What do you think?
Rate this book
Retrieval Artist
The Retrieval Artist and Other Stories
This collection of short stories by award-winning author Rusch includes the first story featuring Miles Flint, hero of the Retrieval Artist series, as well as two stories which formed the basis for her novel Alien Influences.
Contents include:
"The Retrieval Artist"
"Dancers Like Children"
"Alien Influences"
"Flowers and the Last Hurrah"
"The One That Got Away"
"Results"
"Reflections of Life and Death"
"Present"
"Without End"
Contents include:
"The Retrieval Artist"
"Dancers Like Children"
"Alien Influences"
"Flowers and the Last Hurrah"
"The One That Got Away"
"Results"
"Reflections of Life and Death"
"Present"
"Without End"
295 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2001
About the author
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
1,382 books725 followersKristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance, and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists –even in London– and have been published in 14 countries and 13 different languages.
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Read
July 18, 2010These are workmanlike detective stories with interesting-but-sketchy world-building. Rusch must have thought so, too, because when I searched her work, I saw that many of these stories had been later spun out into long intricate multi-volume series. Which I now can't read because I know the solutions to all the mysteries. So SPOILER ALERT--don't read these, read the books they spawned!
January 6, 2012
I picked up this book at the library because I'd liked the Retrieval Artist series and wanted to read the story that started it all. It was a huge surprise to discover that somehow, the library had deleted the book's record from the system without removing the book from the shelf...which meant it was for sale. Total cost to me for a practically unused and fairly rare book, fifty cents. I have trouble maintaining my sorrow when good books get sold off when I'm the beneficiary of the cutbacks.
Story collections, like albums, are usually uneven in...quality isn't exactly the word, I guess. Better to say that I almost never love all the stories in a collection. This one is no exception. Rusch's science fiction has a bleakness I enjoy, probably because it comes out of human nature rather than a dystopian future, and that gives it a different feel than, say, a Philip K. Dick or Richard Matheson story. I expected not to love "The Retrieval Artist" simply because I've read the rest of the series, where the story's concept has been fleshed out, and it was exactly what I expected. "Present" is funny and very naughty, "Dancers Like Children" and "Alien Influences" were sad and creepy, but the rest didn't really do it for me. On the whole, I'm glad to have the book, but I think I preferred her collection Millennium Babies more.
Story collections, like albums, are usually uneven in...quality isn't exactly the word, I guess. Better to say that I almost never love all the stories in a collection. This one is no exception. Rusch's science fiction has a bleakness I enjoy, probably because it comes out of human nature rather than a dystopian future, and that gives it a different feel than, say, a Philip K. Dick or Richard Matheson story. I expected not to love "The Retrieval Artist" simply because I've read the rest of the series, where the story's concept has been fleshed out, and it was exactly what I expected. "Present" is funny and very naughty, "Dancers Like Children" and "Alien Influences" were sad and creepy, but the rest didn't really do it for me. On the whole, I'm glad to have the book, but I think I preferred her collection Millennium Babies more.
March 8, 2013
3.5 stars. Listened to the original short story, not the "other stories". I enjoyed it and will listen to the rest of the series.
It is more detective story than sci-fi story.
It is more detective story than sci-fi story.
January 9, 2026
I liked the title story, “Retrieval Artist”
March 5, 2016
Liked some stories more than others. While all were well-written, some were just not my cup of tea thematically. One gave me nightmares.
February 3, 2010
I like the The Retrieval Artist, and want to read the series. I haven't read the other stories in the book.
April 18, 2010
short stories are not my favorite form but I enjoyed this
December 27, 2012
I only read The retrieval artist (short story), audiobook. Liked it (better than book 1, on with book 2, let's see if it gets better or worse).
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews