Book Review: Tales of Old Earth by Michael Swanwick

I bought Michael Swanwick’s Tales of Old Earth a couple of years ago so that I could read some of his Hugo Award winning short stories that weren’t available online. I didn’t realize at the time how jam-packed this book is with great stories. And you don’t have to just take my word for it, because of the 19 stories it contains 16 of them have been nominated for major awards like the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Locus and Asimov’s Readers poll. That is a pretty good ratio! In fact, the book itself won the 2001 Locus Award for Best Collection. Needless to say, if you are a fan of Michael Swanwick’s short stories then it’s a good bet that you love this amazing collection.

Here is the list of stories it contains – I’ve linked to the ones that I’ve reviewed and I’ve noted which ones were nominated for major science fiction and fantasy awards:

1. The Very Pulse of the Machine (1999 Hugo winner)
2. The Dead (1997 Hugo and Nebula nominee)
3. Scherzo with Tyrannosaur (2000 Hugo winner and Nebula nominee)
4. Ancient Engines (2000 Hugo and Nebula nominee)
5. North of Diddy-Wah-Diddy
6. The Mask (1995 Locus nominee)
7. Mother Grasshopper (1998 Locus nominee)
8. Riding the Giganotosaur (2000 Asimov’s nominee)
9. Wild Minds (1999 Hugo nominee)
10. The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O (2001 World Fantasy and Locus nominee)
11. Microcosmic Dog (1999 locus and SF Age nominee)
12. In Concert (1993 Locus nominee)
13. Radiant Doors (1999 Hugo and Nebula nominee)
14. Ice Age
15. Walking Out (1996 Hugo nominee)
16. The Changeling’s Tale (1995 Locus, Asimov’s and World Fantasy nominee)
17. Midnight Express
18. The Wisdom of Old Earth (1998 Locus nominee)
19. Radio Waves (1996 World Fantasy winner, Sturgeon and Locus nominee)

See what other people are saying about this book at Amazon.com, or search for a used copy on eBay, and be sure to check out all my other reviews of Michael Swanwick’s short stories too.

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