From the End of the Twentieth Century is the 1997 Boskone book by Guest of Honor John M. Ford. Among these pieces are short fiction and poetry produced over a twenty-year period for magazines, anthologies, and the Liavek shared world, including several items previously released only in limited edition printings, and a new story "Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail," written expressly for this collection.
Also presented here are two new essays: "From the End of the Twentieth Century: A Discursion on Trains, Theatre, and Fantasy", and "Rules of Engagement;" and "To the Tsiolkovsky Station," a technical discussion of the Lunar Transit System of Growing Up Weightless, Ford's latest SF novel, with a system map and related graphic material.
The introduction to this collection is by noted writer and Sandman creator Neil Gaiman. The full-color dustjacket art is by Boskone 34's Official Artist, Ron Walotsky.
Table of Contents
- Introduction (Neil Gaiman)
- From the End of the Twentieth Century [essay]
- 1952 Monon Freightyard Blues
- Amy, at the Bottom of the Stairs
- A Little Scene to Monarchize
- Mandalay
- Rules of Engagement [essay]
- Monochrome [song lyrics from How Much for Just the Planet]
- Another Island [song lyric]
- The Dark Companion
- Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail [new]
- All Our Propagation
- To the Tsiolkovsky Station: Railroads in Growing Up Weightless [essay]
- Lunar Transit System [map and graphics]
- As Above, So Below
- Walkaway Clause
- The Lost Dialogue [poem]
- Scrabble With God
- Preflash
- Persephone's Daughters [song lyric]
- The Bard in Prime Time [song lyric]
- White Light [song lyric]
- Intersections
- Troy: The Movie [poem]
- Roadshow [game scenario]
- Waiting for the Morning Bird
- Restoration Day [poem]
- Riding the Hammer
From the End of the Twentieth Century won a 1988 Minnesota Book Award.
John M. Ford
John M. Ford is the author of two World Fantasy Award-winning works, the alternate-history novel The Dragon Waiting, and the poem "Winter Solstice, Camelot Station"; Nebula Award finalist Fugue State; and Philip K. Dick Award-winner Growing Up Weightless. His writing spans a wide range of science fiction and fantasy novels and stories, including the proto-cyberpunk Web of Angels, the collection Casting Fortune and other tales set in the Liavek shared world, the Alternaties Corporation stories, and two of the most unusual Star Trek novels ever published: the Klingon point-of-view The Final Reflection and How Much For Just the Planet? (a song- and slapstick-filled farce in which nobody dies). He is also a lyricist, poet, playwright, and Origins Award-winning game designer whose work illuminates the many different facets of the genre.
What do other people say about Ford?
"He's a genius. Everybody agrees with that assessment. But no one says what kind of genius he is: Einstein, Bohr, Da Vinci. Or some sort of savant perhaps? Dickinson, Mozart, Blake. But I think rather he is one of literature's trickster gods. Like Loki he fashions mistletoe into a deadly weapon. Like Coyote he throws colored shadows. I mean, this is the God who wrote 'Scrabble with God' after all." —Jane Yolen
"It's like dipping into a kaleidoscope, or receiving mailings from far-flung departments of the Library of Babel — or talking to Mike Ford. ...For John M. Ford is not just a writer, but a writer's writer. We are lucky to have him." —Neil Gaiman
Ron Walotsky
Cover artist Ron Walotsky has been producing exciting and insightful cover art for almost 30 years, for books within and out of the science fiction and fantasy fields. Ron's work regularly appears on the covers of Fantasy & Science Fiction and Amazing, and can also be seen on record album jackets of every major label. He was a 1993 Hugo Award nominee for Best Artist, and the creator of the limited-edition Amber Portfolio.
Printing History
Dust jacket by Ron Walotsky, photomontage by David Dyer-Bennett, design by Lisa and Mark Hertel.
Hardcover, acid-free paper, 5.5" x 8.5", 313 pp., ISBN 0-915368-73-0, 1015 numbered copies, $13 in advance and at the convention, $21 afterwards, February 1997. out of print!
Boxed, acid-free paper, 5.5" x 8.5", 313 pp., ISBN 0-915368-74-9, 175 numbered copies, signed by the author and cover artist, $20 in advance and at the convention, $32 thereafter; 10 lettered and signed presentation copies, February 1997. out of print!