Isaac Asimov's Christmas

by Gardner Dozois (Editor), Sheila Williams (Editor), Sharon N. Farber (Contributor)

We know Christmas present. We know Christmas past. But what about Christmas future? Now, in extraordinary stories culled from the pages of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, today's acclaimed masters hurtle the holiday centuries forward.

Contents
1 • Promises to Keep • (1984) • novelette by Jack McDevitt
22 • Grandfather Christmas • (1994) • shortstory by James Patrick Kelly and Robert Frazier
41 • Inn • (1993) • novelette by Connie Willis
79 • A Midwinter's Tale • (1988) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick
96 • Second Cousin Twice Removed • (1991) • novelette by Cynthia Felice
119 • The Last Castle of Christmas • (1993) • novella by Alexander Jablokov
163 • Christmas Without Rodney • (1988) • shortstory by Isaac Asimov
172 • Space Aliens Saved My Marriage • (1990) • shortstory by Sharon N. Farber
183 • How to Feed Your Inner Troll • (1995) • shortstory by Leslie What
192 • The Nutcracker Coup • (1992) • novelette by Janet Kagan

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Christmas, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy

230 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

Gardner Raymond Dozois was an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004. He won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, both as an editor and a writer of short fiction.
Wikipedia entry: Gardner Dozois

http://us.macmillan.com/author/gardne...

Reviews

[N. M. D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of (mostly) Christmas-related stories from the pages of Asimov's SF magazine. The absurd cover art is sadly irrelevant.

There's a story in here called Second Cousin Twice Removed that's slow, meandering, lacks conflict and drama, and breaks just about all the rules of storytelling. Though I didn't love the story itself so much, I did love how it did what it wanted.

My least favorite story was Inn, about a church recital and the accidental time travel of Mary and Joseph while journeying to Bethlehem. It was long, repetitive, and uninteresting, despite the hype at the beginning about how may Hugos and Nebulas the author had won.

The best entry for me was A Midwinter's Tale, which manages to be a number of things at once. It's as much SF as it is fantasy, and it's both single perspective and multiple perspective, first person and third person. The story is weird and creative and the narrator is unreliable.

There's an Asimov story called Christmas Without Rodney and you'd think a later robot tale from the master would be great, but its a lifeless, dialed-in lump. I can't imagine the magazine that's named after him could reject his stories though, and that makes me wonder if he ever trolled them with intentionally mediocre submissions, like this one.

The Last Castle of Christmas was overly long and had too much world-building for a short. It felt like a spin-off story from a pre-established world. But even that was better than the end of the book, which descended into obnoxious, absurdist comedy. Until the very, very end, wrapping it up with a story called The Nutcracker Coup, where human ambassadors on an alien world bring some traditions to the planet Rejoicing, only to accidentally start a revolution. The only problem with this story was how American-centric the viewpoint was, but the aliens were really likable and well fleshed out.

Overall, a couple gems. Otherwise, meh.

[Kevin Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very fun collection of Christmas -set sci fi from the 80s and early 90s. The quality is generally strong and the tone is usually - but not always - fairly lighthearted. the final story, The Nutcracker Coup, is probably my favorite and the Asimove story is very minor but carries the author's unmistakable voice.

a fine collection for the season, all told.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love short stories, especially SF, these with an Xmas theme

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update:
My favorite stories were:
"Promises to Keep" by Jack McDevitt. Trouble on the space ship; what sacrifices would the crew member make to keep the space program alive?

"Grandfather Christmas" by Robert Frazier and James Patrick Kelly. When the girls' beloved grandmother dies, they turn to the their holographic AI dead step-grandfather.

"Second Cousin Twice Removed" by Connie Willis. There are so many people at the chaotic Christmas party that no one is even sure how that helpful young man is related to the family.

"Nutcracker Coup" by Janet Kagan. If you're working on an alien planet, is it wrong to teach the aliens about Christmas, nutcrackers, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?

Original:
Nothing says "Christmas" to me more than Isaac Asimov, a dead Jewish guy! I'll read this next year as I eat my Chinese takeout.

[Liam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like cheesy. But '90s cheesy is a cheesy I can't un-queasy. Most of these stories just felt like crap. That being said, "Promises to Keep" was readable (although only vaguely Christmas-y), "A Midwinter's Tale" and "The Nutcracker Coup" were pretty neat, and "Christmas without Rodney" (the only story actually written by Asimov) was short but sweet.

[John Love IV · Rating 3 out of 5]

A normal short story book but maybe slightly better overall. As usual, some stories were better than others. I had my favorites, of course. The vacation for the robot was cool in a strange way. The one on a moon way out in the solar system was interesting too in a different way.

Read the book but don't expect Santa. ;)

[Jason Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty good. Most of the stories were engaging. There was one I found confusing and therefore pointless. I won't say which one. You judge for yourself.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of seasonal stories. My favorites included "Inn" by Connie Willis and "Christmas Without Rodney" by Isaac Asimov.

[steph (librarianish) · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2019-28.