Black Air

Pulphouse Short Story Paperbacks #20

by Kim Stanley Robinson

Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 1983

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy

43 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1983

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

[Glitterdeww · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set within the events of the 16th century Anglo-Spanish War, this truly gripping novella follows a man conscripted to fight aboard the La Lavia, one of the largest ships in the Spanish Armada. The fantastical elements are pulled from Christian spirituality and are beautifully woven within this historical context.

[Adam Meek · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting historical piece from SF author Kim Stanley Robinson.

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akin to a Howard Waldrop story, this meticulously researched fantasy set in the Spanish armada has an intriguing protagonist and some incredibly great storytelling of just how bad it was to be on a sailing ship at the time. The fantastical elements could likely have been excised, as they neither hinder nor help the story, which is powered by the characters and the horrible situation. Good.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

surprised it was as good as it was. though it lost me at some points