Full Spectrum 2

by Lou Aronica (editor), Shawna McCarthy (Editor), Amy Stout (Editor)

Presents a collection of science fiction tales by acknowledged masters and exciting new voices in the field, among them David Brin, Edward Bryant, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Michael Swanwick

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction

548 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

I have been associated with the book publishing world since August 1979, when I started as an assistant in the Managing Editor’s Department at Bantam Books. Prior to founding The Fiction Studio, I served as Deputy Publisher of Bantam and Publisher of Berkley Books and Avon Books. During this time, I launched the premier science fiction and mystery imprints in the business, and also presided over the largest growth period to date in the history of the #1 single-title romance program.

My earliest publishing experiences were in the field of science fiction and fantasy. I started my first publishing imprint, Bantam Spectra, at the age of 27 and published my first New York Times bestseller with that imprint a year later. My first editorial acquisition, David Brin’s Startide Rising, won the field’s two highest awards, the Hugo and the Nebula. I subsequently published New York Times bestsellers with Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, David Brin, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Raymond Feist, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman, and others, while also acquiring five consecutive winners of the Nebula Award. In addition, I created the “Full Spectrum” anthology series, which won me a World Fantasy Award in 1994.

My biggest commercial accomplishment in the field of science fiction and fantasy was my acquisition and design of the Star Wars book publishing program. Started at a time when licensing interest in the movies was very low, the book publications consistently hit the New York Times list (as high as #1) while also jump-starting the entire Star Wars franchise.

In the nineties, I moved beyond science fiction. As Mass Market Publisher for Bantam, I launched the Bantam Crime Line mystery imprint and was closely involved in the development of several bestselling authors, including Elizabeth George, Robert Crais, and Diane Mott Davidson. I launched the Bantam Fanfare romance imprint, which led to the development of bestselling authors such as Amanda Quick, Tami Hoag, and Iris Johansen.

In 1994, I left Bantam to become SVP and Publisher of the Berkley Publishing Group. The two imprints I started there, Boulevard (a media imprint) and Signature (a literary imprint) had New York Times bestsellers within their first year. I also acquired and edited the bestselling futuristic mysteries by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts).

In 1995, I moved to Avon Books to spearhead a turnaround of that company as SVP and Publisher. I supervised significant changes to the company’s industry-leading romance program, which led to the largest growth period in the program’s history to that point. Committing the company to a profitable path of publishing for dedicated readers, I launched a series of imprints focused on science fiction, literary fiction, mystery, pop culture, health, history, and teen literature. Most of these imprints had bestsellers very quickly.

In 1999, I left Avon after the acquisition of the company by The News Corporation. The creative investment I made in that house continues to pay significant dividends, however, as writers whose publishing programs I developed became breakout bestsellers, including Dennis Lehane, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, J.A. Jance, Stephanie Laurens, Lisa Kleypas, Bruce Feiler and Peter Robinson.

In addition to my current role with The Fiction Studio, I am a novelist and nonfiction writer. My novels, The Forever Year and Flash and Dazzle appeared under the name Ronald Anthony. My nonfiction books include the New York Times bestseller The Element (written with Sir Ken Robinson), the national bestseller The Culture Code (written with Dr. Clotaire Rapaille), Conscientious Equity (written with Neal Asbury), Miraculous Health (written with Dr. Rick Levy) and A Million Thanks (written with Shauna Fleming).

Finding myself missing the publishing side of the business, in 2008, literary manager Peter Miller and I started a small book imprint called The Story Plant. Right now, it’s a tiny opera

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second Full Spectrum anthology was another massive and uneven anthology, which I thought was characteristic of the whole series. There were five more-or-less annual (1988 - '95) very long volumes that Bantam published as part of their Spectra line, and I think each had a slightly different editorial roster, a few good stories, a couple of duds, and a lot of middle-of-road efforts. You never knew if you were going to get space opera or fantasy or political commentary and I thought they went with too many religious themes. In this one, I remember enjoying the stories by Greg Bear, Edward Bryant, Jack McDevitt, and Patricia McKillip, but I thought the only true sox-knocker-offer was Michael Swanwick's The Edge of the World.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid if unremarkable collection. As opposed to earlier science fiction (from the 40's-60's) the writing is frequently very good even if the topics are not particularly engaging or memorable. In accordance with the title, the stories are pretty broad. However, if you are looking for hard science fiction, cosmic horror, or outright comedy, this collection will disappoint. These tales all seem to have been written in the late 80's, but most of the stories did not seem dated, even though the relatively large number of stories about virus', plagues etc show the fears of AIDs that was prevalent at the time. The stories are relatively free of politics, though in the story by David Brin, some weird shots are given to the Tory's and Margret Thatcher. I can only say that I really liked one story "Then I Sleeps and Dreams of Rose" by Deborah Million- an author I have never heard of. This was an odd story about a person that goes literally to hell (or perhaps Purgatory). Very well done. I think the only other story that I recall having read before in some other collection is "The Boy in the Tree" by Elizabeth Hand- a good, if somewhat unsatisfactory mix of science and magic. The final story is also good if minor- and is probably the only story where I really liked the characters- Kim Stanley Robinsons "The Part of Us That Loves"- a pleasantly sentimental, almost Ray Bradbury like tale of faith. None of the tales in this book were bad, so it is definitely worth reading.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very, very late-80s SF book. There are a few stories that stayed with me in a good way--the gender-bent urban "Beauty and the Beast" retelling by Greg Bear was interesting, and the story by Patricia McKillip was moody and atmospheric. And I'd read the Swanwick story in a different anthology and found it striking. But there was a sort of edgelord feel to a fair number of the stories, and a religious bent to a lot of them (what if Judas was reborn as a gorilla? What if angels were little aliens?) that didn't click with me. A few hits and a lot of misses.

[Larry Wegman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of science fiction short stories. Not much that's worthwhile.

[Bernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting SF stories, others not so much. My favorites The Giving Plague and Silver.