"Tony Daniel - Robot's Twilight Companion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Daniel Tony)

“Mystery Box,” copyright © 1999 by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications; first
published inAsimov’s Science Fiction , April 1999.

“Radio Praha,” copyright © 1998 by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications; first
published inAsimov’s Science Fiction , March 1998.

“The Robot’s Twilight Companion,” copyright © 1996 by Dell Magazines; first published inAsimov’s
Science Fiction , August 1996.




For Lucius Shepard,
Who taught me the life of the writer


and


In memory of Jim Turner,
An extraordinary editor and friend

Introduction
T ony and I share the same opinion of introductions, that is, that the work should speak for itself, and we
agreed that this would be a fitting place, instead, to focus on the role of Jim Turner in bringing this book
to print. Most of you have never heard of Jim Turner . . . and I suppose there’s no reason you should
have. He was an editor, which is an under-publicized and unappreciated profession. Jim was one of the
most unappreciated—and most astute—editors in the history of publishing. He lived and worked in
Collinsville, Illinois, far from the literary spotlight of New York. There, unencumbered by corporate
concerns, by the need to provide vast amounts of silage for the undiscerning appetites of mass-market
readership, he was able to transform Arkham House from a minor-league publisher specializing in H.P.
Lovecraft tributes to a respected showcase for new writing talent. He had a passion for making quality
books with strong content, beautiful books that would survive as objects for generations. His Arkham
books—as well as those he produced under his own imprint, Golden Gryphon (which continues today
under the stewardship of his brother, Gary)—were lovingly designed and were nominated for and won
innumerable awards. Jim himself was not accorded the slightest honor by the field he served so ably and
devotedly until after his death when he won the World Fantasy Award in the category “Special Award,
Professional.” He was never less than forthright in his opinions, and I’m certain that the notion of being
recognized posthumously would have struck him as the height of hypocrisy.
I believe that Jim’s greatest virtue as an editor was his ability to spot talent. Evidence of this is a phone
call I received from him in late 1989, during which he raved about the first published story of a young
writer named Tony Daniel. I had taught at a workshop that Tony attended the previous summer, and
when I mentioned this, Jim got excited and started pumping me for information, as he was wont to do.
He declared his intention of one day publishing a collection of stories by Tony—he was that sure of
Tony’s potential. As usual, Jim’s judgment was borne out: Tony has since become one of the most
important new-generation science fiction writers, and it’s likely that his ultimate horizon lies far beyond
the shores of that genre.The Robot’s Twilight Companion is the last book that Jim Turner nurtured
from conception to the printer’s shop before his untimely death. It stands as a fitting memorial to his life,
constituting the record of a maturing young writer’s development, something that Jim delighted in and
something that has been a signature of many of his books. From the title piece, with its Asimovian focus