Strange Travelers: New Selected Stories
Gene Wolfe
Language: English
Pages: 384
ISBN: 031287278X
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Gene Wolfe is producing the most significant body of short fiction of any living writer in the SF genre. It has been ten years since the last major Wolfe collection, so Strange Travelers contains a whole decade of achievement. Some of these stories were award nominees, some were controversial, but each is unique and beautifully written.
The Voylestown telephone directory provided a home number for Doctor Ormond. Emery pressed it in. “Hello.” “Doctor Ormond? This is Emery Bainbridge.” “Right. Ralph Merton told me about you. I’ll try to get out there just as quick as I can.” “This is about another matter, Doctor. I’m afraid we’ve had a gun go off by accident.” A slight gasp came over the wire as Ormond drew breath. “Someone was hit. Is it bad?” “Both of us were. I hope not too badly, though. We had a loaded rifle—my hunting
and sing it, too. Play and sing it pretty well, not that anybody cared. He pictured himself seated on the tarred hatch cover of a transatlantic packet with his guitar on his lap and a villainous black stogie smoldering between thumb and forefinger, ringed by delighted sailors and passengers. The brake lights of the dragster glowed as obstinately red as ever. Wouldn’t that fool kid ever make it easy on himself? Benson let his head loll to one side, then the other, rolling it upon his shoulders.
thousand light-years, Captain Chance. Since you carry fuel for one recharging, half a million light-years defines the sphere of no return. For convenience we may call it a hundred and fifty thousand parsecs. Larger ships are capable of more, but larger ships are both more easily detected and less easily spared.” Mack nodded. “I take it that this is outside my sphere, E-One. I won’t be able to get back.” “Correct. The distance is nine hundred thousand parsecs. You will require six jumps to reach
“May I be of service, sir? I am House, the butler.” Christmas Rose said, “This little boy is looking for Father Eddi, House. If you happen to see him …?” “Of course, madame.” Sherby tried to grasp the skirt of House’s blue-striped waistcoat, but no resistance met his fingers. “You should’ve stopped them! You know you should!” “I could not, Master Sherbourne, as long as your father was alive. And as your mother was, ah,” the butler cleared his throat, “the first to leave us, I was helpless
his head. “I haven’t got it.” “Three hundred, then. Jeff I got to give that doctor somethin’.” Like the flower in the garden, All the color has flown, Don’t you see what I’ve come to, For loving such a one. It was, he decided, pretty reasonable for what he’d had. They went back into the house, and he wrote her a check in his den to the tinkling music of the old piano. “Jeff,” (she held his check, the keys to the Buick, and both his hands in hers) “you’re goin’ to get this back. Never doubt