Links: NESFA Press Book Page / Show Official Info /

The people at NESFA have done it again--taken on an incredibly ambitious project and excelled at it. This six volume series, of which this is the first, fat volume, is going to collect every single one of Roger Zelazny's short stories. The collection will also have some essays, non-fiction, poetry, and novel excerpts. And many of the pieces are followed by short essays by Zelazny about the story and how it came to be or additional meaning contained within it.

Crikey, let me say this again. Every. Single, Zelazny. Short. Story. All of them. There is perhaps no greater writer of novella length fantastic fiction than Roger Zelazny. And there is no one writer who had more to do with a move toward use of metaphor and myth than he did.

The volume starts with what might be Zelazny's most important short story, "A Rose For Ecclesiastes". This is followed by story after story, capturing Zelazny's writing from the beginning to the mid-sixties. There are many important works here including "Horesman!", "Nine Starships Waiting" and "Circe Has Her Problems". If you've read Zelazny then this is your chance to read him again. If you have never read Zelazny then you are in for a real treat.

The books have a fabulous cover done by Michael Whelan which really captures Zelazny's work and provide the perfect entry into his worlds.

I have to admit that Zelazny began being published just about the time I started reading short fiction so I read pretty much every as it came out, first his short fiction and then his novels. Zelazny has, simply put, a way with words, that you just don't see that often and if you are a fan of writing then you just have to read him. Heck, if you're a fan of good fiction you have to read him as well.