- Hardcover
- Publisher: Gollancz (1 April 1999)
- ISBN-10: 0575065850
- ISBN-13: 978-0575065857
The Great Escape
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Combining science fiction and fantasy into an amusing and eclectic mix, this collection of 19 short stories mixes the seasoned writing skills of a master writer with tales of the fantastic. From fallen angels mounting a breakout from Hell and computer game designers haunted by cyberghosts to alien coffins bombarding the solar system and Jesus' brother aboard the first starship, these stories, irreverent and bizarre, are sure to amuse, bemuse, and entertain. This anthology brilliantly takes on the eerie and the weird-and does it with humour, wit, and tension.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
About the Author
Ian Watson (1943 - ) Ian Watson was born in England in 1943 and graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, with a first class Honours degree in English Literature. He lectured in English in Tanzania (1965-1967) and Tokyo (1967-1970) before beginning to publish SF with "Roof Garden Under Saturn" for the influential New Worlds magazine in 1969. He became a full-time writer in 1976, following the success of his debut novel The Embedding. His work has been frequently shortlisted for the Hugo and Nebula Awards and he has won the BSFA Award twice. From 1990 to 1991 he worked full-time with Stanley Kubrick on story development for the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence, directed after Kubrick's death by Steven Spielberg; for which he is acknowledged in the credits for Screen Story. Ian Watson lives in Northamptonshire, England.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Stories that just can't be put down
12 July 2002
Format:Hardcover
Ian Watson's The Great Escape is an incredible anthology of nineteen uniquely original and awe-inspiring short stories, ranging from a group of fallen angels determined to escape Hell, to a vampire with a weakness for confectionaries, to the difficulties of caring for aging parents inside of one's brain rather than in a more traditional nursing home. An amazing selection of vibrantly original, eclectic, and sometimes darkly satirical stories that run from one end of the spectrum of the fantastic to the other, The Great Escape bombards the reader with the new, the unexpected, and the stories that just can't be put down.
Virtually flawless storytelling
13 Oct 2009
Format:Hardcover
I'm really somewhat disappointed that I didn't discover Ian Watson's work sooner than now.
With one exception*, the stories presented in this collection not only are entertaining in their own right but each manages to pack at least two or three sorts of ideas into each quite seamlessly. Watson has managed to make even hard-ish sci-fi quite relatable while still exploring exactly what it means to be human...and beyond.
While some of the stories don't have the characters accomplishing much, it is amazing how little that detracts from the ease of reading - Watson has managed to make it so the characters are relatable regardless of what they might actually be accomplishing (or not).
*"My Vampire Cake," which I also thought was a very poor way or wrapping things up; "Ferryman" would have made for a much better last story.
With one exception*, the stories presented in this collection not only are entertaining in their own right but each manages to pack at least two or three sorts of ideas into each quite seamlessly. Watson has managed to make even hard-ish sci-fi quite relatable while still exploring exactly what it means to be human...and beyond.
While some of the stories don't have the characters accomplishing much, it is amazing how little that detracts from the ease of reading - Watson has managed to make it so the characters are relatable regardless of what they might actually be accomplishing (or not).
*"My Vampire Cake," which I also thought was a very poor way or wrapping things up; "Ferryman" would have made for a much better last story.
none
27 July 2002
Format:Hardcover
One of SF's most eclectically intelligent writer. Watson provides the reader with a plethora of ideas; the strange, weird, mundane, and eerie, then blends in his own brand of originality and supburb story mastery to give the reader a taste for more of his work, and it's nothing short of brilliant. Gary S. Potter Author/Poet
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