"Ellen Datlow - The Fifth Omni Book of Science Fiction" - читать интересную книгу автора (Datlow Ellen)

Most science fiction writers begin their careers writing short stories—simply for the reason that they are
short, and therefore less of an investment in time than a novel. Writing stories is excellent training. And
because of their length, established writers can continue to experiment with style or structure. To realize
you've failed in intent after thirty pages is a lot less devastating than after several hundred pages.
Short story editors have more of a leeway than book editors in buying and publishing something
unconventional or difficult. Magazine editors, like myself, are putting together a package, and each
story we buy does not make or break our magazine (or anthology). On the other hand, book editors
have less literary license. Each and every book must be viewed as a money-maker or loser. The market
for science fiction stories whether in magazines or anthologies, has always been better than for
mainstream short stories. A long tradition has developed which continues to this day.
Like most editors, I have certain writers whom I publish regularly—people I affectionately refer to as my
stable. These are the writers whom I can consistently count on for the kind of story I want in OMNI.
Some of those writers are included in this book. Robert Silverberg, the consummate professional, is one
of the few established novelists I know who still writes several short stories a year (more than I can
publish). But OMNI does not only publish grand masters like Silverberg. William Gibson is one of the
most promising young writers in science fiction today, and OMNI took a strong interest in helping him
develop his talent. His first novel, NEURO-MANCER, won the Nebula and Hugo Awards. Now,
Gibson is being wooed away by book publishers, so that I have to charm, cajole, threaten and just plain
drive him crazy in order to keep him writing short fiction for OMNI. Howard Waldrop is another young
writer. He is at his best with short fiction, and writes wonderful quirky little stories like the one included
here. Marc Laidlaw was a very persistent teenager from whom I finally bought "400 Boys" after several
complete overhauls. It was the first story I bought from him, and judging from his other stories of the past
few years, his versatility is startling. Gregg
10
Keizer's first story was published in OMNI in 1982, and IVe bought three more since then. The last
piece in the book, "Lunatic Bridge," is a novelette by Pat Cadigan, who is another regular OMNI
contributor. It has never been published before.
The only thing these fourteen stories have in common is that they are all quite powerful in very different
ways. I believe they prove how important the science fiction story continues to be, not only within the
genre, but to literature.
Ellen Datlow Fiction Editor January 1987
11
MULTIPLES
By Robert Silverberg
There were mirrors everywhere, making the place a crazy house of dizzying refraction: mirrors on the
ceiling, mirrors on the walls, mirrors in the angles where the walls met the ceiling and the floor, even little
eddies of mirror dust periodically blown on gusts of air through the room so that all the bizarre
distortions, fracturings, and dislocations of image that were bouncing around the place would from time to
time coalesce in a shimmering haze of chaos right before your eyes. Colored globes spun round and
round overhead, creating patterns of ricocheting light. It was exactly the way Cleo had expected a
multiples club to look.
She had walked up and down the whole Fillmore Street strip, from Union to Chestnut and back again,
for half an hour, peering at this club and that before finding the courage to go inside one that called itself
Skits. Though she had been planning this night for
13
months, she found herself paralyzed by fear at the last minute: afraid they would spot her as a fraud the
moment she walked in, afraid they would drive her out with jeers and curses and cold, mocking laughter.
But now that she was within, she felt fine—calm, confident, ready for the time of her life.
There were more women than men in the club, something like a seven-to-three ratio. Hardly anyone
seemed to be talking to anyone else. Most stood alone in the middle of the floor, staring into the mirrors