From Publishers Weekly
The 19th installment in Hubbard's annual contest series contains more top-notch stories than last year's volume and is likely to satisfy science fiction and fantasy aficionados looking for fresh ideas and new twists on old conventions. Luc Reid's marvelous "A Ship That Bends" imagines a world that is literally flat, where seafarers try to maneuver around the edge and onto the other side. Joel Best's "Numbers," in which the essence of life can be boiled down to a single equation, has the detached, bleak feel of a Kubrick nightmare as well as the magnetism of one. Ken Liu's"Gossamer," an elegant twist on the first contact story, asks: what if we finally meet another life form, but have no idea how to communicate with them? The clear winner, however, is Jay Lake's "Into the Gardens of Sweet Night," a quirky meditation on personal freedom and responsibility that follows a cosmos-trotting pug named Wiggles as it leads a young boy on a surreal journey to the supposedly mythical Garden of the title; think William Burroughs meets Men in Black. Some stories are too long-winded like Brandon Butler's vampire tale "A Few Days North of Vienna" and Hubbard's essay on the nature of suspense meanders. Still, this engaging, if over-packed, volume should be required reading for aspiring sci-fi and fantasy writers. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Through other dimensions, across time, and beyond space to launch into fourteen thrilling new stories by the best new writers of speculative fiction. Created by L. Ron Hubbard and judged by top writers in the science fiction and fantasy field, the Writers of the Future anthology each year brings you breathtaking adventures and startling journeys into the unknown. Escape reality with these creative and original tales that come excitingly to life with vivid characters in undiscovered galaxies and on alien worlds.

SYNOPSIS

What would you do if... by traveling to Mars you could achieve immortality?

Suppose...you have been hiding on a remote human colony on the rim of the solar system ... and you were found?

Imagine if you will...traveling in time and getting lost somewhere in the vast, open galaxy.

From the far reaches of space and the limitless edges of the imagination come thirteen original stories, a new wonderful mix of spellbinding tales by the new writers of fiction and fantasy-all winners of the internationally acclaimed L. Ron Hubbard WRITERS OF THE FUTURE Contest. Here is a first-rate collection of works and illustrations providing great entertainment and a chance to escape--if only for a little while-to other, distant and different worlds.

Selected by judges who rank among the most famous names in the field of writing: Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason, Gregory Benford, Algis Budrys, Eric Kotani, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Andre Norton, Frederik Pohl, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Robert Silverberg, Jack Williamson and Dave Wolverton.

Illustrators selected by: Edd Cartier, Leo and Diane Dillon, H.R. van Dongen, Bob Eggleton, Will Eisner, Vincent Di Fate, Frank Frazetta, Frank Kelly-Freas, Laura Brodian Kelly-Freas, Shun Kijima, Ron Lindahn and Val Lakey Lindahn."

FROM THE CRITICS

Terry Brooks

Writers of the Future is a teriffic program for new writers, and goodness knows, there are few enough of those. It has my heartiest support and unqualified recommendation.

Publishers Weekly

For more than 15 years, Hubbard's anthology series has collected the winning SF and fantasy entries from the annual Writers of the Future contest. Of the 12 stories in the newest crop, few are on par with the works of Isaac Asimov or Robert Heinlein, but fans of the series will appreciate their scope and potential. Two of the most impressive selections, "Magpie" and "Blackbox," portray women who overcome hardships and gain new insights into themselves. The first woman is a witch who was conjured to destroy an old nemesis, and the second is a grieving mother who finds solace in a simulacrum of her dead baby. While unique in their own right, several of the remaining tales were clearly influenced by SF and fantasy classics: "Ten Gallons a Whore," a tale of a man who visits a western Wasteland and trades his precious supply of water to rescue a female slave, is reminiscent of Stephen King's The Gunslinger; and shades of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey are evident in "The Sharp End #1," the seemingly hastily written story of a space mission gone awry. "God Loves the Infantry," meanwhile, a heartwarming tale of a soldier who finds something other than war to live for, bears elements of Hubbard's Final Blackout. Introspective and emotionally engaging at their best but derivative and clumsy at their worst, these stories will satisfy readers searching for new talent. (Aug.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

The human element remains at all times paramount in the 15 SF stories gathered in the 20th edition of L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future series, at this point the most enduring forum to showcase new talent in the genre. Standouts include Eric James Stone's eerie "In Memory," whose hero, a brilliant mad physicist, exists as a disembodied computer image; Joy Remy's poignant "Sleep Sweetly, Junie Carter," in which a bedridden woman feels helpless in her near-immortality; and Jonathon Laden's disturbing "Monkey See, Monkey Deduce," in which a multibodied monster is actually a tribe of chimps, with an imposed common memory, at the mercy of human researchers. Brief essays on writing by Hubbard and contemporary giants such as Robert Silverberg and Kevin J. Anderson round out the volume. The cartoonlike artwork, one drawing for each story, is less successful. The series, however, continues to be a powerful statement of faith as well as direction in American science fiction. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

BookList - Roland Green

Again, this anthology collects outstanding submissions to the Writers of the Future contest, matches them with work by Illustrators of the Future contest entrants, and adds some useful essays. Two of the best essays ever to appear in the series are Algys Budrys' on naming characters and Lois Bujold's on how to get started writing. Particularly notable stories include Nicholas A. DiChario's "Winterberry," Christine Beckert's "Coat of Many Colors," Michael Paul Melzer's "Anne of a Thousand Years" (which history buffs especially will enjoy), Bronwynn Elko's "Blueblood," and Wendy Rathbone's "Augmented Man." As in years past, there is something for almost every taste and hardly any excuse for not adding the volume to even the smallest collection.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

The contest has changed the face of Science Fiction. — Dean Wesley Smith

This has become a major tributary to the new blood in fantastic fiction. — Gregory Benford

The untapped talents of new writers continue to astonish me and every WOTF (Writers Of The Future) volume provides a well-spring of the greatest energy put forth by the ambitious writers of tomorrow. — Kevin Anderson

From cutting-edge high tech to evocative fanatsy, this book's got it all--it's lots of fun and I love the chance to see what tomorrow's stars are doing today. — Tim Powers

I recommend the 'Writers of the Future' Contest at every writers' workshop I participate in. — Frederick Pohl