked sculptor and an ailing starship pilot.
The AIDS crisis provides metaphoric material for a dismal future in "Cities in Dust." Two elderly loners, "Liz and Diego," discover queer alien treasures south of the border. "No Place Anymore" is where Simeon, a futuristic revenant, finds himself. A contemporary dreamer endures an astral link to another world in "Prayers of a Rain God." In "More Than Night," a human hireling named Mallon learns he has bitten off more than he can chew when his alien bosses, the chuurka, send him through a matter transmitter to a cavern world. Finally, the book's only outright fantasy, "View from Above," highlights the unlikely epiphany of an average working Joe.
Love amid the cosmic ruins
Richard Paul Russo is not an optimist, the kind of visionary who sees grand galactic fulfillment for humankind. His stories cluster fairly close to the present, and when they do venture into the far future, they generally show humans as niche-dwellers. His characters often come to grim ends, and when they occasionally triumph, their victories are often compromised and unsatisfying. (The most extreme example of this worldview is "The Open Boat," where the hyperspace castaways undergo a one-way sensory-deprivation trip to oblivion.) Russo sees the universe as a hostile place, where even personal integrity, endurance, love and courage barely suffice to meet harsh cosmic challenges.
Nonetheless, this Hemingwayesque philosophy does not preclude the telling of fascinating, even uplifting stories. In "Listen to My Heartbeat," a grieving husband, Cale, finds some peace after one last meeting with his transmogrified astronaut wife. The nameless narrator of "Just Drive, She Said" discovers that carjacking by a sexy, extradimensional female bandito has its pluses. And the poverty-stricken, soul-wounded scavengers Liz and Diego get a second chance via alien tech.
Ultimately, Russo successfully blends the stern moral realism of James Tiptree Jr., the fecund clarity of Robert Reed and the propulsive narrative rhythms of Pohl and Kornbluth circa Wolfsbane. But he also exhibits a surprising flair for Ballardian madness ("Lunar Triptych") and Borgesian metaphysics ("Watching Lear Dream"). His ambition is matched only by his careful craft. Russo combines heart, soul and intellect into a winning recipe, bitter yet bracing.
