The Glass Weaver's Tale and Other Stories

by Guy Riddihough

While science fiction reflects our possible futures, it is also a mirror of the present. The best science fiction distorts the mirror’s surface to bend what we take for granted today and twists it into striking and unexpected visions of what we, the world, and the Universe could become in the future. The seven stories in this collection look into the mirror of the present and capture reflections from shards of both the near and far future, of the Earth, and of places very unlike and far distance from the Earth, and of us, of people who might have once been like us, of societies we may yet be part of, and of others who are very unlike us and yet at the same time uncomfortably familiar. Science, in its broadest sense, is — either explicitly or implicitly — at the core of most good science fiction. So it is with the seven stories in The Glass Weaver’s Tale And Other Stories. In The Patter of Tiny Feet , one apparently small consequence of the effects of continued human population growth is explored to its ultimate limit. Needle and Groove considers the power to change the past and whether or how such a genie could ever be put back in its bottle. The deformation of a society trapped within the confines of a tiny microcosm is explored through the relationship of two brothers in The Boy Who Built A Rocket Ship. Café Arabica asks how interdigitated Universes in the Multiverse could impinge upon the daily lives of ordinary people. Aliens who fall in love with the Solar System in Holiday Home unwittingly become their own worst enemies and the engine that drives the major evolutionary transitions on Earth. The search for love, the most powerful of all human emotions, is the motivation that drives the story of The Other David Kindlebach . Finally, The Glass Weaver’s Tale is a story of human biology and human society engineered to the extreme, in the hope of saving us from ourselves. The seven stories in the collection range from flash fiction ( The Patter of Tiny Feet ), short stories ( Needle and Groove , The Other David Kindlebach , Holiday Home ), a novelette ( The Boy Who Built A Rocket Ship ), and two novellas ( Café Arabica , The Glass Weaver’s Tale ).

302 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2023

About the author

Who are the authors I most revere? Stanislaw Lem, for his slow-burn philosophical scifi; Christopher Priest for his mind-bending mirror fiction; Gene Wolfe for his stunning world-building; John Wyndham for his plot and narrative genius; and J.G. Ballard for his surreal visions of the future. I take elements from these authors and blend them into stories that span genres and hybridize tropes to create worlds sometimes deceptively familiar and at others far, far different than the places we know.

Reviews

[Eternal Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of stories from the first page to the last. Hard SF that makes you think. Very deep but also full of excitement, to keep them pages turning. Definitely worth your money and time.

[Thia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am far from an unbiased reader since this is my Dad’s book and I saw the work that went into this. That being said, I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a cool collection of stories which left me thinking afterwards. I love how each of the stories had a unique plot and that kept you guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed every story. I like that each story possesses a certain darkness and doesn’t shy away from consequences. My only challenges were some of the flowery language (maybe my lack of vocabulary) and some of the scientific topics. It took me longer to grasp since the author (my dad) clearly has a depth of knowledge much deeper than mine. But other than that, I think it was written expertly and want to congratulate my dad on the amazing book👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[Ritesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy Black Mirror, 1984 and/or Animal Farm, you need to read this book. A thought-provoking collection of sci-fi stories that had me gripped from the first page.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Guy's writing. I am a science fiction fan and I loved being taken on a journey every time I read a book. This book did not disappoint. Full of details of the worlds that fires your imagination on whet they could look like, but more how you the reader could fit and operate in that world. It's a fantasy within fantasy, but presented in the easiest to read way. I have read the book twice and each time I see new details. This is a must read if you have ever wondered what it could be like if the world were so different that instead of evolving into generics, we evolve very differently, to the point one asks what part of that world they could occupy!

[Michaels Backlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed The Glass Weaver’s Tale and Other Stories. The writing feels gentle and a little magical, and some stories stick with you longer than others. My favorite was the title story, it’s the one I keep thinking about. A really enjoyable read overall!