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Death and the Librarian and Other Stories
Esther Friesner offers a collection of 12 of her best pieces of short fiction including brand new story, "Ilion", as well as two Nebula award-winning stories.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
1 person is currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
Esther M. Friesner
264 books710 followersEsther M. Friesner was educated at Vassar College, where she completed B.A's in both Spanish and Drama. She went to on to Yale University; within five years she was awarded an M.A. and Ph.D. in Spanish. She taught Spanish at Yale for a number of years before going on to become a full-time author of fantasy and science fiction. She has published twenty-seven novels so far; her most recent titles include Temping Fate from Penguin-Puffin and Nobody's Princess from Random House.
Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Aboriginal SF, Pulphouse Magazine, Amazing, and Fantasy Book, as well as in numerous anthologies. Her story, "Love's Eldritch Ichor," was featured in the 1990 World Fantasy Convention book.
Her first stint as an anthology editor was Alien Pregnant By Elvis, a collection of truly gonzo original tabloid SF for DAW books. Wisely, she undertook this project with the able collaboration of Martin H. Greenberg. Not having learned their lesson, they have also co-edited the Chicks In Chainmail Amazon comedy anthology series for Baen Books, as well as Blood Muse, an anthology of vampire stories for Donald I Fine, Inc.
"Ask Auntie Esther" was her regular etiquette and advice column to the SFlorn in Pulphouse Magazine. Being paid for telling other people how to run their lives sounds like a pretty good deal to her.
Ms. Friesner won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story of 1995 for her work, "Death and the Librarian," and the Nebula for Best Short Story of 1996 for "A Birth Day." (A Birth Day" was also a 1996 Hugo Award finalist.) Her novelette, "Jesus at the Bat" was on the final Nebula ballot in the same year that "Death and the Librarian" won the award. In addition, she has won the Romantic Times award for Best New Fantasy Writer in 1986 and the Skylark Award in 1994. Her short story, "All Vows," took second place in the Asimov's SF Magazine Readers' Poll for 1993 and was a finalist for the Nebula in 1994. Her Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel, Warchild, made the USA TODAY bestseller list.
She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two children, two rambunctious cats, and a fluctuating population of hamsters.
Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Aboriginal SF, Pulphouse Magazine, Amazing, and Fantasy Book, as well as in numerous anthologies. Her story, "Love's Eldritch Ichor," was featured in the 1990 World Fantasy Convention book.
Her first stint as an anthology editor was Alien Pregnant By Elvis, a collection of truly gonzo original tabloid SF for DAW books. Wisely, she undertook this project with the able collaboration of Martin H. Greenberg. Not having learned their lesson, they have also co-edited the Chicks In Chainmail Amazon comedy anthology series for Baen Books, as well as Blood Muse, an anthology of vampire stories for Donald I Fine, Inc.
"Ask Auntie Esther" was her regular etiquette and advice column to the SFlorn in Pulphouse Magazine. Being paid for telling other people how to run their lives sounds like a pretty good deal to her.
Ms. Friesner won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story of 1995 for her work, "Death and the Librarian," and the Nebula for Best Short Story of 1996 for "A Birth Day." (A Birth Day" was also a 1996 Hugo Award finalist.) Her novelette, "Jesus at the Bat" was on the final Nebula ballot in the same year that "Death and the Librarian" won the award. In addition, she has won the Romantic Times award for Best New Fantasy Writer in 1986 and the Skylark Award in 1994. Her short story, "All Vows," took second place in the Asimov's SF Magazine Readers' Poll for 1993 and was a finalist for the Nebula in 1994. Her Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel, Warchild, made the USA TODAY bestseller list.
She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two children, two rambunctious cats, and a fluctuating population of hamsters.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 25, 2020
Short stories in various styles including 2 Nebula winners and 3 more Nebula nominated stories.
I first became aware of Esther Friesner from her hilarious story "Love's Eldritch Ichor", in which H.P. Lovecraft is re-imagined as a writer of romance novels. Next I found "Mrs. Lurie and the Rapture" in which Mrs. Lurie is hilariously aghast that the Apocalypse is veering away from the script in Revelations. So I was hoping for more funny stories. This collection, though, shows more range. I still mostly prefer the funny ones, but the title story is also great.
All Vows - A ghost story about keeping promises, with some disturbing bits.
True Believer - A potion makes everything that one kid believes actually be true, including superheroes.
