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This month seems to be the "hard core" column about books for hard core fans.

Meet Me at Infinity is a collection of unpublished or rarely-published works by Science Fiction legend James Tiptree, Jr. Not all of the writing included here is Science Fiction. A lot of it is not fiction at all. Included are letters, travelogues, and other prose works not found in other collections.

Also on the bill this month is a collection by Connie Willis titled Miracle and other Christmas Stories. While I'm a huge fan of Connie Willis, I not much of a fan of Christmas - maybe because I'm a member of a non-Christian religion. If it had been anybody else's book I'd have passed it by. But other hard core Connie Willis fans will like this one, too.

Book Cover


    Meet Me at Infinity
    James Tiptree, Jr.

    Copyright © 2000 by Jeffrey D. Smith
    1st Ed. 04/00
    TOR Books

For two decades Alice Bradley Sheldon wrote some of the most popular fiction in the genre as James Tiptree, Jr. The first ten years, the disguise was so comlete that even her agent thought she was a man. Since James' address was a Post Office box in McLean, Virginia, some thought he must be a spy for the CIA. This helped explain (to them at least) why James refused to meet anyone in person. It was not until her mother died that she was uncovered. A friend with whom she had coresponded saw the obituary and realized who she must be.

This book is a collection of her short fiction which has not been previously anthologised. It also contains a lot of non-fiction written by her from various sources. Much of the non-fiction was written for various fanzines published by Jeffrey D. Smith. It gives the reader a lot of insight into the complex character who was Alli Sheldon.

For those who loved the work of Alice Sheldon, this book is a "must have."

Book Cover


    Miracle and other Christmas Stories
    by Connie Willis

    © 1999
    1st Mass Market Ed. 11/00
    Bantam Books

As mentioned in the introduction, I'm not a big fan of Christmas, but I'm a really big fan of Ms. Willis. The title story "Miracle" is as funny as To Say Nothing of the Dog or Bellwether. Its just the type of zany humor that Ms. Willis is rightfully famous for.

Other stories are more thoughtful, such as "Inn," a story about Mary and Joseph getting lost in the Judean Desert and showing up in an American church on Christmas eve. Its cold outside, but the assistant minister makes them wait in the snow for a bus from the homeless shelter.

I mainly read Science Fiction, of course, but some things are just too good to pass up. This is one of them. If you like Connie Willis' writing, you should definitely buy this one.

Until next month, keep reading!

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Text Copyright © 2001 Paul Roberts

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(Space Reader Illustration © 1998 Joe Singleton)