''Universe 2'' is an
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...
of original
science fiction short stories edited by
Robert Silverberg and
Karen Haber, the second volume in a
series of three, continuing an earlier series of the same name edited by
Terry Carr. It was first published in hardcover
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...
and trade paperback by
Bantam Spectra in March 1992.
The book collects twenty-two novelettes and short stories by various science fiction authors, together with an introduction by Silverberg.
Contents
* "Introduction" (
Robert Silverberg)
* "
Life on the Artificial Heart" (
Mark W. Tiedemann
Mark W. Tiedemann (born 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American science fiction and detective fiction author. He has written novels set in Isaac Asimov's Robot series (Asimov), ''Robot'' universe, and within his own original universe, known as ...
)
* "
Automatic Death" (
Cary James)
* "
Waterworld, or All the Way Down" (
John K. Gibbons)
* "
Her Toes Were Beautiful on the Hilltops: Three Enigmas" (
Brian W. Aldiss)
** "
Another Way Than Death"
** "
That Particular Green of Obsequies"
** "
The Ancestral Home of Thought"
* "
The Cool Equations" (
Deborah Wessell)
* "
The Fire the Fire" (
Alex Jeffers
Alex Jeffers is an American novelist and short story writer. He is the grandson of Robinson Jeffers. His work has appeared in ''The Pioneer'', the ''North American Review'', ''Blithe House Quarterly'', and ''Fantasy and Science Fiction''. He also c ...
)
* "
The Sum of All Potentials" (
John M. Landsberg)
* "
Most Politely, Most Politely" (
Barry N. Malzberg
Barry Nathaniel Malzberg (born July 24, 1939) is an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy.
Biography
Malzberg originated from a Jewish family and graduated from Syracuse University in 1960. He worked as an investi ...
)
* "
Souls in the Great Machine
Sean Christopher McMullen (born 21 December 1948 in Sale, Victoria) is an Australian science fiction and fantasy author.
Biography
McMullen is one of Australia's leading science-fiction and fantasy authors and has written over 70 stories and ...
" (
Sean McMullen)
* "
Lost in Transmission" (
Tony Daniel)
* "
Job Security" (
Joe W. Haldeman)
* "
The Passing of the Eclipse" (
Donna Farley)
* "
Forty at the Kiosk" (
Nicholas A. DiChario)
* "
By the Mirror of My Youth" (
Kathe Koja)
* "
Memories of Muriel" (
Paula May)
* "
Waiting for the Rain" (
Dirk Strasser)
* "
Program's Progress" (
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, ''Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was publishe ...
)
* "
The Shining Place" (
Jamil Nasir
Jamil Nasir is an American science fiction and fantasy author born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
He has won a Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for foreign novel and received a special citation from the Philip K. Dick Award
The Philip K. Dic ...
)
* "
Triad
Triad or triade may refer to:
* a group of three
Businesses and organisations
* Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America
* Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...
" (
Lisa Mason
Lisa Elena Jane Mason (born 26 February 1982 in Aylesbury, England) is a British gymnast who has competed for her country at the Commonwealth Games (for England), European championships, World championships and the Olympic Games. She was the v ...
)
* "
(from) The Bridge" (
Alex Jeffers
Alex Jeffers is an American novelist and short story writer. He is the grandson of Robinson Jeffers. His work has appeared in ''The Pioneer'', the ''North American Review'', ''Blithe House Quarterly'', and ''Fantasy and Science Fiction''. He also c ...
)
* "
Burning Bush" (
Carolyn Gilman
Carolyn M. Gilman (born July 17, 1939) is an American politician from Maine. Gilman, a Republican, served in the Maine State Senate from 2002 to 2004, representing her residence in Westbrook, Maine and nearby areas of Cumberland County.
She was ...
)
* "
Metal Teeth" (
Lou Fisher)
Reception
''
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
'' rates the anthology "
out average overall, with new ideas few and far between and a stale writers'-workshop air hanging over much of the proceedings." Singled out as "
me of the more intriguing entries" are "a murder mystery set aboard a Mars shuttle (Cary James); an alien contact/transcendence tale (Carolyn Gilman); absorbing xenology from Paula May; three more peculiar yet stimulating enigmas, courtesy of the redoubtable Brian W. Aldiss; and a witty parody of Tom Godwin's famous story, "The Cold Equations" (Deborah Wessel)."
''Kirkus Reviews'', Feb. 15, 1992
Awards
The anthology placed fourth in the 1993 Locus Poll Award for Best Anthology.
References
{{Reflist
1992 anthologies
Universe 19
Robert Silverberg anthologies
Bantam Books books