David D. Levine and I are connected, but he doesn't know it. At the only Worldcon I've ever attended (LA Con IV, 2006), Harlan Ellison presented a Hugo Award to Levine for his short story "Tk'tk'tk". The image of Levine leaping for joy into the arms of Harlan Ellison is a bright memory of that wonderful week. That's why I was thrilled to see this collection available as an e-book. I thought I'd enjoy it, and I wasn't disappointed.

There are 15 stories included here, and they demonstrate story-telling skill in fantasy, science fiction, and the in-between. My favorite story in the collection is one of the in-between stories: "The Tale of the Golden Eagle". It spans a large number of years during which the enhanced brain of a golden eagle experiences much, from acting as the sentient control system for a ship to walking around in an android body. It's a 5-star story that originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in June of 2003.

Another standout is that Hugo winner - "Tk'tk'tk". A salesman goes to an alien planet to sell inventory management software of all things, and ends up being changed by the experience. Definitely an award quality story, but so was "The Tale of the Golden Eagle".

One more science fiction story I'd like to mention is "At the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of Uncle Teco's Homebrew Gravitics Club". I thoroughly enjoyed this fun story about a convention that takes place annually in Earth orbit. The group that gathers there is made up of people that met each other on the internet years before. Since then the group has grown, and there has been a lot of infighting and water under and over the bridge... this is a great setting, and I wonder if Levine has written any more about these folks.

On the pure fantasy side, there's "The Ecology of Faerie", a very moving story about a sixteen year old girl's encounter with faeries, and "Circle of Compassion", in which a priestess is ordered to send her spirit to an enemy camp to spy. And there's also the lovingly meta "Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely", in which a purple cartoon giraffe starts to wonder about his readers.

This is a very solid and diverse collection of stories that I enjoyed very much.

Originally posted at FanLit: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/space-magic/

Before picking up this story collection, I was only familiar with David D. Levine from a couple of his stories that I�??ve read in anthologies. Space Magic sparked my interest because it contains a Hugo Award winning story (ƒ??Tkƒ??Tkƒ??Tkƒ??ƒ?) and because it has recently been released in audio format, read by the author himself.

It rarely happens that I enjoy every story in a collection, but thatƒ??s what happened here. All of these tales are entertaining, I was pleased with the diversity of themes and styles, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the audio production. Here are the stories youƒ??ll find in Space Magic.
ƒ??Wind From a Dying Starƒ? ƒ?? (first published in the anthology Bones of the World, 2001) A tribe of post-humans who travel the universe in freeform bodies decides to visit the galaxy that spawned the human race. The Earth is dead, Sol is fizzling out, and the solar winds are dangerous. They need to find an energy source so they can recharge and get away. This sad story is a celebration of ƒ??the headstone of humanity,ƒ? a warning about how we are using our planet and energy resources, and a speculation about the future evolution of the human race.

ƒ??Nucleonƒ? ƒ?? (first published in Interzone, 2001) Looking for inspiration, a concept artist discovers a huge junk yard owned by an old man who seems to be able to find anything his customers need. The two men strike up a years-long friendship and marvel together about the source of the strange junk yardƒ??s power. I loved this sweet story about art, friendship, and wonder. It left me smiling. This was probably my favorite story in Space Magic.

ƒ??I Hold My Fatherƒ??s Pawsƒ? ƒ?? (first published in the magazine Albedo One, 2005)This heart-wrenching story is about a father and son whoƒ??ve been estranged for 20 years but meet again when the father decides to undergo an operation that will turn him into a dog (only in California!). As the two get reacquainted, we learn why the father has made this drastic decision. I cried at the end of this story.

ƒ??Zauberschriftƒ? ƒ?? (first published in the anthology Apprentice Fantastic, 2002) A former magicianƒ??s apprentice is called home to help the villagers deal with a curse thatƒ??s affecting their weather. After a bit of deduction, he realizes that he needs to debug an ancient magic spell.

ƒ??Rewind ƒ?ƒ?? (first published in L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future, Volume 18, 2002) An elite soldier whoƒ??s been designed to be able to rewind time by a few seconds is trying to escape from the U.S. government unit he belongs to. He gets help from a ƒ??terroristƒ? group of citizens. I liked the concept of this exciting story and when it ended I wished there was more. It would make a great novel.

ƒ??Fear of Widthsƒ? ƒ?? (first published in the anthology Land/Space, 2003) In this very short story a man returns to the Midwestern town he grew up in so he can attend his parentsƒ?? funeral. He becomes disturbed that he can see the horizon, something he never notices in Portland, where heƒ??s been living for years. Turns out that heƒ??s right to be nervousƒ??.

ƒ??Brotherhoodƒ? ƒ?? (first published in the anthology Haunted Highways, 2004) Gus and his brother are working in a steel manufacturing plant during the Great Depression and are being paid extra by management to spy on workers who want to unionize. When, due to managementƒ??s negligence, Gus dies on the job his ghost returns to urge his brother to do the right thing. But what is the
right thing?

ƒ??Circle of Compassionƒ? ƒ?? (first published in the anthology Gateways, 2005) In this Oriental-inspired fantasy, a priestess lends her special skills and a piece of magical jewelry to help her besieged village by spying on the enemy and getting civilians and soldiers to safety.

