Forbidden Planets

Peter Crowther

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Anthology Fiction Library - Science Fiction and Fantasy Life on Other Planets Science Fiction Science Fiction; American Science Fiction; English Short Stories Short Stories; American Short Stories; English _isfdb

Publisher: DAW Books

Published: Jan 2, 2006

Description:

From Booklist

MGM's sf thriller Forbidden Planet (1956), about the search for an expedition lost on a hazardous planet, has been the model for a cottage industry's worth of TV series and movies. Any show featuring a starship, a captain, and crew--particularly Star Trek and its many spin-offs--owes a debt to the Shakespeare-inspired motion picture. For the fiftieth anniversary of the movie's premiere, editor Crowther solicited 12 new stories set on other treacherous planets humans would have more wisely avoided. Ray Bradbury introduces the volume with the twin revelations that he declined writing FP's screenplay and would have exterminated its famous robot, Robby, if he hadn't. Jay Lake's story offers an alternate "forbidden" plotline based on King Lear instead of the movie's template, The Tempest, while Matthew Hughes' dissects a forbidden and deadly alien plant instead of a planet. Other notable contributions come from Ian McDonald, Michael Moorcock, and space-opera specialist Stephen Baxter, who gives a penetrating analysis of the film's enduring influence on his own work as well as his chosen genre. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Paying homage to the landmark science fiction movie Forbidden Planet on the fiftieth anniversary of its release, these twelve tales focus on humans visiting other worlds or dimensions where they are unwelcome and unwanted. Each tales is fun to follow as humans bravely go where they should not. The original movie is loosely based on Shakespeare's The Tempest so the twist of using King Lear (Jay Lake's "Lehr, Rex") is a fascinating spin; others are just as good as mechanical sidekicks like Robert the Robot (see "Forebearing Planet" by Michael Moorcock) and "The Singularity Needs Women" by Paul Di Filippo are fun twists from the film. The remaining tales, all new, are quality contributions that make for a fine collection. In addition to a dozen terrific entries, Ray Bradbury in the Introduction provides two shockers about the movie and Stephen Baxter in the Afterward analyzes the impact on his work. This is an excellent short story collection that reverently salutes a movie that many Trekkies know that Kirk and company should journey where no one did before except Forbidden Planet. -Harriet at Amazon

Contents

Introduction by Ray Bradbury
Passion Ploy - Matthew Hughes
Lehr, Rex - Jay Lake
Dust - Paul McAuley
Tiger, Burning - Alastair Reynolds
The Singularity Needs Women! - Paul Di Filippo
Dreamers’ Lake - Stephen Baxter
Eventide - Chris Roberson
What We Still Talk About - Scott Edelman
Kyle Meets the River - Ian McDonald
Forbearing Planet - Michael Moorcock
This Thing of Darkness I Acknowledge Mine - Alex Irvine
Me•topia - Adam Roberts
Forbidden Planet - Stephen Baxter
Author and Story Notes