Don Sakers (1958–2021)

“Pico review” written for the SF fanzine OtherRealms (SF review zine by Chuq Von Rospach, Jan. 1991): This is the best anthology I've read in a long time, not a failure in the bunch, with lots of first time writers as well as familier names. Filking is one of my favorite parts of fandom. I don't compose but I sing along whenever possible and I have a collection of both purchased and recorded-myself-at-filksings tapes. There are filks on everything from Asimov to Zelazny, from Beauty and the Beast to Star Wars, but this must be the first time a book has been written because of a filk. Leslie Fish's "Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three" is available on several recordings. It is funny and different and inspired this whole collection of short stories, some of which closely follow the details of the song, others using it only to set the scene. This includes everything from stories that exist only to set up a pun punch line to hard SF murder mystery. A number of the authors are filkers themselves. Only one story makes the ghost a horror figure (I won't spoil it by telling you which one). Usually she is the catalyst making the story happen but sometimes she just dances by in the background. The stories were very well selected, no two are the least bit similar though they all had the same song for a starting point.… (more)

I really enjoyed this book -- which frankly surprised me. It shows its age (published in 2002), and has rich overtones of Neil Stephenson. That said, I found it a more gripping interpretation of the potential impact of "the network." His sense of geopolitics was stunning, and with retrospect, its easy to see foreshadowing of Anonymous and current fears about epidemics... I highly recommend this.

NOTE: Borrowed from the Anne Arundel County Library (signed copy found on shelf -- but not appearing in catalog during check out; librarian eventually decided that it had been marked as lost in the past and removed from system; item was deemed in damaged condition and unfit for reshelving on return, after some back and forth the library gave me the copy).

(2014 Review #13)… (more)