Vinland the Dream and Other Stories

by Kim Stanley Robinson, Chris Moore (Illustrator)

Peopled by characters that speak to us directly, and illuminated by haunting reflections, these stories explore different pasts and divergent futures. They revolve around questions of history and meaning, and how what we know about the past influences the way we look at the present and the future.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Alternate History, Anthologies

410 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 7, 2002

About the author

Kim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer. He has published 22 novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his Mars trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has won numerous awards, including the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Novel and the World Fantasy Award. The Atlantic has called Robinson's work "the gold standard of realistic, and highly literary, science-fiction writing." According to an article in The New Yorker, Robinson is "generally acknowledged as one of the greatest living science-fiction writers."

Reviews

[Jeanette Greaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like KSR, loved the Mars Trilogy and intend to re-read it one day, and have fairly recently read or re-read a couple of his other novels. And yet I struggled to enjoy this collection of short stories. They're billed as 'historical sf' and deal largely with academic historical concepts, and also with alternate histories. A story about the evidence for the existence of 'Vinland' having been planted is very much a teaser for a longer tale, and I felt short changed at the end of it. The 'Lucky Strike' pair of stories looks at what might have happened if the Enola Gay hadn't flown over Hiroshima, and then examines how the twentieth century might have been different. That was interesting and absorbing.
'Stone Eggs' is, for me, the standout story of the collection. It's weird enough to stay with me.

[T-bone · Rating 4 out of 5]

My quest to read more randomly has brought little reward thus far. I had great hope that was about to change after reading the immensely enjoyable first few stories in this collection. These stories could be described as having a counterfactual or future history bent, if one knows what those terms mean, and if one does one should explain them to me.
The middle stories leaned more toward sci-fi and the last few leaned toward just plain old short stories. Although the writing was still good I enjoyed these stories far less, leading me to believe I might be a counterfactual kind of guy.

[Ulrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeg har læst en dansk novellesamling der ikke er på Goodreads. Mord på Merkur. Jeg er ikke den store science-fiction læser, men det her er ret godt. Meget relaterer til de problemer vi har på Jorden nu. Meget tankevækkende.

[Poppy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I must visit the Orkney Islands.

[Rob Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories are very good, gripping, amazingly detailed, and not per se alternative history. For instance:
- Coming Back to Dixieland: about a jazz band.
- Black Air: about the Spanish Armada.
3,5 stars

[Felix Dance · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really interesting to read this collection of short stories from Kim Stanley Robinson's early years. Here he marries his usual literary science fiction style with his musings on how we see history. It covers alternative histories, future scenarios and the concept of nostalgia. Many of these stories are set in fantastic places: drowned Venice, a slow-moving terminator city on Mercury, a Dixie-land revival band in the outer planets. Robinson really knows how to evoke a scene and stuff the reader right down into the head of the protagonists. Up to the same standards of his Mars Trilogy. I read this one mainly before heading off on my big trip around the Indian Ocean, having got it for my birthday from my excellent aunty Su, but finished it while taking a sick day from work down at Inverloch.

[Amy Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me ages to get into this book. The first three stories had me pretty grouchy. Then from The Lucky Strike onwards they just got better and better. It may have been my expectation of 'spacey' sci fi that put me on the wrong track. The last 5 or so stories were brilliant. I missed tram stops reading them.