Dust jacket by Bob Eggleton.
Fans of William Browning Spencer have been
waiting more than ten years for this, his second collection of short stories. The Ocean and All Its Devices won't
disappoint.
Spencer's first collection, The Return of Count Electric was
acclaimed by reviewers in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles
Times, Cemetery Dance, Publishers Weekly and other magazines
and newspapers. Science fiction legend Roger Zelazny, once introduced to
Spencer's work, became a lifelong devotee. He wrote: "William Browning
Spencer is one of those rare short story writers who comes along once in a
generation – like Saki, Collier, Sheckley – and manages to combine all of the
virtues within that restricted format."
The Ocean
and All Its Devices collects some of Spencer's finest published work. Three
of these stories appeared in "year's best" anthologies. Another, "The
Death of the Novel," was a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award, while "The
Essayist in the Wilderness" was on the final ballot for a World Fantasy
Award.
In stories within:
- The
proprietor of a seaside resort puzzles over the yearly off-season pilgrimage of
a curiously solemn couple and their fey child. ("The Ocean and All Its
Devices")
- A
marriage made in a heaven of parallel worlds is tested by impossible luck, both
good and bad. ("The Oddskeeper's Daughter")
- A
virtual reality addictions counselor is on the run with his zoned-out client,
pursued by the relentless architects of a seductive virtual game called Apes
and Angels. ("The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness")
- A young
girl, who speaks only in lines of poetry culled from world literature, is
poised between two universes while a social worker struggles to save her – and,
perhaps, doom a universe. ("Foster Child")
- A
circus magician races against time as the world threatens to end, not with a
bang or a whimper, but with the flick of a switch. ("The Lights of
Armageddon")
Here, at last, are these stories and other uncollected gems, the rest of
William Browning Spencer's short fiction.
Contents:
- The
Ocean and All Its Devices
- The
Oddskeeper's Daughter
- The
Death of the Novel
- Downloading
Midnight
- Your
Faithful Servant
- Foster
Child
- The
Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness
- The
Lights of Armageddon
- The
Essayist in the Wilderness
