Jambo, Reader.
Between 1989 and 2012, a span of 23 years, the members of the World Science Fiction Society have seen fit to honor Mike Resnick with 36 Hugo nominations, 30 for his fiction, more than any other science fiction author. The 30 nominated short stories, including the five winning tales, are included in this volume.
As you read through these stories, you’ll find Theodore Roosevelt attempting to bring civilization to the Congo . . . and to London. You’ll return, with some regularity, to Africa, whether a mythical version existing on a terraformed asteroid or the historical birthplace of humanity along the Olduvai Gorge. Love and loss are depicted whether for a missing spouse, an old friend, an author one has never met, or a copper-skinned Martian princess. Walk in the dusty footsteps of Koriba or see what it is like to live with Dr. Frankenstein, his monster, and Igor.
Like the fables which are embedded in so many of these tales, these stories will entertain and make you think. Without seeming to, Resnick adds layers of depth to even the most innocuous-seeming story. And when you are finished, you’ll find yourself thinking about all they have to say.
And you’ll say Asante sana, Mike.