"White!" Said Fred - Some London Neo-Nazi rude boys get their comeuppance from a non-native genie.
A Birthday - A world in which abortion is legal, but comes with years of mandatory public shaming for the woman.
A Pig's Tale - The characters in Wonderland go off the rails when the text is subjected to Analysis. Hillarious! "The hare was the first to go ... They called him a rampant pagan fertility symbol and he never got over it. So much to live up to, and he a Methodist bachelor! The dormouse, on the other hand, was a dream of the womb. How clearly I recall his words of farewell: 'When they can't tell Assam tea from amniotic fluid, it's time to move on,' he said."
Love, Crystal and Stone - An homage to Federico García Lorca. I didn't understand.
In the Realm of Dragons - Gay bashers are avenged by a dragon.
Jesus at the Bat - Bad News Bears plus Jesus. Some laughs, but not my favorite of her funny stories.
Chanoyu - A Japanese fertility-helper robot suffers from a case of conscience. This is a complicated story that doesn't start to make sense until halfway through, but it is worth sticking with it.
Ilion - Angels and 9/11.
How to Make Unicorn Pie - Delightful and funny!
Death and the Librarian - You ain't taking me away till I'm finished reading!
I first became aware of Esther Friesner from her hilarious story "Love's Eldritch Ichor", in which H.P. Lovecraft is re-imagined as a writer of romance novels. Next I found "Mrs. Lurie and the Rapture" in which Mrs. Lurie is hilariously aghast that the Apocalypse is veering away from the script in Revelations. So I was hoping for more funny stories. This collection, though, shows more range. I still mostly prefer the funny ones, but the title story is also great.
All Vows - A ghost story about keeping promises, with some disturbing bits.
True Believer - A potion makes everything that one kid believes actually be true, including superheroes.
"White!" Said Fred - Some London Neo-Nazi rude boys get their comeuppance from a non-native genie.
A Birthday - A world in which abortion is legal, but comes with years of mandatory public shaming for the woman.
A Pig's Tale - The characters in Wonderland go off the rails when the text is subjected to Analysis. Hillarious! "The hare was the first to go ... They called him a rampant pagan fertility symbol and he never got over it. So much to live up to, and he a Methodist bachelor! The dormouse, on the other hand, was a dream of the womb. How clearly I recall his words of farewell: 'When they can't tell Assam tea from amniotic fluid, it's time to move on,' he said."
Love, Crystal and Stone - An homage to Federico García Lorca. I didn't understand.
In the Realm of Dragons - Gay bashers are avenged by a dragon.
Jesus at the Bat - Bad News Bears plus Jesus. Some laughs, but not my favorite of her funny stories.
Chanoyu - A Japanese fertility-helper robot suffers from a case of conscience. This is a complicated story that doesn't start to make sense until halfway through, but it is worth sticking with it.
Ilion - Angels and 9/11.
How to Make Unicorn Pie - Delightful and funny!
Death and the Librarian - You ain't taking me away till I'm finished reading!
August 8, 2018
I read the first story, All vows.
But i didn't understood the concept in it. Can someone please help. I m like dieing to know.
sahil.jain100892@ gmail.com
But i didn't understood the concept in it. Can someone please help. I m like dieing to know.
sahil.jain100892@ gmail.com
January 12, 2009
I read about half the stories in the book. Some of them were well written and some of them were extremely well written. They all made me terribly sad, which is the reason why I returned it before finishing it.
June 28, 2012
I enjoyed this collection of short stories by Esther Friesner, mostly reprinted from elsewhere. My favorites were her humorous ones. Some of them were a bit obtuse for me, but I really liked the title story and How to Make Unicorn Pie.
July 28, 2014
Still reading this, but for this one story, Jesus at the Bat, I love you Esther Friesner...
Finished. I didn't know how wide Friesner's range was till now. Funny, poignant, heartbreaking stories, well worth reading. Go find this book.
Finished. I didn't know how wide Friesner's range was till now. Funny, poignant, heartbreaking stories, well worth reading. Go find this book.
February 2, 2008
Esther Freisner is one of my favorite sci-fi/speculation/dystopia/comedic fantasy writers. I gobble up anything I can get by her. So maybe my review is a bit biased. But DAMN the woman can write!
April 3, 2009
This is one of the best books of short stories I've ever read! Very diverse, from hilarious to heart-breaking...
June 2, 2010
Gorgeous, sad, and hopeful all at the same time....
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews