Superman never made any money for saving the world from Solomon Grundy

Monday, August 8, 2022

Solitaire Book Club: Other Worlds Than These

Other Worlds Than These edited by John Joseph Adams. I have waxed enthusiastic elsewhere about my love for the science-fiction anthologies of my youth, and while this latest collection is only ten years old, it held that same power to transport me. I am a big alternate-history fan, and this book's theme is counterfactual-adjacent: portal worlds and parallel worlds. (Think Narnia for the first and the Star Trek Mirror Universe for the second.) The selections lean a bit more toward the SF than fantasy, which was fine with me; in any case, there are 30 stories told over 548 pages so there's plenty of variety and you can even skip one or two if they are not to your taste. It is a great choice for summer deck time reading, with stories ranging from lighthearted and clever to deeply disturbing, written mostly in a span of ten years before and after the turn of the millennium.  The book does close with a Robert Silverberg story I am sure I first read in high school fifty years ago, so for me, that was the cherry on top.

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