ƒ??Tkƒ??Tkƒ??Tkƒ? ƒ??(first published in Asimovƒ??s, 2005) An interplanetary travelling salesman is so far out of his comfort zone and has such a hard time making a deal with the aliens heƒ??s visiting that he takes a serious look at his profession and the American lifestyle. I love how David Levine made his aliens feel so alien while at the same time the real focus of the story is on rather mundane but essential human concerns. This is the story that won a Hugo Award.

ƒ??Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangelyƒ? ƒ?? (first published in Realms of Fantasy, 2004) This cute story is about a comic book character who realizes that heƒ??s being watched and laughed at by readers. The premise of this story is funny, but what I liked best were the vivid little details that made me actually visualize a comic book while I was reading it. I smiled all the way through. This was another favorite.

ƒ??Falling off the Unicornƒ? ƒ?? (original to this collection) Misty is a teenage girl who shows unicorns and sheƒ??s competing in the Nationals. This story cleverly blends and twists two unrelated clich??s: unicorn-virginity myths and pageant moms. I totally believed it.

ƒ??The Ecology of Faerieƒ? ƒ?? (first published in Realms of Fantasy, 2005) A 16 year old girl whose mother is dying of leukemia discovers that faeries exist, and theyƒ??re not very nice! Because she doesnƒ??t have any support from her parents, she must do her own research to figure out how to get rid of them. This story is disturbing both because of the scary faeries and the leukemia.

ƒ??At the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of Uncle Tecoƒ??s Homebrew Gravitics Clubƒ? ƒ?? (first published in OryCon 25 Souvenir Book, 2003) Old friends from a gravity hacking club reunite at their annual convention and reminisce about the good times and the bad times. This story has a nostalgic feel and lots of cool props.

ƒ??Love in the Balanceƒ? ƒ?? (first published in All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories, 2004) Zeppelins and Zombies! This strange steampunk-style story has tons of atmosphere, reminding me a little of the Girl Genius comics and, because of the sentient airships, a little of Isaac Asimovƒ??s I, Robot. Itƒ??s another one that would make an interesting setting for a novel or two. I want to read that.

ƒ??The Tale of the Golden Eagleƒ? ƒ?? (first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 2003) This fascinating story is a legend about an eagle whose brain is used to guide a spaceship by changing the shape of space. When the spaceship is retired, the eagleƒ??s brain powers an android whose body is made of jewels. ƒ??The Tale of the Golden Eagleƒ? is beautifully written and has lots of cool ideas. It was nominated for a Hugo Award.

The diversity of the stories in Space Magic shows David D. Levineƒ??s broad range of subject matter and his aptitude with many styles and themes. As Levine explains in the afterword, the title ƒ??Space Magicƒ? is intended to convey the point that the collection contains both science fiction and fantasy stories. This title seems too soft, dreamy and nebulous to me. For me it evokes swirly sparkles and rainbows. It doesnƒ??t get across the reality that these stories are vivid, detailed, and sometimes dark and hard-hitting.

I was a bit wary of trying Space Magic on audio because in my experience authors are not usually the best narrators for their own material ƒ?? or anybody elseƒ??s for that matter. There are a few exceptions, with Neil Gaiman being the most obvious. However, I neednƒ??t have worried. In fact, I was surprised at how well Levineƒ??s audiobook turned out. He used a range of pleasant and realistic voices and his cadence was nice. (Youƒ??d think this would be easy for the author to get right, but apparently itƒ??s not). Space Magic is a professional quality audiobook and one I have no trouble recommending both for the stories and the audio production. Iƒ??m looking forward to reading more of David D. Levineƒ??s stories. ( )

Good varied collection of stories, mostly about Sci-Fi but with a bit of Fantasy thrown in. ( )

It's rare that you come across a short story collection where every single story is a finely cut gem, but Levine has produced such a work. Each story feels like a treatment for a full series of books and manage to pull off exactly what the form requires: introduce a new universe, play there, and then rip your heart out with a a style, panache and the lightest of touches. My only problem was that each story left me wanting more.

Up there with Clarke, Ellison, and Bradbury. ( )

Bevallom David D. Levine neve nem tűnt ismerősnek amikor a könyvet kiválasztottam, ahogy a bevezetőben is írják, novellákkal nem igazán lehet ismertséget szerezni. Annak ellenére, hogy az Első Kritikusok programban ingyen osztogatja a könyvét, Levine valójában nem kezdő, a novelláskötetben egy Hugo-díjas novella is megbújik.

A kötet 15 novellát tartalmaz és valószínűleg ez az egyik legváltozatosabb gyűjtemény amit egy szerzőtől olvastam. A sci-fi, fantasy történetek mindegyike külön világot mutat be, nincs két hasonló történet. A történetekben a vissza-vissza köszönő kellemesen borongós hangulat és az érdekes karakterábrázolás a közös. Talán 3-4 olyan novella volt csak ami nem kötött le túlzottan, a történetek túlnyomó része nagyon kellemes olvasmány. Az igazsághoz az is hozzátartozik, hogy nem kell sziporkázó sci-fi ötletparádéra számítani, a stílus önmagában eladja a történeteket.

Meglepő, de nekem nem a kötet leginkább ismert novellája, a Hugo-díjat nyert Tk'tk'tk tetszett legjobban, sokkal inkább a "Wind from a Dying Star" vagy a "The Tale of the Golden Eagle". ( )