Description

Night Shift: Plus Ursula and the Author, Plus Promised Lands and much more by Eileen Gunn

Paperback – Pm Pr – Aug 2022 – 111 pages

It is a truth universally acknowledged that certain women, steeped in the tropes and traditions of serious SF, will want to upend and  alter them. So it is with Gunn. Her stories are grounded in science but seasoned with fantasy, subversive wit, and dry humor. Her future is a bent one, with sharp edges.

Cryonics come with instructions in “After the Thaw,” a coldly high-tech take on an ancient dream come true: immortality. A handy how-to for business travelers, “transitions,” tells how to deal with jet lag when your flight is several decades late, and your iPhone (like your marriage) is suddenly obsolete.

Plus…

Our title story, “Night Shift at NanoGobblers,” written for a NASA-linked website, is about asteroid-altering AIs and their overworked earthbound operators. “Terrible Trudy on the Lam,” based on actual events, is a modern mystery about a clean escape, a private eye, a vaudeville act, and keeping your big mouth shut. Gunn’s long-awaited third collection is rounded out by incisive and affectionate portraits of her SF colleagues, mentors, and pals, beginning with Gardner Dozois in the bar.

And Featuring: “I Did, and I Didn’t, and I Won’t,” our artfully intrusive Outspoken Interview in which Microsoft is tagged, a fish is caught, and God is not mocked.