FUTURE ON ICE
edited by Orson Scott Card
A collection originally intended as a companion to the 1989 volume Future on Fire (not seen), a showcase of 1980s science fiction stories; editor Card remarks on the hiatus but offers no explanation. He does, however, supply a hefty introduction that ties in such diverse topics as Star Wars, religion, science, and moral philosophy. Of these 18 pieces, 1983-87, several have gone on to fame and fortune: John Varley's computer paranoia, "Press Enter"; "Robot Dream," Isaac Asimov's metal Moses; George R. R. Martin's "Portraits of His Children" (which literally come alive); Lisa Goldstein's "Tourists" turned into a novel; Greg Bear's microscopic, intelligent computers that play "Blood Music"; John Kessel's "The Pure Product," which deals in corrupt futures; and "Out of All Them Bright Stars," where Nancy Kress's blue aliens choose Earth to visit. Other tales are less famous but almost as good. Quality material, if a dollar over and a decade late.