Heart of Whitenesse

Take a topsy-turvy ride through time with ten science fiction and fantasy stories from theHugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award–winning author.

“There’s never been anyone like Waldrop, in or out of science fiction,” said George R. R. Martin, and here’s the proof. A master of the short story, Waldrop has put together a collection of speculative fiction that covers his career from the end of one century into another. 

Here, readers will find a group of teenage boys being boys—fixing up cars, going to drive-in movies, and dreaming of girls—all while the Cuban missile crisis ushers in what could be World War III in “The Other Real World.” In “Us,” Waldrop paints three versions of a grownup Charles Lindbergh, Jr., had he survived his kidnapping. Sail down the frozen Thames on an iceboat during England’s Great Frost, as playwright Christopher Marlowe embarks on a deadly mission to meet one Dr. Faustus in “Heart of Whitenesse.” Watch as the entertainment world jumps from the McCarthy era of 1950 to 2000, after technology has experienced a massive reset, in “Major Spacer in the 21st Century!”

“World Fantasy Award-winner Waldrop offers 10 quirky, sometimes outrageous speculative stories in this wise and funny collection, each with a lively and informative afterword . . . Waldrop is a razzle-dazzle hoot.” —Publishers Weekly 

“The inimitable Waldrop, an authentic master of gonzo sf and fantasy, returns with some of his most recent short fiction . . . There is only one Howard Waldrop, and he is quite as irresistible as ever.” —Booklist