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The Collected Kagan
A collection of classic science fiction stories ranging from alien anthropology to solving tricky theorems, by Hugo-winner Janet Kagan. Janet Kagan was a unique voice in the business, bringing her witty sense of humor and refreshing outlook to stories that tackled political intrigue, murder mysteries, and ecological puzzles. Her stories are thought-provoking, often funny, and always entertaining.
“Janet Kagan explores the interfaces of culture, language, intelligence, and what it means to be human.”—Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, coauthors of the best-selling Liaden Universe® series
“An absolute delight.”—Mike Resnick
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
“Janet Kagan explores the interfaces of culture, language, intelligence, and what it means to be human.”—Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, coauthors of the best-selling Liaden Universe® series
“An absolute delight.”—Mike Resnick
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
347 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 3, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 14, 2020
Looks like I'm the only one on goodreads to rate this collection one star, so I guess I get to be that person who denigrates the work of a well-loved SF author who died too young. I don't really relish that idea, and though normally my one-star reviews are full of ranting and fury re: time wasted, offensive garbage sifted through, etc., this really isn't that kind of one-star read. These stories are saccharine and offputtingly strange, but more than anything just amateurish. This feels like bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, but since it's The Collected Kagan, I assume this constitutes her entire short fiction output? Disappointing.
Kagan's novel Hellspark is a bit of a cult classic, and though I didn't fully love it I appreciated the themes she addressed there. What is sentience? What does it mean to communicate across cultures and species? What assumptions do we unconsciously hold that color how we view very different beings we interact with? Hellspark gives these questions the novel-length exploration they deserve, and though Kagan's writing style didn't always jibe with me, I thought the book was pretty interesting.
I really enjoy idea-based SF in general, and will give some leeway for clumsy writing or underdeveloped characters if the ideas are addressed in a unique or interesting way. So if the short stories in The Collected Kagan had presented some chewy food for thought, I could have overlooked their other flaws. But interesting ideas are largely absent here. Most of the stories center on bog-standard SF tropes or rom-com cliches (whyyy?). There are several very short, "humorous" pieces that really have no business being professionally published at all - one making fun of Dan Quayle (cool. relevant.), one a letter warning horror writers that time-travelers are trying to kill their cash-cow Jack the Ripper, one an eye-bleedingly capslock-infested advertisement for the Faith-of-the-Month club ("NOW, you can have THE BEST RELIGIONS DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME!!!"). There are also a barf-inducing number of schmaltzy Christmas stories in here (again: whyyy?). Oh, and then there's what appears to be an introduction Kagan wrote to a collection of the work of James H. Schmitz. This piece is not explained or contextualized in any way, and it definitely does not belong in a short-story collection. (I'm not even going to touch on the story about porn stars and unicorns, because it just sent my brain spiralling into "why does this even exist, whyyyy?" levels of existential despair.)
Oof. I got snarkier there than I meant to.
Because, all of that said, the collection is not completely without merit. The few stories that I found relatively engrossing (the interconnected "Winging It" and "Fighting Words") were pretty solid three-star reads for me - still overly saccharine, not particularly memorable, but enjoyable as I read them. And that's the best I can say for this book.
I have a feeling, given the niche and enthusiastic audience for Kagan's work, that I'm going to get some flak for this review. This is my honest opinion, though, and I really gave this collection as much of a genuine chance as I could. I love SF and I love short fiction, but this book consistently baffled me as to why it merited publication. With a handful of exceptions, these stories do not read like the work of a professional author.
Kagan's novel Hellspark is a bit of a cult classic, and though I didn't fully love it I appreciated the themes she addressed there. What is sentience? What does it mean to communicate across cultures and species? What assumptions do we unconsciously hold that color how we view very different beings we interact with? Hellspark gives these questions the novel-length exploration they deserve, and though Kagan's writing style didn't always jibe with me, I thought the book was pretty interesting.
I really enjoy idea-based SF in general, and will give some leeway for clumsy writing or underdeveloped characters if the ideas are addressed in a unique or interesting way. So if the short stories in The Collected Kagan had presented some chewy food for thought, I could have overlooked their other flaws. But interesting ideas are largely absent here. Most of the stories center on bog-standard SF tropes or rom-com cliches (whyyy?). There are several very short, "humorous" pieces that really have no business being professionally published at all - one making fun of Dan Quayle (cool. relevant.), one a letter warning horror writers that time-travelers are trying to kill their cash-cow Jack the Ripper, one an eye-bleedingly capslock-infested advertisement for the Faith-of-the-Month club ("NOW, you can have THE BEST RELIGIONS DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME!!!"). There are also a barf-inducing number of schmaltzy Christmas stories in here (again: whyyy?). Oh, and then there's what appears to be an introduction Kagan wrote to a collection of the work of James H. Schmitz. This piece is not explained or contextualized in any way, and it definitely does not belong in a short-story collection. (I'm not even going to touch on the story about porn stars and unicorns, because it just sent my brain spiralling into "why does this even exist, whyyyy?" levels of existential despair.)
