Zenith

Zenith: The Best in New British Science Fiction #1

by David S. Garnett (Editor)

In Translation by Lisa Tuttle
Time of the Tree by Robert Holdstock
Death Ship by Barrington J. Bayley
The Traveller by Colin Greenland
Cinema Altéré by Andrew Stephenson
The Pleasure Giver Taken by Storm Constantine
White Noise by Garry Kilworth
Gardenias by Ian McDonald
Feminopolis by Elizabeth Sourbut
Days in the Life of a Galactic Empire by Brian W. Aldiss
Skyrider by William King
The Bridge by Christopher Evans

298 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1989

About the author

David S. Garnett (born 1947) is a UK science fiction author and editor whose novels include Cosmic Carousel, Stargonauts and Bikini Planet. He edited a paperback anthology revival of Michael Moorcock's New Worlds magazine, two Zenith anthologies of original British SF stories, and three Orbit Science Fiction Yearbooks.

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood]

It's time anthologies stopped having "new" in their titles or subtitles, since new eventually becomes old. This 1989 anthology seems positively ancient now.

This was not a good beginning to the series. There are very few stories that are any good, and extremely bad offerings from veteran writers Brian Aldiss and Ian McDonald. The last two stories are extraordinarily good. However, there's too much reliance in time travel, dismal futurss, and the battle of the sexes in the other stories for my tastes.

Selections:

* "Foreward and Forword" by Our Editor. Argues that the short story is the best sci-fi, and explains why this is an all UK author anthology.
* "In Translation" by Lisa Tuttle. Although born in America, Tuttle had moved to the UK many years previously. This is probably the most famous of all of the selections in this book. It's been reprinted many times. Two American linguists try to figure out how to communicate with aliens, the US military, and each other.
* "Time of the Tree" by Robert Holdstock. A very weird, yet unsatisfying blend of fantasy and sci-fi, by the author of the Mythago Wood series. A scientist gets locked into cold storage with bunches of DNA or some such. When he is finally revived, a whole world has begun on his body.
* "Death Ship" by Barrington J. Bayley. In a future Europe ruled by a blend of Stalinism and Nazism, a team of scientists build a ship that can go forward in time, then come back. What could possibly go wrong? Yes -- it's a very grim story.
* "The Traveller" by Colin Greenland. Father comes back to his Russian home after a bout of time travel. He then assaults his wife and daughter. And yet, not as grim as the previous story.
* "Cinema Altere" by Andrew Stephenson. Something about time travel, something about movie making. Pretty confusing.
* "The Pleasure Giver Taken" by Storm Constantine. Not a pen name. This was her first published short story, in the Tavrain Guilder series. This is a tedious blend of supposedly humorous fantasy with a dash of sci-fi. The result is crap.
* "White Noise" by Garry Kilworth. Very silly story of two men about to hear the Voice of God. One is a devout Christian, the other is not.
* "Gardenias" by Ian McDonald. Oh my God, that was terrible.
* "Feminopolis" by Elizabeth Sourbut. Visitors from an alternate Earth appear in a culture dominated by women. Men are described as "non-sentient animals", which is really insulting to animals. It's a silly and offensive story.
* "Days In the Life of a Galactic Empire" by Brian W. Aldiss. Oh, that was pointless. And promoted torturing animals in a play. Skip it.
* "Skyrider" by William King. Now this is more like it! This is an impressive debut by King (no relation to Stephen). A modified ex-soldier gets a chance to fly the best aircraft again, but at a huge cost. Yes, it's a bit James Bond, but in a good way. Nice dialogue, as well.
* "The Bridge" by Christopher Evans. This is the third story in the Vendavo series. There is a brief introduction by the author giving some of the backstory. The anthology ends on a strong note, though this story is more fantasy than anything sci-fi.

[Robert Hepple]

Zenith is a collection of 12 British science fiction stories from 1989. The quality does vary despite the 'best' superlative in the subtitle. For me, the highpoints were Storm Constantine's 'The Pleasure Giver Taken', Garry Kilworth's 'White Noise' and Christopher Evans's 'The Bridge'. The low points were Elizabeth Sourbut's 'Feminopolis', which has some oldfashioned viewpoints even by the standards of 1989, and William King's 'Skyrider' which could have just as easily been set in modern day Bradford for all the difference it made. Nevertheless, as a great fan of SF short stories I found it a great read.

[Andy]

1ST EDITION. ANTHOLOGY OF BRITISH SF.