Eight Worlds

From the moment John Varley burst onto the scene in 1974, his short fiction was like nothing anyone else was writing. His stories won every award the science fiction field had to offer, many times over. His first collection, The Persistence of Vision, published in 1978, was the most important collection of the decade, and changed what fans would come to expect from science fiction.

Now, The John Varley Reader gathers his best stories, many out of print for years. This is the volume no Varley fan - or science fiction reader - can do without.
1 • Picnic on Nearside • [Eight Worlds] • (1974) • novelette by John Varley
24 • Overdrawn at the Memory Bank • [Eight Worlds] • (1976) • novelette by John Varley
53 • In the Hall of the Martian Kings • (1976) • novella by John Varley
91 • Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance • [Eight Worlds] • (1976) • novelette by John Varley
119 • The Barbie Murders • [Anna-Louise Bach] • (1978) • novelette by John Varley
146 • The Phantom of Kansas • [Eight Worlds] • (1976) • novelette by John Varley
180 • Beatnik Bayou • [Eight Worlds] • (1980) • novelette by John Varley
212 • Air Raid • (1977) • shortstory by John Varley
228 • The Persistence of Vision • (1978) • novella by John Varley
271 • Press Enter [] • (1984) • novella by John Varley
327 • The Pusher • (1981) • shortstory by John Varley
343 • Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo • [Eight Worlds] • (1986) • novella by John Varley
409 • Options • [Eight Worlds] • (1979) • novelette by John Varley
437 • Just Another Perfect Day • (1989) • shortstory by John Varley
449 • In Fading Suns and Dying Moons • (2003) • novelette by John Varley
467 • The Flying Dutchman • (1998) • shortstory by John Varley
486 • Good Intentions • (1992) • shortstory by John Varley
502 • The Bellman • [Anna-Louise Bach] • (2003) • novelette by John Varley

ISBN moved from less recent edition

The satellite-sized alien Gaea has gone completely insane. She has transformed her love of old movies into monstrous realities. She is Marilyn Monroe. She is King Kong. And now she must be destroyed.

Introduction · Algis Budrys · in
The Phantom of Kansas · nv Galaxy Feb ’76
Air Raid [as by Herb Boehm] · ss IASFM Spr ’77
Retrograde Summer · nv F&SF Feb ’75
The Black Hole Passes · nv F&SF Jun ’75
In the Hall of the Martian Kings · na F&SF Feb ’77
In the Bowl · nv F&SF Dec ’75
Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance · nv Galaxy Jul ’76
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank · nv Galaxy May ’76
The Persistence of Vision · na F&SF Mar ’78

An appalling mid-air collision between a DC10 & a 747 started it all. Hundreds of smashed & shattered bodies were scattered among the debris. Bill Smith & his team began the gruesome job of investigation. At first it was just little things that didn't add up--like all the watches in the crash having stopped one hour before it happened. And the odd sensation of being followed & watched by people who were not there. But then Bill started to discover things that really had no right being where they were & found himself right in the middle of the most extraordinary conspiracy, a conspiracy that seemed to have its origins somewhere in the far distant future.

When Cirrocco Jones, captain of the spaceship Ringmaster, and her crew are captured by Gaea, a planet-sized creature that orbits around Saturn, they find themselves inside a bizarre world inhabited by centaurs, harpies, and constantly shifting environments.