Oof. I got snarkier there than I meant to.
Because, all of that said, the collection is not completely without merit. The few stories that I found relatively engrossing (the interconnected "Winging It" and "Fighting Words") were pretty solid three-star reads for me - still overly saccharine, not particularly memorable, but enjoyable as I read them. And that's the best I can say for this book.
I have a feeling, given the niche and enthusiastic audience for Kagan's work, that I'm going to get some flak for this review. This is my honest opinion, though, and I really gave this collection as much of a genuine chance as I could. I love SF and I love short fiction, but this book consistently baffled me as to why it merited publication. With a handful of exceptions, these stories do not read like the work of a professional author.
April 11, 2025
Three and a half stars
This is a very mixed bag, there were some stories I liked a lot and a few that really didn't work or didn't even seem to belong. That said, even if some of these stories are silly or predictable, I actually still generally had a good time reading these in the moment.
This is a very mixed bag, there were some stories I liked a lot and a few that really didn't work or didn't even seem to belong. That said, even if some of these stories are silly or predictable, I actually still generally had a good time reading these in the moment.
April 21, 2019
It's such a bittersweet feeling to finish all of an author's published works after they've passed away. I'm not quite there, as I have Uhura's Song to go (and I wonder if it will sit on my shelf unread with my last Octavia Butler books...), but I'm nearing that feeling, you know? Just one step more before I have no more Kagan to read...
So I get the impression that this collection is just what was out there to be published. Maybe there are stories that didn't make the cut, but I'd be surprised if that were the case. See, this isn't a unified collection either in style or tone. My favorites are the ones that lie somewhere between her Miracle and Hellspark novels in type. These are the fascinating explorations of alien cultures and have varying levels of humor. She does tend towards joy and humor, however, even when satirizing the politics of the day (not that all those political issues and prejudices have vanished today). In fact, that level of joy is so prevalent that the a story near the end left the "clean" nature of the others and explored a porn set, I quickly stopped being surprised and began waiting for the twist of joy that would enter the plot (and it did). A few of the stories are darker because of their subject matter, but these typically made me feel that Kagan is someone I would have liked to know. And then there was one political one that didn't resonate with me at all -- it centered on a politician from my childhood, so I did not really have more than vague context for him. However, with recent news stories, that particular story resonates better because I could easily sort in some current politicians and it would work perfectly.
I guess other than the very few stories that didn't pull me in completely, my only real critique is that I wouldn't have chosen to order the stories in the same way. The beginning had more of the stories that didn't wow me, so I'd have sprinkled them throughout a bit more (they're still worth reading, for sure!) and maybe moved a couple of the amazing alien tales up more.
So I get the impression that this collection is just what was out there to be published. Maybe there are stories that didn't make the cut, but I'd be surprised if that were the case. See, this isn't a unified collection either in style or tone. My favorites are the ones that lie somewhere between her Miracle and Hellspark novels in type. These are the fascinating explorations of alien cultures and have varying levels of humor. She does tend towards joy and humor, however, even when satirizing the politics of the day (not that all those political issues and prejudices have vanished today). In fact, that level of joy is so prevalent that the a story near the end left the "clean" nature of the others and explored a porn set, I quickly stopped being surprised and began waiting for the twist of joy that would enter the plot (and it did). A few of the stories are darker because of their subject matter, but these typically made me feel that Kagan is someone I would have liked to know. And then there was one political one that didn't resonate with me at all -- it centered on a politician from my childhood, so I did not really have more than vague context for him. However, with recent news stories, that particular story resonates better because I could easily sort in some current politicians and it would work perfectly.
I guess other than the very few stories that didn't pull me in completely, my only real critique is that I wouldn't have chosen to order the stories in the same way. The beginning had more of the stories that didn't wow me, so I'd have sprinkled them throughout a bit more (they're still worth reading, for sure!) and maybe moved a couple of the amazing alien tales up more.
November 27, 2016
Janet Kagan died too soon and underappreciated. I love her novels "Uhura's Song" (the best Star Trek novel ever, and it stars Uhura!) and "Hellspark", and the linked story novel "Mirabile". This collection of short stories and novelettes is just that...an anthology and as such it is a bit uneven and lacking in theme. Kagan is best known for her her sense of humor combined with her exploration of alien cultures (like her novel Mirabile), and I think those stories are among the best in the collection (Winging It, Fighting Words, The Nutcracker Coup, Face Time). Also very enjoyable are the ones with her wry sense of humor (the Xmas ones, e.g. Christmas Winding and Standing in the Spirit, The Last of a Vintage Year, Standing in the Spirit, and The Stubbornest Broad on Earth). I'm still not sure what to make of Naked Wish Fulfillment (unicorns at a porn filming), but it was amusing if startling. And then there is the harshness of No Known Cure, censorship, AIDS and public gay trial complete with stonings - that was the most atypical story in the book. The other stories are good too, but less remarkable. I would have read this anyway, but it fits in my 2016 Reading Challenge "read a collection of stories by one person" (Read Harder 2015).
