Polyphemus (book)

Polyphemus is a collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror stories by American writer Michael Shea. It was released in 1987 by Arkham House . It was published in an edition of 3,528 copies and was the author's first hardcover book. Most of the stories originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Polyphemus
Dust-jacket illustration by Harry O. Morris.
AuthorMichael Shea
IllustratorJohn Stewart
Cover artistHarry O. Morris
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction, fantasy, horror
PublisherArkham House
Publication date
1987
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pagesx, 245
ISBN0-87054-155-2
OCLC15792325
813/.54 19
LC ClassPS3569.H39117 P65 1987

Contents

Polyphemus contains the following stories:

  • "Foreword", by Algis Budrys
  • "Polyphemus"
  • "The Angel of Death"
  • "Uncle Tuggs"
  • "The Pearls of the Vampire Queen"
  • "The Horror on the #33"
  • "The Extra"
  • "The Autopsy"

Reception

Chris Gilmore suggested readers unfamiliar with Shea's work "will do best to approach him through the showcase collection Polyphemus".[1]

David Pringle described Polyphemus as "colourful SF stories, mostly latter-day bug-eyed monster tales and all with a fantastic or horrific tinge" and compared Shea's work to that of Clark Ashton Smith and Jack Vance. Pringle rated Polyphemus two stars out of four.[2]

gollark: No, I mean it could give one or the other a non-population-related advantage due to differences in the geometry of some kind.
gollark: I guess it's possible that even one which doesn't know about parties might accidentally be biased due to (hypothetically, I don't know if this is true) one party being popular in low-density areas and the other in high-density, or really any other difference in locations.
gollark: You don't actually need simple shapes very badly as long as you have an algorithm which is not likely to be biased.
gollark: Okay, rearrange the states so they're square.
gollark: A simple if slightly inaccurate way would be some kind of binary space partitioning thing, where (pretending the US is a perfect square) you just repeatedly divide it in half (alternatingly vertically/horizontally), but stop dividing a particular subregion when population goes below some target number.

References
  1. Chris Gilmore, "Shea, Michael", in David Pringle, St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers. New York, St. James Press. ISBN 1558622055 (p. 521-22).
  2. David Pringle,The Ultimate Guide To Science Fiction.New York: Pharos Books: St.Martins Press, 1990.ISBN 0886875374 (p.269).

Sources
  • Jaffery, Sheldon (1989). The Arkham House Companion. Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, Inc. p. 141. ISBN 1-55742-005-X.
  • Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. p. 56.
  • Joshi, S.T. (1999). Sixty Years of Arkham House: A History and Bibliography. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. p. 157. ISBN 0-87054-176-5.
  • Nielsen, Leon (2004). Arkham House Books: A Collector's Guide. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 134. ISBN 0-7864-1785-4.
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