September 18, 2020
Stories in this collection: all great Kagan, but some a little greater.
1. No known cure - unsettling re homophobia
2. Love our Lockwood
3. Space cadet
4. How first women stole language from Tuli-Tuli the beast
5. The last of the vintage year
6. Out on Front street
7. From the dead letter office
8. Mischief in the spaceways - forward to James H Schmitz writing ++
9. Faith-of-the-month club
10. Winging it (ala Hellspark) +++
11. Fighting words (ala Hellspark) +++
12. She was blonde, she was dead - and only Jimmilick Opstromommo could find out why!!!
13. Face time
14. Christmas wingding ++
15. The nutcracker coup ++
16. Standing in the spirit
17. What a wizard does +++ thinking outside the box
18. Naked wish fulfillment
19. Fermat's best theorem ++
20 The stubbornest broad on earth. +++ Again, thinking outside the box, and wanting a moon
1. No known cure - unsettling re homophobia
2. Love our Lockwood
3. Space cadet
4. How first women stole language from Tuli-Tuli the beast
5. The last of the vintage year
6. Out on Front street
7. From the dead letter office
8. Mischief in the spaceways - forward to James H Schmitz writing ++
9. Faith-of-the-month club
10. Winging it (ala Hellspark) +++
11. Fighting words (ala Hellspark) +++
12. She was blonde, she was dead - and only Jimmilick Opstromommo could find out why!!!
13. Face time
14. Christmas wingding ++
15. The nutcracker coup ++
16. Standing in the spirit
17. What a wizard does +++ thinking outside the box
18. Naked wish fulfillment
19. Fermat's best theorem ++
20 The stubbornest broad on earth. +++ Again, thinking outside the box, and wanting a moon
December 4, 2019
This collection of short stories is uneven, and at times a little overwrought, but for the most part it’s full of warm, wonderfully creative pieces. I especially enjoyed the stories about Wyss’huk (adventures in interstellar diplomacy!) and the one about the colony that smuggled Christmas (I won’t spoil the surprise, but it was unexpected and lovely - this one will probably go on the holiday comfort re-read list).
I so wish I had had a chance to meet Janet Kagan while she was still alive... what an incredible shame that such talent left us so soon!
I so wish I had had a chance to meet Janet Kagan while she was still alive... what an incredible shame that such talent left us so soon!
May 14, 2025
Bed News; Good News
If you’re reading this review, odds are you haven’t read this book. The bad news is that you have been on this planet as long as you have without having read this book. Good news is that you can now do something about it. Pick it up and read it now. Don’t waste any more of your time.
Not every short story in this collection is perfect. But the ones that are, just sing.
If you’re reading this review, odds are you haven’t read this book. The bad news is that you have been on this planet as long as you have without having read this book. Good news is that you can now do something about it. Pick it up and read it now. Don’t waste any more of your time.
Not every short story in this collection is perfect. But the ones that are, just sing.
May 28, 2025
Wonderful Stories!
I'm very sorry Ms. Kagan isn't still alive (think we lost her around 2005) so I can tell her In person how much her unusual perspectives on life in general, her universes and its peoples has cheered me in a long time of not-really-solved troubles.
I'm very sorry Ms. Kagan isn't still alive (think we lost her around 2005) so I can tell her In person how much her unusual perspectives on life in general, her universes and its peoples has cheered me in a long time of not-really-solved troubles.
April 26, 2026
A real mixed bag here. I very much enjoyed maybe a quarter of the stories and thought the rest were not ready for prime time. The number of typos adds to that theory. But there's no introduction or explanation of this collection, so we'll never know.
August 8, 2018
So good, so varied! A beautiful collection.
September 16, 2020
Some chapters / short stories are great. Others are disquieting to read. Well worth getting for your Kindle, and only available on an ebook.
November 15, 2024
I expected more of this collection. I’ve read a novel by the same author that I’ve really enjoyed, but here a lot of the stories felt clunky.
June 1, 2016
Janet Kagan is always worth reading, and she passed away far too soon. I was delighted to discover this collection and snapped it up on Baen.com within minutes of the discovery! I had only read one of the stories before.
With a story collection you're always going to like some of them more than others, hence the four-star rating, but I enjoyed the vast majority of the stories and I'll be re-reading many of them. If you like these, don't hesitate to pick up a copy of Hellspark, and if you can find it, her Star Trek novel Uhura's Song!
With a story collection you're always going to like some of them more than others, hence the four-star rating, but I enjoyed the vast majority of the stories and I'll be re-reading many of them. If you like these, don't hesitate to pick up a copy of Hellspark, and if you can find it, her Star Trek novel Uhura's Song!
first-chapter-only
July 3, 2016I enjoyed her longer-form novels, but these short stories didn't work for me. I remember the novels as being joyful stories about exploration and discovery. These short stories are mean. Also highly political.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews